Half-Handed Cloud

by Matt FinkA moniker lifted out of the Old Testament by performance artist/multi-instrumentalist John Ringhofer, Half-Handed Cloud specialize in creating economically complex pop. His tenure with the quirky Wookieback over, Ringhofer has carved out a unique niche for himself with his insistence on severely truncated song structures. Armed with a 1960s Sears particle-board guitar, a trombone, and any number of other instruments he puts his hands on, often accompanied by ghoulish dolls and the adornment of homemade art, he's a performer capable of stealing the spotlight at open-minded venues. Crediting his abbreviated and condensed songwriting style to his military parent upbringing, Ringhofer creates dazzlingly complex pop ditties for those with short attention spans. Case in point, his debut, 2001's Learning About Your Scale, positively blew through 25 songs in approximately 24 minutes, creating new standards for pop songcraft efficiency. It was followed by the equally strange and alluring We Haven't Just Been Told, We Have Been Loved in 2002, Thy Is a Word & Feet Need Lamps in 2005, and the sprawling Halos + Lassos in 2006. With formal ties to similarly minded artists like the Danielson Famile by virtue of his connection to the Sounds Familyre label, Half-Handed Cloud is one of the growing coterie of uniquely avant-garde Christian artists.