Temporary Residence

Like a surrealistic post-music maelstrom, experimental twosome The Books has taken its cerebral folk jams to the next sonic stratosphere on the mind-bending effort The Way Out. Landing firmly in the footsteps of aural innovators like Eno and Bowie, The Books challenges the notion of conventional songwriting with a revolutionary newness that truly defies classification. Employing a refreshingly innovative point of view, this New York outfit combines kooky samples that vary from new age motivational speaking to pleasing backward messages that sound more soothing than satanic with breezy guitar strums and the nostalgic tinkering of a broken baby piano. Whether it’s the frenetic world beat of “I Didn’t Know That” or the bratty jam “A Cold Freezing Night,” The Books makes beautifully discordant music to think to.