Kalen - Falling From The Sun

Kalen - Falling From The Sun
2012, Kalen Lister

First you take a small town girl from Exeter, New Hampshire with a penchant for singing and songwriting.  Next, you provide her fertile mind with an Ivy League education.  Finally, you turn her loose on the streets of Brooklyn to see what happens next.  This isn’t exactly Kalen Lister’s story, but it’s not far off the mark.  Kalen brings an exciting and intellectual approach to song craft on her debut solo CD, Falling From The Sun.

Kalen starts off with "Island", an ethereal pop vocal tune reminiscent of early recordings from Maryen Cairns or Milla Jovovich. The composition is built of complex layers that are realized with surprising clarity over a light dance beat. "Fallen From The Sky" explores how good love goes bad when obsession sets in. Kalen uses an elevation to angry rocker to show growing frustration while layering ghost-like vocal chants over the top. The effect is striking.

Kalen gets gritty on "Rabid Girl", a story song about a young woman's descent into alcoholism and the demons that drive her there. The urgent energy of this tune carries over into "Neda", which reverts a bit to Kalen's more ethereal pop sound. Maintaining a bit of that gritty feel and channeling it into bluesy pop, Kalen's moves on into the dark and spritely kiss off song "Hit The Road". This is the most impressive vocal performance on the album thus far, and hints at greater musical depths that Kalen may not yet have tapped. Kalen strips things down to piano, strings and voice for the closing waltz, "It Takes A Lifetime." This is a wow moment, as Kalen struggles through insecurity and indecision to a nominal understanding that the confusion and fear is a normal part of life. Elements of Tori Amos or Sarah Slean can be heard here, but Kalen really makes the moment her own by singing very much from the heart.

Kalen Lister makes a grand statement in bold hues, subtle rhythms and deftly crafted phrases on Falling From The Sun.  This is a nuanced EP that rewards patience, unfurling new layers with repeated listens.  Kalen’s voice is enigmatic and warm, drawing you out of your listener’s isolation and involving you in the stories she spins.  She’ll leave you wanting more and more.

Rating:           4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.kalenmusic.com. 

Video: Erin Hill & Her Psychedelic Harp - Giant Mushrooms

No.  You've never seen anything quite like this.  Just watch.


Part Milla Jovovich, part Tori Amos, and part Deborah Henson-Conant.  Wild.

Learn more at www.erinhill.com.

Salina Sias - Salina Sias

Salina Sias – Salina Sias
2011, Salina Sias

Salina Sias’ musical career was almost derailed before it really started. Classically trained from a young age, Sias sang competitively throughout her school years. Then one morning, at the age of 17, her voice was simply gone. Down, but not out, Sias switched her sites to acting. She moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study, and spent the next decade trying to make it while dabbling in marketing and journalism as a way to pay the bills. Sias’ voice had come back however; she was a regular shower singer long before she left anyone know about it. Then, about a year ago she met with a vocal coach and started putting the pieces back together. Excited to make up for lost time, Sias recently released her debut album, Salina Sias.

Sias shows a longitudinal story-teller’s style on Salina Sias, writing and performing in a semi-stream of conscious style that makes the background music more utilitarian than compelling. Her imagery is strong, however, while Sias explores themes that run the gamut from coming of age stories to chasing down the mixed emotions of life. Sias starts off on a stark note with the lovely but vaguely disturbing “Up In The Trees”. The experience related her have my innocent or may carry much darker undertones, but it’s about a little girl’s perspective from off to the side as she comes to terms with the world around her. Let the interpretations begin, but it’s a strong opening shot from an artist who deserves to be heard. “Sounds Of Blue” is a pretty discourse on two people living together yet living apart. There is an intrinsic sadness here wrapped up in a warped sort of fatalism. The song will get under your skin.

“Dear Job” is an intriguing song about the struggle for faith and doing the right things in day-to-day life. The moments when we look at a path and know what we should do but continue on our own merry way are immortalized herein. Sias’ conversation with the saint through a book on her shelf that beckons yet remains untouched. Sias gets contemplative on “Almost The Same”, showing an odd blend of emotion and detachment that unrolls slowly with the song. “Slipping Away” is a gorgeous musical dissertation on death, marking both its permanency and its negotiability for the living left behind. Sias’ piano arrangement is worth the price of admission on its own.

“Broken Memory” builds brilliance from dichotomy, blending mystery and darkness with ragged edges into an illuminating musical moment full of a rough hewn beauty that is nearly impossible to create. In this one moment the listener hears all that Salina Sias can be as a songwriter – A true WOW moment. Sias suddenly throws listeners a pair of curves on the final two songs. An album full of gentle, occasionally ethereal folk/pop, she gets down and dirty with a pair gut-busting, innuendo-laden torch songs that will know your socks off. “Midnight On Thursday” speaks of basic human needs, waning hours, and the sense of desperation that alcohol ferments. Sias opens up her voice and leaves a scarring impression full that you won’t soon forget. “You Ain’t The One” might just be the afterthought; a bluesy, soulful lamentation on what the listener probably knew was inevitable a song ago.

Salina Sias starts out with a firm impression that would place Sias among the likes of Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlan and Milla, but on the final two songs becomes a bit of Martina Sorbara (pre-Dragonette) or even Sunday Wilde. However you choose to classify the singer, Salina Sias is a distinctive introduction to an artist who aspires to big things. The songwriting here is impressive, if occasionally uneven, with Sias showing serious chops as a writer, singer and pianist. This might not be the breakout album; Salina Sias is the one that makes the breakout possible later. This is one young lady who’s going to be on a lot of music radars very soon.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Salina Sias at www.salinasias.com. Salina Sias is available from Amazon.com on CD or as a Download.

Katie Melua – The House

Katie Melua – The House
2010, Dramatico Records

Katie Melua is one of the largest selling artists in the UK for the 21^st century, capturing hearts and minds all over the world with her albums Call Off The Search, Piece By Piece and Pictures.  Under the tutelage of composer/musician Mike Batt, Melua found her voice and a sound that is both distinctive original and commercially appealing.  After three albums and seven years, however, it was time for Melua to branch out on her own and explore the avenues of her art.  The resulting album, produced by the legendary William Orbit, is The House.  This is Melua’s most original and dramatic album to date, delivering on an unerring pop sensibility with the sort of musical quirks and originality that can turn a very good artist into an icon.

The House opens with “I’d Love To Kill You”, perhaps one of the most anachronistically sensual songs you’re likely to hear.  Melua mixes images of violence and sexuality in a disturbing monologue that will unnerve or titillate you depending on your disposition.  The stark, simple arrangement serves only to empower the message and paints a picture of a love that borders on insanity.  “The Flood” is dark, mysterious and beautiful.  There’s an almost spiritual theme revealed in Melua’s parallel between the washing away of a great flood and the releasing of bonds on the human spirit as the song moves between a sorrowful dirge and an uplifting new age/pop dance beat.  “A Happy Place” keeps essentially the same rhythm and melodic structure as “The Flood”.  The theme here is about humanity’s constant yearning to find a happy place and is therefore subjectively a complement to “The Flood”, sharing elements of theme, melody and structure.

“A Moment Of Madness” finds Melua exploring the cabaret style familiar to fans of Sarah Slean.  Melua injects a gorgeous dramatic sensibility into a suggestive art house tune with a distinct baroque feel.  Melua explores the juxtaposition of hope and heartbreak as seen through shared experience in a tune that sounds like something John Lennon may have penned where he still alive and working today.  “Tiny Alien” finds Melua communicating with a baby in utero, wondering at who it will become, what it feels and thinks.  It’s an amazing bit of songwriting, highly personal and yet universal in its theme.  “No Dear Of Heights” is a confident love song that revels in faith and certainty that a relationship is meant to last.  Melua’s performance shows a conviction that is compelling.  “The One I Love Is Gone” is bluesy and forlorn but sophisticated.  Katie Melua delivers a true wow moment here with a vocal performance that is starkly beautiful and thoroughly in the moment.

“Plague Of Love” explores the pleasure and pain of unrequited love in a compact and breezy but significant pop song.  This is brilliant songwriting, blending masterful lyrics with the sort of smart, angular pop arrangement that’s outside the box enough to be noticed but accessible enough to garner the attention of radio programmers, licensers and fans.  “God On The Drums, Devil On The Bass” hits the spiritual realm again, using Judeo-Christian imagery as a sort of parallel of yang and yin, and placing human behavior in between.  The song is entertaining with enough of a mid-tempo dance beat to perhaps crack the club scene with the right remix.  Melua’s vocals here are oddly sensual.  Melua closes out with “Twisted”, a solid pop entry, and “The House”, a pensive, dark internal conversation set to music.  This quietest moment evokes Melua’s best vocal performance on the album, including a chilling high note that will ring in your mind well after the last notes fade.

Katie Melua has come a long way since Call Off The Search, expanding upon her folk and pop roots into a truly artistic pastiche of pop, rock and singer-songwriter styles.  Melua embodies the eclectic spirit of such artists as Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Milla Jovovich, while writing intelligent and coherent pop that is atypically accessible.  It isn’t a stretch to say that Melua has one of the most intriguing voices in pop music today, finding its way into the nooks and crannies of your soul.  The House is Melua’s finest work to date, a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Katie Melua at www.katiemelua.com or www.myspace.com/katiemelua.  The House is available from Amazon.com as a CD, LP or Download.  The album is also available from iTunes.

Review: Elin Palmer – Postcard

Elin Palmer – Postcard
2009, Elin Palmer

Denver singer/songwriter Elin Palmer has been around the block of the music business a time or two. The Värmland, Sweden native has played in session or in the road with or in support numerous artists over the years, working with acts such as 16 Horsepower, M. Ward, The Fray, Munly And The Lee Lewis Harlots, Devotchka and Eric Bachman (Archers Of Loaf) among others. Palmer is a multi-instrumentalist with a heavenly voice and mischievous glint in her eye, all of which manage to come across on her solo debut album, Postcard. With an expected release date of October 23, 2009, there’s a lot of hipster buzz about Postcard. Let's check it out.

Palmer is noted as a “longtime hipster crush”. Not ever having been much of a hipster, I can’t tell you what that’s all about. What I can tell you is that as an instrumentalist, Palmer is extremely talented. As a vocalist, she has a quality that is just short of mesmerizing, depending on where in her range she is singing. The title track, Postcard, sounds like Tori Amos, Milla Jovovich and Kate Bush all got together and somehow combined their voices into one superwoman vocalist. The song isn’t bad either; it’s a busy- yet-powerful and emotional song with an old-world Europe feel. Paint didn’t grab me quite so strongly; it’s dark and a bit repetitive and fell a little flat. Stora Stoular captures some of that near-mesmerizing quality that Palmer possesses. The song is sung in Swedish, so I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s about, but the melody is gorgeous and there’s a cabaret feel to it that simply works. Balloons is a song about emotional connections (or the lack thereof). An average to above-average song is made better here by some lovely vocal harmonies. Duvardar is the best composition on the disc, hands down. The song borders on being too busy, but is carried by its sense of vibrant life and positive energy; not to mention a melody you can hang your hat on. Palmer closes out Postcard with Whaleboat, a sea chanty that seems to draw a bit from the Celtic tradition, although this one is dark and a bit listless. It’s actually an intriguing listen, but not my favorite song on the disc by any means.

Postcard is tough to call. There are some great moments here and some so-so ones. On the whole I think it’s a win for Elin Palmer and her fans. I don’t think there are really any bad songs here, but it doesn’t necessarily sound like she was planning to write an album; more likely just a collection of songs she’s written over time and likes for various reasons. There isn’t a good flow to the album. Nonetheless the songwriting is generally strong, and he voice is as intriguing as most anyone in popular music. Make sure you check out Postcard, and maybe send one to a friend.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Elin Palmer at http://www.elinmusik.com/ or www.myspace.com/elinpalmer. Postcard will be released on CD on October 23, 2009. If you can’t wait that long and don’t mind renting your music, you can pick up the downloads at Amazon.com.

Review: Gemma Ray - Lights Out Zoltar!

Gemma Ray - Lights Out Zoltar!
2009, Bronzerat Records

Gemma Ray is a sensation in her native England, writing dark and emotive songs in styles that range from Americana to 1950's and 1960's pop. If you find musical embodiment to Quentin Tarrantino's psyche it might just be a Gemma Ray album. Comparisons have included Lee Hazelwood, Nina Simone, Isobel Campbell and Norah Jones on Amy Winehouse's drugs, but it's clear that Gemma Ray has struck a chord so vital in UK fans that she's become something of a phenomenon. Ray's US debut, Lights Out Zoltar! drops on October 26, 2009, and has few peers stylistically. Fans of Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Slean will be highly intrigued, and the comparisons to Tori Amos, Milla Jovovich and Bjork will be made, but Gemma Ray is no one if she's not herself.

Traditional instrumentation isn't an issue for Ray, who uses whatever sounds right to her irrespective of whether it's conventional. The opening track, 100 mph (in 2nd gear) is beaten out on a hollow body guitar with a kitchen knife while a toy piano tinkles in the background. Ethereal backing vocals and a gothic European cabaret pathos fills out the sonic landscape in support of Ray's entrancing vocal. Snuck A Peak sounds a bit like a Fiona Apple song played at the wrong speed on a phonograph. The surreal effects applied here make the song sound like it's in dimensional limbo with Ray's voice acting as the focus point. The song is beautiful in bleak fashion. 1952 takes an almost Surf sound and turns it into music noir with lyrics in both English and French. Death Roll is one of the more unusual tracks on the disc. Death Roll sounds like French Cabaret in a mad house; highly entertaining yet disturbing all at once.

No Water is an allegory for being caught in the emotional wastelands that we all find ourselves in from time to time. Considering the darkness of the subject matter, the chorus is bright and full of warm vocal harmonies. Ray eschews the gothic feel that pervades the album for gentle pop that runs entirely counter to the neurosis it envelopes. If You Want To Rock N Roll is bleak with depressive overtones and kind of gets stuck in itself, but Ray returns strong with Something Shifted, returning to the Americana style she started out with. The song represents a coming-to-terms with change even if it never really defines what's changed. Ray closes out with So Do I, a return to Carol King-style songwriting with a melody you could hear a group like the Chiffons Doo-Dooing along to.

Gemma Ray is unique and interesting as a songwriter, opting for an almost Madrigal Rock built on a wide range of traditional and toy instruments, all wrapped around the highly textured and beautiful voice she possesses. Lights Out Zoltar! is a dynamic Cabaret/Lounge trip you don't want to miss.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Gemma Ray at www.myspace.com/gemmaraymusic. Lights Out, Zoltar! will be released in the US on October 26, 2009. If you can’t wait, the UK release will drop on September 7, 2009. You can purchase a copy of UK release of Lights Out Zoltar! At BronzeRat.com. Digital copies will be available through BronzeRat on the date of release.

Review: Fugitive Kind - You're Being Watched

Fugitive Kind - You're Being Watched
2009, Fugitive Kind

Fugitive Kind lead singer Lydia Marsala sounds like the mid-point of a triangle between Milla Jovovich, Chrissie Hynde and Johnette Napolitano. Her voice is alternately deep and sultry or high and heavily soaring. No matter what range she's in she's distinctive, and she is the perfect balance for the heavy guitar rock that supports her on You're Being Watched. Comparisons to Queens Of The Stone Age, Muse, and Live should be expected, but there is a pulsing mix of energy that develops between Marsala's vocals and the instrumentation that is more than just friction.

You're Being Watched opens with a funky guitar rocker called Little Piece. Marsala throws herself into the vocal line like it’s her life's only purpose; the band answers in kind in a performance full of anxious, nervous energy. This is perhaps the catchiest opening track I've heard yet this year; a great rock song that would get airplay on chutzpah alone. It's been a while since a female rock vocalist could push this much personality through a song (think Gwen Stefani before she went Hip-Hop/Pop). Over-Thinking It has a big, Modern-Rock sound and a vocal style that has a shade of Tanya Donnelly to it. Don't Waste My Time, my second favorite song on the CD, is a great Modern Rock anthem with an almost punk/dance vibe going on. Break Now is my favorite, and the by far the heaviest song on the disc. This song should be a Modern Rock hit. Wait has an interesting heavy ethereal rock sound that is a great change of pace, and Good-Bye Song is a nice closing song, bringing out all of the best qualities in Marsala's voice.

Fugitive Kind is a great rock band musically, filling tight arrangements with layers of sound that are interesting, rhythmic and, if not original, at least well done enough to make them worth listening to. Lydia Marsala's voice woven into the instrumental net built on You're Being Watched elevates them to something special. Marsala has a great voice, but there's something about the mix here that pushes everything up a notch. The album itself is a bit uneven in its flow at times, but well done throughout. In the old days of LPs you could have done a heavy and soft side with this material. For now, You're Being Watched is a great start.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Fugitive Kind at www.myspace.com/fugitivekind or http://www.fugitivekind.com/. You can purchase a copy of You’re Being Watched at www.cdbaby.com/cd/fugitivekind2, or you can download it from iTunes.

Review: Kirsten Price - Guts & Garbage

Kirsten Price - Guts & Garbage
2008, KPI

Female vocalists who can sing soul music are all the rage again. Names like Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Macy Gray and Joss Stone sell CDs, MP3s and concert tickets by the boatload, but all have surrendered something of themselves to the music industry and its producers. London born and New York City based Kirsten Price brings the same kind of presence and big voice to the table, but Price eschewed the major label path to maintain total creative control over her material. Her debut album, Guts & Garbage is the true test of whether it's worked. Early returns suggest Price did the right thing.

Price worked with producers Frederick Sargolini, Raphael Saadiq (Tony! Toni! Tone!) and Danny Saber (David Bowie, Madonna, Seal) in the process of creating Guts & Garbage, but all on her terms and in her own way. The end result is one of the most daring and hottest records to be released in 2008. Price mixes Soul, R&B and Rock with ambition and raw sexuality that will melt speaker wires, warp amplifiers and probably require a cold shower when you're done listening. Opening with Magic Tree, Price sets to tone quickly with a sultry vocal against minimal instrumentation just to show she's got the vocal goods. Pop and R&B music hasn't seen an opening so sultry in a generation, and Price is just getting warmed up.

All Right dances on a reggae beat and Price's meaty alto sound. Price will remind folks of Fiona Apple right off the bat, but Price can sing rings around Apple. She's got that low, husky alto that turns heads but she can also break out into an upper register with complete clarity and a glorious sound. Fall mixes spoken word French and sung English in a dark and mysterious love song that resonates in transformation through the major chord chorus. Crazy Beautiful is set to be a major pop and dance hit for Kirsten Price. It has the same infectious energy as Lou Bega's Mambo #5 but with real attitude. Don't be surprised if Crazy Beautiful is a major international hit. Ten years ago it would have been guaranteed. With today's fractious music business and one-note radio wasteland it might take a bit longer, but this song is huge.

Let Me Go opens with a gorgeous orchestral prologue that morphs into an electronic play land in which Kirsten Price can let her voice play. Price makes the most of it here in a piece that is vaguely reminiscent of Milla Jovovich's esoteric The Divine Comedy. Let Me Go mixes elements of R&B, rock and electronic ambience into a rough and beautiful soliloquy that is absolutely unforgettable. Possibilities allows Price one more opportunity to turn your speakers to mush with a vibrant and sensuous performance that will leave listeners more than a little unsettled. Other highlights include 5 Days Old, Freedom and Red Hot.

Kirsten Price isn't the next in a line of Soul/Pop vixens; she's the new face of Soul influenced rock music. Guts & Garbage is more than its name, offering one of the most moving most exciting musical performances I've heard in some time. Kirsten Price is the sort of iconic voice and character the music industry's been waiting for. It's easy to imagine her, twenty years from now as the new Queen of Soul Music. For right now, she's creating on the most vibrant and exciting mixes of Soul, R&B and Rock we've heard in many years. If you don't believe us, consider that some of her tracks have been featured on The L-Word, CSI and Cashmere Mafia even before the album came out! Guts & Garbage is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc; an instant classic.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kirsten Price at http://www.kirstenprice.com/ or www.myspace.com/kirstenpricemusic. You can buy a copy of Guts & Garbage at StretchTheSkies.com or at Amazon.com.