It is [the] ability to viscerally effect an audience that make[s] Musée Mécanique such a powerful, if unusual, folk force. Their shy yet florid debut is tinged with sadness, like a painted carousel sitting empty in winter, mourning for a time that theyor wenever even knew. Pitchfork
Armed with a hoard of antique instruments, this multi-tasking band create ornate pop full of sepia-tinted nostalgia The Guardian
Another in a seemingly endless string of new and unique musical gems spawned amongst the hubbub of Portland, Oregon is Musée Mécanique. Releasing music through new European label Souterrain Transmissions (formed by staff from legendary labels Touch & Go and City Slang), their music is warming, subtle and elegant folk-pop.
After their recent stripped down two-piece shows supporting Laura Gibson on her European tour, Musée Mécanique were selected as a Guardian New Band of The Day. They described the quintets sound as ornate pop based on acoustic guitars fleshed out with orchestral flourishes and programmed electronics.
First conceived in a museum of antique arcade machines and later actualized in a small Victorian home on the banks of the Willamette River, Musée Mécaniques album ‘Hold This Ghost’ began its journey in a high school literature class.
Sean Ogilvie and Micah Rabwin met, started their first band together, played their first shows, and wrote their first jointly-penned songs before either of them could legally drive a car. Their early friendship fostered a creative partnership that has endured distance, estrangement and more than a decade of their lives.
While living in the Bay Area of California, the two songwriters developed an affinity for the collection of vintage coin-operated games, player pianos and novelties housed at the Musée Mécanique (Mechanical Museum) located on San Franciscos Fishermans Wharf. Much like the recordings of ‘Hold This Ghost’, the machines within the museum are a hybrid of technology and humanity: mechanical by nature, but animated via a dedicated craftsmanship that reveals the unique flaws and personality of each.
Their Portland, Oregon home studio, itself a collection of interesting instruments and antiques, is peppered in every corner with second-hand flotsam. Tack pianos, trumpets, musical saws and garage sale Casio keyboards mingle among forgotten amateur landscape paintings, broken 1930s-era radios and hand-cranked ice cream makers. Their neighborhood – an integral source of the albums inspiration – is flanked by giant Redwoods that overlook the scenic Willamette River. Nearby, an eerie mausoleum perches above a wildlife refuge and one of the oldest running amusement parks in the world.
