The first book from Los Angeles artist and illustrator Mel Kadel is a collaboration with Austin-based musician ((sounder)). The music of ((sounder)) is more then a component of musician Michael David Aho's overall creative output. It is the foundation of an all-too-inviting world he has constructed - a world filled with bitter ironies, thinly veiled beauty and the threat of a trap door with every footstep. Using thick layers of hand cut paper, Mel Kadel's texture-rich illustrations are often reminiscent of engravings. Her reoccurring characters constantly take on new obstacles and adventures while maintaining a consistent aesthetic, giving her work a long-noted sense of interconnectivity and balance. Kadel's illustrations paired with Aho's original composition have created a landscape of remarkable complexity and depth. The duality of the book as both a piece of art and a songbook creates something captivating for adults and the very young alike.

"Subtle air-conditioned blues, plaintive without getting desperate, the kind of songs that are more affecting than they seem on first listen, haunting melodies, songwriting that stretches the boundaries of song in subtle and interesting ways. Michael David Aho creates a world filled with solid objects and drifting humanity, calling for sanity and restraint in a world too fast and heartless to be the same world it was."    - Nadav Carmel, 2005

36 pages, Uncoated Stock
Full Color Offset Printing
8" x 8", Hardbound in Alrin
7-inch Vinyl Record Insert
Limited Edition of 500