Brooklyn quintet
Barbez crafts dark and exotic sounds that draw out the mysterious tones of an Eastern European musical accent. Singer and guitarist Dan Kaufman leads a procession of Theremin, clarinet, vibes and percussion that congeals in a murky, mostly instrumental traipse. The group's songs are beautifully brooding numbers that fuse bits of cabaret melodies and gypsy melancholy with a stark and experimental chamber-pop intellect. The passionate, impressionistic music embodies the mood and mystique of a scene plucked straight from a shady Berlin nightclub, circa 1919.
