The Books. (The band.)

I might love The Books more than actual books.

They're two guys from NYC/Massachusetts, one plays the cello and the other guitar and bass, heavily embellished by quirky sampling, sound effects, and spoken word. It's stripped down and eccentric and at times plain weird. But also haunting. They get under my skin the same ways Jose Gonzalez and Nina Nastasia do.

Wikipedia describes The Books as a mix of acoustic, folk, electronic and aleatoric.

Aleatoric music (from the Latin word alea, meaning "dice") is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer. The term is most often associated with procedures in which the chance element involves a relatively limited number of possibilities. --Wiki

"Smells Like Content" from Lost and Safe
(watch it in full size, it's amazing!)




"Twelve Fold Chain" (live) from Lost and Safe



"Take Time" from The Lemon of Pink




I love and recommend 2005's "Lost and Safe" and 2003's "The Lemon of Pink," both on TomLab Records. They self-released an EP in 2006 and a DVD of videos in 2007. I'm looking forward to a new album from them soon. *fingers crossed*