Mike Carnahan
CarnyMusic
(CarnyMusic Recording)

Opening with a laconic acoustic, lazy beat, and his faraway vocals, Mike Carnahan weaves his “just hanging on,” viewpoint on the opening tune here, “Riptide.” This kinda folky, alternative, Americana, 4-song EP, CarnyMusic comes from the lead singer of the San Francisco western-psych band (I love all these labels, I really do!) The Green Door.

The even slower “Beetle in the Sand,” follows. Slight snapping beat, a certain creepy lyric, and some sound colors that Carnahan seems to like in his sandbox, bring this one a little more production (the guy managed to play guitar, accordion, organ, and percussion, as well as sing, record, mix, write, and master CarnyMusic).

“Start Another Week,” is a sweet, almost-Paul Simon like picked guitar, whisper vocal piece, the best tune for me here. The organ swirl and Carnahan’s voice is the best it is here, but those weird licks of sound on this one though are distracting I’m sorry to say.

“Close Your Eyes,” ends, beginning with a momentary sound collage that feeds into low and dangerous guitar playing. It’s the song most unlike the others (could be why it’s my favorite). But we are deep into roiling American noir gospel with this one; I just love it. It’s studied, sly, and cool.

Obviously a strong songwriter and player, Mike Carnahan steps out a bit on CarnyMusic.