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.

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.

Early in May, the girlfriend and I drove out to the Pullman/Moscow area in Eastern Washington and Western Idaho. I love this drive, as you see so many distinct types of land, and the weather was near perfect. The reason for this tirade is that we must have listened to “The Honest Truth” by Typhoon about 30 times over that weekend trip.

Typhoon is an eleven piece ensemble band from Portland, OR. With their album Hunger and Thirst (produced with Portland’s incredible label Tender Loving Empire), they’ve garnered quite a bit of positive attention, none of it undeserved. Named for a Nietzsche thought, Typhoon create songs highly emotive and visceral in both structure and theme. Their music is an intelligently crafted exploration of what we feel and why we feel it. From beginning to end the album satisfies.