Casiotone For The Pretty Damn Near Perfect

J.I. makes no secret of our emo-teen level love for Owen Ashworth, the bearded keyboardist who performs under the moniker Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. His show last night at Brooklyn art space Death By Audio reminded us yet again that in a world filled with buzz bands and churning hype machines, sincerely excellent stuff does exist and flourish.

The evening got off to an odd start, with a comedy performance by Dan Deacon and some friends from Baltimore. The set was surprisingly funny and charming, and while Mr. Deacon might not want to quit his day job quite yet, it’s nice to know he’ll have other skills to fall back on when he hangs up the keyboard. After an underwhelming set by a folky guitarist and another by the twee and almost-too-cute duo Too Bad Catholics, Casiotone finally took the stage.

He played for just under an hour, kicking off the set with “Cold White Christmas,” one of the strongest tracks from his 2006 album “Etiquette.” He followed with a mix of new (“White Corolla,” “White on White”) and old (“Toby, Take a Bow”) before launching in to his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” and announcing that he and his brother, both fans of the Boss, had collaborated on a record that will be released next month. J.I.’s heart leapt with joy.

The set kept on rolling with more perfectly crafted little electronic pop gems, including the J.I.’s favorite, “New Year’s Kiss.” Our only complaint is that he didn’t play his stellar cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” other than that, the act was damn near perfect. It’s always heartening to get good vibes, great music, and cold beer for less than twenty dollars, and it’s nights like this that keep the J.I. going out when we’re burned out.