2004, Tomlab (Germany)

RESTOCK. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (CFTPA) rocks the world! CFTPA makes songs made up, sung, and played by Owen Ashworth. His first release on Tomlab, "Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars," gained a lot of attention in the alternative press with references including Moldy Peaches, Mountain Goats, Smog, Silver Jews, Young Marble Giants, and Will Oldham. CFTPA's self-released debut album, "Answering Machine Music," which has been hard to find, is now available in an expanded version and features a series of musical answering machine messages disguised as pop songs. Recorded in 1999 on 4-tracks, answering machines, and boom boxes, and played entirely on swap meet and thrift store miniature keyboards, it just may be the best battery-powered pop record you've ever heard.