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Cars & Trains: Intimidated By Silence [mp3]

cars_and_trains

Experimental electrofolk is what you get with Portland’s Cars & Trains. The one man band of Tom Filepp is set to release their new LP, The Roots, The Leaves, early next year. “Intimidated By Silence” is the first single from the album, and it finds Filepp utilizing laptop-created electronic sounds and an array of accompanying instrumental samples. The lyrics are poetry, and the music is calming yet erratic. The combination is an astonishing feat of brilliance that makes The Roots, The Leaves an easy pick for one of January’s most anticipated releases. Read More »Cars & Trains: Intimidated By Silence [mp3]

Collider: Time Concerns [mp3]

collider

“Time Concerns” is filled with echoing guitars that swirl and ring through the atmosphere while dreamy vocals create an aura-like melody. Not quite pop, not quite rock, but some concoction containing incremental elements of both, Collider‘s first single off their upcoming Big Bang Machine (slated for release the last day of 2009) is, on one hand, a throwback to the shoegaze of the 90s, and on the other a portrayal to the post-shoegaze of today. Closing in on dream-pop, Collider finds many of the sub-genre’s sensibilities but expands on them with louder, more ferocious volume. Read More »Collider: Time Concerns [mp3]

A Retrospective Top 15: Best Albums Of 2002

The third installment of A Retrospective, this time the focus is on 2002. The year of rebuilding, so to speak. It was the year I discovered Cider Jack (and did so plentifully) at the local Pullman bar Rico’s, and we all would rehearse Bill Brasky skits (from the SNL spots, and made up on the spot) as twenty feet away the university jazz combo performed excellent renditions of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and various Motown favorites. As we see every year, 2002 saw several real great releases. Here are my favorites.

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The Middle Ones: Young Explorer [mp3]

The Middle Ones

Lovely and light acoustic guitar with matching dual harmony vocals would be an adequate description for, say, a band like Kings of Convenience. Along the same folk-pop lines is The Middle Ones, though the similarities between the two bands are few. The Middle Ones, instead, creates in “Young Explorer” a sound that is so lo-fi and entirely acoustic that it finds a home somewhere between K and Bicycle Records. Definitely Olympia-based, a throwback to the acoustic-twee era with an injection of pop and, no surprise, total greatness. Read More »The Middle Ones: Young Explorer [mp3]

Tramplini: Pärgäjiens [mp3]

tramplini

Opening track “Pärgäjiens” off Tramplini‘s new LP, Tumba Rumba sees the Latvian band combining the indie pop of their origins while channeling a sound somewhere along the lines of Sigur Rós minus the vast orchestration. It’s a sound that suits them well; their Latvian tongue is romantic and soft, and when backed by delicate percussion and faint synths everything just comes together. As found occasionally throughout Tumba Rumba, Tramplini features a brief trumpet as the song concludes, even going so far as to finish it with a mute. “Pärgäjiens” is an excellent track, worthy of praise from one of Latvia’s best pop bands. Read More »Tramplini: Pärgäjiens [mp3]

Viva Radio’s Me + You Pt 62: The Raveonettes

The Raveonettes

Here’s a sneak peek for you who love rarities, exclusives and original material. And a bonus for those of you who dig radio in all its forms. The Raveonettes recently visited the Me + You studios for a Viva Radio spot and below you can hear the band performing their song “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)”. The session is Pt. 62 of Me + You, a live series that includes often funny and telling interviews with some of today’s hottest artists, conducted by host Ted Shumaker. The Raveonettes’ session airs at noon today on Viva Radio. Read More »Viva Radio’s Me + You Pt 62: The Raveonettes

FensePost Best of 2001

A Retrospective Top 15: Best Albums Of 2001

The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21. A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even before that fateful day.

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