Beltline
Welcome, Nostalgia (CD)
 I'm still playing catch up with a multitude of excellent releases this year, including this Keep Recordings release by Beltline. The actual band is fronted by Rob Jones but is populated with an A-list cast of Portland's finest indie musicians. This includes members of Kind of Like Spitting, Thermals, Norfolk and Western, and The Decemberists. Wow.
So does the music on Beltline's new release Welcome, Nostalgia live up to its amazing pedigree? In a word, yes. Having been tracked at Type Foundry (run by recording luminary Adam Seltzer), I sort of expected something along the same lines as N&W. Sure enough, songs like "Bang/Head/Counter" (nice "Strawberry Fields" organ, by the way) echo that genuine folk spirit of Norfolk and Western, complete with bandpassed vocals and rampant multi-instrumentalism. This is also an innate trademark stamp of many of the Keep Recordings artists and what continually draws me to the label. You get beautiful vibes or marimba and forlorn piano circulating through the Wilco-like "The Catch". There's moody little strings hovering in the background of "When It Rains" to keep you company in this playful song that does remind me at times of The Deecemberists carnivalesque atmospherics.
But what is quite different in this release is the frequent use of distortion and feedback in several louder songs. The first indication comes with "Fits And Starts To Fit" which takes a Janet Weiss type drumming intro and blasts it out in a rocker of a song complete with a yelping counterpoint to the main vocal. I almost wonder how much of Hutch Harris's Thermals influence has leaked over on that song and the raucous "On And On And On" which threatens to pop out my speaker cones. The title track "Welcome, Nostalgia" and "Somewhere Between Theft And Inheritance" sometimes reminds me of Philly's Matt Pond PA who is another purveyor of unusual pop that has been surrounded by many different acoustic instruments.
Rob Jones's voice definitely has that E. Smith quality but the style reminds me more of his Heatmmiser days. This is apparent on the moody rock shuffler "Boys Vs. Girls Vs. Boys". One of my favorite tracks is "Without Lights Or Sound" which contains a lovely Quasi-like chord progression along with massive amounts of distortion and feedback near the end. Really great stuff.
Beltline really does impress me because while I do enjoy the softer, instrumental philosophy of many of the FILMGuerrero bands, it is particularly nice to hear some louder tracks that blast away while still saving some room for acoustical composure. This interesting juxtaposition of dynamics was what really made the CD enjoyable for me.
- review by BY (7.10.05)
Keep Recordings
PO Box 18972
Tucson, AZ 85731
info@keeprecordings.com
www.beltlineband.com
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