The Owls "Channel"

The Owls "Channel" from Magic Marker on Vimeo.

This is a new Owl's video for "Channel". It is off their album Daughters and Suns. The video was directed by Philip Harder. I really like this video because you can see all the band members and well it is a nice reminder was a great song this is.

Martin has left the building

I heard from Martin from The Faintest Ideas and he said he has quit the band and that as far as he knew the rest of the guys were still figuring out whether to continue or what exactly they were going to do. The Faintest Ideas recently did a make shift tour while traveling down to the Athen's popfest. After the Columbus,OH show Martin proclaimed via myspace/facebook that he was done. I love the Faintest Ideas and I thought the record we put out was definitely one of the best releases I had heard two years ago but yeah thats me. Completely indie pop and completely catchy. Their record was even on heavy rotation on KEXP which I think they have been our only band that has ever done that. They were sort of the band that while they were the greatest guys and big pop fans themselves sort just barely kept it together to be brilliant. It seemed like they could just as easily fall apart as pull it together to be spectacular. Well as you many have figured out after apparently no one in Columbus went to see them they weren't exactly hugely popular. Hopefully those that got a chance to see them appreciated it. 2 years ago when they played SXSW they made it through about 15 minute set before Martin, who was terribly ill, immediately left the stage to go vomit.

I tip my hat to you Martin and The Faintest Ideas. Clearly class acts all the way.

BOAT appears on Major League Baseball website

Baseball card, chewing gum...record?

Nostalgia-packed EP riffs on Topps memorabilia

By Doug Miller / MLB.com

• Read the MLB.com/Entertainment blog
• MLB.com/Entertainment

D. Crane is not ashamed to reveal that he learned to read by memorizing the backs of baseball cards. Nor is he ashamed to reveal that these skills led him to his current position as a sixth-grade teacher.

"The teachers all sit around and talk about all the books they've read," says Crane, who moonlights as the lead singer and guitarist for the up-and-coming Seattle "sloppy pop" band known as BOAT.

"They're snobby about it. I feel kind of like a hack teacher because I would just take out my cards and my Baseball Digest magazines, read about George Brett, and now I'm able to read as well as the other sixth-grade-teacher people."

But he sings a lot better, which is evident on BOAT's new, baseball-inspired EP, Topps, named after the title track that references the legendary company that makes all those baseball cards.

Taking the concept all the way, the band had their own homemade cards made -- depicting band members Crane, Jackson Long (drums), Mark McKenzie (bass), Josh Goodman (guitar, keyboards), on-and-off band contributors and actual baseball players from Crane's childhood.

The clever, funny cards were then thrown, along with the requisite sticks of chewing gum, into the packaging for the vinyl EPs.

"The song has to do with baseball cards, so what better idea than to make it like baseball cards?" Crane says. "Who doesn't love baseball cards?"

Crane says this whole Topps thing is really catching on.

During recent gigs, audiences have been singing the chorus of "Topps" together, and Crane and the boys have been approached by fan after fan at the merchandise table to recount baseball memories brought back by the nostalgic EP package.

"Everyone's got memories and players they remember," he says. "It's been kind of amazing. They look at the cards and know someone in the set, and they relate that to someone.

"Rock people have baseball memories in general, and it's a unifying thing for kids who grew up in the late 1970s and '80s. Plus, the ladies seem to love coming to us and talking about Andre Dawson and Rick Sutcliffe."

Meanwhile, Crane prefers the New York Mets.

He grew up in New Jersey and fell in love with the late-1980s powerhouse teams at Shea Stadium.

Courtesy of Magic Marker Records

"My uncle worked for Sharp, the electronics company, and they would present big checks to the 'Sharp Shooter of the Month,'"Crane says. "It was amazing because he got to meet all the players. I remember all of them. Sid Fernandez, Mookie Wilson, Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter. What a great team."

Crane says he's looking forward to checking out the 2008 Mets when BOAT hits New York this summer, and the band has been cutting a nice wake in the music scene in the meantime.

BOAT played the prestigious South by Southwest Festival last year and recently gigged at the Showbox, a big-time Seattle rock club, alongside the Long Winters, one of Crane's favorite groups.

And while BOAT is in their van touring around the country, Crane and drummer Long will have baseball on their minds.

"We love playing cities with historical teams, like Philadelphia and Boston and Pittsburgh," Crane says. "We're excited to be in those cities and play them for the first time, and we'll try to hit the stadiums.

They did just that on a recent excursion to Los Angeles, although the Dodgers were out of town at the time.

"It didn't matter," Crane says. "We drove by Dodger Stadium and took pictures. Then we played Wiffle Ball in a shopping center parking lot.

"We made our own little stadium."

Doug Miller is a Senior Writer for MLB.com/Entertainment. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

My trip to the record store

You know those unsuspecting trips to the record store? I have gone to the record store so many times and not bought anything that it isn't a disappointment because I am not looking for anything specific. This trip was actually a time waster between dinner and going out to see Phil Wilson play. My friend's Steve and Nancy were in town and were excited to see Phil after all these years and he wasn't coming to Seattle so this was a good excuse for the 3 hour drive south. So after finishing a delicious meal we drove by the record store. I had been here a hundred times and while there isn't a huge vinyl selection they usually get a decent amount of recent arrivals. I hadn't been in a couple of weeks or so , so the possibilities were okay for some finds. We struck out with the lps and made our way to the mess of a 7" bin. I am going to have to give almost full credit to Nancy and if she hadn't already owned these singles they would surely be in her possession now as she was the one that found almost all of them. To my credit though I did start at the A's and she started at the Various Artists section. What made this one of my best trips to a record store is that all of these were priced at $1 each.


Here they are
1. Ninotchka "I've Got Wings" (this might have been the best find of them all)
2. Versus "Frog" (my old copy was in my bag when is was stolen)
3. Heavenly "She Says" (surprisingly did not have this)
4. Summer Hits "1000 Moments of Natural Flotation"
5. The Dentists "Speak No Evil" (never heard of them until Nancy recommended it)
6. Heavenly "So Little Deserve" (an honest to god Sarah Record)
7. Wedding Present Hit Parade "Go Go Dancer"
8. Wedding Present Hit Parade "Three"
9. Wedding Present Hit Parade "Love Slave"
10. Wedding Present Hit Parade "Sticky"
11. Wedding Present Hit Parade "The Queen of Outerspace"
12. Wedding Present Hit Parade "No Christmas"

Finding an actual Sarah Record single in the record stores here in Portland is really rare. The only problem being that now I need to find the other 7 Wedding Present Hit Parade singles. Oh Nancy did end up with a few 7"s that she was looking for. One especially nice find being the Spinanes first single "Suffice".

BOAT take Manhattan

BOAT played in New York last night and Sound Bites covered the whole thing. Check out his blog for videos and reviews. Also be sure to check out as they travel along the east coast.

Sound Bites

The Manhattan Love Suicides "Never Far From You"

The Manhattan Love Suicides "Burnt Out Landscapes" is finally available on Magic Marker records. 27 songs . 78 minutes. $10. So many great crash pop hits on one release. I don't know how they do it every song is just pure noise pop bliss. Here is the new video for one of the songs off "Burnt Out Landscapes" titled "Never Far From You" . Enjoy.