music - casiotone for the painfully alone

Recently I heard about Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and was fortunate to see him perform with the great David Bazan yesterday at Walter's on Washington. The show was inspiring to see these two talented men perform what they have created alone or collaborated. Afterwards, I was compelled to go home and make stuff-but soon realized sleep was more realistic and necessary. Below is a shorten bio and links to tracks from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of 28 year old American film school drop-out Owen Ashworth. Ashworth began making music in 1997 after he realized that song-making was a far more cost-effective means of storytelling than film-making.

Ashworth used battery operated keyboards and electronics recorded to 4-track cassettes for his first three albums. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone sound consisted of raw, emotional, homemade synth pop. These two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords, and simple but infectous melodies, all layered beneath Ashworth's sometimes funny but always heartbreaking lyrics.

Believing he had taken his self-imposed set of limitations to their logical conclusion, Ashworth expanded his sound with 2006's Etiquette. Etiquette removes the focus from a decidedly utilitarlian aesthetic to a broader production spectrum that finally gives Ashworth's personal, affecting song writing the space it deserves. In the new release, the sound of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has grown to include pianos, organs, strings, flutes, drums, and pedal steel guitars in addition to Ashworth's signature electronics and drum machines.

official website
record label

tracks from Etiquette
New Year's Kiss
Young Shields
Scattered Pearls