Album Notes

"Jordan Slominski and Andrew Weidner are the one-two punch behind Josiah Wordsworth, and, for this duo, two hits is all you need: a pianist hitting you, and you hitting the drumset. Josiah Wordsworth's music is chock full of the kind of ivory-keyed pyrotechnics that were given their rightful place in pop music by Ben Folds back in the '90s. The group eschews singing and all that fancy falderal in favor of focusing their McNally-Smith-honed talents on quirky instrumental miniatures that sometimes come off like a head-on collision between a sensible Renault driven by Erik Satie and a tricked out low-rider piloted by Sir Elton John."

* Steve McPherson, PULSE Magazine

"Josiah Wordsworth could easily be the name of the rowdiest fire and brimstone preacher this side of the Mason-Dixon line, but in actuality it is the name of a duo comprised of Jordan Slominski (piano) and Andrew Weidner (drums), who both hail from St. Paul, Minnesota. The music they make is reminiscent of the Kyle Mann Combo, Danny Elfman, and most importantly, The Bad Plus, which makes The Blue State EP required listening.The five songs contained within this astounding debut are a perfect example of storytelling without words. It's easy to imagine the Visigoths sacking Rome alongside the romping whirlwind of 'Witch Hunt', or the black and white striped Beetlejuice terrorizing the newly dead during the dark jaunt of 'Drive-By Media.'The duo is already working on their first full-length, which should be out by February of 2008. That means you have a little less than a year to fully devour the many subtle nuances and pressure points contained within The Blue State EP."

* DJ Latola, "BreakThru Radio"

"Monty Python's line, "...and now from something completely different" comes to mind after hearing the unique album called "Blue State" by Josiah Wordsworth. It's a fusion of jazz, rock and some hinting at classical piano accompanied by drums. It really is something different to my ears. I've heard bands that fuse musical styles together but not really like I'm hearing in Wordsworth's work. ?He dares to go at it without any lyrics, so from the get-go he's asking the listener to concentrate on the music. That will probably keep in standard practice with the jazz listener's but you might lose some rock fans that are looking for melodic lyrics to deliver the songs message. On first listen I waited for lyrics to start up (prior to reading the bio) and that distracted me, I immediately had to restart the disc and listen with new ears and it started to click for me.?I don't know if the title "Blue State" has multiply meanings relating to Minnesota being a 'blue state' in 2004 elections, or references a period in Wordsworth's work like Picasso 'blue period' or if it's just the general feeling of the album, there were plenty of moments of that do reflect a 'blue' vibe (but there was plenty of upbeat moments as well). It felt like something John Cale meets Ben Folds would do minus the vocals, a sort of eccentric but poppy music. It was defiantly refreshing, and one record where it did feel like a new sound was being developed."

* Nelson Heise, Rift Magazine

"With a name like Wordsworth, you’d think the subject of this entry would be a wealthy shipping heir or possibly a butler. Oh, but he’s not! Rather, he isn’t a ‘he’ at all, but rather a them. They are a of a sort of classical-jazz-indie duo. It’s a bit like Vince Guaraldi playing poker with The Decemberists at Edvard Grieg’s house. Hopefully that’s conjuring the appropriate image here. Josiah Wordsworth are Jordan Slominski and Andrew Wiedner. Slominski takes up piano duties while Wiedner pounds the skins. Neither dares sing, allowing their instrumentation to do all the talking. It seems odd to say, but it’s a rather daring concept in this day-and-age. After all, how many hugely popular orchestral bands can you name off the top of your head? Likely not that many. A lack of vocals may scare off the rock traditionalists, but their loss will be our gain. ...if you really want a taste of the band’s diversity, I’d recommend checking out ‘Eulogy’ or ‘Rock Song’. It’s well worth it."

* Sean, Rocksellout

“Jazz with a Halloween flare.”

* Duke of Straw, The Latest Greatest

“7.5/10...it’s damn catchy! Complex, chaotic, dark, and wickedly good, Blue State is an outstanding effort that contains no weak tracks. From the moment it begins it is obvious that it is remarkably different, yet it should still appeal to a broad range of piano lovers; just don’t expect any light piano tinkering.”

* Leanne Simpson, The Silent Ballet