Sometimes, bad days end up being strange nights when you find yourself laughing and/or crying with a simple song. And that's why I am here.
There is a band that describes itself perfectly only with its name. Casiotone for the painfully alone is really the work of Owen Ashworth, an American who decided that it was better to write music than following his film studies as long as he could tell stories. He has released 3 albums so far on the German label Tomlab and these days he is touring the US. Honestly, I wouldn't know how to recommend his songs. The music is reduced to cheap casiotone notes, yet the result is more than simple. I guess there are many ways of listening to it and only depending on which one you choose, that would make a difference. Songs are recorded on answering machines and 4-tracks and the lyrics are witty and funny and moving. The homemade sound describes common situations that all (even the not-painfully-alone) can feel related to. Stories of tours, phone calls, miles, secret crushes, old friends, talking to strangers in shops -like me in Malmö, but I needed that information, I swear, haha- people leaving on buses, trains and planes. Maybe it's "avant-gard enough" and we shouldn't take it too seriously and just enjoy it.
My favourite songs are "Jeane, if you're ever in Portland": "We sigh when we're on the phone but the voice in my ear says it wouldn't be the same if you moved here"; "Oh Illinois": "I'm afraid of what we might start to say and I don't want to start missing you again". "I should have kissed you when I had the chance", "It wasn't the same somehow" and "Tonight was a disaster". I always liked long song titles and he offers me "A normal suburban lifestyle is a near impossibility once you've fallen in love with an international spy".
His last releases are a CD with the first two albums, an EP/7" called Young Shields and a split 7" with Fox Pause.
We all had a Casio(tone) when we were kids. Don't tell me you didn't. Owen has 23 keyboards, being the casiotone mt 100, mt 46 and mt 520 the ones he uses.
This is the Casio VL-Tone, the one I had. Apparently, it was only a calculator with an attached synth, very simple. This is probably the cheapest one and quite small too. But don't let cheap old-fashioned technology stop you!. Go and undust yours, he plays keyboards because he simply doesn't know how to play guitar. Maybe you can do the same, we all could be indie lo-fi stars. In fact, I seriously doubt it. It takes a bit more than that.mp3: Casiotone for the painfully alone - Jeane if you're ever in Portland
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