The solo recording project of Los Angeles resident Michael Orendy, who plays and records everything himself. The moniker comes from the fearsome piece of orthodontia that he wore as a child and suits Orendy's music perfect

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POP: Folky Pop, POP: Quirky



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Who or what is a Frankel? Michael Orendy, the singer-songwriter behind the indie recording project, reveals that the name came from a fearsome piece of orthodontia that he had to wear as a child, "a giant retainer that filled your whole mouth - huge, kind of like what a boxer wears in the ring." Despite the trauma that it caused, Orendy embraced the term as his musical moniker. Frankel is a strangely fitting choice, for Orendy's music finds the the good in life's little slights. He mines sadness and yearning to create lilting, sun-drenched melodies that are sweet and bitter at the same time.

A Los Angeles native, Orendy grew up steeped in the music of Southern California, from the Byrds to Beachwood Sparks, and you can almost hear the deserts, canyons and the chaparral in his songs. His first musical instrument was a little-used organ in his parent's living room. Too small to reach the pedals, he remembers lying on the floor to hit the bass pedal, perhaps inspiring his later embrace of the bass guitar, Orendy's primary instrument when he played with the noise-pop quartet Meow Meow (Devil in the Woods). However, Orendy is a true multi-instrumentalist who played every instrument on his debut EP, Chatterbox (Three Ring) and - except where drummer Norm Block and banjo/ukulele player Kirk Hellie lent a hand - all of the instruments on his latest record, Lullaby for the Passersby (Red Rockets Glare).

For Lullaby for the Passersby, Orendy aimed to replicate the intimate feel of his previous record, but with a little more polish. A chance meeting with Raymond Richards, the owner of L.A. recording studio Red Rockets Glare, led to a recording collaboration that added some high fidelity to Orendy's lo-fi sound. Although Lullaby's core remains Orendy's straightforward piano and acoustic guitar arrangements and tight vocal harmonies, Orendy also layers the album with some unexpected instruments, from theremins to the Twirly Whirly, a children's toy that Orendy says "sounds cool when you swing it above your head."

Despite employing some quirky "bells and whistles," Orendy's focus remains squarely on songwriting, to which he says he takes a "very traditional approach," much like his influences, which range from Harry Nilsson and The Beatles to Elliot Smith and Jon Brion. Like those artists, Orendy mixes catchy pop melodies with dreamy arrangements and dark, incisive lyrics, like "run faster than your skin can crawl." Orendy completed Lullaby for the Passerby in early 2007, and as with Chatterbox, he didn't have to look far to find a label. During recording, Richards had become so enamored of Frankel's songs that he offered to make Lullaby the debut release on his new label, also titled Red Rockets Glare. After mixing by Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart and mastering by Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Grandaddy, Built to Spill), the album is now ready for release on June 12, 2007.