Rather than embracing cacophony and cold aesthetics, Et Ret's compositions achieve warmth and resonance through repetition. He compliments his confident, but restrained, guitar melodies with deeply impassioned swirls of violins and cellos.  As a final touch, the compositions are accented with sparse percussion and subtle analog electronics.

Julie Sokolow doesn't need much to express herself.  To record Something About Violins, she used nothing more than her voice, an inexpensive acoustic guitar , and the built-in microphone on her Macintosh G4 Powerbook.  In doing so, she has turned on its head the old adage that lo-fi is the provenance of analog fetishists.  She has also created a work of great and unusual beauty.

They're simultaneously the scariest band at the laughing festival or the ecstatic gypsy troupe playing Nino Rota's wake." - Baltimore City Paper

They're simultaneously the scariest band at the laughing festival or the ecstatic gypsy troupe playing Nino Rota's wake." - Baltimore City Paper

"Perhaps this reviewer has gazed too long into the reflection, but under its influence, When the Lower resembles one of the strangest, most creative releases of the year." - Stylus Magazine

Nourallah Brothers was the first release by the musically gifted brothers, Salim and Faris Nourallah.  These sixteen well-crafted songs reveal a rich vignette of youth. Unlike many pop albums of the past, this is not a disparate collection.  Its success lies not in its self-consciousness, rather it comes from its ability to remind us all of our past. 

This pensive, skillfully crafted collection reveals Salim brooding on themes of mortality, aging, lost love and, refreshingly, hope as an antidote to despair.  His keen pop sensibilities shine through in songs such as “Montreal”, a McCartney-esque anthem to the joys of coupledom and “The World Is Full of People (Who Want to Hurt You)” a ballad filled with fatherly worries and love.

The melodies are impeccably well crafted and clearly the work of a songwriter in his prime, while the music strides gracefully in step with each melody, perfectly highlighting the emotion and enduring truth of the songs.

Most listeners would be surprised to hear that the album was written, played, and recorded entirely by Faris alone.  Faris takes this approach, willfully capitalizing on his studio’s limitations, while exploring his unlimited creativity.   Recording alone at home on a16-track recorder, he has developed and honed his unique sound.