"If you’re looking for polished presentation, skin-deep emotion, and well-mannered performances, turn around! Josiah Altschuler’s solo cello and voice pieces are anxious Americana vignettes so sharp they cut through bone and tissue to get to the heart of the music. As a bioinformatics programmer at Harvard by day, you might think his experimental-gothic take on these popular songs would sound scientific or overly academic. Instead, these “Murder Ballads and Love Songs” (smart and precise as they are) peel away the layers of a devastated world to reveal things both disturbing and beautiful beneath the scarred earth. Altschuler’s unorthodox cello technique, more like strumming and fingerpicking a guitar, propels the tunes with percussive pops, pounding, clicks, and finger slaps. His haunting voice, whisper thin and rhaspy, resonates in the darkness, ghostly and distant. Snd yet it feels heavy as a sermon from a fire-and-brimstone preacher just down from the mountaintop. This is a fantastic album of diverse cover songs that find new life and meaning when recontextualized by Josiah’s unique blend of indie-Appalachian influences, Country folk, and Delta blues."
- CD Baby, Editor's Pick Review (9/12/08)
Josiah Altschuler is a bioinformatics programmer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, MA. He also plays cello and guitar, accompanying his brother, violinist Emil Altschuler, and the doom folk band, Moss Mountain Project. He occasionally performs solo, playing his cello in an unorthodox guitar-like style. "Murder Ballads and Love Songs for Cello and Voice" is his first solo CD.
Dear Josiah, Thank you kindly for your friendship. Really amazing music you have here. We'll certainly be picking up a copy of your CD. sing with the birds~ kathryn :lux interna:
I'm gonna have to make a trip up north. I love what you do. It's cool to hear inavative takes on traditional sounds that don't lose the soul of the songs. Nice job
yo! i had no idea you were a computational biologist (what is that?!). why aren't you on any of the tunes for the group w/ your bro and the guitarist? country blues is sick. is this msg random enough? hope you're well... let's jam sometime? (-:
Dude, just listened to your stuff and you are amazing and I can't figure out why you were not doing a solo bit if not two for Oddville! You are amazing!
Really nice meeting you and hope to see you again!
great job in portland at longfellow~! we went there to see the other guys...didn't end up liking them, but you were great!!! glad we got to see you. you should come play at guthrie's in lewiston, ME. good luck continuing with the solo stuff and with your album. keep me posted when it comes out.
Perfect performance last night. Really enjoyed being able to go out and watch a virtuoso. Had a great time!!! I have no clue why you even play with us. Looking forward to NYC next weekend... Tim
Thanks for the add Josiah! Sounds like youve got some great things going on. We're playing at the Great Scott in Allston on Friday 8-45pm if you're around, cheers!
Thank you for your time - and space – T.B.G. are stoked to be friends, the band do have a couple of gigs coming up in Aust - the easter blues festivals - and then we head to the US for another tour. This one will be a month long and it’ll carve pretty much across the top of the country east to west then down and back across the bottom. Before that though we have the Blues Fest and the 14th at Canberra Uni with Rogerthat www. rogerthat. com. au or www. myspace. com/rogerthatofficial supporting. The US tour is beginning in early May - the 2nd in New York - and the dates are now up on our site.
Thanks for checking out some beyond the clearchannel radio musical adventures! We hope to meet you in person sometime somewhere on the road to goodness.
-The WIYOS
