@ The Beachland, Cleveland OH, November 22
by Andrew Clayman
Published in The Cleveland Scene, November 2008
The now Chicago-based Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the slowly evolving solo project of Owen Ashworth, a sad bearded fellow standing out in a sea of other sad bearded fellows.
CFTPA started out as an almost ridiculously low-fi indie-pop project, with 1999’s Answering Machine Music delivering exactly what the title would suggest. By the time 2006’s Etiquette appeared, Ashworth had fleshed out the production a bit, but his niche remained very much in the four-track universe—an interesting combo of glum, half-spoken narratives and early Depeche Mode style synthesizers and drum loops. A smart marketing campaign would compare it to the Postal Service, but more accurately, Ashworth is a deserving addition to indie’s fine line of ingenious but inconspicuous one-man bands—Smog, the Mountain Goats, and the Magnetic Fields being the best examples.
With a new CFTPA record scheduled for release next year, Ashworth is at a bit of a career crossroads on his current tour. After Etiquette brought in more dynamic instrumentation and guest vocalists, there may be no going back to the voicemails of yesteryear. These upcoming live shows could be the best hint of what’s to come.
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