I didn't post at all on FensePost last week. That's crazy. I had been on a roll, pumping out posts on a daily basis, then I hit a wall and needed an immediate break. But my breaks are typically filled with, well, something else. They're aren't true breaks , in the informal-synonym-for-vacation sense of the word. That's right, it was pledge week at KSVR and KSVU. Being pledge week, I came in Wednesday night and sat in on Jackson Stewart's Blue Boulevard and we [...]
The glacially exciting winter touring season started to thaw out and this week and provided an early spring rush of shows that got me out of my winter show-going hibernation. On Sunday, the Fresh & Onlys were up from San Francisco along with Chicagoians Disappears . Disappears are about to release their third and best record Pre Language. It's their first with new drummer Steve Shelley who use to be in some other band called Sonic Youth . Shelley is game for touring with his other band on indefinite hiatus and the Disappears are [...]
After a week away, it was nice to be back in the studio. This week I played several folk-related tunes, a few garage-based ones, and a small handful of indie pop tracks. With the amount of indie-folk I've played of late, I'm thinking we're in store for another dreamy mix and maybe even a garage rock mix in the near future. Andi and I have been on a DIY kick of late and a recent project has been homemade laundry detergent. With the three ingredients displayed in the photo above, along [...]
It's hard to imagine that just a few short months ago we were enjoying sunny summer days. 2011 was my best year yet, having achieved a few milestones: four and a half years running FensePost, riding my bike from Seattle to Portland and logging over 1,000 total on those two wheels between January and December, enjoying life with the love of my life (Andi), and a few defining mindset changes that put the two of us on a path to minimalism and frugality. All of this has led to happiness. That the [...]
It's hard to imagine that just a few short months ago we were enjoying sunny summer days. 2011 was my best year yet, having achieved a few milestones: four and a half years running FensePost, riding my bike from Seattle to Portland and logging over 1,000 total on those two wheels between January and December, enjoying life with the love of my life (Andi), and a few defining mindset changes that put the two of us on a path to minimalism and frugality. All of this has led to happiness. That the [...]
I took a year off from doing a favorite Seattle records list due to lazyitis (sorry Seattle). Here's my top ten records from my fair city for 2011 (sorry Seattle). 1. Seapony - Go With Me ( Hardly Art ) Twee is alive and well in Seattle. Seapony kind of came out of nowhere late last year. They put their debut album out on local label Hardly Art, played countless shows around town and generally put the Northwest back on the map when [...]
I entered the studio at about 9:35pm, meeting up with Stuarto, who has the time slot before mine. A quick interview about 15 minutes before my show, another few songs, and I was up. It was requested that I attempt a transition, and as indie music is my theme, and world music is his, I figured I'd kick things off with an oldie, but goodie: "The Gulag Orkestar" by Beirut. The theme of the evening, loosely, centered around folk. Indie folk, folk pop, folk rock, orchestral folk, experimental folk... [...]
Speaking of awesome local Summer Festivals, multi-use space, gallery and label Cairo are hosting their first annual Vibrations Festival tomorrow at Volunteer Park and it's free. Cairo's put together a stellar line-up of bands from San Francisco to Seattle to kick off the Festival and you'll want to bring your picnic blanket and your dancing [...]
Cairo 's plans for world domination trudge on, with barely a wince or flinch from the destruction left in its wake. This Saturday, August 20th , the multi-faceted art & music venue/boutique/label (you might have heard about their first album here ) enters into the festival fray with a zero dollar admission concert in one of the country's most carefully and beautifully designed urban parks, that of Volunteer. (Designed by a pair of bros. who copied their dad's design of Central Park! Yes, that Central Park! Plus, like, the entire city of [...]
I don't write too many album reviews any more (life!), but that don't mean I haven't been listening to some cool shit so far in 2011. If you, like me, are wondering just where in the hell this year has gone, then maybe you can take solace in the fact that the glass is half empty. There's still 6 months to go! THUSLY, here are some albums that you should at least slightly consider listening to, based on my esteemed, well-worn historical opinions. Kinda organized in descending fashion, and, no, I didn't think the list would [...]
A Chapel Of Roses Teach My Heart Seattle man Charles Leo Gebhardt IV plays in Unnatural Helpers and Idle Times , but he also does the solo thing and has a new album, Begin Again , currently out on ggnzla Records . It’s playful and extremely catchy, with elements of folk and a little gritty, twangy, early country. His first foray into the solo word was his Unfaithful EP in 2009. Check out two tunes from the [...]
Charles Leo Gebhardt was unfaithful back in 2009 and he was so good at it that he's back asking forgiveness and wanting to Begin Again. In case you missed the last installment, Gebhardt's Unfaithful EP came out on the Seattle label GGNZLA two years ago. It was hailed in some dusty corners of the internet as Kinks inspired pop done right. Mr. Gebhardt is back with another bundle of songs he's calling Begin Again. There is no letdown in quality on these eight new songs. Things get off to [...]
![Charles Leo Gebhardt IV: Begin Again [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3342610_lg.jpg)
It's been a while since we've heard from Seattle's Charles Leo Gebhardt IV . Well, that's not entirely true, as last year we got a debut full length from Unnatural Helpers. But his solo project under his own name has been quiet since the release of Unfaithful , the delightfully raw and fun EP from 2008. Begin Again is the new release and it maintains much of what we heard from that previous EP, albeit with a tiny bit more production. [...]
![Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2510201_lg.jpg)
Fronted by Dean Whitmore, Unnatural Helpers ' percussionist and lead vocalist, the band released their LP Cracked Love & Other Drugs this week on Hardly Art . This band of musical misfits have a pretty impressive past and present, having performed in local Seattle acts as Idle Times (Brian Standeford), Charles Leo Gebhardt IV and Catheters (Leo Gebhardt), Intelligence (Whitmore himself), and Hardly Arts very own The Dutchess & The Duke (Kimberly Morrison). Collectively, they go by Unnatural Helpers, and frankly, they rock! [...]
So this is it, the first FensePost Podcast. A few weeks ago I sat down and compiled a mix of various songs; some new, some old, most finding some relation to garage rock or garage pop. Hence the title, From The Garage . The theme is loose, so some bands fit and some don't. There are sixteen songs total here, stemming from local Seattle and Portland acts on across the world. New Zealand, Sweden, Canada... you get the picture. Enough banter - listen to the FenseCast already. [...]
Not surprisingly, this list is filled with EPs by quite a few bands you know and quite a few you probably don't. Of the ones you don't know, many are likely from Washington; a quick count leaves me with five bands, or 1/4 of this list. Many of these bands I consider among the most promising artists to surface in 2009. All are worth checking out, and you'll want to keep an eye on them as we head into 2010. I titled the above image of my cousin Danny [...]
Something that has never happened in my life happened this year. I have never lived anywhere where I can honestly say that my top three favorite records of the year came out of the city in which I reside. It's been an honor, and a delight to live in Seattle this year because I have had the opportunity to see the Intelligence, BOAT and Erik Blood more times than I can count. Usually, if you're lucky you might get one chance to see your favorite band come through your town for a gig. I have had [...]
![Charles Leo Gebhardt IV: Unfaithful [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2132133_lg.jpg)
In defining folk rock, one rarely sees an association made with rockabilly. But it's a pertinent inclusion in the music Charles Leo Gebhardt IV makes. On his recent GGNZLA Records EP, Unfaithful , it's the jangle in his guitar - that almost country sound that definitely fits the rock genre (as opposed to jangle pop). "Look Out, Look In" and "Better At Love" have that old-time 50s rock feel, which fits the rockabilly persona, but it's not nearly as rockin' as some of those artists tend to be, hence the folk [...]
Playing guitar in Seattle bands Idle Times , Unnatural Helpers and T.V. Coahran , you might think that Charles Leo Gebhardt IV (that's a mouthful) had no time to write and record any of his own songs. That is evidently not the case, as Mr. Gebhardt has recently released a five song ep called Unfaithful on Seattle's GGNZLA records . He gets help from Idle Times' Brian Standeford and TV Coahran himself on the record which has warm powerpop feel to it that brings to mind the Kinks [...]
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Daft Punk – “Horizon” (Japan-Only Bonus Track)
Francis and the Lights - "ETC"
