Mark Schwaber - the killing card www.markschwaber.com www.myspace.com/markschwaber1 www.pigeonrecords.com www.luckycreature.com The players: Mark Schwaber - vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, cassette tapes, glockenspiel, percussion and Hammond on all except where noted. Drums on #12 JJ O’Connell - drums/percussion on #4,5,6,8,10,11, 14 Ruth Keating - drums/percussion on #2,3 Joel Stroetzel - guitars on #2 Anne Pinkerton – vocals on #6, 10, 14 Paul Kochanski – bass on #10 Matt Cullen – guitars on #10 Jose Ayerve – chord-o-dot organ on #3 Mark Alan Miller – tape loop editing on #9 Sheri Hupfer – phone call on #15 Reviews of Mark Schwaber's first CD, "two years and thirty minutes" "Absolutely amazing" Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) "...The record showcases Schwaber's wide range of talents, from his understatedly brilliant guitar playing (check out the quirky turnaround after the first chorus of "Watergun") to his knack for creating beautiful arrangements (dive into the lovely layers of "Hell is Here" and "Dignity in Death") to his seemingly endless supply of hooks (just try to get the vocal lines on "Let Down" or the guitar line on "Ghosting" out of your head). The mood on Two Years... shifts from straight-up rock to sparse, nylon-string dirges, but the unmistakable constant is Schwaber's superb songwriting. There are 11 songs in this collection, and only two of them break the three-minute mark. Chalk that brevity up to the fact that Schwaber has mastered one of the most important principles of songwriting: Don't overdo it. He never forces lyrics. If he's said everything he needs to say in a single verse, he brings the song in for a gorgeous, graceful landing, as he does on "Crash Your Ride." If he's written a wonderfully funny and catchy verse, he simply repeats it, as he does on "On Your Way." It's a compelling approach -- compelling the listener to revisit the songs again and again and again." Greg Saulmon - masslive.com