Poor form as it may be to mention the same band twice in two days, we’ve just heard back from Justin Ringle, founder of Portland’s Horse Feathers. He’s out on tour with the band (he’s probably just finished at the Luminaire in London) so we just asked him a few short and sweet questions. Here’s what he said…

How’s everything going with the tour?

Great thus far… we have just finished our first few UK dates and a short stretch in France and Belgium and have been floored by the response from the majority of the shows.

Horse Feathers has a fairly unusual format – recording with some members and touring with others. Who’s currently involved, besides yourself?

Right now I am playing with Nathan Crockett on violin and saw, Catherine Odell on cello, and back home in the States Samuel Cooper on banjo, mandolin, percussion, and violin.

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The highlight this week is undoubtedly, er, a Hey! Manchester gig…

We’re giving Portland, Oregon’s Horse Feathers their debut in the city on Wednesday 4 March at Dulcimer in Chorlton. Their latest album, House with no Home, has been one of our favourites for the past few months – founder Justin Ringle’s guitar voice mixes perfectly with Peter and Heather Broderick’s cello, violin, banjo and celeste, reminding us of another favourite, Great Lake Swimmers. Men Diamler (‘reconfiguring English/Welsh soul music through woozy operatics and wild and weird song/stories ‘) and new Fence signing Animal Magic Tricks (‘Scout Niblett if she played the synths’) also play. Full info and tickets.

Elsewhere this week: on Monday 3 March the much-hyped Wavves – aka California’s Nathan Williams – plays at the confusingly under-sized Bay Horse on Thomas Street. PENS and Mazes complete this lineup of concisely named, S-suffixed acts. Tickets. Fanfarlo also play on Tuesday, at the Deaf Institute. More info and tickets.

If you’re not watching Horse Feathers – and frankly, why wouldn’t you be? – then you might like Liverpool’s Wave Machines and Eugene McGuinness back at the Deaf Institute. More info and tickets. Or there’s Liam Frost’s Springtime Shakedown, his new weekly residency at the Ruby Lounge. More info.

And Vini Reilly’s Factory band the Durutti Column round off this week with an intimate show at the Deaf Institute. More info and tickets.

A month in and we’ve read dozens ‘big in 2009′ lists and despaired at seeing the same self-fulfilling names – Florence and the Machine, Frankmusic, Little Boots, White Lies etc – over and over. So here’s our alternative list of bands who won’t be playing the MEN Arena or headlining Glastonbury any time soon, but are still worthy of  your attention in 2009:

The Tallest Man on Earth – Kristian Matsson has been making music since 2006 but only now seems to be taking it outside of his native Sweden. He’s playing at Primavera and End of the Road festivals, so hopefully a UK tour is also on the cards.

Frida Hyvönen – Another Swede – she sings ‘Lon-don’ in a very strange way. Bold and poppy but not in a cheesy, chart-worrying way.

The Wave Pictures – London-based trio drawing inspiration from Herman Dune, Hefner and – most obviously – the Go-Betweens. Great live, and set to headline in Manchester in the next couple of months.

Extra Life – Former Dirty Projector member Charlie Looker’s own band. Very heavy in parts, and ‘experiment/gothic/classical’ sums them up nicely.

Horse Feathers – This rootsy trio from Portland, Oregon feature the multi-talented Peter Broderick, and make good use of violin, banjo and cello. One for fans of Great Lake Swimmers. Oh, and they’re playing at Dulcimer in March.

Check out the samples below and let us know what you think in the comments.