Handshake Smiles is another winner, although it's a bit more stripped down than Yoria's previous releases, which isn't unexpected given it was a "bedroom recording". The disc opens with "Should Be", a pretty (and melancholy) number that recalls Jon Brion, while "Clean For Free" follows with an Americana-ish sensibility and wouldn't have been out of place on the new Wilco disc. The title track is vintage jangly pop, and "Love Song In G" is the classic Yoria power pop that we've come to know from his earlier releases. Other highlights include "I Told You Not to Write Again" (power pop complete with banjo!), "Sandy", and the wistful closer "Trash Bag", which evaluates a long-term relationship with an understated beauty, both lyrically and melodically. Handshake Smiles is a triumph for Yoria, who's managed to avoid repeating himself without sacrificing his tunefulness.
Absolute Powerpop

1. Should Be
2. Clean For Free
3. Handshake Smiles
4. Jimmy's Rig
5. Love Song in G
6. Cuttin a Rug
7. Sandy
8. I Told You Not to Write Again
9. Fool Me Again
10. Rim Job
11. Trash Bag

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 2/9/2008
Arthur Yoria lives in Texas USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Other, Indie Rock

1. Music of Fernando Sor by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
2. A Lestampida by Dufay Collective: instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Reniassance
3. Brave New World by Sterling: sublime and ethereal electronic music
4. Cifras Selectas de Guitarra, Santiago de Murcia 1722 by Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen: Chilean baroque guitar duo
5. 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime by Steve Eulberg: smile-inducing, toe-tapping folkgrass
6. Cry Wolf by Ehren Starks: piano and cello/jazzy new age
7. Two Romantic Piano Trios by Women Composers by Streicher Trio: classical chamber music on period instruments
8. Scenes of Travel by Eleanor Hodgkinson: beautifully crafted individual playing
9. Switch On - Switch Off by Strojovna 07: techno.
10. The Time Is Now by Electric Frankenstein: high energy punk rock & roll
11. Burgundy Rhymes by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
12. Reminiscence by Emiel Stopler: Filmic composer and acoustic fingerstyle guitarist
13. Mobius Strip by Suchitra Lata: Swirling Chillout, Ambient, World, Progressive Pop, Indian classical veena and much more in between
14. The Stuff of Fairy Tales by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
15. The Vision Of Enoch by Sulis: heavenly, healing, early music
16. A Reason to Stay Up all Night by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
17. Sundowner by Sundowner: shape-shifting space rock sound of vast drifting guitar-scapes
18. Formantine by Emmalee Crane: ambient, orchestral drone music
19. Among the Lasses, songs of Robert Burns (1759-1796) by Susan Rode Morris: early music delivered with a voluptuous voice and intensely focused delivery
20. Smoke Through It by Endless Blue: Trashy Beats, Melancholy Keys, Sultry Vocals

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