Back in 2005, Salon.com had a feature called Wednesday Morning Download, curated by Thomas Bartlett (a writer and keyboardist who has since performed with Antony, Glen Hansard, and Yoko Ono, among others). Every week, Bartlett would post at least one free MP3 for the taking, usually from an indie artist I didn’t know much about.

This is how I was introduced to Say Hi To Your Mom, largely the work of Eric Elbogen (or “a boy named Eric,” as the liner notes to Say Hi’s albums always begin). “Let’s Talk About Spaceships,” from sophomore effort Numbers & Mumbles, was my initiation into Elbogen’s delightful lo-fi synth-pop recordings. Avoidance has never sounded so charming:

To these ears, such tuneage would not have sounded out of place in the collection of The O.C.‘s resident indie-boy, Seth Cohen, leading me to include Say Hi on a series of Cohen-inspired mixes I made at the time for friends. Recording the fourth Say Hi album in December 2005, Elbogen even posted that it would be “action packed with more gooey hooks than ever before because I would be heartbroken if a song didn’t make it on The O.C. before it gets cancelled.”

As it turned out, that 2006 disc, Impeccable Blahs, was a concept album about vampires (mostly), and while The O.C.‘s residents did occasionally bare their fangs (metaphorically speaking), Elbogen’s California dream was never realized. (Shame on you, Alexandra Patsavas!)

Relocating from Brooklyn to Seattle, and dropping the “To Your Mom” part of the name, Say Hi issued its fifth album, The Wishes And The Glitch, in 2008. (Which I missed entirely, only recently purchased, and have yet to listen to.)

But the point of this post is to focus on the newest Say Hi release, Ooohs & Aaahs, which I did take note of when it came out last month. 

Elbogen spent the better part of last year in his Seattle bedroom, coaxing some wonderfully earnest numbers from his musical toys. Take a listen to “Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh” (a titular nod to the 808 drum machine?):

Want another reason to greet Say Hi with a great big hug? Elgoben offers several free MP3s from all six albums, including the two tracks highlighted above (a complete coincidence, really). Mr. Say Hi knows what he’s doing, because once you’ve gotten a taste, you’ll want to get your hands on even more. (With Patsavas now musical supervisor on Chuck and Gossip Girl, might Elbogen still achieve his TV dreams?)

Purchase Say Hi To Your Mom – Oohs & Aahs via iTunes, Amazon.