Listening to local artist Michael Korb’s latest work, Ghosts, is like taking your ears through a musical labyrinth. It is difficult, if not impossible, to apply a label on Korb’s style. However, the album is aptly named for it has a dark and haunting quality about it. Each track on the album features many of Korb’s talents- from his pure voice to the raw sound of an acoustic guitar and the backing of intricate drum parts, all solely done by Korb. In fact, Korb himself wrote, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered every part of every song. On top of that, he painted the piece that is featured on the cover of the album, which is equally as intricate and beautiful as his music. His songs are filled with emotion- real, genuine emotion-not the black nail polish, bangs-over-one-eye kind of “emo”tion. Even songs with a more upbeat tempo like “Close Your Eyes” are filled with hidden deep thoughts and feelings. Michael Korb is a local artist to be watched- someone with this much talent and creativity cannot go unnoticed for long. His large local following can attest to this.

Korb himself is an unassuming and reserved person. This all changes, however, when he straps on the guitar and gets behind the microphone. His live show is not something to be missed. In person, his voice is impressive, almost astounding. Though he often plays solo, he is also part of a band comprised of himself on acoustic guitar and vocals, Eric Lee on electric bass, Travis Kaufman on drums, and Brittany Lundberg singing backup. He is active in the Stony Brook/St. James area, so try to make it out to one of his shows. You won’t regret it. Check out www.myspace.com/michaelkorb to sample some music and see where he will be playing next. Ghosts is available on iTunes and at Korb’s live shows.