Skinny Goodman is a modern version of what's often called a Renaissance Man, a seeker of connections between many different avenues of the mind. The world is his Frankenstein.

He comes from a family rich in creators and artists - shipbuilders, painters, potters, and musicians. Stacks of paintings and sheet music regularly surrounded gloves and rackets in his room. At an early age he began studying classical piano, developing a love for the more impressionistic composers like Debussy, Chopin, and Satie. Playing on a slightly out of tune upright piano he'd explore creating washes of resonant tones, sustaining spacious chords while echoing plaintive melodies picked up from his favorite pieces.

Now many years down the road his arsenal has expanded to include guitars, synthesizers, and other assorted electronics. From his home studio in the Bay Area he engineers a spacey blend of soft keys, silky guitars, and pulsating synths over a steady burning bed of warm basslines and thumping drums. His tracks offer a sense of calm amidst a swirl of dark clouds, like watching a thunderstorm roll in from your porch.

Skinny Goodman’s first album as a solo artist is titled Where You Belong. It was produced over several months following a move to the west coast from his original home in the northeast where he played keys in Boston-based trip-hop and rock groups. It’s a moody album of transitions that swings from innocent and playful to dark and mysterious while its layers ooze with bittersweet melodies and thick low ends.

Square on Three Sides is the first single from the album, available for free with additional artwork at skinnygoodman.com. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.