Park Avenue Music

Making headphone music to drown out the world with seems the right thing to do these days. The sophomore release from Sacramento's park avenue music, an ep entitled "for your home or office", is like beauty rest for the weary listener: less of the bittersweet break-up themes found in their debut full-length, "to take with you" (Devil in the Woods/Sugar Free), and more concern and heartbreak over modern politics and domestica. In typical fashion, they continue to deliver that special something that lends consolation with a hint of seduction.

The now husband and wife team of Wes Steed and Jeannette Faith first came together as a band in 1997 to produce something that would make them feel alive. Soaking in the sounds of bands like Saint Etienne and Slowdive, then pulling old records off the shelf by Wendy Carlos and Antonio Carlos Jobim, they tuned into a certain strain of sheer human emotion that complimented synthetic instruments. Using software and homemade modular synthesizers to create foundations of rhythm and noise, Wes leaves the piano and vocal melodies to Jeannette, a classically trained and quite accomplished pianist, who has received Sacramento area music awards for both outstanding female vocals and keyboards.

Glitchy at times, minimal at others, "for your home or office" is a hefty 6 song ep. Written and recorded in 2003, when the news was too much to bear, these tracks give more than the average pop songs. While "the modern guide" sounds like another song has interrupted it, only to come back with another poignant verse and then continue as an instrumental the last half of the 6-minute song, "golden hummingbird" surrenders literal meaning of the lyrics by twisting them around until they're nearly incomprehensible, leaving only residual nuances, then seems to die out completely just before a coda sneaks in and grows to a swell of "you glow/you float" over a happily paced beat. "the mellow one" is haunting and yet another exploration into sonic representation of emotion. "how's your 401k?" is the poppiest of them all - an upbeat tune where harmonizing vocals play over quirky beats like ten-year old girls at a slumber party rapping about yuppie robots and who they'd like to marry. Book-ended by beautiful lullabies, "for your home or office" is the perfect listen whenever, wherever.