By: Mike Madavi
Artist: Chris Garneau
Title: El Radio
Label: Absolutely Kosher
Genre: Indie : Pop-Folk
Release Date: 7/7/09
UPC: 653225008322
Territory: Worldwide (Minus Europe, China, Japan, Taiwan)
El Radio is the second full length EP from Brooklyn singer –songwriter Chris Garneau. A talented composer, pianist, and vocalist, Chris’s debut album, 2006’s Music for Tourists harbored considerable critical acclaim for his distinct blend of indie-folk, pop, and baroque music. Garneau plays the piano live but maintains a tight auteur hand over all the elements of his music. A former student of the heralded Berklee College of Music in Boston, he left after completing one term and moved to New York to write music and perform in the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan at legendary venues including CBGB’s and the Living Room. Garneau could have easily been Broadway-bound (an element of his character that is fully expressed in the theatrical nature of his songs) having secured a role in the production of Spring Awakening, but decided instead to embark on a solo career. As an out musician, Chris has been featured in prominent gay publications such as NewNowNext.com and Queerty.com to compliment his critical praise from music-oriented media.
Currently signed with Emeryville, CA-based Absolutely Kosher Records, Garneau was recruited to the label by Jamie Stawrt and Caralee McElroy of experimental indie warriors Xiu Xiu. His singles from the first record found their way to the soundtracks of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, two of the medical shows whose soundtracks have managed to bump artists from obscurity to popular recognition (remember how “New Slang” by the Shins was on Scrubs before Zach Braff heard it and used it in Garden State?). Citing Jeff Buckley, Nina Simone, Nico, and Cat Power’s Chan Marshall as influences, his new album hones in on the sound Garneau has become widely and rightly recognized for. He recently described the new album’s overall changes from Music for Tourists in an interview with NewNowNext: “There’s a lot more instrumentation, a lot of horn arrangements…less piano. There are drums and percussions on more than half of the record. I think there’s only one or maybe two songs that are piano-vocal. It’s a lot more produced than the first.”
El Radio begins with the heart-wrenching opener “The Leaving Song” which begins in melancholy strings gently warming you up for what promises to be a personal and moving musical journey. When his voice first appears, the listener can instantly dissect pain, wisdom, and youth from his unique vocal style (punctual, relying on short blasts of emotion rather than long, drawn out pulls). “Dirty Night Clowns” exhibits his more theatrical, circus-esque side. The album’s most full and memorable moment arrives with the piano-ballad “Home Town Girls,” a down-tempo folk number that shines with well-used harmonica and brush drumming behind a lovely vocal harmony. Overall, the album is filled with quiet, personal moments that reveal how sensitive Garneau is, as well as his musical talent. Definitely someone on the up and coming.
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Tags: Absolutely Kosher, Cat Power, Chris Garneau, Jeff Buckley, Nico, Nina Simone, Xiu Xiu
