I thought Lost Lander‘s “Cold Feet” sounded familiar. The song appeared on this year’s PDX Pop Now! compilation. But there’s more. Lost Lander is the new band of Matt Sheehy and Brent Knopf (Ramona Falls, Menomena). “Cold Feet” has the sound f Knopf’s other band and his prior band, though a bit more restrained and calculated. Lots of vocal harmonies, precise percussion and intense instrumentation. Read More »Lost Lander: Cold Feet MP3
Let’s just get this out of the way right now, if you ever use the line “you’re the sugar to my tea”, you should be getting laid.  Portland based singer/songwriter Shawn Lawson Freeman definitely knows this.  And when you sing and play guitar in the fashion of Sting or Justin Nozuka, yet have a real depth to your style that comes off more like Neil Young or a happy-go-lucky Elliott Smith, you may have created a “winning” combination.  And on Freeman’s latest project under the surfer friendly pseudonym, Beneath Wind and Waves, we find a master of simplicity moving in a direction that is both sea bound and earth friendly. Read More »Beneath Wind and Waves: Non-etre (Album Review)
There are very few certainties in life. With the economy in a downfall, natural disasters coming from all angles, and the earth slowly warming, it is very easy to become weary about any sort of regularity in this world. But, there is are two certainties you can always count on: 1) you are going to get older and 2) Blitzen Trapper is going to release an album that just gets better and better. Both of these have inevitably happened this year. And however you feel about Number 1, you should be very excited about Number 2. Eric Earley and Company have brought us their 4th album, American Goldwing, just in time for us to remember what is actually cool about living in America. Read More »Blitzen Trapper: American Goldwing (Album Review)
Eclectic pop music and Portland seem to go together like coffee, cigarettes, and Sartre. The branding itself really seems like a rationalization by critics, press gurus, and bloggers alike who can’t seem to fit an artist into a category. And this is probably where an act like the Portland (and the rest of Oregon) based John Craig & The Weekend come into play. And it is suffice to say that this is truly a wonderful characteristic by nature. Versatility is a virtue that should be exploited more often. Read More »John Craig & The Weekend: Numbers (Album Review)
Blitzen Trapper are arguably one of the hardest working (and most estranged in character) bands out today. With a relentless tour schedule that makes you wonder if Eric Earley and crew actually have homes to go back to, and what seems to be an “album a year” strategy going for them, they have definitely earned this title. But, the best is yet to come. Everyone’s favorite indie-folk group is due to release their fourth album, third from Sub Pop Records, very soon! And if “Love The Way You Walk Away” and it’s corresponding video are as impeccably brilliant and personable as the rest of the album, we are shaping up to hear what will be the definitive Blitzen Trapper album. These suave folk-smith warriors always seem to outshine themselves year in and year out. Read More »Blitzen Trapper: Love The Way You Walk Away (Video)
Foosball tournament enthusiast Kevin O’Connor is back under the guise of Talkdemonic with his music-making cohort Lisa Molinaro. The duo has a new album in the mix, and thus a new song for public consumption. That song is “Revival” and it continues Talkdemonic’s steadfast style of somewhat always eclectic, ever loud and clever percussion-meets-strings instrumental genius. The song begins with a light guitar riff before O’Connor opens up on his drum kit and Molinaro adds her touch with eccentric electric strings. Read More »Talkdemonic: Revival MP3
Some artists seem to prefer a sound that is constant, well structured, and predictable in the kindest sense. Krist Krueger, a.k.a. Southerly, is not one of these artists. But this is not to say that he is a frantic-minded artist hell bend on chaos, for he is actually quite the opposite. Krueger simply denies the crutch of conformity by offering up a hundred different tastes and feels of indie pop that he can squeeze into one album. And this is exactly what you will hear on his third release as Southerly, Youth. Read More »Southerly: Youth (Album Review)
Yesterday we covered a new track from Portland folk outfit Death Songs called “Wounds” off the new PDX Pop Now! compilation. We talked a little bit about the band and the song, and had a few words to say about the organization as well. That wasn’t enough; it’s high time I let slip a little something — we here at FensePost have been quiet supporters of the Portland festival. Read More »PDX Pop Now! 2011 Edition
Death Songs is a band out of Portland, featuring members of that city’s folk-pop outfit The Shaky Hands. “Wounds” is vaguely reminiscent of acts like The Shaky Hands and Quiet Life. It’s full on southern-influenced folk that flirts dually with pop and rock, but keeps its roots close. Their song “Wounds”, which I’ve included below, can be found on the latest PDX Pop Now! compilation, which is now available in mp3 format. Read More »Death Songs: Wounds (MP3)
If you noticed an absence of new material on Monday and Tuesday, there’s a reason for that. I took a little bike ride; something called the STP (otherwise known as the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride). It’s a two-day ride spanning a little over 200 miles. I’m now hooked and plan to do two more large rides before summer ends. So seeing the song title “Let’s Go Ride Bikes” by All The Apparatus was all I needed to check out the band. Read More »All The Apparatus (Feature)
