You can check out Kristian Hoffman's most recent solo CD, "&", right here on CDBaby, for an extended up-to-the-minute bio - But here is a brief overview. Hoffman is famous for his NYC music scene collaborations during that city's underground heyday. He has ruled both coasts as leader of New Wave legends the Mumps ( with lead singer Lance "An American Family" Loud - they opened for Cheap Trick (!) and Van Halen(!) at the Whiskey (!) besides innumerable gigs with the Ramones, Blondie and Television - their career retrospective CD "Mumps-Fatal Charm" is also available from CDbaby) - and as lead singer for the ultra groovy Swinging Madisons. From keyboards, guitars, and drums, to writing singing and arranging, his name has graced records from such diverse luminaries as Lydia Lunch (he played drums on the"Agony is the Ecstacy" side of the U.K. E.P. release with the Birthday Party on the other side!), Klaus Nomi ( Hoffman is the writer of Nomi's signature tunes including "Total Eclipse" and the title song of Nomi's new biopic "The Nomi Song"), Dave Davies, James White and the Blacks, El Vez, Congo Norvell, and Ann Magnuson (for whom he also served as musical director and live keyboard accompanist, as he did for Rufus Wainwright). He has also toured the U.S. and Europe extensively with Dave Davies, Lydia Lunch, Ann Magnuson, El Vez, Abby Travis, and Congo Norvell. After the acoustic folk/pop stylings of Hoffman's solo debut, "I Don't Love My Guru Anymore" (also available on CDBaby), Hoffman recorded tracks for two highly regarded tribute compilations - "Lemons Never Forget" for the pre-disco Bee Gees tribute CD "Melody Fair" with tracks from the Young Fresh Fellows, Dramarama, and the legendary Phil Seymour - Flipside magazine raved " It's hard to pick a favorite from the pack, but Kristian Hoffman would probably win. The incredibly intricate production not only plays tribute, but probably surpasses the original!" - and "I'm Alive" for the Hollies tribute CD "Sing Hollies in Reverse", with tracks from the Posies, E of the Eels, Jon Brion of the Club Largo Mafia, and the Wondermints -backing band for Brian Wilson's recent "Smile" triumph. Allan Clarke himself, lead singer of the Hollies, picked out Kristian's track as a particular favorite. It was recording these two tracks that reopened Kristian's eyes and ears to his life long affection for British 60's melodic pop/psych, and set him in the direction for his next solo record: appropriating the 60's notion that music could bring life to technicolor mind adventures to just about anywhere, and adding his dedication to craft and form and heart to make it new again. "Earthquake Weather" plants Kristian solidly in the 60's influenced Costello style pop/rock field, with unembarrassed psychedelic flourishes and orchestrations, and a dose of unadulterated glam. On it are guest appearances from Ann Magnuson, Lance Loud, Jonathan Lea (the Jigsaw Seen), William Cooper (Mazzy Star, Rain Parade, Opal), Ethan James (Blue Cheer), and a very special ultra rare guest appearance by the Cramps own Ivy Rorschach, playing a swingingly blistering solo on the rockabilly tinged "That's Our Secret". Production and added pop sheen is handled by famous indie producer and former Spark Earle Mankey, who also contributes a good deal of Ronson style guitar. It definitely upped the ante from the already highly regarded "I Don't Love My Guru Anymore" as you can see from the review excerpts included below. For more news, reviews, pictures, updates, rare MP3s, website-only releases, and special offers, go to "the Official Kristian Hoffman Website" at www.kristianhoffman.com. Some Earthquake Weather Reviews: "On Earthquake Weather, Kristian Hoffman offers up 14 painstakingly crafted pop gems, overflowing with melodic richness and lyrical bite. Though Hoffman's work is most often noted for it's baroque/music hall bent - think the Left Banke, the Kinks, pre-disco Bee Gees - stylistically this record is all over the map, with bubblegum/glam swagger, epic bombast, and edgy rockabilly as well. Arch, yet compassionate, with well turned couplets and phrases reminiscent of Ray Davies and Elvis Costello, Hoffman puts forth his weighty refelections with panache and hook-driven joy, fearlessly plundering and reinventing all that is good in melodic rock music. Earthquake Weather shimmers with the brilliance of a pop virtuoso in top form." - BAM "Witty pop tunes with intense attention to detail in these very arranged songs, and a timeless Danny Hutton/Knickerbockers/mid 60's sound. Canny chords, harmonies, and instrumental embellishments (glockenspiel rock) give the best you can ask of pop music. Earthquake Weather is a dense pop masterwork that marries the prolix wordplay of mid-period Elvis Costello to the bug-eyed baroqueisms of post-Move Roy Wood!" " - L.A.Weekly "One of the best albums of '97! Hoffman creates a dramatic universe of pop gestures!" - Amplifier "Kristian Hoffman certainly has a lot to say. Insightful, no-holds-barred lyrics with brilliant rhyme schemes thoroughly fill up his stories of societal shortcomings, personal struggles, and religious mistrust, as they shuffle against the plates of his pure pop approach with such fervent force that "Earthquake Weather" is indeed an apt title for his second album. With their decorative garnishing, complicated arrangements, and sharp production edges, the songs are keyboard laden delights that will charm more than your pants off. Perfect. Diverse, playful, and consistent, this is what pop is all about." -Popsided "An exciting pop masterpiece!" -Entertainment Today " Kristian Hoffman is the only veteran of the original CBGBS/Max's scene whose current music seems to get more interesting. "Earthquake Weather" is a groaning pop smorgasbord, sprinkled with classic influences. With Spectorian bells, pungent string arrangements, operatic bombast, and Hoffman's lyrics - finely crafted little tales on their own- the former Mumps whiz reincarnates the swirling mushroom pop of "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" era Small Faces. It only adds fuel to the lore of a true American original." - Magnet "Earthquake Weather is a bigger new wave kick than a stack of Trouser Press magazines. Hoffman's opulent whimsy is a bit like Sparks in their heyday. A must for fans of the grand pop gesture!" - Columbia Free Times "A thrilling sonic stir fry of the Beach Boys, glam-rock, Roy Wood, and madcap cabaret!" - Yeah Yeah Yeah " 'Earthquake Weather' contains genuine moments of magnificence. With so many sounds popping up here and disappearing there - strings one second, a hurdy gurdy the next - the production job alone sounds beamed in from another planet. Each song sounds enormous, like a thousand other records collected and combined through the decades - the off harmonies and string sections lifted from the Beach Boys, the wry sarcasm of the Kinks, the guitar jingle-jangle of the Byrds, the dense lyricism from Love. There's wit underneath all this pop tension - a knowing smile on the heartache. Sometimes it's unexpectedly lovely, sometimes it's just good time rock and roll, everything packed into the incessant back-beat beat. Hoffman is like the ghost through which every former and future L.A. band passes during the midnight seance; he embraces all the cliches until they coalesce into a brand new poptopian haze!" - L.A. New Times "More of Hoffman's delicately crafted and bitingly well-produced classic pop with a gorgeously baroque facet!" Ptolmic Terrascope " Hoffman has pulled a good four dozen production tricks on the fourteen songs of "Earthquake Weather." Highly baroque and psychedelic, the album on a whole is inspiring. This leads to my amazement and awe at 'Now I Understand', 'Lite of the World', 'Reasonable Man', 'Earthquake Weather', and the pinnacle work on the album 'I Had My Chance'. Lush and sad, the song chronicles the fall of an ordinary man with much the same strength of pop classics like 'I Don't Know Much', 'Georgia on my Mind', and 'Desperado'. At one point Hoffman sings: 'If love could save us, wouldn't we be saved? If tears could save us, wouldn't we be saved? If doubt could save us, wouldn't we be saved?'* Amidst all this aloneness, Hoffman's voice strengthens and he takes some sort of stand. Very well done. Beatles-esque in nature through and through, Earthquake Weather has Hoffman transcending his Elvis Costello impersonation and showing himself as an equipped vocalist and songwriter." - 4Front (*copyright Gothic Novelty Music ASCAP - used by permission.) " Taking equally from 60's psychedelia and the 70's baroque tones of David Ackles and mixing the pop attributes of Crowded House, Earthquake Weather at it's best is absolutely charming. The album's definitely a grower - it takes a few listens for it all to soak in. There's so much going on. Lyrically, Mr. Hoffman's cynicism comes shining through and gives it some bitterness which complements the sweetness of the melodies. I like it! (four stars)" - Luke