I got pulled over tonight. Nothing big, just a bad taillight. The cop may have thought I was trying to evade him, pulling into the dark, always vacant Skagit Valley College parking lot late on a Friday night. As soon as I rounded the corner, his lights went on.
Read More »Fense’s Radio Show: February 10, 2012 
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. Read More »Conduits: Top of the Hill
“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, 2009’s Because I Was In Love.
Read More »Sharon Van Etten: Serpent (First Listen) Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a… Read More »Black Marble: Pretender
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. Read More »Fense’s Radio Show: February 3, 2012
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! Read More »The Horde And The Harem: Feature
“Black Dunes” by This Will Destroy You is a song entirely dark and ghostly. Beginning with subtle sounds, this post-rock… Read More »This Will Destroy You: Black Dunes
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. Read More »Flying Spiders: Live at Zola [01.21.12]
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. Read More »Capybara (Feature)
Portland’s Y La Bamba returns Februar 28 with a new record called Court The Storm on Tender Loving Empire. The… Read More »Y La Bamba: Squawk
