I've only just discovered archive.org. What do you say? I'm now addicted.

Thanks to the previous reviewer for helping choose the best handsomes downloads.

I've seen them live a few times, and this catches the flavour beautifully. If you've just got the cds, then yoou're in for a treat - they are even better live. I haven't tried the other downloads yet, but this is an excellent place to start.

Dear musical traveler, you've stumbled onto something wonderful but beware. The Handsome Family plays post-modern Americana. Imagine a strange and dark strain of alt-country. With strong female and male vocals, the music is song oriented. The quirky and gothic sound features a mellow mix of acoustic & electric guitars, sometimes punctuated by weird keyboards. The Handsome Family's tunes are satisfying to the ears yet disturbing to contemplate. Imagine a cross between the Munsters and the Beverly Hillbillies. Occupying a space that exists well under the mainstream radar, they are phantoms that can only be noticed by those like yourself adventurous listeners with musical ESP.

I was ecstatic to discover the Archive's eleven Handsome Family shows but frustrated by the absence of any reviews. I've made it a project to download, listen to and review each for sound quality. Where should you start? Preferring soundboards over audience recordings, I recommend that you begin with the four excellent soundboard choices: 1) 11-24-01, 2) 11-25-01, 3) 5-8-02 and 4) 5-9-02. In terms of audience recordings, 1) 5-6-99 and 2) 5-15-04 sound as good as any audience recording. Thus this May 8th, 2002 show is one of those great soundboards and well worth downloading.