Norfolk & Western is a solo vehicle for Portland, OR's Adam Selzer, a songwriter who writes Earthen, becalmed, windswept folk songs. Selzer is a prolific studio rat as well, using his own Type Foundry Recording studio to assist several indie acts from his region. As Norfolk & Western, Selzer debuted on FILMguerrero with A Collection Of in 1998 and followed it up three years later with Centralia.Selzer's"day gig" revolves around his partnership in Type Foundry Recording studios, the small, well-regarded North Portland music emporium responsible for albums from artists ranging from Spoon and M. Ward (in whose backing band Selzer serves) to the Decemberists (Selzer's bandmate, Rachel Blumberg, was once the drummer) and Thao With the Get Down Stay Down. All have tapped into Selzer's talent to breathe new life into their music.Selzer also has spent the past decade helming his own band, Norfolk & Western, whose trademark sound is a sepia-toned Americana that toggles between simplicity and intelligence, often pulling off the mean feat -- in a manner similar to the Band -- of embodying both characteristics simultaneously.On Norfolk & Western's sixth full-length album,"Dinero Severo" (loose Spanish translation:"Severe Money"), Selzer sticks to what he does best: straightforward piano-based melodies spiked with guitar skronk. The tunes sometimes take the shape of a Dream Syndicate-like talking blues ("Whippoorwill Song"). Others are oddities whose melody and structure resembles radio-ready power-pop ("So That's How It Is,""This Is a Number 5"). It's a nifty trick, one that highlights the band's overflowing surplus of craft and Selzer's many gifts as bandleader, writer/arranger, and, of course, there's those golden ears.