Karl Blau - "Into the Nada"

• Published January 24, 2006

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01/24/2006 – Download it here.

This must be what it's like to float half-drunk off some Caribbean isle, with nothing scheduled but more of the same. Blau combines charmingly pedestrian vocals, horn blurts, simple percussion and guitar lines and something that sounds like whale calls into a smiley little bit of kicking back.

The real show, though, is live with Mr. Blau. Got hooked when he helped open Yes Yes -- him, his acoustic and a bit of Juana Molina-style "Musician, Loop Thyself" until there were four of him playing at once. For my money (which may have been $0.00, come to think of it), he blew away everyone but Damien Jurado that night -- and if you'd seen the line for D.J. at Bumbershoot, you'd know that meant something.

Luckily, you have a bevy of Blau roadshow opportunities, starting with a CD release party Wednesday night at K Records' offices (The Olympian will be in attendance). Karl then cruises up and down the coast a couple weeks, putting in shows at Portland (1/27 and 2/8), a stacked Oly Eagles Hall show with Akron/Family and Norfolk & Western (2/9), Seattle (2/10) and Anacortes (2/11).