"While lush and expansive from start to finish, the acoustic-based songs ebb and flow into one another with ease while shimmering layers of lap-steel and electric guitar give each track it's own distinct, soaring melody."
Shawn Telford

Graig Markel - Via Novella (CD, Sonic Boom Recordings, Soft pop)
Graig Markel keeps the quality up on this short but satisfying collection of tunes. On the first spin, one might mistake Via Novella as just another batch of soft modern pop tunes. But closer observation reveals the intricacies and nuances that make this album so rewarding and fulfilling. Markel plays a whole slew of instruments (electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, vibraphone, etc.) and has an impressive crew lending helping hands (Shea Bliss, Jeremiah Green, Zera Marvel, Jeffrey McCallum, Jen Wood). This album features eleven personal, moody compositions that are infused with tasty reverb drenched guitars and subtle, heady arrangements. Graig has a cool restrained voice that is immediately genuine and soothing. Packaged in a beautiful diecut digipak sleeve...Via Novella is a wonderfully real experience. Top picks: "Black Mesa," "Knives Drawn" (our favorite), "Turpentine," "Silverlining." (Rating: 5+)

GRAIG MARKEL – VIA NOVELLA (Sonic Boom Recordings) Yet another indie folk record (my third this month) turns out to be a magnificent find, featuring Jen Wood (Postal Service) and Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse). Definitely a stand out this month.
RATING: FOUR STARS

A veteran of many bands, Markel does just about everything: vocals, keyboards, various strings, and a ton of guitars. For what he can't do- drums and female vocals for example- he enlists help from the likes of Modest Mouse's Jeremiah Green and Tattle Tale's Jen Wood. The slowly strummed guitars and layers of mellow vocals are somber but not sloppy, and dreamy-bordering on psychedelic, like the Mission or the Church. And while the songs seem simple in structure, the depth and textures are more fit for a dive bar than a coffee house.

I tend to throw the phrase “indie-rock” around like a sack of potatoes. While I was able to get away with dispensing such lazy nomenclature for many years in reference to Markel’s post-New Sweet Breath solo albums (Via Novella is his sixth by my count), my normal, straightforward vernacular of “rock,” “pop,” and so forth have to be buried at sea for the time being. On Via, Markel is the master of his lucid domain, lavished with equal parts starkness, headiness, and ambience that to the unfamiliar ear may vaguely recall Elliot Smith’s more hushed soliloquies. With a palpable air of refinement and a pallet of meticulous textures including piano, gongs, and strings (guitars and chamber), it helps to approach Via with a tempered state of mind. Perhaps with the exception of only Markel himself, this album may not elicit the visceral reactions that his previous solo and NSB efforts did, but it’s a challenging acquired taste that’s quite frankly worth acquiring.