One of the most cutting-edge alt/rock bands making music today is unquestionably Portugal. The Man - proven once more when Alternative Press included the group's last album, Censored Colors, on its list of "10 Essential Albums of 2008" and named front man John Baldwin Gourley 2008's "Best Vocalist." Hailing from Alaska, and now residing in Portland, Oregan- The band, recorded their soon-to-be-released new album, The Satanic Satanist (out August 3rd via the band's own Approaching AIRBallons imprint within Equal Vision) by enlisting the production team of Paul Q. Kolderie, whose previous clients include both the Pixies and Radiohead, Adam Taylor (the Lemonheads, The Dresden Dolls) and Cornershop guitarist/keyboardist Anthony Saffery.
Its an album chockfull of standouts, The Satanic Satanist's lead-off track, "People Say," finds Gourley speaking out against the human cost of war, "Lovers in Love" sees the band working the groove like Isaac Hayes or Curtis Mayfield in their blaxploitation days, while "Work All Day" could pass for slowing down the beat to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Portugal. The Man's music has been likened to a wide and impressive variety of other artists' sounds - the Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley - and the new album is a sonic potpourri of some of Gourley's favorite musical styles. "The idea of this record was more to focus on what [2008's] Censored Colors had taken a step towards, which was focused song structures. And really trying to experiment with sounds - within the confines of a song rather than just letting the music lead itself around. Sound-wise, The Satanic Satanist is such a mix of 60's pop songs with somewhat 90's sounds...and lots of Pink Floyd synthesizers as well."
But the music is just part of the big picture that is The Satanic Satanist.
These days, elaborate album artwork is a thing of the past, as more and more, we favor downloads over CDs and records. But no one has bothered telling that to Portugal. The Man's frontman, John Baldwin Gourley. For the group's brand-new album, The Satanic Satanist-Gourley and art designer Austin Sellers have come up with an extremely striking package - featuring Gourley's trademark surreal, psychedelic-era drawings - that folds out, Origami-like, into different shapes and sizes - and just may help usher in a renaissance of innovative album packaging artwork.
"I've had this idea for a little while," explains Gourley, "but what it would take to actually make it happen seemed overwhelming. We had been talking about doing an album package without the plastic, to make the package one, solid piece where all the elements worked together from both an artistic and practical point of view. Every time you folded or unfolded it, everything still lined up to be a picture. Also, we wanted to incorporate a lot of [Gourley's home state] Alaska into the artwork, which is where all the photos of mountains in the artwork were taken."
www.myspace.com/portugaltheman
Its an album chockfull of standouts, The Satanic Satanist's lead-off track, "People Say," finds Gourley speaking out against the human cost of war, "Lovers in Love" sees the band working the groove like Isaac Hayes or Curtis Mayfield in their blaxploitation days, while "Work All Day" could pass for slowing down the beat to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Portugal. The Man's music has been likened to a wide and impressive variety of other artists' sounds - the Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley - and the new album is a sonic potpourri of some of Gourley's favorite musical styles. "The idea of this record was more to focus on what [2008's] Censored Colors had taken a step towards, which was focused song structures. And really trying to experiment with sounds - within the confines of a song rather than just letting the music lead itself around. Sound-wise, The Satanic Satanist is such a mix of 60's pop songs with somewhat 90's sounds...and lots of Pink Floyd synthesizers as well."
But the music is just part of the big picture that is The Satanic Satanist.
These days, elaborate album artwork is a thing of the past, as more and more, we favor downloads over CDs and records. But no one has bothered telling that to Portugal. The Man's frontman, John Baldwin Gourley. For the group's brand-new album, The Satanic Satanist-Gourley and art designer Austin Sellers have come up with an extremely striking package - featuring Gourley's trademark surreal, psychedelic-era drawings - that folds out, Origami-like, into different shapes and sizes - and just may help usher in a renaissance of innovative album packaging artwork.
"I've had this idea for a little while," explains Gourley, "but what it would take to actually make it happen seemed overwhelming. We had been talking about doing an album package without the plastic, to make the package one, solid piece where all the elements worked together from both an artistic and practical point of view. Every time you folded or unfolded it, everything still lined up to be a picture. Also, we wanted to incorporate a lot of [Gourley's home state] Alaska into the artwork, which is where all the photos of mountains in the artwork were taken."
www.myspace.com/portugaltheman
