The Pacific Northwest is a dark, dank place, with a suicide rate higher than Keith Richards on a four day binge. Even their most articulate native son, Kurt Cobain, drowned in the sea of despair and offed himself. And what's the cause of this environmental depression??? It may be the constant grey skies and rain, it may be the extremely high runaway and homeless rate or it just may very well be the music of Bob Desper. Bob recorded his "New Sounds" LP in one take at the local Rose City Sound studios. Just him, his acoustic guitar and an amazing insight to the dark side of the human psyche. So dark in fact, that only a blind man can see it. Bob is that man, and on this LP he taps into a place that very few people have visited. His voice is quiet with an edge sharper than a Ginzu knife. His lyrics reflect a lonely man who recognizes the shortcomings of human kind. This LP gives me goosebumps each and every time I play it. Side one starts off with "Darkness Is Like A Shadow". A spooky, echoey tune where Bob introduces a topic that becomes a re-occurring theme throughout the entire LP, the fact that people with eyesight are blind to the things that are truly important in life. "It's Too Late" and "Lonely Man" follow and continue the introspective soul search, all accompanied by Bob's extraordinary guitar playing. The fourth and last cut on side one is "To A Friend Of Mine". This is where I usually start thinking about going into the bathroom and slitting my wrist with a razor blade just to prove to Bob that I could begin to understand what true suffering is. This 15+ minute journey is, in my opinion, the most flawless chunk of downer/loner folk music ever recorded. Side two is good, but pales in comparison to it's flip side. Songs are "Let It Shine For You", "Don't You Cry For Me", "Liberty" and "Time Is Almost Over".