Mylo Jenkins

"Loose and ruminative in a way that recalls the work of Bonnie "Prince" Billie and early Modest Mouse, Kocher's songs are crystalline glimpses into coastal ennui and heartbreak. The band's debut album, Revel and Light, is a fantastic document of a band that-if there is any justice in the world--will be embraced by fans of buzzed-about indie folkies such as Bon Iver and Ben Weaver."

-Paul Davis

Nick Jaina

Nick Jaina was born in the fertile golden valley of California. He lived for a time in New Orleans, where he worked as a waiter in the French Quarter and painted people's faces on the streets during big events like Mardi Gras. Since 2001 he has lived in Portland, Oregon.

The new album, A Narrow Way, features aggressively memorable songs recorded in a unique way to capitalize on the energy of the live performance skills of Nick Jaina's band, an energy that has been honed by many performances on the streets of this great country. This album was played entirely by ten musicians in the same room at the same time, all mixed live to 1/4" analog tape. This process was similar to the way that albums were recorded in the fifties and sixties, before the Beatles started taking drugs in '65 and giving everyone a different idea of how people should make albums. On A Narrow Way, every instrument leaps off the tape with immediacy and humanity. Meanwhile, the lyrics of the songs deal with the narrow path that people must take to do right in the world.

This album was recorded and mixed live at Type Foundry Studios in Portland by Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western). It was engineered by Jason Powers and co-produced by Matt Dabrowiak (Dat'r). If the band needed a hand clap or a tambourine hit, they had to bring in an extra person to do it, instead of just over-dubbing it. As modern recording has diminished the importance of actually performing in the moment, they felt that it would create a sense of urgency to remove all safety nets and technological helpers, allowing the band to play together in a room like musicians used to do. Bands want to play music together in a room at the same time. It's their natural habitat. It makes them happy. Like wildebeests in the Serengeti. 

Brittain Ashford

"Her self-released "There, but for You, Go I" is one of this year's hidden gems, an album of gentle folk-pop with not only her sweet vocals, but Ashford playing autoharp, dulcimer, even toy piano. Listen especially to the understatedly tough 'Brooklyn Lullaby.' "
-- oregonlive.com

"Brooklyn based singer Brittain Ashford makes spare, gorgeous folk songs, with a crystalline coldwater voice and various pluckings from autoharps and dulcimers. Here's a seasonally appropriate song from her Hinah session recorded in France back in March (you can hear more here); it's a song that doesn't appear on her fantastic, haunting record There, But for You, Go I—but I can't think of a better song to listen to as my circulation slows to a crawl and my extremeties become numb. She'll be in town next week playing a show with Shelley Short. Hopefully things will be warmer by then, but Ashford's nourishing voice is capable of generating its own heat." -- Ned Lannamann, Portland Mercury


"The ethereal and wonderful folk music of a New York based singer who recently brought over her entire menagerie of bizarre instruments to France." - Les inrockuptibles

"this album that could be considered "just another folk record" takes on a special allure that could take all of our attention ... because it deserves it... emanates humility and simplicity in addition to being totally charming." -benzinemag.net

"Delicate story-songs at times catchy (So Patiently, A Day At Coney Island) other times contemplative (Always Home) which turn out to make great companions when the night starts to fall and the light fades." - milles-feuille.fr

"Brittain Ashford understands that you don't need cheap tricks to leave your mark." - Popnews

"Through melodies and a voice that seem to travel through the ages, Brittain Ashford weaves encounters, dreams of leaving and nostalgia for a happiness gone, into songs of moving sincerity." - muzzart.fr