February, 1988
Thorn and Watt made a couple of albums with a cocktail-jazz backup and one with strings before trying a small unit for the intimate songs of their most accessible recording. The setting is perfect for such moving compositions as "Love Is Here Where I Live" and "Apron Strings." Start here, then go on to the rest of this remarkable group's catalog.
June 3, 2014
Contemporary Singer/Songwriter
A heavily researched work that delves into historical Los Angeles and is named for the hotel where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, this album's ten track titles each provide a corresponding street address. Offering literate wordplay alongside a diverse, theatrical chamber pop, it spans the Ellington-esque noir jazz of "Musso and Frank (6667 Hollywood Blvd.)" -- dedicated to Raymond Chandler -- and slinky '70s soft-rock on "Villains (4616 Dundee Dr.)," which perceptively asks, "Why do villains always live in houses built by modernist masters?"
