Mason Lindahl's at Pehrspace tonight, so I thought I'd relate to you a story about the last time he was in town.

It was a night much like tonight—a lot of shows happening all over (that's every night in L.A. I guess), each with a lot of ampage and established fanbases. It seemed hopeless to be honest, and I don't often find myself in that situation often. I'm a pretty upbeat guy.

But how does a solo guitar player and singer survive in that kind of environment? One man going from town to town with no fanfare, only to arrive in Music City USA with…even less fanfare (if that's possible).

But Lindahl didn't see things like that at all. He cradled his guitar and stared at the lucky few in attendance. When he finally opened his mouth these long, flowing tones came pouring out. I imagined invisible tentacles streaming from his lips and moving purposefully across the room and grabbing the audience tightly. With no vibrato whatsoever in his voice—kinda like Tim Buckley with less jazz but all the delicious drama still intact—Lindahl held the gathered in his clutches, laying one devastating song after another upon us, our jaws agape.

It's a testament to Mason Lindahl's gifts as a musician and performer because right at the moment I wanted to chuck everything—life, music, shows—into the trash, I was reborn through song.


Mason Lindahl, from Oakland, is one of my favorite performers right now. His songs are semi-acoustic, but they aren't soft—or hard for that matter. No, they are dynamic—changing/changeable. Lindahl's music has a certain tidal wave crescendo quality that you might also hear in the music of 60 Watt Kid or vintage Tony William's Lifetime (the first two records is what I'm talking about here) or certain tracks by Tim Buckley (Lorca is required material for all music fans—if you don't have it get it soon…it's the definitive Socal spooky folk album ever made).

Mason Lindahl is the sound of teleportation. And I suspect at various times we all need that more than anything else.

Hi, Mason. How long have you been playing music?
I think I've been playing guitar most of my life. First picked one up around 6 or so. Started with piano but sadly dropped that. I wish I would have stuck with it. Tried trumpet for a minute.

How would you describe your music to a stranger?
Filthy.

Has any music ever changed your life the moment that you heard it?
Yeah, actually, alot of piano players. One specifically—Lubomyr Melnyk—and Nils Frahm. But of course some Bob Dylan and Doc Watson stuff. Each have their own impression. The piano stuff has a heavier influence on my guitar playing and the folk/country songs more or less help me out on a daily basis.

What's your newest musical project?
I am always working on my solo stuff. I've been collaborating with a friend of mine, Daniel Trudeau, aka Pregnant, and Teddy Briggs (Appetite). And just for the heck of it I've been recording pop music with a girl El Elle who's the frontwoman for Interscope pop act The Lovemakers. But my friends and I are always contributing to each others tunes.

In a about a week or so I will start working out arrangements for a number of instrumental guitar pieces with a favorite composer of mine, Max Stroffregen.

Are you touring to support new recordings?
I am touring on a support Serrated Man Sound. That came out in mid-October of last year on Porter Records. Also trying to build some buzz for a double seven inch split with Ellie Fortune, Robby Moncrieff and Zach Hill that comes out on a small label out of Irvine, Life's Blood, in early July.

Who's your favorite lyricist?
Man, maybe Karen Dalton and Bob Dylan.

Why?
They seem to have some kind of classic quality that I am extremely envious of. It's something I've struggled with for a long while.

Who have you played with recently that has really excited you?
Like always, my friends. Appetite, Woman Year, Robby Moncrieff.

What's your favorite performer on the radio right now and why?
Oh man. Science Fridays on NPR? Who knows. R. Kelly? It's just so smooth.

If you were a song, which one would you be?
Karen Dalton, “Something on Your Mind.” HAH. That's just sad. Maybe that Weezer song “Across the Sea.”
from Sean Carnage

"Mason Lindahl opened the set with some amazing guitar work. Musically eclectic and powerful, this type of music is hard to find on the radio. It was like listening to a wave of emotion consisting of very high peaks and burst of energy followed by serene guitar work. It's the type of music that challenges the listener to experience rather than just hear."
from Disarray Magazine

"This is the type of new artist that I keep saying its our duty in college radio to break: one second you think this is bizarre experimental dark guitar then it starts sounding like Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen. Solo artist with guitar and some serious tape manipulation savvy. Fantastic stuff that Micheal Gira (Young God Records: Devandra Banhardt, Angels of Light) probably is very envious of. Just lots of well played, interesting acoustic guitar and vocals. RIYL: Swans, Devandra, Nick Drake, etc. Tracks 1 and 2 are so good they make my brain throw up.
1) acoustic guitar with what sounds like slowed down drugged out vocals and lovely little dashes of electronics, just a lovely glimmering raindrop in the sunlight on your brain's windshield
2) frightening, arpeggio guitar lulls you then a heaviness blindsides the whole thing, wow!!
3) hypnotic strumming, almost normal
4) treated arpeggios, strange sounds here and there, instrumental
5) a lovely song, normal in the sense of no treatments (besides a bad low-fi buzz), on par with Nick Drake or something
6) arpeggio finger picking galore, like Nick Drake on speed, with a down tuned E and some open strings its just sublime
7) echoey vocals and distortion added to the guitar gives this a distinctly psyche feel that would make it fit in well with other bands of the genre
8) more fast arpeggios all over themselves, instrumental
9) a very pretty, mellow singer songwriter song, Drake/Kozelek fans take note
10) arpeggios and the exploding drums and sounds appear again, cool"
from KZSU Stanford Radio

"Song-writer originaire de la é de Sacramento, MASON LINDAHL a forgé son style "à la dure" se produisant seul dans les bars et dans la rue dès l'âge de 14 ans. Dans un esprit proche de CONOR OBERST (BRIGHT EYES) ou d'ELLIOTT SMITH, sa musique, au cœur de laquelle guitares, percussions et cuivres sous-tendent une voix errante, transporte une innocence sereine versant entre joie et mélancolie. Serrated Man Sound, album d'une surprenante maturité au regard du jeune âge de son auteur - mais la valeur, on le sait, chosit dans bien des cas de ne pas attendre, succède ainsi à Everyone's Anywhere But Home sorti en 2007 sur le label Blue Pie et rapporte les particularités attachantes d'un univers personnel aussi parallèle que gentiment détraqué."
from Orkhestra International (english translation)

"Today we have Mason Lindahl and his incredible guitar work. He just happens to craft a song around his display of delicate acoustic guitar playing. He is new to me but apparently well known for being quite the "finger picker" and I am inclined to agree. There is a juxtaposition in this track though - you have delicate fretwork, but you also get coiled energy - this isn't your daddy's classically trained guitar work friends. I guess this is why the words Alternative and Folk were used by IODA (even if both words are bastardized versions of what they once were, but I digress...) There is just something about this track, I get the feeling there is more than just a song in this song... ya know?"
from You Crazy Dreamers

"Mason Lindahl's "Serrated Man Sound" is an odd combination of sweet and sour. Sweet, in that the husky-voiced Lindahl has painted the record with lush strings and horns that lift the music and give it a very appealing "ear feel." However, and granted I may be wrong, the songs may be coated in such sweetness, because he either chose not to, or doesn't know how to tune his guitar properly. Yes, the acoustic guitars are out of tune, However, that does not distract very much from the final product, which is an often slow and plodding down-tempo set of unsettling despondent folk."
from Kalamazoo Gazette

"Usually a vocal drone is associated with liturgical, or at least spiritual, music, along with its use occasionally in more experimental sounds. Mason Lindahl's haunting, droning vocals has both spiritual and avant-garde qualities, but it is grounded in a raw, personal vein. Though "Serrated Man Sound" is far from a country record, it sure has that high lonesome feel.

Lindahl makes songs like "Warm Ducks," "Nine," and "Greater Clapping of Hands, The" harrowing and comforting in one stroke. His guitar playing, spare one minute, jagged and cranky the next, hints that the overall message is hopeful. Uplifting and euphoric even when enveloped in echo and moan, "Smaller Sizes Bigger Words," "No Man" and the title track are bursting with life. Sonically and lyrically Lindahl finds his subjects among corners and small unnoticed moments, but he gives them grace and power.

"Serrated Man Sound" demands repeated listening. Songs that seem despairing and full of joy, and vice versa. Mason Lindahl takes and shapes sounds both fragile and grumpy and molds them into the effortlessly epic. This is gritty poetic stuff. 8/10
from Foxy Digitalis