New Record

New Record
Hi Kids,
I just wanted to say hello to all of you and I wanted to give you an update as to what is going on in my little world. First and foremost, I finally began recording my new album this week at the wonderful Type Foundry (Studiohttp://www.norfolkandwestern.org/typefoundrystudio/studio.html) and boy.... I am extremely excited with the sounds that we have been able to get so far. Don't even get me started on how great the gear and people are at this place.
This record is reuniting me with the my original band mates from the days of yore and boy let me tell you it's nice to be home again. The band this time around is Joe Chiusano on bass, Dan Eccles(Richmond Fontaine) on Guitar and Scott Mcpherson(Elliott Smith, Neil Finn) on drums.We are attempting to take more of a live approach to recording the album, so we hope that this will keep the proceedings as raw and spontaneous as possible. We are producing this album ourselves with the help of our good friend Adam Selzer(Norfolk and Western, M. Ward) and we hope to have the album out by the end of 2007 or early 2008. The working title for the album is True Instigator and the following are the songs that we are recording for this record:
True Instigator/ Wander/ Sympathy Street/ Castro and the Gun/ The Saddest Girl in Town/ Kissing the Lips of God/ Strange Look in Your Eyes/ At the Worlds End/ Selos/ Apology to a Bartender/ Last days Waltz/ Forgotten Town/ Time is Short/Awkward
We are also recording a cover of Hank Williams Sr( AKA Luke the Drifer) song Angel of Death and we are re-recording a couple of older songs for this record....Beautiful(with full band) and Wisemen(from Pacoima)
ok...joe just showed up to take me to the studio so until next time.
Take care,
Fern

No Depression Review

Born in Argentina and raised in the Socal Mexican barrio of Pacoima, Fernando Viccionte fronted hard rockers Monkey Paw before relocating to Portland, Oregon, in 1994. His Sixth disc(and first in five years)finds the singer-songwriter backed by an accomplished outfit including Chet Lyster and Derek Brown of the Eels and Paul Brainard of Richmond Fontaine. Enter to Exit leaps out of the gate with "Howard Hughes", a propulsive rocker that inhabits Dwight Twilley turf, but for the bulk of the record, Fernando's "default" voice traces John Lennon's with such unaffected naturalness that the substantial emotional freight invested in these largely beatlesque pop nuggets(from jaunty to lush to achingly spare) resounds with stunning immediacy. Utterly Beautiful and Convincing.
-Jim Musser
No Depression #66

Magnet Magazine Review

Fernando Viciconte's fifth album continues the Argentine-born/L.A. bred songwriter's experiments in multiple pop forms. But Enter to Exit is so steeped in British pop that even Viciconte's vocal inflections occasionally sound as if he's floated in from across the pond. Enter to Exit spins like an especially fine George Harrison record from the late 70's. It's tuneful and lushly produced, and the vocals are mixed right up front, sporting confessional lyrics that slip into the ether just enough to render even the moistest romanticism oddly meditative. Enter to Exit does'nt shy away from melancholy or introspection; "Another Day in my Head" marries a Harry Nilsson-worthy melody to a brooding internal monologue, while "Mariana" is a languid love letter to the narrator's own private "queen of sleep." That's pretty heady stuff, but there's also plenty of upbeat, most notably "Howard Hughes," a good natured drubbing of reclusive self-pity on which Viciconte shows off his rightly praised voice. Viciconte is in good company as well, with eels' Jeff Lyster and Derek Brown providing much of the albums consistently bright, uncluttered sound.
Long a musicians' and critics' favorite, Viciconte deserves a wider audience, and Enter to Exit is a fine introduction for the uninitiated

By Eric Waggoner

Magnet October/November issue

Billboard Magazine Review !

Billboard Magazine Review of Enter to Exit 9.1.06

Portland is home to one of the most intriguing sounds of the past 20 years of new rock. It's a hazy waltz of Liverpudlian rolls and Topanga Canyon-esque waves that stands as a fitting testament to the legacy of its greatest son, Elliott Smith.

And who better to spread the sonic gospel of the late artist than a neighbor in his old hometown. Upon first listen to "Enter to Exit," the brilliant new album from Portland songwriter Fernando Viciconte, you may feel you've uncovered some super secret studio session between Elliott and Jon Brion.

But who you're really getting down with is a cat who managed to fuse two iconic styles into one singular concept, with some great help from the likes of Jeff "Chet" Lyster and Derek Brown of the Eels and Paul Brainard of Richmond Fontaine fame. Highlights include the beautiful "Mariana," "One Trick Pony," the Spanish-sung "Pasajeros" and the Heatmiser-esque "My Magnetic Field."

"Enter to Exit" might not exactly replace "XO" in your life's soundtrack, but it proves Smith's spirit in sound remains alive and well in Portland. -- Ron Hart

Amplifier magazine review

This review will be in the new amplifier magazine-cut and paste http to read review

http://www.amplifiermagazine.com/#/reviews/cds/fernando_cd.php

All Music Guide review

www.allmusic.com

Review by Megan Frye
From the opening organ notes on "Howard Hughes," it's apparent that Fernando's Enter to Exit isn't your average pop/rock album. Sure, it's full of sweet, somber vocals and catchy hooks — but the album's got something to it you don't hear very often on melodic pop/rock releases — and that's raw emotion. Fernando consist of Portland, OR, pop songwriter Fernando Viciconte, as well as Jeff "Chet" Lyster and Derek Brown (both of the Eels), Richmond Fontaine's Paul Brainard, Qwee, and Lewi Longmire (a stalwart presence in the Pacific Northwest's roots rock scene). Such a blending of musicians and styles results in a beautifully eclectic album. The songs on Enter to Exit range from lighthearted, upbeat pop/rockers in the vein of the Beatles to mournful, sorrowful ballads. The group excels with melancholy tunes like "The Change in Us" as well as it does with the infectiously poppy "The Reluctant Deity." The band keeps things interesting with pedal steel on the gorgeous "The Devil's in the Sky," a song that could easily find its way onto a soundtrack for a Western. Fernando switch themes up again with a banjo-heavy "Pasajeros," sung entirely in Spanish. Still, with such a unique style, there's something nostalgic about Enter to Exit. It's somehow reminiscent of early- and mid-'90s melancholy alternative, and Fernando even incorporate Alice in Chains-style muddy distorted guitar licks onto "One Trick Pony." Enter to Exit is a dream from start to finish — an ethereal journey combining aspects of indie rock and roots rock. This is a group to keep your eyes out for.

Willamette Week Review

Willamette Week insinuation about Elliott/One Trick Pony
I would like to say that I just was forwarded a review of my new CD by the Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon. In the review the writer Casey Jarman favorably reviews my new CD(thanks) Enter to Exit, but this writer also insinuates in this article that my song "One Trick Pony" is a "stab" at the late Elliott Smith. This is absolutely incorrect. I knew and performed on bills with Elliott/heatmiser since1996 and I have had/have nothing but the greatest respect for him as an artist and as a human being, so to clear things up for ya'll........ this particular song is about me...me....me! Hey aren't they all?
DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ!
Below is the aforementioned review-
FERNANDO ENTER TO EXIT (IN MUSIC WE TRUST) Portland pop veteran recalls Elliott and John on his way to eviscerating the Posies. [POP] My first listen to Fernando's Enter to Exit coincided with my rediscovery of the Posies, which I found to be a pretty happy music- critic accident. Fernando's veteran Portland frontman, Fernando Viciconte, has a similar musical vision to the influential Posies CEO, Ken Stringfellow, as both twist the Beatles' warmly layered girl- song formulas to accommodate more somber and personal narratives. Both frontmen also share slightly feigned accents, though Viciconte ditches Stringfellow's nasal whine for John Lennon-esque pronunciation and tone. To the eager ear, Fernando will also draw Elliott Smith comparisons which are fair game in a town where Smith's influence is unavoidable. The doubled vocals and guitar stabs of "One Trick Pony" are eerily similar to Smith's darker work, with lyrics about "scars on my arm" keeping it suspect as a dig at the late Portland songwriter. The Lennon influence, though, is what really shines through on Enter to Exit. It's crystal-clear on "Everybody Knows," where Viciconte repeats "Everybody Knows/ Reapin' what you sow" in his best Lennon walk-down vocal over a jangly guitar line. But Viciconte's vocal presence is warmer than Lennon's, and devoid of the late Beatle's pissed-at-the-world baby-screams. If Fernando, the band, wears its influences on its sleeve, it certainly doesn't hurt Enter to Exit as an album. Viciconte is a formidable, personal songwriter, and his confessional tone finds a perfect vessel in the band's well-timed twists, turns and key changes. The production is seamless when it needs to be and absolutely epic at other times. Fernando's album-ending "Waiting," which takes a cue from "I Shall Be Released," is one of the more gorgeously thick tracks I've heard in a long time. The tune is carried by its slightly psychedelic production and Viciconte's commanding vocals, and it holds a couple of the many chill-inducing moments on Enter to Exit, which Fernando hides like easter eggs throughout. If the rest of Fernando's back catalog is as hook-laden and charming as this pop jewel, I'm pretty much over the Posies. CASEY JARMAN.