Nodding Tree Remedies - Ten Dollar Recording Co.





Ultra Violet Tots
CD/Digital Out November 19, 2016
Ten Dollar Recording Co. / TDRCO-081

CD/Download/Stream: TDRCO, i-Tunes, Amazon, Spotify



Tracks:
1. 17 Bucks
2. Shiny Beetle Poison
3. Hit The Sack
4. Feed The Sheep
5. Shades of Black
6. 30-Ought
7. Big Big Bucks
8. Bobby Mississippi
9. Mama Coco
10. Express Services





The 45th Parallel
CD/Digital Out May 4, 2013
Ten Dollar Recording Co. / TDRCO-044

CD/Download/Stream: TDRCO, i-Tunes, Amazon



Track Listing:
1. Shoulder I
2. Frontier
3. 2050
4. Squid
5. Slip'nslide Butterfly
6. La Mujer
7. Ziplock
8. Semi-Automatic
9. 481
10. Jesus Rode a Harley
11. James Gang Airplane
12. Best Day Ever



Singles:
Roseanne (TDRCO-086)
Hit The Sack/Feed The Sheep (TDRCO-075)
Mama Coco (TDRCO-033)
Dr. K (TDRCO-021)
Alan Alda (TDRCO-020)




Nodding Tree Remedies / "Mama Coco" (Single)
Reviewed by Reed Burnam

Familiar yet foreign, old and yet new, Nodding Tree Remedies’ new single "Mama Coco" is probably best described as an incidental orbital crash landing somewhere in the neighborhood of hummable, jangling southern fried West Coast psych, featuring a distanced and ambiguous lyrical arc, a joyous sing-song aesthetic, and chorus hook sounding of something akin to white-clad flower children huffing helium, singing the praises of Mama Coco. Or maybe that description doesn’t work at all, hell. It’s up to the listener to gel on this one, and what you’re liable to get with Nodding Tree Remedies is pretty far out if you can get with it. Featuring a rotating cast of characters, a magic bag of sounds emanating from all four corners of the past four or five decades of the psych-pop underground, and an interstellar band backstory to boot (viva imagination!), NTR are currently caught up in this reality tunnel to shovel out truck loads of throwback strum, freak folk, electro-americana, and otherwise. Best to lay back and enjoy the ride, and keep your hands and arms safely inside the windows of the Magic Bus.

"Mama Coco" rotates on an easy three chord axis, and has the organic sound and feel of a backyard tent revival all hopped up on sacrament and wine. The choruses are pretty ecstatic, tambourines in motion and ribbons floating in the wind, like a merry band of pranksters out Pied Pipering down the summer lanes and alleys. There’s sunshine in this one, for sure, and on repeat fingers and toes might just move on their own accord. Nodding Tree Remedies are known for their stylistic transmogrifications, and individual cuts march to their own drummer, filtering through anything from The Beatles to The Rain Parade to Air, who knows. However, there’s always a conglomeration of the well known and the unheard note, as NTR breathes new life into old favorites with a multi-colored vigor that still resounds across the grooves of innumerable dusty LPs. "Mama Coco" is no exception, and after a couple of listens, one might find himself singing 'Hey Mama Coco Mama say yeah, yeah, yeah' silently to himself for at least a day, give or take. So all aboard the Warship Jesus! Get your ticket and check it out already. (Reed Burnam)





Nodding Tree Remedies / "Dr. K" (Single)
Reviewed by Jason Randall Smith

Salem, Oregon’s Nodding Tree Remedies is a band with many moving parts, a rotating cast of characters that come and go with the whims of the ocean tides. Like an amoeba, the ensemble constantly changes shape, picking up particles of sound as it moves along. Such a freeform agenda can cause genre changes at will, perhaps even in the middle of a song, should the mood strike them. Their latest single "Dr. K" has little in common with the guitar screech sing along that was "James Gang Airplane", but its essence stems from the same love of lunacy. Any music enthusiast who firmly believes that humor has a place among scales, notes, and time signatures will likely embrace this band’s output. (Jason Randall Smith)







VIDEO: ULTRA VIOLET TOTS Release Party






VIDEO: "Shiny Beetle Poison"






VIDEO: "Hit The Sack"





Nodding Tree Remedies / "Alan Alda" (Single)
Reviewed by Dan MacIntosh

Nodding Tree Remedies is self-described as 'traveling aboard the warship Jesus, a modified interstellar battleship,' which, of course, tells us nothing and (perhaps) everything. This Oregon group has created a mysterious little pop gem. Built upon a simply strummed acoustic guitar, the song is sung with the sort of choirboy smooth falsetto that would make Bon Iver jealous. In addition to this track’s striking lead vocal, its best section comes at the end when a mournful trumpet part is quietly played. It’s the sort of sad refrain likely not heard done so well since Simon & Garfunkel gave us "The Boxer". (Dan MacIntosh)


Nodding Tree Remedies / "James Gang Airplane" (Single)
Reviewed by Jason Randall Smith

Not much is known about this Salem, Oregon ensemble, but some cryptic information can be culled from their MySpace page. Describing themselves as 'missionaries, warriors, and ambassadors,' it seems as if their main purpose is to spread fun and merriment as far as possible. A series of YouTube clips feature the group performing live in venues as well as on the street, their sound ranging from psychedelic freak-outs to improvised doo-wop. You can see glimpses of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention within their spirited and spontaneous performances, with perhaps a hint of Sun Ra’s Arkestra thrown in for good measure (if you factor in their mentions of time, space, and 'traveling aboard the warship Jesus').

However, the single "James Gang Airplane" finds this band of merry pranksters rocking out, riding a single power chord for all its worth. It’s a forceful guitar stomp, the type that would easily inspire audience members to pogo throughout its performance. The recording is captured in a crude fashion, deliberately raw to maximize the energy of the piece. There’s excitement over the James Gang and Three Dog Night arriving to town, presumably on a double bill. Some not-so-nice sentiments are expressed regarding Kenny Cleaver in the process. As a trumpet player for Nodding Tree Remedies, Cleaver is the inside joke of the song and one can imagine that this group delves into inside jokes often. (Jason Randall Smith)




Nodding Tree Remedies / "James Gang Airplane" (Single)
Reviewed by Jim Testa

The first single from Nodding Tree Remedies comes beamed to us from an interstellar starship on a mission of intergalactic peace - at least if the band’s MySpace page is to be believed. A little more digging and it appears this whomping, repetitive bit of post-psychedelic ear candy comes from the fertile if somewhat deranged minds of Thomas Mudrick and Chance Wiesner, two hairy (and, judging from their Youtube videos, frequently shirtless) guys from Salem, Oregon. It must be something in the water up there in the Pacific Northwest, but "James Gang Airplane" gets about as whacked-out as you’re likely to hear from a band’s debut single, all thudding riffs and chanted gang vocals, clanging metallic guitars, and distorted snare beats. The track certainly delivers a powerful, in-your-face, and high-energy burst of pure rock ‘n’ roll dementia, although the lyrics will probably leave you searching for your interplanetary translator to figure them out. Imagine, if you can, Akron/Family jamming with Ween after a tab of that bad brown Woodstock acid and you can begin to wrap your mind around the insistent and somewhat inane sonic insanity going on here. This will either leave you scurrying for an aspirin or the nearest laptop; if the latter, you’ll find a few more songs on the band's Myspace page. (Jim Testa)



Nodding Tree Remedies / "Alan Alda" (Single)
Reviewed by Hutch Hill

In the land of Indie-Folk, somewhere between the hinterland territories occupied by the likes of Bon Iver and Jeff Mangum, Nodding Tree Remedies have found a little glen and planted a flag. While there might be something aesthetically familiar about Nodding Tree Remedies new single, "Alan Alda", there’s certainly nothing commonplace about it. A quickly down-strummed acoustic sets a quick rhythm before a man’s heavily reverbed falsetto comes in singing about . . . you guessed it, Alan Alda—that guy from M.A.S.H. If whimsical humor isn’t your thing however, worry not. The song is extremely pretty, and NTR does a fine job of layering in slides, horns, shakers, and exploding drums in such a tasteful fashion that it’s nearly impossible not to be either impressed, intrigued, or finally, charmed. Besides, there’s much to appreciate about a band that takes what it does seriously, without taking itself seriously at all. (Hutch Hill)


















©2013-2018 Ten Dollar Recording Co. P.O. Box 56042 Portland, Oregon 97238 USA / www.tdrco.org / mo@tdrco.org