Puerto Muerto – Drumming for Pistols
September 1st, 2010 | by kmanning | published in experimental, female vocalists, folk-rock | 1 comment
Tim Kelley and Christa Meyer, better known as Puerto Muerto, combine late 80s, blues, and cabaret music to produce Drumming for Pistols. The Midwest-based band fuse together deep vocals and haunting melodies throughout the album.
Peggy Sue – Fossils and Other Phantoms
August 27th, 2010 | by Max Jacobs | published in female vocalists, folk, folk-rock | no comments
To say they sing love songs wouldn’t be quite accurate. Songs of love lost describes their music better. But even that phrase suggests a focus on depression or sadness. Rex and Klaw certainly discuss those themes, along with regret and longing, but the two also express a beautiful understanding of love; one that acknowledges the joy and comfort it can bring while also accepting the unpredictability and inevitability of its demise.
Slingshot Dakota – Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is The Golden Ghost!
August 20th, 2010 | by Kelly Scott | published in alternative, folk-rock, indie rock | 3 comments
Overall, this is a band worth knowing. Carly and Tom are masterful at injecting passion into a performance and whipping an audience into an emotive frenzy. The band will most likely be covering a lot of geography over the next year or so, be sure to check them out.
August 18th, 2010 | by Tony Smith | published in acoustic, female vocalists, folk-rock | 1 comment
Her voice is killer, rich and full-bodied like a fine Bordeaux, and it slinks around the fabric of her acoustic guitar with heartfelt blues. It also helps when you write emotionally charged songs about relationship crutches, rough patches, and the bittersweet pain of love at a distance.
Department of Eagles – Archive 2003-2006
August 18th, 2010 | by Christiana Bartolini | published in folk and acoustic, folk-rock, indie rock | no comments
You’re planning a road trip and compiling a well thought-out music selection. You’re into various genres, especially including folk-rock. Do yourself a solid and do not venture out without this album in your possession!
Nathaniel Rateliff – In Memory of Loss
July 31st, 2010 | by Taylor Fife | published in acoustic, americana, folk, folk-rock, indie rock | 4 comments
After years of being dominated with varieties of twee, freak folk, and singer-songwritingy mellowness, independent music finally dealt with the oversaturation of acoustic guitars and harmonicas by shifting heavily into synths and sampling. Synthpop/chillwave/dancepop has had a pretty good run at this point, but the latest release from Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff might be just enough [...]
Walter Schreifels – An Open Letter to the Scene
July 1st, 2010 | by Taylor Fife | published in folk-rock, indie rock | 1 comment
Judging by the title, I was expecting some kind of attack on either the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of hardcore or the inanity and pretentiousness of hipster indie-folk. But in amazingly good taste and with tremendous restraint, Schreifels does not obviously deliver either. Instead of griping about others or spouting off about how things should be, Schreifels quietly delivers a fantastic folky indie-rock album.
June 25th, 2010 | by Jason Grishkoff | published in acoustic, folk-rock | 1 comment
I have no alternative but to believe that I must have been in the wrong setting, because this is actually a rather good album when you give it some attention. I’ve even mentioned that to a few friends, and to my surprise they’ve all gone, “Oh wow, Cloud Control has a new album?” And you might have the same reaction as I did: who the hell are Cloud Control? You mean you’ve heard of them before? Well I certainly hadn’t.
June 19th, 2010 | by Max Jacobs | published in acoustic, americana, folk-rock | 5 comments
I’m not sure why it is that Portland churns out so many good indie records every year, but the city doesn’t appear to be stopping, and until then, I’ll keep listening. Portland band Typhoon is quite the hit within their hometown, though they have not yet gained significant national attention.
Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void
June 17th, 2010 | by Max Jacobs | published in acoustic, americana, folk-rock, indie rock | 2 comments
The 5th album from the six-piece Portland band threatened to be another collection of dark folk songs mixed with raw and screeching rock tunes. Aside from the six minute rock ballad that starts things off, however, the record stays comfortably within the band’s mellow folk repertoire.
