It was a bigger thrill than I honestly thought it was going to be— the reissue of Ten, remixed, repackaged.
I am aware of how drastically tastes can change over time, and I thought this was going to be nothing more than a dutiful purchase by a longtime fan. I have learned to distrust my memories. I used to think C + C Music Factory was the future of music. And so I doubted Ten was what I remembered; it has always been a touchstone album in my personal music collection …

Sarah Shafey is a Renaissance Woman with a capital T. That ‘T’ could stand for ‘Talented.’ Or ‘Thirsty.’ Or ‘Transcendent.’ Each of the three ‘T’s are equally fitting; yet they only begin to describe her jacktress-of-many-trades persona. Sarah Shafey is a producer and engineer who runs her own recording studio called Squeaky Clean Records. She’s a deft interviewee; her “Shafey’s Palace” webisodes are as much entertaining as they are insightful. In many-a-photograph, she’s a chameleon whose ability to constantly reinvent herself will leave you breathless. She helps manage a creative …

“How low  / are you willing to go / before you reach all / your selfish goals?”
The question is laid bare at the very outset of the album, and is repeated in spirit for its half-hour length to one extent or another under a web of deft acoustic melodies. How gently it infiltrates, the questioning of authority and challenging of broken ideas.
It’s the stoic conviction that makes this so appealing. Jose is a quiet and to-the-point singer, his voice unadorned but insistent. When he sings, “Put down your sword / send home your dogs,” …

There is a concession to the difficulty of categorizing The Keys’ music in the promo materials for Years Are Made of Seconds. It says, “Were one to label [Boris Paillard's] music (if only to appease the norm’s demand to do so), it would be described as a kind of acoustic folk ‘n’ roll.” While there is definitely a rustic acoustic foundation beneath each song, a label is irrelevant. This is art, pure and simple.
The Keys is driven by Boris Paillard, though it features many guests and collaborators. And with an …