Portland musician and producer Mike Coykendall has a new album out on Field Hymns Records. A dose of hi-lo-fi avant-pop, The Unbearable Being of Likeness, is available now for $11.
Since moving to Portland from San Francisco, Coykendall has produced, engineered and performed with M. Ward, She & Him and Blitzen Trapper. But he has been writing songs and making records since the mid 80s. Midwesterner’s might remember Coykendall in the Kansas prairie-psyche band Klyde Konnor; Americana fans might remember him the seminal San Francisco group The Old Joe Clarks; and a lucky few will have copies of his 2005 underground classic Hello, Hello, Hello, also available from Field Hymns.
The Unbearable Being of Likeness offers a diversity of sounds, from mellow ditties to melodic rockers. Coykendall’s compositions share something with Jay Farrar’s campfire comfortability, but his work in the studio mastering the songs adds layers to the album, making it a much spacier, more nuanced affair.
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