Shades of Dorian Gray

Danny Cohen has been lumped into the “outsider art” category as a matter of convenience and if it improves his public profile so be it. For decades the man has haunted L.A. as an idiosyncratic musical and artistic presence, and over the past decade he's unleashed several albums of invigorating, passionate songwriting that are less “outsider” than merely adventurous. His brother Greg has played bass for Tom Waits, and Danny shares Waits’ affection for inhabiting strange characters and unearthing unusual sounds. Cohen manages the same world-weary trudge for down-and-out ballads such as “Cold Snap Conundrum,” and “Palm of My Hand.” But where Waits is gruff, Cohen sings soft and quiet, and the often carnivalesque arrangements make these tunes immediately appealing. Whether it’s the bare organ of “Vertigo” or the film noir creep of “Noah Baine,’ Cohen inhabits an alternate universe where thoughts are freed from the gravity of reality and bounce freely into their own playspace.