Sunday, May 3, 2009

Music for Summer Dusk

This thing came to me pretty much out of the blue and I'm really happy I decided to check out what this music sounds like. It immediately turned out to be a really nice find.

Pinstripe 45's are a quite new group led by Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Marshall Hanbury Jr. The music could be described as acoustic folk-pop. It is an interesting mixture of bittersweetness, darkness and light added with folky arrangements and frequent presence of harmony vocals. Hanbury's narrative, moment-capturing songs are, according to Pinstripe 45's MySpace, influenced by the likes of Donovan and Bob Dylan. I'd say Hanbury's style could also be compared to the melancholy of Jim Ellison or Jesse Valenzuela. Good melodies mix with sincerity and organic insrumentation in Pinstripe 45's music.

The group has a new digitally released EP out. It's called Studies in Timing and Coincidence (2008) – a very solid package of good songs, emotion and sounds of acoustic guitar, moderate percussion and viola. These songs (such as Waiting on Your Words and Follow Me Down Once Again) sound like an exploration of day turning into the night: they are atmospheric and generally quite dark but also joyous in their melodic quality. I'd say Pinstripe 45's is very suitable music for summer nights. I'm looking forward to hearing what Hanbury and his band come up with in the future.

Listen to Pinstripe 45s at MySpace. You'll hear the EP there, as well as a few other nice tracks.

Pinstripe 45's at MySpace

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