ALEXEI SHISHKIN

All albums available digitally: HERE

"On “Santa Cruz,” he pines for some form of home and comfort that he used to know from when he lived in LA. “But I don’t miss the place, I mostly miss the people/ And they told me that people get replaced, I shouldn’t have believed them.” Moving to a new place can be exciting, but it has the significant side effect of completely cutting you off from your entire support system, effectively leaving you alone. But it’s also an opportunity: to put down new roots, to start over, to ignore past mistakes. He asks: “Will I get back up again, or will I just stay down and whine about it? I just need a minute to decide.” Shishkin supports his wanderings with beautiful, impeccably arranged bedroom pop, diminutive and warm in its insecurities." - Stereogum

"Portland musician Alexei Shishkin opens “Yucca Street,” the title track to his upcoming new album, with a dark admission: “Haven’t made a meaningful connection in years,” he whispers under a warped guitar and some sampled street chatter. “Everyone always disappears… or is it me?” he questions, recalling the same diminutive, intimate songwriting that marked his The Dog Tape, which came out last year. Shishkin’s compositions are always unassuming, but they’re never inessential. He follows up his realization with a limitation — “all I know is that the clouds are a ceiling” — that sounds oddly full of promise." - Stereogum

"Alexei’s track “fear” is a perfect example of the kind of beautiful guitar work that usually grabs my attention. Since the first instruments I learned were cello and bass, I love songs that intro with a bass line (New Order’s age of consent comes to mind). Then the rhythm guitar chords enter and strike a tension that is relieved by the warmth of the lead guitar line doubling the vocal melody. Though this tension is echoed in the lyrics of the chorus “no matter how much I try I find I have trouble relaxing my mind sometimes”, when I listen I can easily escape into thought and reflection. I love the half time instrumental bridge and how everything layers itself until the final chorus bleeds into the outro." - Tomemitsu on GoldFlakePaint

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