I've always thought New Jersey was under-rated. Haddonfield and Cherry Hill are top-notch suburbs flaunting cool graffitti (I've seen "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole" on one of their elementary school walls) and they have two great boardwalks on the beaches of Wildwood and Ocean City. The best barrel pickles can be found in their supermarkets, and no state has produced a greater home taper than their own R. Stevie Moore. But now there's Florida's Chris Korzen, who gives Moore a great run for the money with an entirely different approach. Whereas Moore produces a hodgepodge of any musical style that slips through his brain's cracks, Korzen is an elegant cross between Harvey Williams and Todd Rundgren. His instrument of choice is the grand piano, and it's both recorded and played at a high professional level. You hear it, and it immediately soothes.

As with his earlier, equally pared-down efforts, Slice of Life is a brief offering, but it's impeccably structured, with music that chronicles the love between two people who live a "million miles away". All the songs save one (the Ozarks' "It Couldn't Be Better") are original, and they typically use Korzen's hands at the piano to ride them into the next track. The lyrics are snatched in pristine state from the fluttering thoughts in Korzen's head ("Wednesday is stuck in the middle / Am I stuck at my job, or do I suck at this relationship?"), and add to the record's aura of truth. I was particularly struck by the grace and hummability of these tunes, and by the way you can play them repeatedly, even though Korzen's voice is flat.

As with Julie Gold's demos, any commercial expectations for these tracks would improve through the mouth of an artist with greater vocal chops -- but what's really wrong with tunes that were recorded by a human, not a diva? Korzen is, in many ways, the sort of musician that everyone wants in their record collection -- an honest, ambitious, thoroughly obscure craftsman who works slices of his life into three-minute gems that you'll happily play for company. Those who can embrace the singing are friends who love authentic music; to hell with the rest.