Listening to Karl Blau's albums and trying to describe what you hear is like walking through a local farmer's market and describing all the vegetables grown in that area. The common thread running through Blau's records is a love felt for homegrown music. Most anyone can sense the passion this cultivator has for his trade.

In a world of instant access to musical cultures near and far, Blau overtly mirrors African musical influences with hints of blues, soul and rock steeped in l’herbe de Northwest and he calls it Zebra [KLP205].

This striped burro was birthed in the trusty analog setting of Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia, Washington. For Zebra Blau explored the frontiers of folklore, adding one instrument at a time (drum, guitar, bell, keys, saxophone, flute, piano) in an organic process of response to this confluence of sounds. A restless thinker, Blau is adept at imaginative and sweet songs about education, work, love and society. Blessed with an expressive and gentle baritone, Blau asks the eternal question: "what’s next?" Every generation has its own revolution and we need heartfelt music now as much as ever. Let's practice how we dance.

Having toured Europe in the summer of this year, Blau will tour twice this fall, once with Mount Eerie and a more extended trip with LAKE. Future rhizomes of Blau can be heard on upcoming releases by LAKE, Arrington de Dionyso, Angelo Spencer, Calvin Johnson, and The Bundles (Jeffrey Lewis and Kimya Dawson).


“Equally alive to the natural and the supernatural … Blau [has a] strange and humble presence that is deeply felt. And he brings to each song a little whimsy, woe, and a deceptively intricate way to mash these sensibilities together.” -Pitchfork