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4Play
By Don Allred
Jann Klose
Thursday @ Victorian's
German-born Jann Klose spent his childhood in Kenya and South Africa, attended high school in Germany and Cleveland, returned to Deutschland for required government service, then joined Cleveland's Opera Chorus. He's also been in touring companies of Broadway musicals-but he's pretty good anyway. He never over-sings, and his early experiences inform the fluid, vivid clarity of "Reverie," Klose's new self-written album. He's a wise traveler, complaining as charmingly as he celebrates. He's also ready to "slide down your attention span," with an eye on sweet (or anyway solid) Mama Earth.
Six Gallery
Friday @ Skully's
Columbus-based Six Gallery's debut album, "Breakthroughs in Modern Art," is pungently fueled by passion, and expertly charted by star-crossed irony. The words blur sometimes, but discreetly persistent crooner Daniel J. is figuring it all out, as his bright-eyed swoon orbits the moon (of Six Gallery's compressed, never constricted dynamics), unerringly passing once again through love's golden flame, where "I wish I was convincing as you are/But I'm not second-guessing what we are." But he's not ready to be a stationary museum piece either: "I'm like/The things you said you'd always do!"
Owl City
Saturday @ The Basement
Adam Young was a self-described "random kid" from Owatonna, Minnesota, AKA Owl City, the name Young took into MySpace, with his basement-launched synth-pop. Concerts lured other shy guys from their doubts, and his tireless expeditions became even more companionable (though he's sometimes wondered if you're "a decoy dream"). Still, new tracks "Hot Air Balloon" and "Strawberry Avalanche" bounce bolder beats and tingling treats through "candy-coated crowds." Also, for the current tour, Young's re-enforcing his vocals and keyboards with those of Austin Tofte (who also plays guitar), and Matt Decker's drums.
Anni Rossi
Monday @ Wexner
Singer-songwriter Anni Rossi plays viola, which can evoke violin, cello, or guitar. Her shows, even more than her Steve Albini-produced "Rockwell," co-star her percussive feet, sometimes on a suitcase. Rossi's songs tap adventure and security, in equal, truthfully irregular measure. She wants it all, cool as "Glaciers," deep as "Venice," high as expectations "that can never be met." Meanwhile, this resolutely minimalist artist forages just the right gratifyingly surprising note to jolt quirky lines into flickering flights of insight, fortifying as the berries her bears dream of, all winter long.
Originally Published: June 24, 2009
