My recommendations 2006:Etiquette by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Etiquette
Tomlab 3/7/2006


Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is one of the most descriptive names for a musical act I've ever seen. Owen Ashworth manufactures extremely low-budget synth pop, as the first part of the name suggests. As for the second part, if Etiquette is consistent with his three previous albums, it's right on the money. Despite its dark themes, however, you don't need to estrange yourself from everyone you love and induce a state of painful loneliness to enjoy Etiquette. The beats aren't spectacular, but they aren't intended to be. They are intended to serve as a backdrop for the lyrics, which are affecting despite (or perhaps because of) their nearly complete absence of metaphor. This is not to imply that Ashworth is unimaginative. He just uses literalism to recreate the various ego-crushing disappointments we experience in our 20s when we're trying to make it on our own and finding that love, career and life are much tougher than we had anticipated.