Album Notes

After his departure from indie/folk band Jr. Corduroy, Brooklyn based songwriter Mark Kraus began writing and recording in various living rooms, sublets, and makeshift studios in New York, Boston, and LA. This would lay the ground work for what would later become known as Tsui. Often performing in small Brooklyn bars and clubs, Tsui is a delicate union of Kraus and other musicians, who sow together intimate performances that often silence the rooms in which they inhabit. Tsui’s music demands the attention of the listener through it’s softness rather than it’s volume.

The debut LP from Tsui—Half Man Army (2007)—is a minor masterpiece of home and studio recordings. The songs are lyrically mature, quirky and unconventional, the melodies rich but are often tempered by the frail vocals. The songs invoke a pinning lonesomeness, some recorded deliberately sparse while others layed with strings and analog sounds, all without ever becoming overly self-indulgent. On previous efforts with Jr. Corduroy, Kraus has worked with producers and engineers such as Dave Auchenbach and Eric Masanaga often times striving to recreate the intimacy of his home recordings. This is his first self recorded and produced effort.