Sleeping in the Deli

Earlier this week I was delighted to see a review of my first album in The Deli, a magazine about local music. It began:

Folk-pop, down-tempo philosophical musing, romantic longing and infectious harmonies all find their place on A Cure for Sleep, by San Francisco musician Jascha vs. Jascha.

The reviewer, Shauna Keddy, had clearly spent some time with the record, based on her sensitive descriptions of a number of tracks:

With topics like the greed of God in “Some Hungry Guy”, one’s shifting idea of family as one grows up in “Too Young”, and the attachment one keeps to past lovers on “Phonograph” and “Curse”, Hoffman certainly has a lot on his wakeful mind.

She went on to single out two of my close friends and collaborators on the album, Jesse Olsen and D. A. Powell:

The standout track is “Corydon”, for the song’s emotional poignancy…The song is based on a poem by D.A. Powell, about the homosexual shepherd Corydon made famous by Virgil…The album is enhanced by beautiful string arrangements, and backing vocals, drums, bass, guitars and percussion by Bay Area artist Jesse Olsen.

It’s quite nice, moving even, when a reviewer really takes the time to listen hard, and reflects back some new aspects of a record. You can read the full review here.