Shawn Fogel a.k.a. Golden Bloom can do pretty much anything! One thing he seems to be damn good at is picking out nice catchy little tracks to cover. He’s enjoyed some success covering Neutral Milk Hotel with a ukulele (as Neutral Uke Hotel), and now he has created something even more exciting.
Read More »Golden Bloom: Magic Words [mp3]
Radical Face is the moniker held by Ben Cooper, the solo project from one half of Electric President. This project is blends a sound familiar in that band, but with fewer electronics and more orchestration along the lines of eclectic orchestral groups Efterklang and Anathallo, mixed with a little Michael Nau (Page France, Cotton Jones). “Doorways” is similarly melodic and features an off-beat piano. The song is off the band’s latest release, a beautifully crafted, six-song EP called Touch The Sky. Read More »Radical Face: Doorways [Videos]
Now this is the sound that gets me excited. Portland’s Wow & Flutter released Equilibrio! just over a month ago on Mt. Fuji Records and if you have yet to check it out, don’t hesitate. Theirs is a sound you do not want to miss. “The Puget Sound” reminds me of noisy melodramatic 90s rock, packed with dreamy vocals, ringing guitars, and heavy percussion. It’s a sound just as familiar to the northwest (their hometown is Portland, OR) as it is to that era DC. The harmonies are dissonant and emotive, while the music behind is wildly consistent and hypnotic. This is the best thing I’ve heard yet from Wow & Flutter! Read More »Wow & Flutter: The Puget Sound [mp3]
Blackbird Blackbird reminds me a bit of Candy Claws and Golden Ages. All three bands have this chill, surreal electronic sound that’s dreamy and ethereal. “Pure” is a song that will send you into a trance-like haze, a lucid fantasy world parallel to our own. A fitting description of this style of music would be electro-psychedelic, and while it isn’t the best description, there’s reason. This sound defies explanation. Read More »Blackbird Blackbird: Pure [NSFW Video]
When Museum of Bellas Artes covered “Who Do You Love” by Sapphires earlier in the year, the song quickly became a favorite. The band is back with some original tunes, all fitting a relaxed, laid-back electronic sound. It reminds me, at times, of Saint Etienne — but only at times. The band’s new EP is called Days Ahead and it features four excellent tunes, one of which can be seen in video form below. Read More »Museum of Bellas Artes: Days Ahead [Video]
With their well received debut album There Is A Mountain, Brooklyn based band Common Prayer have attained a comforting and familiar sound picturesquely layered with the best of the British folk-pop sensibilities. Banjos, guitars, and strings interweave subtly in and out of one another creating quietly strong songs; tunes that are tattered, windblown, and personable. What really persists in this band’s work however is their touch of quirky instrumental accents (most delightfully present on tracks such as “Commonprayer†and “Marriage Songâ€) that when coupled with an overall somberness in attitude creates a vividly satisfying, back-country imbibed listening experience. Headed up by Jason Russo (also of psychedelic rock band Hopewell) Common Prayer, unapologetic and weathered in their style, is a timely band with staying power. Read More »Common Prayer [Feature]
As always when NSFW appears in the headline, an immediate disclaimer noting that this video is not safe for work must apply. At least, that’s a phrase to make me feel more comfortable. Along the same lines, if you’re under 18, turn away now as your parents will not likely enjoy you watching this video. No Joy. Fitting name for the band of the moment then, but really, is it? I personally don’t feel full frontal, which you’ll see from sexes that begin with the letters M and F, is a very big deal. Not when you can say “shit” on television and when a woman named Carol can take a pickaxe to the head of her soon to reanimate husband’s head (like they did in the most recent episode of The Walking Dead). I digress. No Joy is anything but; this is a band filled with awesomeness, nudity or not. Read More »No Joy: Hawaii [NSFW Video]
I like to think Emmalee Crane and I would get along well. I think this because of her music. It’s unassuming, unpretentious, yet it exists in a completely different realm of thought. It’s down to earth, yet it’s also quite out there. You get that with minimalist music, but unlike her earlier work in Crux, this one has louder peaks. On Formantine, Crane’s latest release, she adds more samples, picking up bits and pieces of spoken word. It’s part eerie and part relaxing, a trait common to the best of the minimalist genre. Read More »Emmalee Crane: Formantine [Album Review]
Oh dear Alexi and your consistently inspiring lyrical madness. Each time you show us a Good Side of Bad, it seems impossible to be even more impressed than the last time. Yes, Alexipharmic is back with a brand new batch of highly intelligent hip hop based words to beat that are guaranteed to make you think as much as you are sure to dance. Although the high pitched glory of his full fledged album American Beauty has long and disappeared into the depths of history, our man brought back that same spirit to his latest volume of self conceited releases known as Good Side Of Bad. Honestly enough, this third volume is not only the best of the series, but the best our man has ever created. Read More »Alexipharmic: Good Side Of Bad Vol. 3 [Album Review]
It appears there is truth behind the popular phrase about time speeding by the older you get. After hitting the ripe age of 30 back in September and taking a nice little road trip from my home north of Seattle to the Southwest town of Albuquerque at the end of that month, time seems to have slipped by with ease. And it appears I haven’t done one of these podcast things since July! Read More »FensePost Podcast Series: FenseCast #4, Time Flies
