The Curious Mystery / Rotting Slowly
K Records, 2009. thecuriousmystery.com

Columbia connection: Shana Cleveland, vocalist and Autoharp player, graduated from Columbia in 2004 with a B.A. in poetry.
The sound: Blues, psychedelic  
The word: The Pacific Northwest is known for rain, sugarless coffee, and bands like the Curious Mystery, who weave psychedelic sounds with straightforward arrangements. This album sounds like a deliberately disjointed mess, occasionally off key and off tempo. Cleveland sounds like a young Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star), with her slow, somber voice and melancholy lyrics. Rotting Slowly isn’t an album you’d put on to cheer yourself up, but there’s something beautifully dark in the Curious Mystery’s music. Something curious.

—Brent White ('08)