Copy

I met Marius Libman, the one-man band known as Copy, twice in one week in 2006. Both times, he was bartending—first at Dunes, and then at Holocene. "Jeez, you work everywhere," I said. "Nah, just four places," he replied. The next time I saw him, was on the cover of Willamette Week, under the caption, "Best New Band." I never asked him if that was his fourth job, or his fifth. I also never asked him if he’d secretly cloned himself to achieve greater productivity, and if his band name was a teasing hint. In any case, looks like Copy is still workin’ it, with a brand-new release, Hard Dreams , out last month on Audio Dregs. Copy’s signature style has always evoked the 80’s video-game world, and this piece reinforces that theme with a Tron-like light-scape:

Y La Bamba

I remember sitting in the back of the old Mississippi Studios at one of Y La Bamba’s early shows, and overhearing a nearby lady. "We saw her walking down the street earlier, and we were like, ‘Who is that?’ And here she is, I can’t believe it!" Some people just have star-quality and look beautiful in pictures, and Luzelena of Y La Bamba, bless her heart and face and tats, is one of them. That said, I think this video in particular compliments its song, and captures Luz’s mysterious allure. In the wake of Tender Loving Empire’s recent Y La Bamba release, Lupon , Culturephile has posted up a storm about this band. But I defy you to watch this video and say it’s not justified:

Reporter

Reporter used to be Wet Confetti. No. That’s not an insult—that’s their old name. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t checked in on them in a hot minute, except to order fries from drummer Mike McKinnon’s much-loved Potato Champion food cart. Anyway, it turns out that in August, while the fryer was on its busiest sizzle, Reporter managed to release a brand-new album, Time Incredible , followed by this video. Watch it once through to hear the whole tune, then watch it again and pause all the text panels to read the cryptic novella it contains: