Michael Cardenas has manifested his music to be "folk music for the sad and beautiful world". On a major scale, yes that's pretty much what his music is about. Born in Montebello, CA and having lived a life less wealthy and easy, started playing guitar at ten before facing many ups and downs in his career. But that's not exactly why I'm writing about him here. The weird thing about all the sad folk is Michael's undeniable tendency towards death metal in not a real distant past. Having worked with some death metal acts, Cardenas has made his decision to somehow never sound like that stuff again for the rest of the time to come. So what we're left with is a voice potent with folk ingredients, sometimes as tender as Nick Drake and sometimes as vibrant as Joseph Arthur. So that 180 degree shift is quite impressing. In fact he still looks like a death metal player but... hey this guy is now a million miles away from that undecided galaxy. So wouldn't it be nice to experience a former man of winkled guts and unpleasant vibrations, get down on his acoustic guitar and sing the awakening lullabies?

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As Michael Cardenas divulges himself in lyrics, he doesn't sound disappointing. None of the songs appearing on his debut long play called Yeai have a constant hit-appeal; somehow the context is more important. This very numb charisma and light appetite lingers all along, therefore Yeai can be mostly easy listening and enjoyable. Cardenas sees the bright side of the story through an Elliott Smith lens to be honest. So he aims towards a sun quite difficult to reach, even when it comes to love, he proclaims his dark side. In "Illness" he confesses "Tie me up call me a fighter, bind my throat you can make it tighter my love is ignorant I'll be dumb forever, I don't know pain." But you can't quite call him a pessimist. His smooth hands on the guitar and his conscious lively folk are in contrast with the lyrics and if you ask me that's what makes sense about his music.

Links:
Buy Yeai through his online store
Buy MP3s at Amazon
Michael Cardenas MySpace page
Michael Cardenas on Virb