The facts:
The Shoemaker Brothers self titled album is their debut.
The Shoemaker Brothers are,
Samuel (Violin/Guitar/Drum/Vocals)
Nathanael (Cello/Guitar/bass/drums/Vocals)
Daniel (Viola/Guitar/Bass/Vocals)
Gabriel (Violin/Guitar/Vocals).
Album available on their official site www.shoemakerbrothers.com
There may be a mystery piano player out there somewhere too.                                                          

The Shoemaker Brothers are by their own definition string rock, and live, they are just that. This album at times speeds up but is mostly a little slower than what you would call “rock”.  It feels like a journey across the northwest in one of the crappier months. Rain, traffic, that feeling of late afternoon pretty much all day. But I mean that in the good way. The thing about Washington is it’s all about contrast. It starts when you get into your car and its cold enough to piss you off, but the early morning fog here is beautiful as it hangs on top of the hills and creeps along the valleys.  Ask anyone in Washington  how they start their day and they’ll tell you “sitting in traffic, looking at fog“. That is my take on the album. The soft and slow rhythms  hold you there waiting for the melodies to take your attention. The range of emotions stay in the love and sorrow realm though that is not to say the lyrics are limited. These guys are talented lyricists and the subject matter is across the board. In terms of sound  they have elements of  folk and blues with strings that  seem to travel the world in inspiration. Their skill as musicians is conveyed throughout and each song feels like it belongs. I liken their sound to Cat Stevens meets Bruce Springsteen’s slower material if it were backed up by those guys from Titanic who kept playing as the boat sank. They were troopers, and so are the Shoemaker Brothers. If I were in college, trying to score with a smart girl, this is the album I would put on.
For me the highlights of this album are: (in no particular order) Amused, Play Me the Violin, The Escape, and my personal fave, Debt.
Debt fits a pattern in my life where the song I love best sounds different than the rest of the album. It has a little jazzy, swingyness due in part to the drums but even the strings feel different. The lyrics are simple and easy to relate to. I feel the vocals on this song are the best on the album and that’s no easy task. Nat, my man, good work.

Over all I give the Shoemaker Brothers self titled album:
One and one half arms up out of two. That’s like an elbow.
And  for the song Debt, I give it the highly coveted “WISH I HAD MADE THAT” Award!!!

Four-Color Heroes-The Nickel and Brass Septet

The following is an excerpt from composer Andrew Boscardin’s official web site.
“The Nickel and Brass Septet’s debut CD “Four-Color Heroes” presents new music for improvising ensemble by composer and guitarist Andrew Boscardin. The music combines elements of jazz, rock and new music and features some of the finest players in the Seattle jazz and improvised music scene.”
The Nickel and Brass Septet:
Tom Varner – French Horn
Ben Thomas – Vibes
Chris Stover – Trombone
Clark Gibson – Saxophones
Brad Gibson – Drums
Jon Hamar – Bass
Andrew Boscardin – Guitar

The following is an excerpt from this website.
I met composer Andrew Boscardin at Fantagraphics while waiting to interview Stan Sakai.  Dex and I were standing around at Georgetown Records which happens share space with Fantagraphics, when Mr. Boscardin walked up to the counter and placed a small stack of promos on the little shelf where local artists and promoters leave promotional items.  I as you know am all business all the time so I followed him into the back, pointed a promo at him and said “Hey buddy, is this you?” He said yes, one thing led to another, and then led to me driving home from Charlie’s after the interview and listening to Four-Color heroes.  The album art has an old school comic book theme and according to Mr. Boscardin the music takes inspiration from, artists and writers of comic books from the 1960’s and 1970’s.
I listened to the album in its entirety in one sitting and to me it’s mood music in the way that it puts me in a specific mood.  Three specific moods actually.  One, at times it has a certain liveliness within the jazziness that makes me want to cook some sort of Italian Food.  I don’t know, maybe smell some garlic and fling a noodle at a wall to see if it’s ready.  Second, at times there’s a certain slows sweetness that makes me feel like sitting around with a glass of wine and doing as little as possible. And C, performing some sort of espionage.  Sneaking, spying, the occasional knife fight.  Mostly sneaking.
I feel the music is very well written, moving, and expertly played. From start to finish these fellows sound like masters of their instruments and Mr. Boscardin himself is a force to be reckoned with. The interpretive nature of the genre can be the strongest and weakest link. On rare occasion a note here or there didn’t hit me as much as the rest, but not enough to hinder the music as a whole.
That’s actually all.  So I guess it’s really not an excerpt after all.

I rate this album at:
One arm up, but way up.
The album may not change my life but I will definitely keep it handy for those times that it suits so well.
My favorite track on the album is “Professor Kubert”.  It is the sneakiest.

For information, check out www.boscology.com which I’d give two arms up, if I were reviewing websites.  Too bad I’m not.