The musical landscape is littered with the bodies of artists who once kinda sorta almost broke through but wound up fading away into obscurity. Some of them probably even continue to make a living off of their music but that doesn’t keep them out of (to borrow a Spinal Tap reference) the “Where are they now?” file.

Michael Jude Christodal, who performs as Jude, is such an artist. His first studio album, 1998’s No One is Really Beautiful, is an excellent collection of smart, contemporary pop songs. Jude toured with Ben Folds Five to support the album (my wife and I saw one of those shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.) and his music was a good complement to that of the trio.

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