Album Reviews

Double Dan: At Dawn [3″ CD Single Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 14, 2009May 13, 2023

The vocal powers behind Double Dan may sound familiar; if they do, massive props are in store. Double Dan’s Malmö origins and Swedish back-story include an impressive incestuous history of great Scandinavian pop groups. Their history trails through The Ambassadeurs, Sambassadeur. Consisting of Dan Eriksson (also of Starlet, September, and occassionally of Club 8), Dan Lindgren (from Alexis and September), and Joakim Ödlund (of Poprace, Starlet, and Acid House Kings fame), Double Dan’s music finds most similarity to Ödlund’s Poprace.

Ron Trembath
April 14, 2009April 14, 2009

So many lights of the past years are beginning to shine brighter than ever once thought. Children from the 80’s are sure to either shun the music of their birth years, or hold onto as fond as their memories of times with their Teddy Ruxpins. Or they could be more like White Lies and take the positives of the past three decades, and completely erase the negatives. This would create more sounds like their highly acclaimed album To Lose My Life. Which is a truly ingenious album begging for all to accept as the future of the past reconciled. Read More »White Lies: To Lose My Life [Album Review]

Owls: Daughters And Suns [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 12, 2009

Despite being released in 2004, â€œAirâ€ off Our Hopes And Dreams by The Owls was one of the frequented songs in my playlist last summer. The song maintains its pedestal spot as “Best Song By The Owls,” despite the recent release of Daughters And Suns. But where Our Hopes And Dreams as a whole maintained brevity in terms of my attention, Daughters And Suns finds the Minneapolis band with many more repeat plays. Read More »Owls: Daughters And Suns [Album Review]

The Legends: Public Radio [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 11, 2009May 13, 2023

The following excerpt was taken from The American Heritage Dictionary: Fourth Edition (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001):

Legend: 1) An unverified popular story, especially one believed to be historical. 2) One of great fame or popular renown. 3) An inscription on an object. 4) An explanatory caption.

There is no telling which definition Johan Angergård chose when he named this group The Legends or even if he had a definition in mind, but he himself can be considered “one of great fame or popular renown” in the world of indie-pop. Also a member of the lovable Acid House Kings, Angergård can also be found alongside Karolina Komstedt in Club 8. Often dubbed “the hardest working man in pop music,” Angergård again brings forth an album that will go down in history as one of the pop greats.

Andy Fenstermaker
April 9, 2009May 4, 2023

In Wizard On Fire, Robert Church comes across as the twee stepbrother of The Radio Dept. “Old Friend” has that overly distorted slash mashed with reverb sound of the much loved Lesser Matters, but the fuzziness lacks the production that kept The Radio Dept. from being slapped with the lo-fi label. But that label works well here; it fits Robert Church & The Holy Community. For the most part, Wizard On Fire is decidedly more pop friendly than Le Rouge, Robert Church And The Holy Community’s last Series II release. It has more flare, more flame, more verbosity.

Cockle
April 8, 2009April 8, 2009

Point Juncture WA chose a fine time to start knocking the cover off of the ball. Their third record, Heart to Elk, has been picked up by Seattle label Mt. Fuji Records and was given wide release in February. Seattle indie radio behemoth KEXP has been wearing down the grooves of Heart to Elk for months. The band is now preparing for a national tour in support of fellow Portlanders The Thermals and the Shaky Hands, to be capped triumphantly by their first Sasquatch gig in May. Their plan for world domination may yet come to fruition. Read More »Point Juncture WA: Heart to Elk [Album Review]

Entertainment For The Braindead: Seven (+1) [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 7, 2009April 8, 2009

In the last Entertainment For The Braindead release, Hydrophobia, it was decided, sans any sort of competent research, that Julia Kotowski created clever electronic folk music. But I stood corrected. It is only seemingly electronic, a swirling of various effects; instead, the music consists of random homemade instruments (“paper bins and pepper mills”), the beautiful feminine voice of Kotowski, and an array of instruments Kotowski taught herself. Read More »Entertainment For The Braindead: Seven (+1) [Album Review]

Red Red Meat: Bunny Gets Paid [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 7, 2009April 5, 2009

With Sub Pop, you never really know what you’re gonna get. Were it any other label, that would be a bad thing, but with Sub Pop they have a consistency of releasing great music. And once again, they deliver with Bunny Gets Paid, which hit stores a few weeks back. Of course, it originally hit stores several years back — this Red Red Meat release is a reissue. Read More »Red Red Meat: Bunny Gets Paid [Album Review]

Bluebridge Quartet: Adjusted For Low Noise Tape [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 6, 2009August 5, 2009

Sometimes all you need is to slap on that scratched up old copy of Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis, pour yourself a stiff glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, and crank up the volume knob. For you jazz enthusiasts out there, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There’s something inherently cool about drinking red wine amidst your record collection while a classic jazz album cracks and pops over your speakers. It’s primo stress relieving material. Read More »Bluebridge Quartet: Adjusted For Low Noise Tape [Album Review]

Weinland: Breaks In The Sun [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 3, 2009March 29, 2009

La Lamentor found John Adam Weinland Shearer splitting his influential loyalties between two masters, Iron & Wine and Neil Young. Not influences to scoff at, no indeed. But on his follow up to that album, Weinland bursts forth as his own in Breaks In The Sun. He has tried a few things, come of age, and discovered that he can carry himself above and beyond his earlier influences. Read More »Weinland: Breaks In The Sun [Album Review]

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