Portugal. The Man

Artist: Portugal. The Man
Country: USA

Genre: Indie/Experimental/Blues/Progressive/awesome

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/portugaltheman

Albums:

[2006] Waiter: ''You Vultures!''

[2006] Devil Say I, I Say AIR EP

[2007] It's Complicated Being A Wizard EP

[2007] Church Mouth

[2008] Censored Colors (320 kbps bitrate)

I started listening to Portugal. The Man when "Waiter.." came out back in 2006, and haven't really stopped since. "Waiter" really is a great album, lots of different styles and tempos. Not much gives you a better feeling than the chorus of "Chicago" where they sing "Burn this burn this burn this fucker down down down, burn this motherfucker down." Lots of upbeat, strange music.

The "It's Complicated..." EP starts with track one being an epic 23 minute song, and tracks 2-10 are that same song divided amongst the tracks so you can listen to each part with ease. " The "Devil" EP contains one song from "Waiters", two songs that were released on their own 7", and a remix of the opening track of "Waiters". Worth it for the two songs released on the 7".

"Church Mouth" is just one catchy motherfucker. End of story. All songs are listenable and all songs are memorable. If "Waiter" is 8.5 out of 10, "Church Mouth" is anywhere from 8-9. Each album is unique and stands alone with its own style.

The recently leaked "Censored Colors" is making a push towards the top of my best of 2008 list, no question. Up there in good company with Kaki King, Sigur Rós and Protest The Hero's albums. A bit quieter than the previous two full lengths, but another entirely unique beast that stands alone.

Over the last few years, Portugal. The Man has been very pro-download. When Church Mouth leaked early, they said on their Myspace: "Go download it. Give yourself the tastes. Feel free." For the leak of this year's Censored Colors, they said "...we are excited to let you all feel welcome to the finding... Give it a listen and let us know what you think! Give it to other bands you love. Share it. Buy it if you can afford. Thank you ." This is what music is about. Of course they want to have people buy it, as they should, but they are in it for the music, even at their own expense. Buy the album when it comes out September 16th. If you don't want to, buy a shirt. If you don't want to, go to a show. Do all three. They deserve it. I usually don't write this much for a band, but they are what this blog is all about. I will be buying the cd, a shirt, and going to the next local show. Do your part.