RumbleBlog

After sailing into Bahia de Guanabara nearly two months ago, I’ve spent a large chunk of time exploring Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One thing is for sure, this is not nearly enough time to understand the creative diversity this city harbors. Art is synonymous with Rio and everywhere one goes in this city it’s clear the creative energy is what makes this truly the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City).

Observing art and how it affects the Carioca (a resident of Rio) is not a difficult task. Walking down the street one will find city workers cleaning streets with a hand-held radio strapped to their garbage cans.  A ride on a bus along the street Jardim Botanico (Botanical Garden) will take one past thousands of feet of graffiti decorated walls; evidence of the strong Brazilian hip-hop scene.  While on a walking tour of Centro (downtown district) one will have to negotiate a maze of vendors selling pirated copies of popular music; evidence of music being the second favorite past time (behind futebol, of course).  Attending a futebol (soccer) game at Maracanã stadium is a spiritual experience in its own right, but the spontaneous and synchronized songs and chants of 100,000 crazed fans will elevate a person to self-actualization.

Any visit to Rio is not complete without a Friday or Saturday in Lapa, an influential bohemian neighborhood in the 50’s and 60’s, it is now a district of mostly bars and clubs. Revelers imbibe in abundant R$1.00 (about USD$.60) cerveja (beer) while dancing up and down the streets in search for the soul of the samba song. Old mansions, typical of row houses in New York or San Francisco, provide cheap drinks and excellent samba beats while listeners, drinkers, and music notes spill into the streets.

While in Lapa, one cannot help but make the observation of an abundance of young people. Naturally young people are attracted to music, drinking, and a social scene, however, why samba? Samba–similar in its traditions, developments, history, and foundations (and to some extent style and sound) to American Jazz, country western, blues, and folk–surely cannot attract hoards of young people the way dance-pop, dance, house, electronica, hip-hop, and trance attract young people in the USA. Lapa and samba is the equivalent of a Chelsea full of folk. It just doesn’t work.

Well, it works in Rio. Young Cariocas have embraced their culture and tradition to make for one of the most dynamic and exciting music scenes in the world. If you’re in Rio, Lapa is a must even if you’re not here for the weekend party. Go if you can, but be prepared to dance. And, although samba is the predominant genre, forró, MPB, hip-hop, rock, dance, electronica, and top-40 can all be found. (Linguistic note: in Brazilian Portuguese words leading with ‘r’ are pronounced as an English ‘h.’ So, rock is hawk, Rio is Hio, real, the currency, is hee-ow, and yup, you got it right, Rumblefish is Humblefish.)

I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to show my support for the music genre Brazilians and young Cariocas love so much. In a world where western ideas and culture are often forced upon other nations, Brazil has kept true to its roots (hoots) and embraced its own traditional culture. Brazil, you rule. Or rather, you hule.

Brazilian music gathers cues over hundreds of years from cultures across the globe and the Brazilian music scene is one of the most diverse and developed in the world today. Brazilian music derives its sound from American jazz, English rock, African tribal beats, Spanish bolero, Italian blues, Mexican folk, Trinidad & Tobago’s Calypso, and to a lesser extent, the indigenous peoples of South America.

Brazilian musical styles and genres include bossa nova, samba, MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira), forró, chorro, axé, tropicalismo, and many more.

The late 1920’s produced Carmen Miranda, the first Brazilian to reach international fame on the music and movie scene. Famous for her hilariously flamboyant outfits and fruit-filled hats, she’s widely credited with defining samba and setting the foundation for future generations of samba lovers:

In the late 1950’s after recording a few of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s songs, João Gilberto and Tom Jobim become the founders of the international sensation called bossa nova (literally, new way). Tom Jobim’s international song successes include “Desafinado,” “Águas de Março (Waters of March),” and of course “Garota de Ipanema (Girl of Ipanema),” which Frank Sinatra made famous in the USA:

One cannot discuss foundations of bossa nova without mentioning Baden Powell. Powell’s success came from a new sound of guitar that blended classical maestro techniques with modern pop beats:

Heitor Villa-Lobos is the most famous classical composer from Brazil. With his nationalistic ideals and fiercely Brazilian characteristics, Villa-Lobos produced some of the world’s finest musical pieces using the love of country as inspiration. Here is David Russell interpreting Choro No. 1:

The Rumblefish Music Licensing Store provides many good examples of Brazilian musical styles. I’ve compiled my favorites below.

Samba has evolved over the years to include many different styles and sticking to its origins would limit this beautiful genre. This playlist provides a good example of how artists have used the genre’s fundamentals to create a truly unique and modern sound.

Virtually anything by artist Valdo Silva provides a good understanding of modern samba sounds. His song “Blues de Adeus” shows hints of bossa nova.

Artist Riovolt has developed an interesting sound by taking the best from Brazilian music. Elements of bossa nova, samba, forró, choro, Afro-Brazilian, and MPB can be heard in their unique style.

“Miao Brazil” by The Shiffers has an electro samba feel with Jackson 5 flair. Their song “Asa Nisi Masa” mixes tropicalismo with modern samba and utilizes instruments and lyrical style typically found in bossa nova.

A playlist containing bossa nova style tracks. Some songs have their own electronic twist or are a fusion of other genres and styles, but the basic elements of bossa nova are there: a pretty woman in a slinky red dress laying on top of a black baby grand piano and with smooth jazzy beats in the background of a dark, smoky, and hip urban lounge.

Although from Portland, Oregon, March Fourth Marching Band would not disappoint the 100,000+ people who fill the Sambadromo every year for Carnival.

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Check out some of the licensing activity that went down in May and June.

AMC - Promos
Black Eyed Stranger by Antler
Days End by Brandtson
Sith vs Jedi by DJ Armbuster Lewis
Burn It Down by Even The Odd
Intense by His Boy Elroy
A Night In The Park by John Kelley
Gold Pop Maze by Mood Area 52
Ready To Battle by Raging Family
The Ballad of the Smoking Gun by Tigers and Monkeys
Swat by Underbiz

48 Hour Film Project
Concerto For Violin and Orchestra in D Major-Allegro Giocoso by Brahms
I’m Bad by Cotton Jenny
These Are The Beeps by Yoko Solo
Green Pea by Caitlin Reilly
Liquid Smoke (Gets In Your Eyes) by Pillow Fighter
Cold Lake by Veloce
Son of Sam by superGARAGE
Natural Wonder by Pat Kelley
Holocaust by Ennio Morricone
Sesso In Confessionale Seq. 7 by Ennio Morricone
Oh The Miles, Oh The Roads by Day of Lions
Remembrance by 4 West
Unhappy by Dirtybomb
The Lady of Glassel A Love Story by Brian Carter
Wait For A Story by Ivan Rosenberg
What Lies Ahead by Bryan Ingram
Candy Man by Raging Family
Spider Song by Shaunna Hall
Don’t Belong by Stereo 360
Here We Go by Masonic
Best Friends by The Unknown
Bonafide Xtreme by RedCloud
Native Steppin by Professor Ace
Saturate by Perfume Tree
Blink of An Eye by Haitz
Loop Station by Shaunna Hall
Driving Song by Teddy Goldstein
Zombie Car Chase by The Young Werewolves
Morocco Dance by Thornton and Ramzy
Cricket by Rob Denunzio
Wonderland by Rye Hollow
I Think I’ll Be A Good Ghost by Say Hi To Your Mom
August by Perfume Tree
Wake (reprise) by Perplexa
Monty Suspance by Piero Montanari
Too Dark To See by Ponticello
Drunken Frog Wrangler by Mood Area 52
Black Sunglasses by Mount Sims
Scaring Little Girl by Nicola Piovani
When The Flood Recedes by Matthew Voth
Good Man by MG!
Devil’s Own Highway by Mike Coykendall
Tachyon Directive by Jonn Serrie
Deep Undercover by Leo Der Stepanians
Baby by March Fourth Marching Band
Ghosts of Havana by Harvie S
Sad Days by His Boy Elroy
Solemn by His Boy Elroy
Intense by His Boy Elroy
Mr. Jeopardy by Dominik Hauser
What Made Me Kill by Drunken Prayer
Sfinge by Ennio Morricone
Tell Me That My World is Pink and Not Blue by Uni
No Reply by Yorgos Kazantzis
Spring Jig-St. Patricks Day by Tim Twiss
Tema Bambino by Walter Rizzati
82nd Ave Strut by Teddy Presberg
Sugar Power Theme by Sugar Power
To The Bitter End (I’ll be With You) by Signal To Noise
Film Noir 3 by Chris Walden
Frog… Secret Agent by 3 Leg Torso
Pope Of Poortown by 3 Leg Torso
Down So Long by Anandi
When It Rains by Anna Coogan and North19
What Lies Ahead by Bryan Ingram
Rebirth by Darko Saric
As Sexual by Diving Reflex

Trikilis Productions - TV Show Juliette Frett
Say You Believe by Amanda Kaletsky
The First Time by Castella

Trikilis Productions - TV show Laura Croft
Faster by Ride Your Bike
Freedom by Fresh Digress

Kraquehaus Productions - videoblog
Source of Aahh by Amani vs Teapot

IFC Entertainment - Diminished Capacity movie trailer
Slow Down Chicago by Canasta

Pete Cabrinha - Catalyst webisode
10,000 Years of Revolution by Greenleaf
Track 14 by Khromozomes
String Theory by His Boy Elroy
Intent by His Boy Elroy
The Quickening by His Boy Elroy
Whirled by His Boy Elroy
Good Time by Lord Runningclam
Into the Sun by Dixie Witch
Interlude - See World by Copperpot
Fall Away by Ming + FS
Bending Red by Ming + FS

Human + Nature - United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania internet advertisement
Good Day by Ultrababyfat
Spoken By Rights by Rye Hollow

The Wiebners - wedding video
The Nest and the Wind by Jettie
To Show You My Love by Mike Schmid

Borrowed Blue Photography - wedding slideshow
Lucky In Love by Teddy Goldstein
The Masons Apron by Helen O’Hara

Podango Productions - podcast
Drive Thru Lover by the Ums
Tra-Veglia E Sonno by Leonid Nosov
The Marriage by Cex

Jason Baalman - videoblog
Grumpy Old Men by Teddy Goldstein

Jon Outlaw - event background music
Breathe by Rob Simonsen

Kirsten Brownrigg - videoblog
Micolean by Rye Hollow
Happiness by Mike Kelleher
Footsteps by RaRa Avis
The White Lady by Llewellyn
The Mother by Llewellyn

Media Tech Designs - Hunting Channel promo
Devils Riff by Puny Human

Icon Motorsports - No Limit webisode
Down Slide by Ming + FS

Joe Umali - Wolf Wake videoblog
Organic (Original Mix) by Othello

Sprint Featues - Sustaining Life film
Simkethile by Mamelang

IFC Creative Service - Dot Com Promo Package
Mo Bigg Thangs by Kool and the Gang

Idealist.org - podcast
Mothball Fleet by Desert City Soundtrack

Outpost Digital - Nike Battle Grounds
Punk Industry by Jason M

Viva Filmworks
TV Show by The Shiffers

Luke Taylor - videoblog
Beautiful Instrumental by Secrets in Stereo
Sitara by Mike Kelleher

Groupe Dynamite - webisode
Take What’s Mine by Baumer

Andre Pelletier - Internet video download
Good Ya Ya by Fuz

University of San Diego - Peace Be With You ad
Hy and the FFO by Hyim

Euro RSCG Edge - Astrive Financial Aid Demo
Indie City by Michael Hampton

Louder Than 11 - We Call Him Jedi film
Epic 001 by Ming + FS

Women In Film and Media - MissJustice film
Initiation by Phil Thornton

ESPN - X-Games Brazil
We Won’t Stop feat. Just.Live, G-Notes by DJ Morphiziz
Are You Lovin It feat. Exilian, Malachi Perez. Sean Slaughter by DJ Morphiziz
Best Defense by Face To Face
Alone In Cologne by The Velocet

John Burke - videogram
Loved You Enough by Yonder Mountain String Band

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Richard Jankovich (Director of Licensing) and Dan Holmes (Licensing Stud) attended the Promax BDA conference in NYC this week to get the word out about our great music. The attendees were thrilled to hear about how Rumblefish makes licensing real music by real artists as easy as working with a music library. We demonstrated our 20,000 song catalog and explained the benefits of our service to anyone who would listen.

Here is Richard evangelizing indie music to a Promax attendee while Dan makes deals in the background - Making it happen!

To top it off, there is a great article in USA Today about how important bands are to messaging.

Click to read “Ad Track: Jingles out, cool songs in”

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According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, minigolf originated in Scotland in 1867 after women had become interested in the game of golf but, “the conservative social norms of the era deemed it unacceptable for women to publicly perform such violent movements that a golf swing requires,” and as you all know minigolf has been a “woman’s game” ever since. We here at Rumblefish like to switch things up and question stereotypes. The game isn’t just for women anymore and the men of Rumblefish were going to prove it in a cutthroat game of 3-D blacklight minigolf. Both men and supportive women gathered last Friday to break down the gender walls of minigolf and challenge ourselves in new ways.

Of course, before we could break through the minigolf glass ceiling, we had to enjoy some season-appropriate drinks at our nearby country club, DragonFish. The standard Rumblefish attire is jeans and a t-shirt, which wasn’t going to cut it at the upscale club. Luckily, Brian Rupp our creative director, had 16 extra mock turtlenecks on hand for us to borrow. Once properly dressed, we had our fill of pineapple mai-tais, strawberry daiquiris and four helpings of coconut shrimp and were then ready to confront the oppressive minigolfers at Glowing Greens.

Six stories beneath Portland, therein lies one of the city’s best kept secrets, marked only by a pirate statue. We were drawn in by the sounds of early ‘90s Reggae-Punk-Ska wafting out of the glass doors. We traversed what seemed like an endless number of stairs and entered a strange underground club filled with the most elite minigolfers in the city. Glowing “shrieking shacks” and mermaids awaited us as we picked our teams, our fluorescent golf balls and our putters. Team Awesome had a solid start, with three well-trained women on their team; however, an altercation with a moose head statue got them disqualified.

Team X made the only Hole-In-One of the night and the inexperienced men seemed to be naturals at the game. Team Legend ultimately won with team leader Zach earning a score of 70 over an entire 18 holes. The win was bittersweet for Zach who broke his ankle in a minigolf-related injury in 2002 and had also dreamt of playing minigolf as a child when it was, of course, illegal for him to do so. When asked how he felt about his win, Zach said “After my injury I thought I may never play again. This is a great day for all little boys out there, dreaming of playing minigolf, and also for Team Legend. Without their support, I would not be where I am today.”

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Rumblefish’s stellar Licensing Team (Paul, Richard and Dan) had a fruitful visit to New Orleans to attend the NCTA Cable Show last week. We mingled with some of our clients and met with some potential new clients. Our “Kick The Canned Music”-flavored booth was a hit - we got lots of great feedback. We also found a stuffed lamb in a park.

Next stop for the licensing team is Promax (NYC, June 17, 18, 19), the marketing and promotions conference for TV and Cable companies. We have a booth there as well so come and visit!

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Here is a look at some of the projects our clients have been working on, as well as the music that was licensed for them.

Podango - podcast
Tight with Lasso by Absolute, Mr. Tru and Ill Harmonics
All Sons of Bitches by George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars

Matthew McRostie - wedding DVD
Jamaica Man by Action Figures

Borrowed Blue - wedding DVD
I Wanna See You by Spitfire

Doug Plummer - videoblog
Flight of the Bumble Bee 2 by Rimsky-Korsakov

Silicon View - AdTech Event background music
Feels Alright by Black Tangerine
Home by Charlie Campbell
Apartments and Alcohol by Dignen
The Gift by Diving Reflex
Take You There by Black Tangerine
Through the Asteroid Belt by Knee Jerk Reaction
Innkeeper by Luigi
13 States by Michael Meanwhile
California by Micheal Meanwhile
Knock Me Over by Michael Meanwhile
Sun and Stars by Michael Meanwhile
This Glorious Forward by Perplexa
Dublow Bone by Perplexa
Hit by Perplexa
Wonderland by Rye Hollow
Be by Samantha Murphy
I Wanna Go Home by Samantha Murphy
Miss Takes by Samantha Murphy
Silent and Still by Samantha Murphy
Original by Stereo 360
Plastecine by Stereo 360
Radio Parade by Stereo 360
Sick of You by Stereo 360
Number 11 by Stereo 360
Five Year Rut by superGARAGE

The Wiebners - videoblog
Lullaby #1 by Ships To Roam
Crying by Muckafurgason

AJ Alexander - tv show
Runnin Away by Black Tangerine
When I Was Young by superGARAGE

48 Hour Film Project
What Lies Ahead by Bryan Ingram
The Food Song by Gary Reynolds
12 by Lee Baby Sims
Altitudes by Mike Coykendall

Godfrey Entertainment - 199 Lives
Tight With Lasso by Mr. Tru and Ill Harmonics
Soliliquy by Anything But Joey
AMC by Barry Brusseau
To The Edge by Bryan Ingram
Battle Front by Bryan Ingram
Grace by Bryan Ingram
Until It Dies by Burning The Day
Frail by Burning The Day
Ady’s Song by Colin Lake
Last Swim of the Year by Daniel G. Harmann
Rebirth by Darko Saric
Drifting Along by Darko Saric
From The Outside by Dignen
Next To Go by Down By Law
Better Days by Dylan In The Movies
Never Gone by Even The Odd
Solitaire by Face To Face
Say We Can by Five Horse Johnson
Soul Digger by Five Horse Johnson
Water by Haitz
Snakeskin Boots by Janey Todd
Dr. Sudholt and His Double Glasses by Latterman
The Day I Gave In by Mission To Mars
Speechless by Neil Rambaldi
Bury Me Alive by Novadriver
Too Early, Too Late by Perfume Tree
Velvet Tone by Ponticello
Charlie Tanner by Rob Simonsen
Flowersandfireflies by Samantha Murphy
Dropping Names by Scorched Earth Policy
I’m Lost by Seahorse
Changes by The Dashboard Saints
From Afar by Wake Ooloo
Afraid by Wow and Flutter

ABC - Men In Trees
Gotta Be a Better Way by The Burning Effigies
Things Don’t Just Happen by The Burning Effigies

FX - The Riches
Shine Eyed by Five Horse Johnson

Colorado State Lottery
Friday Night Song by Masonic

Smart Set - Eye Candy ‘08 event music
HHRB 022 by Ming + FS

Sockeye Creative - Concordia internet animation
Endless Summer Day by Socialight

AMC Promos
Can’t Hold Me Down by Karate High School
Black Eyed Stranger by Antler
Noche De Fiesta by DJ Morphiziz
The Demon by Drunken Prayer
Days End by Brandtson
Burn It Down by Even The Odd
The Ballad of the Smoking Gun by Tigers and Monkeys
Sith Vs. Jedi by DJ Armbuster Lewis
Trouble Crunk by Raging Family

Sparq Training video
Bring On The Competition by R and R

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Here’s something I am proud to claim addiction to. This product has gone and perfected upon the fundamental life force – H2O – taking the most essential of the earth’s liquids to a whole new level. As Glaceau claims on Bev.Net, it has crafted “an approach to water that is inspired by nature and enhanced by science.” Vitamin Water seems to do everything short of imparting superpowers.
The bright, eye-candy colors satisfy our childlike yearning for Kool Aid yet are packed full of walloping nutritional goodies like: acai (that uber-antioxident) niacin, magnesium, potassium, pomegranate, zinc, folic acid. The good news is they don’t look too good for you like some of those other “healthy” drinks — swamp water in a can. But boy do they ever look powerful…. those phosphorescent bottles nearly leap off the shelves. These babies go down smooth, light and fruity; and with their emphasis on nutritional benefits, they do their work. According to the manufacturer, each Vitamin Water beverage is targeted toward a specific health and wellness benefit (boosting energy, alleviating stress, bolstering the immune system). The drinks are high-nutrient, low-carb, electrolyte screamers and some of the series are scientifically engineered to make your body run so efficiently you actually lose weight. You read that right. Thirsty yet?

I love the no-nonsense packaging delivering fresh, clean, bold graphics along with the medicinal tone and cheeky, prescription-like advice dispensed on the labels. The fun colors combined with those workhorse ingredients, the nature/science balance, and the fun for me/good for me duality; all those contrasts work brilliantly together. I love it that the fit, happy field reps show up and pass out free bottles of this stuff at public events. You care! You really do. And I love that about you guys.

That said, I’d like to spike my serenade with one nagging question: What does the Vitamin Water brand sound like?
Who’s minding the store when it comes to making your overarching sonic decisions? What’s the sonic strategy?
With such meticulous insight into your other messaging tools, why the apparent hiccup here? For example, why is the Vitamin Water van in my neighborhood rocking the same Michael Jackson jam that’s in the competition’s commercial? This uncharacteristic inconsistency just doesn’t feel like the keen, clean focus I’ve come to expect from Vitamin Water. How do you want your customers to feel, what do you want them to experience on the most visceral level when your van passes by? Circling back to your mission statement, what does science-meet-nature sound like? Does it even sound like music at all?

We all know this sonic stuff works in an off-the-charts way. Just think back to the simple droning ice cream truck tune that turned kids into Pavlovian zombies, tearing through suburban streets. I still have the urge to bolt from the house and empty my mom’s wallet when I hear that sound.

So Vitamin Water, you’re exhibiting big-digit growth. You’re well on your way to achieving cult brand status (if you haven’t already). You’ve obviously been drinking your own medicine. Here’s a friendly nudge toward being more authentic, consistent and purposeful about your sonic expressions as well. And you won’t just have us drinking —we’ll be walking on —Vitamin Water. ☺

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Paul Anthony, Rumblefish CEO & Founder (we call him Big Fish) & Samantha Murphy interview each other on SMtv Episode #89 released Friday May 16, 2008. SMtv also plays 4 tracks out of the Rumblefish boutique catalog which, seriously, are friggin’ fantastic tracks. I’m still learning the catalog, and SMtv #89 introduced me to 3 tracks (and bands) I am proud to represent: Say Hi, Oh Darling, Mike Schmid & of course Samantha Murphy is also a proud Rumblefish member. Paul and Samantha discuss the “meaty center” of the Long Tail and how the Rumblefish business model fosters a New Music Economy. Congrats on another great episode of SMtv, Samantha! Listen and subscribe to SMtv on iTunes right here. photo courtesy of SMtv on flickr.

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It’s true. I’ll admit it on the rumbleblog. I was in a bit of a conference slump. I regularly attend meetups, conferences, I moderate or sit on panels…and thus far I have been continuing to listen, collect and dole out business cards, take notes, formulate ideas, draw pretty venn diagrams, build strategies, write theory…but so far in 2008 something was missing from the conference circuit. Academically, a few more well-known conferences (not naming names…) left me a bit empty this year - a lot of regurgitation of principles, theories and technological nuance already discussed in depth during 2006 was glossed over - again - in 2008; it almost felt….well, as though the academic side of the New Music Economy was dumbed down. I hate to use such terms, i realize the difficult task of guiding a creative industry into a new economy supplemented by technology and the collective Cognitive Surplus of music consumers. So I’ll leave it at this: my conference “slump” was not disinterest, but rather….boredom. Much of this boredom was remedied by a very successful conference recently in Montreal: Les Rencontres, where cultures merged to define both the state of a global music industry as well as the music industry in France, Quebec and Canada. And finally the slump was eliminated, in its entirety, at SF Music Tech, last thursday, May 8, 2008, where there was a true union between Music + Tech…one that had not been tapped by most of the conferences I’ve attended since January. Finally, Finally, Finally (!!!!) there were panels so compelling that overtime was demanded. Proudly, I sat in on discussions specifically for engineers at music-tech companies (I learned about Laszlo) running parallel and perpendicular to new discussions about the very meaty middle of the long tail, the new music economy, artists & activism, streaming technology, copyright problems and how to [try to] fix them, and an interview with Tim Ferriss (author of NYT Bestseller The 4 hour work week) by CD Baby Founder & friend Derek Sivers (known to work a 110 hour work week). Kudos to Brian Zisk of Future of Music Coalition for putting together a conference which reminded me there’s no room for boredom in a forward thinking industry. Every room during the 3-track summit was packed with standing room only. Coffee, water, snacks and wine were flowing. Rumblefish was proud to provide all the music throughout the day and join our cohorts in the industry for a stimulating and thought provoking conference. Next up in my world of conferences: Popkomm 2008 in Germany? Gnomedex ‘08 in Seattle? Future of Music Summit in DC? we’ll see…..I’ll be the first to let you know!

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Yes, Rumblefish is located in the Pacific Northwest. Far be it for us to be anything cliché—but ask the question of whether or not we fit the Pacific Northwest mold and we can’t deny it; we are clearly members of this coffee-loving sector of the nation.

“Office coffee” is notoriously wretched, at least from my own experience. It’s not something I’ve ever ventured to rely on, no matter how much French Vanilla-flavored creamer I might stir in. So upon joining the Rumblefish crew, I didn’t look twice at the coffee in the kitchen. It was a no-brainer that I’d simply go on a daily sojourn in search of that “good” elixir.

Well, the powers that be deemed it necessary to make our in-house coffee something delightful, something delectable—something we as employees could look forward to. And what better way than to have a democratic selection. Last week, we invited the kind folks at Percasso to conduct a blind tasting of 6 different blends for us to mull over. We sipped, we sniffed, we oohed and ahhd and placed our votes. We hoped to god that we weren’t unknowingly favoring Folgers crystals (hidden cameras, anyone?). C was the early frontrunner, quickly to be edged out by D.

A clear winner, it was later revealed that D was none other than the house blend of Portland sensation, Stumptown. We were already Stumptown fans, so naturally our taste buds flocked to the local faves. C, the close second which we are also keeping in stock, happened to be Portland Roasting Company’s Guatemalan blend.

Might I say, the kitchen is now quite a flurry of happy, caffeinated Rumblefishers. Don’t be surprised to find us bouncing off the walls at around 3pm.

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