Noah Parriott's music career started with a bang — or more specifically, a crash. A snowboarding accident in 1998 gave Parriott the starting grounds for inspiration and practice. Rather than wallowing in self-pity during his recovery, Parriott decided to try his hand at the miracle work of turning water into wine. Or, rather, wine and pain killers into inspiration.

"I moved home to Washington to heal up and bought a Tascam 4-track recorder," Parriott said. "Between the pain killers for my shoulder and lack of skill, my first few tapes are on a page all their own but still opened the door to the recording process. When I first started recording, I was just trying to get familiar with my voice, making a bunch of different sounds," Parriott explained. "I tried to focus on the emotion of the moment rather than trying to sound like someone else."

As many a musician can attest, finding one's voice is not an easy task. It wasn't until last year that Parriott seemed to finally hit his stride, recording four promising experiments at The Piano Studio on Capitol Hill.

"I got on MySpace and posted the rough cuts of the songs that are now on my EP," Parriott said. "An old friend who was down in L.A. working for Capitol Records heard them and said, 'Dude, you gotta come down here.'"

Parriott declined at first but eventually made the trip. In early 2007 he found himself in Los Angeles Record Plant Studios, the same place that has served such rock legends as Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, John Lennon, Black Sabbath and Queen. Surrounded by accomplished studio musicians, Parriott fleshed out his songs, adding layers of instrumentation and effects. The results were quite impressive; they sound something like a cross between The Shins and Radiohead. In "Any Form," Parriott's delicate falsetto invitingly intones, "Belts of radiation / Crisping you completely / Suits of insulation, making you feel sleepy."

Overall, Parriott's EP sounds very much like a Midwestern counterpart to Radiohead's OK Computer, albeit with vastly different dystopian themes. Although it is not explicitly stated, one gets the sense that Parriott's songs exist in a universe where all major cities have been decimated by atomic bombs, leaving nowhere to retreat to but the "top of a mountain" and "bottom of the sea," as Parriott sings on his track "Mountain."

The production is rich but far from dense or heavy-handed. Minimalist strings, maracas and other instrumentation provide just enough weight to prevent Parriott's airy, eerie sound from floating off into the stratosphere like a balloon escaped from a child's hand.

It would seem that Parriott has little to be pessimistic about these days. In addition to his solo work, he is the lead singer and songwriter for Meat the Vegan, a more rock-oriented band he put together with a group of long-time friends. Along with bassist Josh Balin, drummer Jon Broom and guitarist Mike Gillis, Parriott keeps busy performing around town as well as writing and recording material for Meat the Vegan's first full-length album, which he expects to be released early next year.

Noah Parriot's self-titled EP can be purchased at www.barbarianmusic.com. For an extra helping of Meat and Parrriott, visit www.meatthevegan.com.