John Vanderslice is a Bay Area singer-songwriter, once with the band mk Ultra but now a solo artist. He also occasionally helps produce albums in the much-acclaimed recording studio he founded, Tiny Telephone. The studio uses only analog instruments and recording, but Vanderslice dirties the sound up with tons of distortion and effects. He calls it "dirty hi-fi."

I didn't really get on the Vanderslice wagon until his third solo album, Cellar Door. He really hit his stride, though, with the fourth, Pixel Revolt. It sounds strange to say, but 9/11 did it. It served as a conduit for the strange and sometimes unsettling mix of paranoia, passion, and regret that infuses his lyrics. Much of that album can be seen as a meditation on 9/11, and the same can be said of his new one, Emerald City, which I think is his best yet. For all the existential angst -- existential in the original philosophical sense -- of his lyrics, the songs are littered with catchy hooks and breathtakingly beautiful moments. It's an entirely idiosyncratic blend.

Vanderslice streams the entire album on his site, and there are also links to short videos he did for each song. He's on tour behind the album right now. Catch him if you can.

This song is called "Tablespoon of Codeine." Lyrics beneath the fold.