Beatnik Serenade at the Cup Coffeehouse – Graztopia (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

There used to be a sort of busker or music hall act called a ” one-man band.” Usually, it would be a musician weighed down with all manner of drums and whistles, stringed things to strum, and wind instruments to be tooted. The amusement factor always outweighed the music created by such an approach.

Graztopia is, however, a one-man band in a truer sense of the meaning. A multi-instrumentalist equally adept with everything from guitar, ukulele and bass to vibraphone, synthesisers and percussion, all topped off with his warm and highly emotive vocals. He embraces looping technology to mix, meld, match, and merge these instruments as he hops genres, improvises, solos, and seduces. A one-man band indeed.

Beatnik Serenade at the Cup Coffeehouse is his latest EP, music that is startlingly refreshing and wonderfully familiar. Across six songs, he explores gorgeously lush soundscaping, the sound of a singer-songwriter meeting a band halfway without anyone aiding or abetting him to get the desired result.

At turns folky, hippyish, troubadour-like, cinematic, arabesque, beguiling, ambient and intriguing, he makes music like few others are able to do, not on their own anyway. A truly singular artist and a great set of songs.