J-Sin @ Smother.net
Beltline reminds me of Bright Eyes a bit — but don’t worry this isn’t some derivative fodder. Rob Jones is the mainstay in the group and has collaborated with other great musicians and members of such outfits as The Decemberists, Norfolk and Western, Wow & Flutter, and Tracker among others. The result set is indie pop that will rouse the genre from its sleepy hibernation. The way some of the songs were tracked are very intriguing like the extremely in-the-background back-up vocals of “Fits and Starts to Fit” which gives the impression of someone singing in the kitchen to some music that someone’s listening to upstairs. Cool and intriguing much like most Keep Recordings releases.



David Cowling @ Americana UK
Take a journey on the Beltline from Pavement to the Chicago post-rock scene, ending up at an atmospheric sound that is all their own. Beltline are one of those bands that attempt to make you complicit in what they do - ‘you’re an intelligent listener’ it seems to say; ‘you know how difficult it is to produce worthwhile work in this commercial system, so let’s you and I stick together against this tidal wave of dross’. I was expecting to subvert these comments with a smart pay-off but they damn well pull it off - ‘Bang/Head/Counter’ neatly balances traditional song-craft with more esoteric touches, with swirls of guitar, delicate pillows of organ and some bittersweet lyrics all combined in a kind converted cotton mill way. ‘Fits and Starts to Fit’ adds an angry swarm of guitars and disconnected double tracked vocals - so far so good, ears pricked - and by the third track you think you’ve got it worked out, smile to yourself and recall your own fondness for Steve Malkmus, think the review is finished… But wait a minute: where have all these accordions and vibes come from? This sounds more like something from the Sea & the Cake, the cusp of folk and jazz. Then treated guitar waltzing around with cello… oh it’s alright, the Malkmus influence is back, guitars misbehaving with no regard for traditionally soloing, there’s a really good thick chorus and the disintegration is handled really well. Then the easy work for the reviewer as it alternates between aforementioned influences. The cello is back for ‘The New Rules’ and this melancholy lighters aloft stormer ingratiates itself further with the reviewer - with its Built to Spill reference, I’m mentally adding an extra mark. I’m complicit alright, on this and on ‘Without Lights or Sound’ they seem to have found the magic formula between atmosphere and dynamics, the latter having an especially excellent guitar freakout at the end that could be set alongside the controlled explosions of Bedhead. Then just to keep us Americana critics on track, ‘The Encore’ brings on the banjo, brushed drums and downbeat vocals, the formula that gets us every time.



Brian @ Shmat
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.



Jeff Marsh @ Delusions of Adequacy
Although the cast of musicians who have appeared on Beltline recordings might fill your typical rock club, the focus of Beltline is exclusively Rob Jones. Jones puts together assorted pieces of songs and brings them to his talented friends, and together they work out the gritty details. On Welcome, Nostalgia, an album recorded here and there over three years, Jones is aided by Adam Selzer, Rachel Blumberg (both Norfolk & Western), Cord Amato (Wow & Flutter), and Derek Trost (Tracker).

I suppose, then, it could be forgiven if the time, the diverse people involved, and the sporadic nature of the recordings resulted in an incoherent album, but Welcome, Nostalgia feels like a cohesive full-length, with bits of a singer/songwriter feel as well as elements of all those bands whose members contributed. Jones should be applauded for keeping the songs together (as is Selzer, who tracked and mixed the album), and if some songs work better than others, it can be applicable to the diverse group of people who all lend their input.

The opening "Bang/Head/Counter" starts off as a moody Bright Eyes-esque affair, but there's a thick layer of noise in the chorus that gives the song a completely different and raw edge. The title track picks up the pace, with a catchy indie-pop feel and a nice mix of instruments and mixing of Jones' vocals to give it a bit more depth. Think a more rocking Decemberists on the extremely fun "Professional Abdication," while "The Catch" is quiet and quite lovely. On "When it Rains," the piano and strings give the song a deeply moody and wonderful quality. And one of the album's highlights is the pretty and introspective "The New Rules," which has female vocals drifting prettily behind the male vocals for a beautiful touch.

The album's more upbeat and rocking tracks are extremely different, yet at times it's where the album falls apart. On the poppy, upbeat "Fits and Starts to Fit," for example, Jones is singing over this catchy beat, and in the background Blumberg (I assume) is dissonantly screaming like this is a riot-grrl affair. As pretty as the strings sound mixed with the distorted guitar on "Somewhere Between Theft and Inheritance," there's almost too much going on, pulling away from Jones' strong vocal performance. By contrast, the oddly sparse feel to "On and On and On" and its oddly layered vocals are distracting.

In the end, Welcome, Nostalgia is a mixed affair, filled with some inspired and very deep pop songs and some oddly constructed rock tracks. The diverse artists who worked with Jones on the album added very unique voices to this release, primarily in the host of instrumentation (mixing this must have been fun), but the lack of a real band does result in some songs paling compared to the others. When his vision shines through the clearest, Jones' songs are given a rich tapestry of sounds to elevate them beyond mere pop structures, but when it doesn't, the songs feel a tad muddled.



Tyranosaur @ Palebear.com
Beltline is a Portland area band that offer up a heady mix of a number of styles including eclectic indie rock and more sparsely populated alt country music. They have succeeded in combing the cameradrie mindset of big band porch rockers like Lambchop with an edgier rock attitude that shines forth in their songs. Instruments like cello and vibraphone make a frequent appearance and add a lot of personality to the tracks. The band centers around the nice vocals of Rob Jones but includes a revolving crew of indie stalwarts from bands like The Decemberists.