Acoustic rock isn't dead. It just moved to Norway.

Every now and then, I discover a musician that I really like. This happens very rarely for me, at the rate of maybe one or two artists/groups per year. I mean, I'll often come across stuff that I think is good, but only now and then will I find something that I think is really great. Maybe my musical tastes are too particular (though many will be relieved to know that my The Verve Pipe / Brian Vander Ark obsession is in its twilight), or maybe rock in this decade really doesn't measure up to the genre's awesome production in the 90's. Or both. And because I play guitar and have some knowledge of songwriting theory, I tend to heavily analyze the music I hear. What I've decided I like the most is the stuff that combines unique, experimental rhythm and melody with basic (but not overdone) pop sensibility. Sounds simple enough, but in my experience, it's easy to find one or the other, but very difficult to find both. One of my favorite albums in recent memory is The Dissociatives, which combines these seemingly at-odds characteristics perfectly. It's a variable rock album full of weird lyrics, dense orchestration, and great electronic ornamentation, courtesy of Australian DJ Paul Mac. But I digress. In any case, I think this type of music is rare, and my list of favorite artists grows only very slowly. Maybe it's because I don't know how to pinpoint the kind of music I want to hear.

But I know what I like, even if I can't describe it. And I like Sondre Lerche. Lerche is a Norwegian musician of amazing versatility; his work so far is made even more impressive by the fact that he's still in his early 20's. I first heard of him through my brother Drew (thanks Drew!), who owns his 2006 CD Duper Sessions, an album that is very jazzy and yet somehow not jazz. Not exactly a child of the American jazz movement, Lerche leads a traditional four-piece quartet with musically accessible patterns and genuine youthful sincerity and angst.

I like Duper Sessions -- very much -- but it was when I bought Faces Down (2002) that I became really impressed with Lerche's talent. This guy can do it all. Faces Down sounds almost nothing like the Sondre Lerche I thought I knew. It reminds me more of Andrew Bird (another great artist introduced to me by Drew) or Rufus Wainwright. Lerche creates tracks that are at once haunting and cautiously optimistic, leaving the album open to multiple interpretations. The production is excellent; guitars lead but do not dominate the sound; piano and orchestra strings accentuate melodies and lyrics. Though not necessarily "experimental" (admittedly, an ambiguous term) it's musically and emotionally engaging. Faces Down reflects simply great songwriting.

I'm going to buy his other CD, Two Way Monologue (2004), and I just found out that Lerche is planning a marimba album (!) for next year. Most mainstream artists, I think, couldn't pull it off. But so far, I am convinced that this artist can. Make no mistake about it: even at his least poppy, Lerche is basically a pop musician. But he's willing to take the genre into territories that are more or less unchartered (a marimba album?!?), and only a few years into his career, he's demonstrated that he's capable of developing into a truly great artist. If you dig acoustic rock (and by that I do NOT mean John Mayer), then give Sondre Lerche a listen. I think you'll be glad you did.

Wow, I just wrote an inspired music review. Who am I, Tauwan?