Andy Fenstermaker is a music lover, writer, marketing professional, and entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to sharing his passion for music with others. He is the founder of FensePost, a renowned music blog that has been sharing the latest and greatest in indie music since 2006. Andy has always been fascinated by the power of music to connect people, and he started FensePost with the aim of sharing his love of music with others. Andy developed a passion for music at a young age. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Andy grew up surrounded by a vibrant music scene that left an indelible mark on him. He attended Washington State University, where he studied Communication and Business. He holds a BA in Communication and a Masters in Business Administration. After graduating, Andy started writing about music and created FensePost as the outlet. The blog has a strong focus on indie music, but also covers a range of other genres including folk, indie pop, psychedelic, garage rock, and experimental. Andy and the blog relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in 2020.
I introduced you to Belgian Fog back in April. At the time, not much could be found on main man Robert Dale’s project. There was his song “Wait For Help” and a Facebook page with a handful of posts, and an equally minimal Twitter account. Not much has changed in five months, but Belgian Fog does have a new track. Read More »Belgian Fog: You Drive Me to Madness
Campfire Songs by The Men is among the most appropriate album titles of the year (perhaps being topped only by Ty Segall’s LP Sleeper). It was indeed recorded outside, under stars with a crackling fire keeping the clan warm. It found this band — often classified in a variety of genres from noise rock to post-punk — stripping away all electronics for something entirely acoustic.
Read More »The Men: Campfire Songs EP
I’ve become hypnotized. Haunted. Unsuspectingly allured. There is darkness / In every inch of my veins / In every pleasure, in every pain, coos King Khan with a high-pitched and heartfelt falsetto in “Darkness”, a bluesy, jazzy, laid back garage-pop ballad. The words are gripping amidst blaring soulful saxophones and trumpets. It’s enough to melt you inside. Read More »King Khan & the Shrines: Idle No More
Pablo Padovani, son of cult jazz musician Jean-Marc Padovani and guitarist for Melody’s Echo Chamber, goes solo with Moodoïd. Somewhat reminiscent of the erratic nature of GOAT (at least in “De Folie Pure”) and the modern glam Of Montreal has come to encompass, with Moodoïd Padovani creates a mash-up of world music and psychedelic pop. And it’s all in French. Read More »Moodoïd: De Folie Pure (NSFW Video)
Right off Ducktails‘ January release of The Flower Lane, the side project of Real Estate’s Matt Mondanile is back with five-song EP Wish Hotel. Immediately Mondanile lays it on thick in “Tie-Dye”, with a consistent cymbal ride, heavy beats and that signature laid-back vocal styling of which Real Estate is so fond. It’s a sound that blends electronic traits with those of psychedelic. Mondanile retracts from the direction he took with The Flower Lane, returning Ducktails to solo status. Read More »Ducktails to release Wish Hotel EP October 23
Channeling a mid- to late-era rendition of The Beatles, at least in the closing track (“The Ballad of Little Jane”) off his recent LP Cabinet of Curiosities, Jacco Gardner‘s music has most frequently been alluded to as a modern rendition of 1960s psychedelia. I’d agree; it’s what drew me to “The Ballad of Little Jane” back in February. Next month, Gardner will grace the West Coast, hitting all the normal hotspots. Read More »Jacco Gardner Visits the Northwest is Support of “Cabinet of Curiosities”
In 2000, my grandfather on my dad’s side passed away. That year was a rough one: lowest GPA of my college career, switching majors to the massive dismay of my parents, a coming to terms with mortality and both who I am as a person and who I want to be. This sort of upheaval is common; still, it was rough, to say the least. As unpleasant as it was to experience, it seems like we all go through such phases, typically brought on by one, if not multiple, major life events. I imagine Ty Segall was going through many tumultuous experiences like these during his writing and recording of Sleeper. Read More »Ty Segall Sleeper Album Review + Pacific Northwest Show Dates
Dev Sherlock from Hype Machine asked me to DJ a brief set at their Bumbershoot tent. The prospect was a nerve-wracking one: I DJ weekly at KSVR, but broadcasting behind the curtain of radio is completely different than being in front of people. Still, I said yes and put together a playlist.
Read More »Fense DJs at Bumbershoot: The Playlist
The Fresh & Onlys are back with a new EP called Soothsayer, due September 24 on Mexican Summer and it finds The Fresh & Onlys in an odd place. Transitioning from a once hard-hitting rock band into one with some depth, the band presents three louder songs, and three softer ones. This is a band far removed from the days of Play it Strange — even further from Grey-Eyed Girls — and somewhat a progression of what the band built off last year’s Long Slow Dance.
Read More »The Fresh & Onlys: Soothsayer EP (Album Review)
The Young Sinclairs are one of those prolific bands, always releasing new material. Featuring members of Eternal Summers, The Young Sinclairs actually pre-dates that band by almost half a decade. Rooted in their favorite artists from the 60s, I’ve always thought they held the folk-pop styling on par with The Byrds. Read More »The Young Sinclairs: You Know Where To Find Me
