Tune In Saturdays: David Karsten Daniels

Seattle by way of North Carolina by way of Dallas singer-composer-doug martsch-look-alike David Karsten Daniels is out with a new record I just stumbled across this morning. Back in the day, my somewhat shitty high school band shared a guitarist with David's much more popular jazz outfit also from the same high school. It's a pleasure to see what he's made of himself. It's a winding, infectious record that seems to be getting some great press all around. As is his style, the record is full of unexpected surprises, never in a jarring way, but just not something you'd hear almost anywhere else.

From Drowned in Sound:

From its first note, David Karsten Daniels' latest full-length oozes poise and beauty. Such general terms seem hackneyed but, with Fear Of Flying, the right adjectives are immensely difficult to pluck and place. Indeed, that maxim can be applied to the man's entire career. Apparently he is a studied composer, a learned musician and everything that the spontaneous and emotional pop writer shouldn't like that much. Where's the spontaneity? Why doesn't he throw his guitar at rivals' faces? What's he doing trying to 'folk up' on this record? Interesting questions. But, as those in the know can attest, pop composers (one of the most loaded terms in music today) with the right balance of theory and horrific experience can become the most scintillating performers we have today – Daniels undoubtedly embodies this.

David Karsten Daniels - Martha Ann (mp3)

David Karsten Daniels - Falling Down (video)