19-04-2012, 13:23
online listen
chamber folk
yea, I like that
a new genre is born
a little too mellow after awhile with not much change
good music though
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Where I'll Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVOlYOdgqiI
released Apr 17th, 2012
![[Image: r62282hueao.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drr600/r622/r62282hueao.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
An indie folk band from Portland, Oregon, Horse Feathers consists of singer/songwriter Justin Ringle (acoustic
guitar, vocals, percussion) and a rotating cast of supporting musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Peter
Broderick and several string players. Ringle grew up in Idaho and performed in several short-lived indie rock bands
before moving to Portland, where he began playing shows under the name Horse Feathers. It was in Portland that he
met Broderick, a member of the established local act Norfolk & Western. The two spent much of 2005 writing songs
and honing their live performances at various Portland open-mike nights, effectively turning Horse Feathers from a
solo project into a duo.
Influenced by both the stark folk music of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and the post-classical work of Scandinavian
composer Max Richter, the duo entered the studio in February 2006 to record Words Are Dead, a chamber-folk album
featuring Ringle's high, reedy vocals and Broderick's Baroque filigree. Words Are Dead was released on Lucky
Madison Records in September 2006. The band inked a deal with the Kill Rock Stars label the following year and
released House with No Home in 2008. House with No Home became one of the highest-selling debuts in Kill Rock
Stars' history, and Thistled Spring followed in 2010, marking the group's first release without Broderick. The
band's fourth full-length outing, Cynic's New Year, arrived in 2012.
Album Review - from allmusic
On the fourth Horse Feathers album, ringleader Justin Ringle expands his art-folk vision into something
simultaneously ambitious and methodically crafted, creating a kind of chamber Americana sound in the process.
Ringle's aesthetic home base is an acoustic-oriented singer/songwriter approach that combines lyrical erudition
with organic accompaniment, Ã la Iron & Wine or Will Oldham, with his clear, gentle vocals often coming off like a
close cousin of Iron & Wine main man Sam Beam. But while the core of the sound on Cynic's New Year is the
interaction between Ringle and violinist Nathan Crockett, the singer/songwriter drafted in a wide array of players
to contribute to these tracks, ending up with a kind of revolving-door cast of characters that adds up to an 11-
strong ensemble. But despite the number of tonal colors employed over the course of the album, things never get out
of hand. Whether you want to credit this to producer Skyler Norwood (Talkdemonic, Loch Lomond) or to Ringle's own
tight reins on the proceedings, each cut glides gracefully along without getting bogged down in over-production.
French horn, banjo, strings -- you name it, it pops up at some point on Cynic's New Year, but an airy acoustic feel
is maintained throughout, and the arrangements never impinge on Ringle's relaxed reign. With the low-key,
unassuming quality of his vocal delivery, Ringle becomes the calm at the center of an emotional storm that the
music obscures but the lyrics ultimately betray. But if even you don't delve deeply enough into these tracks to
unearth all the layers of psychological discomfiture lurking beneath the softly inviting surface, there's more than
enough to be gained simply by absorbing the artful unfolding of the tunes at face value.
Track Listing
1. A Heart Arcane
2. Last Waltz
3. Pacific Bray
4. So Long
5. Where I'll Be
6. Nearly Old Friends
7. Fit Against the Country
8. Better Company
9. Bird on a Leash
10. Fire to Fields
11. Elegy for Quitters
12. Summer for Capricorns
chamber folk
yea, I like that
a new genre is born
a little too mellow after awhile with not much change
good music though
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Where I'll Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVOlYOdgqiI
released Apr 17th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
An indie folk band from Portland, Oregon, Horse Feathers consists of singer/songwriter Justin Ringle (acoustic
guitar, vocals, percussion) and a rotating cast of supporting musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Peter
Broderick and several string players. Ringle grew up in Idaho and performed in several short-lived indie rock bands
before moving to Portland, where he began playing shows under the name Horse Feathers. It was in Portland that he
met Broderick, a member of the established local act Norfolk & Western. The two spent much of 2005 writing songs
and honing their live performances at various Portland open-mike nights, effectively turning Horse Feathers from a
solo project into a duo.
Influenced by both the stark folk music of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and the post-classical work of Scandinavian
composer Max Richter, the duo entered the studio in February 2006 to record Words Are Dead, a chamber-folk album
featuring Ringle's high, reedy vocals and Broderick's Baroque filigree. Words Are Dead was released on Lucky
Madison Records in September 2006. The band inked a deal with the Kill Rock Stars label the following year and
released House with No Home in 2008. House with No Home became one of the highest-selling debuts in Kill Rock
Stars' history, and Thistled Spring followed in 2010, marking the group's first release without Broderick. The
band's fourth full-length outing, Cynic's New Year, arrived in 2012.
Album Review - from allmusic
On the fourth Horse Feathers album, ringleader Justin Ringle expands his art-folk vision into something
simultaneously ambitious and methodically crafted, creating a kind of chamber Americana sound in the process.
Ringle's aesthetic home base is an acoustic-oriented singer/songwriter approach that combines lyrical erudition
with organic accompaniment, Ã la Iron & Wine or Will Oldham, with his clear, gentle vocals often coming off like a
close cousin of Iron & Wine main man Sam Beam. But while the core of the sound on Cynic's New Year is the
interaction between Ringle and violinist Nathan Crockett, the singer/songwriter drafted in a wide array of players
to contribute to these tracks, ending up with a kind of revolving-door cast of characters that adds up to an 11-
strong ensemble. But despite the number of tonal colors employed over the course of the album, things never get out
of hand. Whether you want to credit this to producer Skyler Norwood (Talkdemonic, Loch Lomond) or to Ringle's own
tight reins on the proceedings, each cut glides gracefully along without getting bogged down in over-production.
French horn, banjo, strings -- you name it, it pops up at some point on Cynic's New Year, but an airy acoustic feel
is maintained throughout, and the arrangements never impinge on Ringle's relaxed reign. With the low-key,
unassuming quality of his vocal delivery, Ringle becomes the calm at the center of an emotional storm that the
music obscures but the lyrics ultimately betray. But if even you don't delve deeply enough into these tracks to
unearth all the layers of psychological discomfiture lurking beneath the softly inviting surface, there's more than
enough to be gained simply by absorbing the artful unfolding of the tunes at face value.
Track Listing
1. A Heart Arcane
2. Last Waltz
3. Pacific Bray
4. So Long
5. Where I'll Be
6. Nearly Old Friends
7. Fit Against the Country
8. Better Company
9. Bird on a Leash
10. Fire to Fields
11. Elegy for Quitters
12. Summer for Capricorns
