*OFFICIAL RECORD STORE DAY RELEASE*
ALL ORDERS COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD
LTD ED 10" Red Vinyl - $14.99

Five new bangers from Finn Riggins, the torch bearers for the burgeoning Boise, Idaho music scene, thrice Built to Spill tourmates and general good vibe spreaders. Benchwarmers finds the band in top form, making experimental rock jams you can dance to.

The collaborative brainchild of three music school graduates from the University of Idaho -- Cameron Bouiss, Eric Gilbert and Lisa Simpson -- Finn Riggins relocated to Boise in 2009 where they've become key players in the young music and art scene of Idaho's largest population center. Eric Gilbert is the festival director and talent buyer for Boise's Treefort Music Fest, which made it's debut March 22 - 25, 2012 and put a spotlight on the town as a destination for music and the arts while raising money for independent station Radio Boise.

TRACK LISTING

*All vinyl and cassette orders will ship on April 15th*

*ALL PRE-ORDERS COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*
Cassette - $6.99
320k MP3 Digital Download - $5.99
10" Black Vinyl - $14.99
10" LTD ED Translucent White Vinyl, Silkscreened by Marc Girouard and laser-cut by Vera at Crystal Visions (only 75 available) - $24.99

Radiation City - Find It of Use by tender-loving-empire

The inspiration for Radiation City’s newest output stems from an old piano. The piano has lived in drummer Randy Bemrose's basement for eons. It's old, cumbersome, and on it's last legs. The band used sounds from the piano throughout the recording of this new EP... not just the keys though, the clicks and clacks from the body, the slamming of the lid, and virtually every other sound you can imagine making on the piano. After they were finished, the piano was beat up, out of tune, and falling apart. Having used the old piano of all it's worth, and as a celebration of an intense year, Radiation City engaged in the ceremonial destruction of the old piano documented on the first single’s video, “Find it of Use."

Cool Nightmare will be released initially in digital form on TLE's website as well as on iTunes and your other favorite digital music stores. The vinyl will become available mid-april. The band has hand-assembled EXTREMELY limited edition custom USB keys that will come attached to piano keys from the original piano. These will only become available at the band's shows as they make their way to SXSW this spring (dates below). Later this spring we will be releasing this magestic 7-song mini-album on 10-inch vinyl which is now available for pre-order here. All pre-orders come with an instant download of the whole EP. Nice.

SUPER LIMITED EDITION PACKAGING

We’ve happily release Cool Nightmare on beautiful, limited edition, milky-white 10″ vinyl in a hand silk-screened jacket with the titles laser removed from the jacket itself. Badass.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Would Hide
2. Hide From The Night
3. Find it of Use
4. Heart of Mine
5. Eye of Yours
6. Winter Blind
7. Hacienda

*ALL ORDERS COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*
CD - $11.99
Digital Download - $7.99
Limited Edition Vinyl (details below)- $79.99
Lupon + Court The Storm (both vinyl) - $28.99
180 Gram Vinyl - $16.99

Y La Bamba's new album Court The Storm creates a multi-ethnic musical landscape that walks a musical tightrope between alt-latino and indie while delivering on the promise of 2010's critically acclaimed Lupon. With the veteran, Grammy winning producer Steve Berlin at the helm, as well as a guest appearance from Neko Case (the band's twice tour mate in 2011), Court The Storm features abilingual songbook as well as the energy of their must-see live shows.

CD
High quality Digi-pack with lyrics and band photo included. Instant digital download included when you order. -$11.99

GOLD VINYL
250 copies of the gold vinyl were pressed on audiophile grade 180 gram vinyl. They come with a poster of the band and lyrics as well as a digital download. - $16.99

Court The Storm + Lupon 180 GRAM VINYL BUNDLE
Get both first run 180 gram vinyl LPs and pay less for each than if you purchased them separately. Lupon comes on black 180 gram vinyl and Court The Storm on 180 Gram gold vinyl. Includes instant digital download of BOTH albums.  -$24.99

LIMITED EDITION WOODEN ENCLOSURES
In conjunction with Priceless Music Project, we're offering 75 Super Limited edition laser engraved, hand numbered mahogany vinyl enclosures. These were constructed in Pagosa Springs, CO by the Elusive Woodcrafter Himself: Mr. Matthew Mees and include a 5 color hand silkscreened vinyl jacket, limited edition 180 gram gold vinyl, and a digital download card. $79.99 while they last! Includes instant digital download of Court The Storm -$79.99

TRACK LISTING

1. Squawk
2. Bendito
3. Moral Panic
4. Hughson Boys
5. Como Ratones
6. Idaho's Genius
7. Viuda Encabronada
8. Ponce Pilato
9. Michoacan
10. Dialect of Faith - CD and Digital Only
11. Court the Storm

2011 has been an amazing year here and we're so thankful for that we're giving you an amazing deal on all our 2011 music + a t-shirt for free!

You get a copy of everything TLE released in 2k11.

Loch Lomond -Little Me Will Start A Storm
Typhoon - A New Kind of House
Jared Mees & The Grown Children - Only Good Thoughts Can Stay
Radiation City - The Hands That Take You
Various Artists - Friends & Friends of Friends Vol. IV (2 Discs, 43 bands)

+ A copy of our brand new "Get Away From It All" Tee in whatever size you want

This would normally cost over $100, but because we're nice its yours for just $65!

CD - $14.99

Friends and Friends of Friends Vol. 4 is the latest in a series of musical compilations designed to propagate connections amongst musicians and their listeners on a simultaneously local and international scale. We've collected and manicured the finest grouping of songs imaginable and packaged them in a completely original, one-of-a-kind, pop-up case.

These two discs represent the best examples of genuine, tangible musical expression we could locate on a personal level. We feel privileged to know these people, and or know someone who knows the people that made this collection possible. An extended thanks to the record labels that support these musicians and thank you for listening to and supporting independent, hard working artists.

Unfold the CD case and you'll quickly see that this is no ordinary package. Inside you'll find two pop-up musicians singing, strumming and camping around their tent. This original design was masterminded by the extremely talented Elaine Fong with artwork by the brilliant Sam Guerrero.

Hand-silkscreened in a limited edition of 1000 at $14.99 these beauties will surely make the perfect gift.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1
1. Typhoon - The Honest Truth*
2. Brainstorm - Forms Without a Frame
3. Y La Bamba - Abducted*
4. Wild Ones - You're a Winner
5. Jared Mees & The Grown Children - Inaudible Song II*
6. Adventure Galley - Knife in the Sail (Eugene, OR)
7. The Builders and the Butchers - Rotten to the Core
8. Spesus Christ - Tits Up
9. Upsidedown Cat - Library Books
10. Social Studies - Run With Fever (San Francisco, CA)
11. Jeffrey Jerusalem - Smiling & Tender
12. Fierce Creatures - Satan Is a Vampire (Fresno, CA)
13. Lida Husik – Nuclear Soul
14. Leviticus Appleton - Swim Wheels
15. Slow Trucks - Bad Energy (San Francisco, CA)
16. Alameda - Silver Hands
17. Quiet Countries - Go To Bed
18. Sean Flinn & The Royal We- Salt That's In Our Blood
19. The Woodlands - Anymore (Heavy Hands Remix)
20. John Heart Jackie - Hook In My Arm
21. And And And - Buy You
22. Dinosaur Feathers - Please, Please George (Brooklyn, NY)

Disc 2
1. Radiation City – The Color of Industry*
2. Loch Lomond - Blue Lead Fences*
3. Boy Eats Drum Machine - Silverskate Gateway*
4. Agent Ribbons – I'm Alright (Austin, TX)
5. Finn Riggins - Parkour (Boise, ID)*
6. Doctor Ew - I'm Not Mad At You Anymore (Toronto, CA)
7. Adventures! With Might - Heavy Hevvy
8. Yeah Great Fine - Rise
9. Lovers - Boxer
10. Skip Roxy – Mouth Party
11. Archers - I Forgot
12. E*Rock - Centrifical Farce
13. Lee Corey Oswald – Waltzes With Wolves
14. Tiny Mtns - Small Towns (Asheville, NC)
15. Soft Hills - River Boat (Seattle, WA)
16. Sweater - Sweater Employment Bored
17. Mnemonic Sounds - Keeping It Quiet
18. Pigeons - 1000 Miles
19. Campfire OK - Strange Like We Are (Seattle, WA)
20. Sea Bell - Grima (Eugene, OR)
21. Mutineers - Give It A Rest (Santa Barbara, CA)
22. Black Whales - Books on tap (Seatlle, WA)
23. Besties - Sydney Don't Leave
24. Light For Fire - NY (By The Hand)
25. The Ascetic Junkies - Thought Thief

Download - $0.99

"The Honest Truth" is the epic opener to Typhoon's second release on Tender Loving Empire, A New Kind of House. Over the first half of 2011 this song in particular garnered the attention of such national taste-makers as NPR and The Late Show with David Letterman.

We've taken this anthem and packaged it up with a b-side from Hunger and Thirst, the band's first full length album, entitled "Orange Peels". With this purchase you get both tracks as an immediate download.

CD - $11.99
Vinyl + Instant Download - $16.99
Download - $6.99

*ALL ORDERS COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

- Order the CD, LP, or Digital Download and get -
+ an instant digital download of the whole record (immediately with purchase)
+ an exclusive "thank you" video from the band (immediately with purchase)

The Hands That Take You first saw the light of day in February 2011 when the band released the recordings on Apes Tapes, their cassette tape-only label. Owning and operating a record label put the duo in a position of musical saturation. After participating in multiple bands and side-projects, the two sat down to do it right. Radiation City is the product of intention -- the cream of their musical crop. To them, it's something special or, as Spies puts it, "almost like it's a lady you want to treat real nice." They’ve now teamed up with Tender Loving Empire (Typhoon, Loch Lomond) to release the album nationally.

Radiation City - The Color Of Industry by tender-loving-empire

TRACK LISTING

1. Babies
2. The Color of Industry
3. The Things You Tell Us
4. Summer Is Not An Act 1
6. Wading
7. Salsaness
8. Park
9. Mammals
10. Construction
11. Summer Is Not An Act 2

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

From the first euphoric lines of album-opener "Hungry Like a Tiger" (“I’m breathing good air, through good lungs, with a good heart beating”) to the unstoppable catharsis of the 7-minute barn-burner sing-along "Juicy Fruit," Only Good Thoughts Can Stayweaves a dense fabric of instrumentation around a central narrative patchwork. Lyrically, Mees has forgone the strictly first-person storytelling that characterized 2008’s Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money in favor of embodying the perspectives and personal experiences of close friends and family, including his wife (“W.W.J.B.D”), his brother (“Billy Bird”), and a longtime friend (“Inaudible Song”), all of whom shared many of the trials and tribulations that provided inspiration for the record.

Jared Mees & The Grown Children - Shake by tender-loving-empire

TRACK LISTING

1. Hungry Like a Tiger
2. Limber Hearts
3. W.W.J.B.D.
4. Billy Bird
5. Inaudible Song II
6. Tiny Toy Piano
7. Inaudible Song I
8. Even Little Mountains
9. Juicy Fruit Prelude
10. Juicy Fruit
11. Graverobbers
12. Shake

CD - $8.99
Download - $3.49
Vinyl + Instant Download - $13.99

*LIMITED EDITION CLEAR VINYL NOW SHIPPING*

*VINYL PURCHASES COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Portland indie orchestra Typhoon turned many a critical head in 2010 after releasing the critically acclaimed Hunger and Thirst on Tender Loving Empire. The've been named as one of Portland's best new bands by Willamette week, appeared in Amazon.com's top 100 albums of 2010, toured in support of Yann Tiersen and The Decemberists, and opened for the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Explosions in the Sky and The Dandy Warhols. The summer of 2011 took them to Lollapalooza, Sasquatch, Newport Folk Fest and to CBS studios in New York to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman.

A New Kind of House is Typhoon's sequel to their epic 2010 release Hunger and Thirst. With these five multi-movement song cycles, A New Kind of House becomes far more than an EP. This fully realized recording finds the 12-piece ensemble at the height of their powers. Rest assured, you will hear much more from Typhoon in the coming years.

This record is available on limited edition 10-inch translucent clear vinyl, on CD, or digitally.

Typhoon - The Honest Truth by tender-loving-empire

TRACK LISTING

1. The Honest Truth
2. Summer Home
3. Claws Pt. 1
4. Kitchen Tile
5. Firewood

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99
Vinyl + Instant Download - $16.99

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Little Me Will Start A Storm was mixed by Adam Selzer (who has recorded all of M Ward's records), Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, The Decemberists), Kevin Robinson (of Viva Voce), and Jeff Stuart Saltzman. Listen to the stunning"Blue Lead Fences" below.

Loch Lomond - Blue Lead Fences by tender-loving-empire

TRACK LISTING

1. Blue Lead Fences
2. Elephants & Little Girls
3. I Love Me
4. Blood Bank
5. Water Bells
6. Earth Has Moved Again
7. Water in Astoria
8. Egg Song
9. Alice Left with Stockings and Earrings

CD - $8.99

Friends and Friends of Friends Vol. III is the latest in a series of musical compilations designed to promote the music of Portland, OR and beyond to local and national listeners alike as well as propagate relationships between independent bands and labels who wouldn't normally get a chance to collaborate.

These two discs contain a sampling of some of our current favorite musical talents. We feel privileged to know these artists, or to know someone who knows them. Many thanks to the bands and labels for making this collection possible, and THANK YOU for listening to and supporting independent music.

This compilation is comprised of 2 discs. The first is titled "Neighbors", containing a hand-curated selection of the most outstanding bands in Portland; musicians we are fortunate enough to call our neighbors. The second disc is a grouping of our friends from out-of-town; friends of our touring bands, friends of the record label and some of their friends too. It's appropriately titled "Pen-pals".

Hand screen-printed in 2 colors on recycled chip-board cases. As soon as you touch your copy you'll be able to tell that a whole lotta love when into this piece.

In total we've wrangled in 42 songs from 42 bands on this year's compilation. As you listen we want to remind you to, most importantly, always purchase music and go see shows. You are the future. Please enjoy!

Cover art by Adam Baz

TRACK LISTING

Neighbors
1 Boy Eats Drum Machine - Lolo Forest*
2 Y La Bamba - Juniper*
3 Nick Jaina - Strawberry Man
4 Typhoon - White Liars*
5 And And And - You Can't Hide
6 Dirty MIttens - Arcadia
7 Blue Horns - Horse Legs
8 Loch Lomond - Ghost of an Earthworm
9 Wampire - Magic Light
10 World's Greatest Ghosts - Mazes and Monsters
11 Monarques - Oh No
12 Pancake Breakfast - ¡Hoot Hot Damn! I Got A Job At Work
13 Gratitillium - Animal Love*
14 Skip Roxy - Still Beating Heart
15 May Ling - Best Friend
16 Yeah Great Fine - Don't Wake Up
17 Run on Sentence - In The Woods
18 Brainstorm - Split the Lark
19 Hosannas - Opposite People*
20 Super XX Man - Desolation Yellow*
21 Jared Mees & The Grown Children - Cockleburrs + Hay (2010 Redux)*
22 Ocean Age - Hopscotch
23 AAN - Wet And Dripping

Pen - Pals
1 The Denoument - Lie Flat
2 Finn Riggins - Dali*
3 Nazcar Nation - Monolith Prep
4 Clara Clara - One On One
5 Social Studies - Time Bandit
6 Elba - Diplodocus
7 Yarn Owl - Bicycle
8 Ash Reiter - Paper Diamonds
9 Olin and the Moon - Waking Up
10 Rooftops - Raft Easily
11 Appomattox - Rendition Of You
12 On the Tundra - Analog Bobcat
13 Love Language - Graycourt
14 Boomsnake - Sticks and Stones and Aminal Bones
15 Sleepy Seeds - Even Tho
16 French Semester - The Large Bouquet
17 Le Fleur - Bulb
18 Silent Comedy - '49
19 Tartufi - Fear of Tall Giraffes Fear of Some Birds

*Full Length albums available for purchase through Tender Loving Empire

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99
Vinyl + Download - $16.99

Y La Bamba's stunning Lupon is now available on 180 Gram Vinyl!

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Y La Bamba - Juniper by tender-loving-empire

With a raw songbook of home recordings under her belt and a new group of musicians to help Mendoza with her musical vision, Y La Bamba began to captivate audiences in Portland and tour stops around the US. Eventually, the quintet would attract the attention of The Decemberists guitarist, Chris Funk, who offered his production skills for the band’s first studio recording. Funk worked tirelessly to capture Y La Bamba’s rustic tones, songs inspired by the traditional tunes of Mendoza’s childhood, and her signature vocals that resemble the sounds spilling out of a 1930’s Victrola. Dubbing the confidently stunning body of songs Lupon (after a nickname that Mendoza’s father despised), Y La Bamba has emerged from the studio, ready to wow listeners everywhere.

TRACK LISTING

1. Monster

2. November

3. Soy Capitan

4. Crocodile Eyes

5. Abducted

6. Juniper

7. Festival of Panic

8. Winter's Skin

9. Fasting in San Francisco

10. Isla de Hierva Buena

11. Memories of a Poor Start

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99
Vinyl + Download - $16.99

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Kyle Morton sings the first line of Typhoon's Hunger & Thirst, "I've started a new beginning... suspiciously like the old one, only this time, I'm ready", with the bravery and trepidation of someone who is staring down a familiar path, with all its known challenges and potential pitfalls, surrounded by his dearest longtime friends. Fittingly, producer Paul Laxer recorded Hunger & Thirst in Morton and his bandmates' beloved old Victorian rental house. The lease was about to be up; the landlady was about to be back from Korea - all 12 band members knew their time there was limited, that they were crafting an aural snapshot using room mics and dining rooms. That house can be heard all over the record if you're listening for it, spaciously framing Typhoon's lush, well-edited orchestration, its wood floors perfectly warming Morton's empowered, concerned, delicate vocals in a way that any studio environment would be hard-pressed to capture.

These are songs about striving for what you want, then realizing that once you have it, you don't want it anymore; that maybe that elusive "thing" was never really the issue anyway. Morton sings about the searches, in all their permutations, the bruises healed by those important to you, impermanence, joy, and finding peace within the incessant desire that has always been man's burden. He sings with strength and hope about renewal ("Starting Over"), with the entire band in gospel-chorus about confronting and progressing (the .47 second "The Mouth of the Cave") and with brutal honesty about struggling with a lifelong illness ("The Sickness Unto Death"). Everyone has their own unique path to follow, and Hunger & Thirst is a record that should remind us of the preciousness of exploration, the value of those we meet along the way, and the power within that sustains us on our quests.

Starting Over by tender-loving-empire

This release is available on vinyl, CD, and digitally. Album art by Rick DeLucco.

TRACK LISTING

1. Starting Over (Bad Habits)
2. White Liars
3. CPR - Claws Part 2
4. Ghost Train
5. Body of Love
6. Intermission
7. Happy People
8. Old Haunts, New Cities
9. Mouth of the Cavern
10. Belly of the Cave

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99
Vinyl + Download - $16.99

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Disparate ideas and sweeping themes bob and weave throughout Hoop + Wire's 38 minutes to form aural landscapes--not surprising, since the album was dreamed up on a drive across the United States. Sweeping symphonic samples receive treatments of bombastic organic percussion both traditional and of the Foley variety, while the lyrical content reveals both introspective and dark passages. Assorted layers come together in grand fashion through BEDM's cohesive tales of envy, bravado and challenge.

The title track, "Hoop + Wire", springboards into a jangly exploration of jealousy, while a fire closes in on "Constellation". The Starkness of the dry Southwest becomes palpable in "ABQ", and "Syncopation" observes love caught in the passing of time. "Gold In The Hills" expores one man's failure to scratch out a living, while "Lolo Forest" draws a romantic circle through Montana, Colorado and Coastal California. After "We Make Our Own Light" glimmers, "The Pieces Fit Together and Never Fall Apart" thwarts depression, and "Mr. Train" struts across a hustling landscape. The album races to a close with "New Mexico To Old Arizona" and the exposed closure of "70 Miles An Hour"

Boy Eats Drum Machine - Hoop + Wire by tender-loving-empire

Track Listing

1. Hoop + Wire
2. Constellation
3. Syncopated
4. Gold in the Hills
5. Mr. Train
6. Lolo Forest
7. The Pieces Fit Together and Never Pull Apart
8. New Mexico to Old Arizona
9. ABQ
10. 70 Miles an Hour
11. We Make Our Own Light

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

This is the second full length from the well traveled, frenetic energied Idaho trio Finn Riggins. It includes the track "Wake" which you may have heard during 2011's Super Bowl. Vs. Wilderness is a compositionally complex, dirty, extra-hooky gem of an album. Its bright pop sensibility is filtered through off-kilter time signatures and surprising chord progressions that delight and amuse. Notoriously difficult to pin down in terms of style and influence, Finn Riggins pop/prog/psyschedelic/math  music appeals to music lovers of many genres and age groups alike.

The album was recorded, engineered and co-produced in May of 2009 by the band at AudioLab studio, an arm of Garden City, Idaho's Visual Arts Collective (or VAC, a non-profit gallery, venue, theatre and creative space with which Finn Riggins is heavily involved) during one of their rare stints at home. True to form, the album was brought to fruition in this independently run, community-minded environment with the help of co-producer and Tender Loving Empire founder Jared Mees

Hand silkscreened case with glow in the dark ink.
Art by Lloyd Winter IV

Finn Riggins - Wake (Keep This Town Alive) by tender-loving-empire

TRACK LISTING

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Hosannas utilizes unique analog instrumentation to unite factions of noise rock with psychedelic folk and experimental pop. Song Force Crystal, the band's debut LP is a honing of musical themes heralded in two prior EP's. Picking up where previous titles Gold and With All Our Love for Francisco the Man left off, Song Force Crystal was recorded in a living room to an 8-track tape machine. The album reverberates with a warmth and rawness more familiar to 70's era basement productions than to modern day digitalia. The songs revel in dense slabs of tape saturation, perfect for showcasing cavernous four-part harmonies, or trebly tube amplifiers. Song Force Crystal is a contradiction of sounds, at once expansive, and cohesive, experimental yet familiar, brooding one moment and soothing the next.  Song Force Crystal was released jointly with SoHitek.

Hosannas - Opposite People by tender-loving-empire

Track Listing

1. Graveyard
2. Opposite People
3. Hidden tone
4. Quilty's Guilty
5. Aquamarine
6. Paloma
7. Crab Magic
8. Golden Girls

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99
Vinyl + Download - $16.99

*VINYL PURCHASES  COME WITH AN INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE RECORD*

Boy Eats Drum Machine's latest album, Booomboxxx, is an experimental pop record loaded with unique turntable textures, saxophone blasts, expertly chopped break beats, and gutsy vocals. although the record effectively mashes several musical forms, it is Ragel’s most cohesive and dark work to date. On this record he uses the samples from "Bridgetown Breaks" a compilation of various breakbeats from up and coming Portland drummers including Kevin O'Connor (Talkdemonic), Danny Seim (Menomena) and others.

The Crack In The Sea by tender-loving-empire

 Track Listing

1. Booomboxxx
2. Planets + Stars
3. The Crack in the Sea
4. Demonic With Horns
5. I'm Alive Don't Bury Me
6. La La La La LA
7.Put Your Hands All Over Me
8.Gun Fight
9. Love Letters Only
10. We Are an Army

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

After 13 years writing, recording, and producing, Scott Garred aka Super XX Man, has cultivated a mildly edgy modern rock sound in the new release Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds. Previous releases have garnered acclaim from the likes of Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered ("If we're going to choose ten songs every week, let it be Super XX Man”) and Amy McCullough, music editor of Willamette Week ("If love had a sound, this would be it”).

Although there’s plenty of the familiar Super XX Man-style of music on his latest album, what will no doubt surprise many long time fans are the moody, foreboding tracks that lie at the heart of the album. Songs like “Medication”, “Little Leaf” and “Crazy People” help to comprise, as Garred says, “my most sonically ambitious album to date.” Songs are marked by washes of feedback, dark atmospherics and pointillist lyrics that chronicle the lives of the people Garred works with at the Oregon State Hospital, the oldest psychiatric institution in his home state.

Super XX Man - Medication by tender-loving-empire

It’s a pronounced shift in focus for Garred who has used the other volumes in his ever-growing discography to sing about friends and family, love and loss. Garred is as much a storyteller on this album as he is an empathizer reiterating how people cope with life at the State Hospital. On Volume XII, Garred sings about a woman who plays guitar until her fingers bleed, a man so lonely he only wants to go to parties and meet girls, and the ‘guilty except for insanity’ person strolling down a corridor wearing his new state-issued sweats. The album’s closer, “Cautious like a Panther,” has this same person strutting his stuff down any trendy thoroughfare in Portland.

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

Small Sur’s debut full-length, We Live in Houses Made of Wood, finds the band at their most nostalgic, meandering patiently among lush, reverb-drenched harmonies, and delicate, spare arrangements. Keal’s vocals, equal parts tender and haunting, are the centerpiece throughout, and his lyrics evoke both Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and the childlike wonder found in the assorted scribblings of Little Wings’ frontman Kyle Field.
Small Sur - Sand Dollar by tender-loving-empire

Mixed by Adam Cooke and mastered by Rob Girardi (Arbouretum, Beach House, and Celebration), the record features instrumental and vocal contributions from members of Wye Oak (Merge Records), Madagascar (Western Vinyl), and Private Eleanor (The Beechfields).

Track Listing

1. Everyone
2. Ohhhhh Pt. 1
3. Ohhhhh Pt. 2 (Russel)
4. Sand Dollar
5. Roots
6. Tones
7. The Wind
8. I Love the Sun
9. The Kelp
10. Two Mantras
11. Sea Stones

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

The debut self-titled album by Portland, Oregon’s Gratitillium (gra-tit-ill-ee-um) was composed and recorded by Nick Caceres over an 18 month period with the rudimentary recording program Garageband. Using only the onboard microphone on an ordinary Macbook, Caceres painstakingly constructed each song on this album without using any pre-designed beats or samples (though live nature recordings from Caceres’ time spent in Singapore are used.)
Gratitillium - Monkey Play by tender-loving-empire

Hand screenprinted cover in purple and green at TLE with art by Nick Ayres. Can you find all the animals?

Track Listing

1. Animal Love
2. Monkey Play
3. In Black Crows Name
4. Big Bear Mountain
5. Barn Owl Hearts
6. Horse Around
7. Spider Bark
8. Dragonfly Thai
9. Frog King
10. See, Turtle Lost its Shell
11. Circus Elephants
12. Free Elephants
13. Rooster Crows Goodbye

CD - $11.99
Download - $6.99

Tender Loving Empire co-founder Jared Mees' second album, and his first at the helm of the band The Grown Children, Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money is a meandering aural journey through multiple genres, time periods and perspectives. From the sci-fi themed orchestral epic "Trampling Daisies" to the hoe-down barn burner "In The Fall" to the feel good 'you can do it' vibes of pure pop gem"The Tallest Building in Hell" Jared Mees & The Grown Children bring you a grouping of disparate yet cohesive lyric-heavy power folk jams that are the perfect soundtrack for both hauling ass down a back road or quiet solo reflection time; songs for both the night before and the morning after.

"an album full of rustic themes and sing-along choruses, as informed as much by Dylan as it is Neutral Milk Hotel." -OPB

Jared Mees & The Grown Children- The Tallest Building In Hell by tender-loving-empire

Recorded at Mastan Music Studios in Portland OR and Produced by Jeremy Wilson (Dharma Bums/Pilot) and principle songwriter Jared Mees, Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine Money features percussion/drum work from Ezra Holbrook, (Decemberists, Dr Theopolis) viola and string arrangements by Jordan Dykstra, (Dash!) accordion, piano and organ from Eric Gilbert (Finn Riggins) and vocals by Megan Spear as well as contributions from a host of others.

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Nadine Mooney's first full length recording, MouseHouseWormHole, was originally conceived as "Ghost sculptures" while the artist studied at Pacific Northwest College of Art. The 10 songs on MouseHouseWormHole are as enigmatic played forward (on the first half of the album) as they are disquieting in reverse (on the last half of the album). Recorded solely by Nadine Mooney on a dying cassette 8 track during the summer of 2007, it is her romantic and organic antithesis to the digital changeover. Flutes, whistles, chimes and shakers accompany her signature primal-warble and delicate guitar plucking to create a singular musical landscape that is a spellbinding work in both forward and reverse.

Nadine Mooney -How It Feels To Blossom by tender-loving-empire

Track Listing

(forward)
1. important things
2. poltergeist
3. lovely Day
4. how it feels to blossom
5. funny box
6. chaos
7. secret lobotamy love me forever
8. when trees rule the world
9. going away
10. eaten

reverse
11. netae
12. yawa gniog
13. dlrow eht elur seert nehw
14. reverof em evol ymotobol terces
15. soahc
16. xob ynnuf
17. mossolb ot sleef ti woh
18. yad ylevol
19. tsiegretlop
20. sgniht tnatropmi

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The  debut full length from one of America's hardest working bands. Finn Riggins continues to prove why they've kept rock critics guessing during their 150+ live shows during the past year. A Soldier, A Saint, An Ocean Explorer is no exception, melding synthy, stoney, crunchy and poppy with inventive progressions and uncommon time signatures and downright weird sounds (bugs, toys, binary chanting etc.) From the opening growl of "Glove Comprtmnt" to the final ghostly strains of "A President, A Pacifist, An Auto Restorer", Finn Riggins is burning down the U.S. two ears at a time. Recorded by Bill Forbes, Produced by Jared Mees.

Finn Riggins - Hraka by tender-loving-empire

Track Listing

1. Glove Comprtmnt
2. Blackrock.
3. Hraka
4. Carbonate
5. Box Elder
6. Geology
7. Flying
8. Pannin' For Gold
9. Pankakes
10. The Plumest
11. Detamble Wings
12. A President, A Pacifist, An Auto Restorer

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From the travel journal frenetics of Wurlitz and the 70's German prog tendencies of "Mahoney" to the funerary "A Whale, A Fish." Idaho's Finn Riggins shows their mettle and wins our hearts with this, their Tender Loving Empire debut EP.

Finn Riggins -Wurlitz by tender-loving-empire

"Finn Riggins has all the elements that define the future of music. The music is organic (man made) mixed with inorganic (computer generated). It's socially responsible, energetic and dance friendly"
--Angela Jossy / Weekly Volcano / Olympia, WA

CD - $11.99
Download - $2.99

This is old school shit. Starving Daughters was our 2nd musical release way back in 2007. The guys in the band - Chris Tillotson, Chris Holder, Jack Hutchings and Mason (we still don't know his last name) were our friends and it all seemed right. This EP is rock in its finest form, heavy, sludgy yet blazing guitars, ethereal vocals all seemingly coming out of your speakers smelling faintly like booze and weed. Think Dino Jr., Built to Spill, Mudhoney...the real dealz. Our friend Rusty Jordan made the art and we hand silkscreened 500 of them...theres still a few left. Get one. Its historic and epic and will fry your earballs.

Starving Daughters- Lake Of Flames by tender-loving-empire

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The debut album from Portland songsmith Jared Mees is as much a linguistic journey as it is a sonic one. Songs about hard times, long nights, half full drinks and half alive friends. "If you wanna swim with the sharks...you gotta concentrate"was uttered to Mees by a homeless passerby one hot summer night in Hollywood and it lives on in these 12 poetic rockers.
Jared Mees - Loboito by tender-loving-empire

Track Listing

1.Suicide Squeeze
2.Him Her You Me
3.Loboito
4.Cockleburs & Hay
5.Moonlight & Timing
6. Panama Anthem
7.Live Fiction
8.Sodom & Glendora
9.Working & Drinking
10.The Strange Demise of Jerome Nobles
11.Its In The Way
12.Julai Throwback