Cosio: BeatCrave Fav of the Month

Are we seriously at the beginning of another month? Well, it must be said, your awesome taste in music is making 2009 go by at breakneck speed because you have spoken yet again, loud and crystal clear – for the month of July; Cosio is your BeatCrave Fav of the Month.

Cosio, the Los Angeles-based band with a penchant for storytelling, can be likened to a dreamer’s dream. Their almost inherent knack at creating a landscape and furnishing it with whatever is the most tangible and specific to the listener is clearly something not learned overnight. Interestingly, though, the band describes themselves very simply:

“The members of Cosio all met …became friends… and formed a band. [...] Called to represent a family in a loose sense of the word.” – Cosio, Biography: cosiomusic.org

Even in the way in which their formation is summarized is indicative of the human condition, which for most includes a definition of family, whether carefully chosen or bound by blood. Their lyrics, melodies, and supporting instrumental harmonies are no different; each ascension, visual phrase, and punctuation is intended and constructed to transport the listener somewhere. It would be almost safe to compare the experience to what one would imagine therapy to be – eerily comforting in touching the nerves, as much as it would also be thoroughly and refreshingly cathartic.

Consisting of Abigail Cosio (vocals and guitar), Mike Fister (drums), Bobby Musgrove (various accompanying instruments), Jeremy Kelley (bass), and Julie Mitchell (guitar), listeners and audience-goers alike have a complete band with what seems to be an effortless goal with each musical and lyrical phrase to entrap whoever is listening in a well-thought-out acoustic embrace.

Cosio’s first full-length album, The Cacophonist, showcases a style that is similar to those who could easily be considered the most essential staples of the popular-in-rumination musical works of Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos. It’s a conscious, realistic view of one’s world and even the most trivial and mundane aspects, coupled with the decision to paint it in romanticized colors, just to make it bearable. But like the artists before them, Cosio appears to understand that it’s not an easy road to take in getting to the point of being acknowledged as a tamer of their craft with the hope of longevity, and not an over-stylized flavor of the week.

What we found particularly intriguing about the band is that to “get to know them” requires a streaming, a spinning, and a detailed listening of their work; there is absolutely no way around it. Such indirect avoidance of the spotlight, despite the recognition and acclaim for their music, is a credit to what appears to be an overall desire – to not be interpreted incorrectly by what is expressed, other than musically, and such a quality is rare if not unheard of.

They display a reciprocal loyalty to the friends and audience they’ve acquired at Los Angeles venues by way of performances, but we are more than intrigued to see just where else their seeds of family can blossom and thrive. We admire and hold highly Cosio’s ability to steer clear from the over-processed nature of the business that saps identity and steamrolls creativity and ingenuity – which on the whole is the indisputable and esteemed quality that makes them our BeatCrave Fav for the Month of July.