The Great Northwest

It’s not a frenetic burst of creative energy, but more of a steady, babbling stream, which is exactly what the band's debut album, The Widespread Reign of the Great Northwest sounds like: a slow, trance-inducing cycle of neo-psychedelia.


Moody and sometimes soaring, the album functions as a fantastic mix of downtempo rhythms... with reverb-soaked Hammond organ, shimmering guitars and trippy harmonies


Brian Coates came up with the idea for The Great Northwest, a mix of up to 20 different musicians, after spending several years working at an electronics factory, where he stole company time to build his own personal synthesizers.

"I decided I'd quit my job and sit in the basement, playing with all the gear I'd acquired over time," Coates says. "I started recording things I'd fuss with on cassette 4-track and old digital programs. After I was happy with a number of them, I made five copies on burned CDs and handed them out to people I held in high regard around [Portland, Ore.], including Herman Jolly from Sunset Valley; Courtney Taylor from The Dandy Warhols; Spike Keating of Swoon, now with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; and Matt Hollywood, who had just recently quit his band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre."


While bouncing between Portland, D.C. and New York, Coates eventually attracted enough interest to record what became The Widespread Reign of the Great Northwest, out now. (NPR, 2007)