One of my favorite elements of shoegaze is its tendency to combine monumental, spacey guitar riffs with dreamy, oft wispy vocals. Conduits excel at this pairing on their new track "Top of the Hill". Likewise, the typical shoegaze darkness persists, all encompassing but not entirely overwhelming. There's energy here, but it's not the torment so often found in post-rock. Oddly enough, the voice is that of Jenna Morrison (Son, Ambulance), paired with the guitar meanderings of JJ Idt and Nate Mickish, the bass of [...]
"Serpents" is a complete departure from Sharon Van Etten 's early work. Admittedly, I missed her sophomore release, Epic from 2010, but was fully entranced by her debut, 20092s Because I Was In Love . Here, she shatters the quietude of the stripped-down acoustic guitar of that earliest album with a folk-rock piece that is utterly haunting. Musically, "Serpent" may fit the title of her sophomore release, but it's off her new album, Tramp , which was released yesterday via Jagjaguwar . [...]
Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a synth melody, and deep, dark vocals, "Pretender" is a song that is one part Joy Division, one part Craft Spells, and one part its own thing. The song can be found on the band's new EP via Hardly Art . It's called Weight Against The Door and it's out digitally now and on vinyl Valentine's Day. Download: "Pretender" by [...]
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 [...]
I'm no stranger to discovering new music already in my collection. One such band is The Horde And The Harem , who's song "Gold Rush" has been an obsession of mine since I unearthed it a few weeks ago. "Gold Rush" was released on their Harvest EP way back in 2010. So after a quick Google of the band yesterday evening, I discovered they have a brand new LP out (day of, nonetheless!) called A Long Midwinter ... out February 2! From the [...]
"Black Dunes" by This Will Destroy You is a song entirely dark and ghostly. Beginning with subtle sounds, this post-rock meets shoegaze band out of Texas does a great job creating a haunting melody, and their new video for "Black Dunes" capitalizes on their ability to create an eerie song. Malcolm Elijah overlaps black and white footage with surreal results. A typical song is about three and a half minutes long. It takes that amount of time for "Black Dunes" to build to that ever-so-known [...]
![Flying Spiders: Live at Zola [01.21.12]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4029306_lg.jpg)
Long gone are the days when hip hop music was simply about how flashy your car is or how great blood diamonds look around your neck. Nowadays it is more important to have a good head on your shoulders, a great rhythm, and maybe even a live full 8 piece live band? And here in the heartland of the Northwest, there happens to be a fabulous group who has all of these elements and so much more. There are known as Flying Spiders . And they are everything an indie music lover could want in a hip hop act. [...]
I sometimes find the diversity of my own musical tastes a bit bizarre. Just as apt to toss a classic jazz album like Kind of Blue onto the record player, I too have no qualms listening to the loudest of garage rock then switching over to something a bit folky. Especially if it's fringe folk; artists that pack their folk-pop with instruments, take on an old-timey sound, or even head down an art-folk, freak folk, or experimental folk path. Capybara finds themselves among [...]
Portland's Y La Bamba returns Februar 28 with a new record called Court The Storm on Tender Loving Empire . The band has just released "Squawk", the album's opening track, and we hear a similar South American-influenced art folk we received on their debut full-length Lupon from 2010. "Squawk" features harmony vocals, hand claps, and wild melodies. Check out the song below and keep an eye out for the new record! Download: "Squawk" by Y La Bamba
Guy Capecelatro III's last name may be hard to pronounce, but the list of people he's opened for are anything but. This list includes the venerable Elliott Smith, Bill Callahan's SMOG, and the late Vic Chesnutt. Furthermore, he's a frequent collaborator in a current favorite: Brown Bird. Excited yet? I am. "Like Anything" is the opening track of Capecelatro III's new LP, North For The Winter , out February 21. It may be brief at a minute-thirty, but within you'll get a nice percussive shuffle, a musical saw, [...]
Isidore , if you're unaware, is Jeffrey Cain (formerly of Remy Zero) and Steve Kilbey (The Church), with the former on instrumentals and the latter lending vocal expertise. The collaboration came as a surprise, after Cain passed along an instrumental album to Kilbey only to receive it back later with vocals added in. The duo is now poised to release Life Somewhere Else on Valentine's Day. On the album you can find "Song Of The City", a tune that is mesmerizing with Kilbey's deep baritone and dreamy [...]
I wasn't originally planning on doing a show this evening, but decided to take my normal spot behind the microphone anyway. So the playlist didn't begin coming together until the evening of. There was no theme, it was all variety; folk to electronic to noise rock. If you missed it, here's the list: "The Crystal Cat" by Dan Deacon by Spiderman Of The Rings "A Dark God Heart" by Sleep Party People off We Were Drifting On A Sad Song [...]
Sleep Party People is a band that knows how to dominate your emotions, blending elements of post-rock, bedroom pop and shoegaze for a sound both terrifying and beautiful. The video for their song "A Dark God Heart" documents the fragility of life and the sorrow in death. The saying is Innocence is bliss , but I disagree. This video shows there is beauty is loss and tragedy, and as cliche sayings go It's better to have loved and lost, than to never loved at all . This is not [...]
There's something dark and eerie about the opening tracks of Damon Moon's new LP, Lungs, Dirt & Dreams . The title track flirts with dreamy guitars, but not in the sense of the pleasant atmospheric; rather they echo through the darkness, seemingly coming from every direction. And then there's Moon's soft vocals somewhere between a mystery and a (surprise, surprise) whisper. This continues throughout Lungs, Dirt & Dreams . In a way, the album is a bit conceptual. Songs blend into each other, many [...]
I always get excited when something new by Eux Autres comes across my desk. The ex-Portland, now San Francisco brother-sister duo plus third member Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set, Still Flyin') will release a new EP called Sun Is Sunk via Bons Mots Records on February 28. Recorded by Jason Quever (Papercuts), expect Sun Is Sunk to push the boundaries of what you know about Eux Autres. The Larimer siblings (Heather and Nicholas) have always created highly infectious, French-influenced [...]
Seattle and Austin are both towns with very distinct personalities, both as cities and through the musicians that reside within. Yet here is one man - Jack Wilson - that flirts with geography, calling both locations home and melding together the two sounds for a style of folk-based americana rock that is entirely captivating. On his self-titled LP, Jack Wilson bares his innermost self that evokes the wanderer's deep longing for the beauty of new sunsets, picturesque scenes of nature, and the comfort of being in the [...]
I love it when N8 submits his year-end lists. They are unpretentious, span a vast repertoire of genres, and typically include several albums I have yet to hear. N82s 2011 list fits the mold: in fact, I have yet to listen to any of the ones that made the list this year. Now this is not by lack of want or know - I'm familiar with many of the albums, just haven't gotten around to them. Dig in and enjoy! Intro by Fense * * [...]
It finally happened. Winter arrived. Snow fell and we woke up this past Sunday with about three inches of the stuff. I'm glad it didn't arrive earlier, as Friday saw me at KSVR for a four hour stint of music. The first two hours flirted with folk music and the latter half was full-on garage rock, garage pop and psychedelic pop. Much of the 10 to midnight show came courtesy Finest Kiss , who posted some great 2011 lists. Taking [...]
I love it when N8 submits his year-end lists. They are unpretentious, span a vast repertoire of genres, and typically include several albums I have yet to hear. N82s 2011 list fits the mold: in fact, I have yet to listen to any of the ones that made the list this year. Now this is not by lack of want or know - I'm familiar with many of the albums, just haven't gotten around to them. Dig in and enjoy! Intro by Fense * * [...]
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 [...]
Fensepost
My Funny Valentines
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
Lana Del Rey - Without You (Kill Paris Remix) [Dubstep]
Miike Snow - “Paddling Out” Jacques Lu Cont Remix (MP3 Stream)
Iron & Wine and Patty Griffin
