All You Really Need Is A Dollar And A Dream

If there’s anything I like more than exclamation points in song lyrics, it’s exclamation points after phrases like “tofu penis.” That’s what makes Carmen Borgia so appealing – he takes a good thing and puts his own, usually better, spin on it.

Carmen was my boss when I interned at DuArt Film and Video in NY two summers ago. He used to tell me that he’s been fascinated with sound since he was a little kid in Ohio, and that he’s just never stopped experimenting. He wrote most of the songs on his debut album, North, and plays most of the instruments – steel string guitar, ukulele, musical saw, and accordion, to name a few.

Some of the tracks are a little repetitive, but I’ve been hooked for the last few days. This is one of the only albums I’ve heard that consistently makes me laugh out loud, but not every song is filled with absurd humor. Some are hilarious, some simple and sweet, and others slightly melancholy. He describes the music as “avant-folk” and the album as “an almanac for watchful and upbeat travelers; a documentary roadtrip by Greyhound, Chevy, train and rocket.”

I’d like to think that my days spent organizing DVDs and stuffing envelopes served as inspiration for at least one of these tracks, but I’ll probably never know for sure.

Carmen Borgia – Domenic Rom
Carmen Borgia – All You Really Need
Carmen Borgia – Swan Song
Carmen Borgia – Slim

You can find the lyrics and some more free downloads here, or buy the full album here.

-danny