The Bay Bridged, Volume 2

Five of the best indie rock, experimental pop and folk rock bands from the San Francisco Bay Area have come together for a unique 10″ picture disc release to benefit local indie music nonprofit The Bay Bridged. Headlined by stunning new material from Oakland heroes Rogue Wave, the compilation, titled The Bay Bridged, Volume 2, features new songs recorded exclusively for the album by Rogue Wave, Emily Jane White, Birds & Batteries, Two Sheds and Okay. It’s a diverse batch of songwriters united by a high quality and eclecticism that’s unmistakably influenced by the unique place they all call home.

As a picture disc, the 10″ features artistic contributions from two of the Bay’s best underground visual artists, making the record stimulating visually and aurally. As an added bonus, while a vinyl-only release, every record comes with a digital download coupon for high quality mp3s of all five songs.

Full album stream:

Tracklisting:

Side “Tree”

1. Rogue Wave – “Empress” (2:41)
2. Emily Jane White – “Liza” (4:11)
3. Birds & Batteries – “Lightning” (5:36)

Artwork: “The One” by Lawrence Yang

Side “Bear”

1. Two Sheds – “Good Intentions” (5:42)
2. Okay – “Goal” (6:49)

Artwork: “Ursidae Foliaceous” by Nathalie Roland

Principal recording for all songs completed at Tiny Telephone Studio on September 6, 2008 and Faultline Studio on September 7, 2008 by Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, 31 Knots, countless others). Additional recording and mixing completed individually by the bands. Mastering by John Greenham.

About the bands:

Rogue Wave have established themselves as one of the Bay’s most popular musical exports, with acclaimed records on Sub Pop and Brushfire Records, and songs featured in a variety of television shows and commercials. With the band plotting their next album after spending 2008 on the festival circuit, they dropped into the studio to record “Empress,” an exclusive song for this compilation that’s got a Velvet Underground stripped-down quality to it while retaining the knack for atmospherics and vulnerable melodies that make the band such a crowd-pleaser. It’s a unique song to kickoff a very unique album.

Emily Jane White’s gothic folk-rock debut Dark Undercoat (Double Negative/Talitres Records) has won critics’ and fans’ ears in the US and abroad. “Liza” combines moody strings and White’s commanding voice into a haunting mini-epic. “[C]omes alive with enough gothic imagery for an Edgar Allan Poe novel.” (Rolling Stone’s ‘Hot Issue’) “White gives her wounds names and turns them into living characters, able to break hearts or carry axes. She personifies and abstracts them.” (The Fader)

Birds & Batteries have built a national following the old fashioned way, through numerous cross-country tours and an electronic country-rock genre-bleeder in I’ll Never Sleep Again. “Lightning” represents the first hints of what their next album might sound like, and it defies classification, weaving a tapestry of heavy, uplifting and awe-inspiring moments into one amazing work. “[A]ching electro-country anti-lullabyes” (Spin.com) “A pleasure to behold, on album and in a live setting…You won’t be disappointed.” (Crawdaddy) “This is an album so gorgeous I find myself playing it over and over…[O]ne of the best things I’ve heard this year.” (Future Sounds)

Sacramento-San Francisco quartet Two Sheds’ self-titled EP (Filter US Recordings) and appearance alongside Rilo Kiley and Blonde Redhead on Give, Listen, Help IV have built intense buzz for the band’s atmospheric country-tinged rock, and “Good Intentions” is an ambitious, dynamic addition to the band’s arsenal of songs. “[T]he music here is too good not to share with others.” (Delusions of Adequacy) “The critics lay comparisons to Mazzy Star, Lucinda Williams, Cowboy Junkies, VU and Nico – good road signs on the way to Two Sheds. Cool stuff.” (Tape Op Magazine)

Chamber pop mad scientist Okay created some introspective gems on Huggable Dust (Absolutely Kosher), and “Goal” is the rare masterpiece that manages to be as engaging as it is sprawling. “What makes Okay’s genre-hopping pop so compelling is that push and pull between the literally visceral and the transcendent.” (PrefixMag.com) “Huggable Dust is a shamelessly personal affair that succeeds as much because of Anderson’s gift for pop atmospherics as his wide-swinging emotional outpourings.” (Pitchfork Media)