Reviews by kuvien

Vocals halfway between selkie and hag, lyrics sung in Finnish and English, a music caught between two worlds, using that tension to blend something beautiful and mysterious. Track 3 is the lure, and if I'd been Odysseus' shipmate, I would've been livid that I'd plugged my ears and missed the music. Actually, I wouldn't have known any different, but let me take a moment to observe: ignorance is not bliss. This music is. Human voices, don't wake me now. Let me stay submerged a while longer.

Next time a winged bear with a forest growing out of its back salivates on you, face your ravenous foe dual-wielding your kantele and the Nalle songbook. Play for the bear a calming charm contained therein, and you'll understand that she doesn't want to eat you; she just wants a kiss.

As a famous midget once said, "Y'all need many years of therapy."

This is more like a compilation, since the recordings span a thirty-year period, from the late 50s onward, with different perfomers, different composers, and different arrangers. A beautiful demonstration of white voice. Very little in the way of instrumental accompaniment, a wise choice considering how perfect these women's voices chant together. The soloists are used sparingly, but when they are, their choral leading takes on a distant, mysterious air.

Music from another time, another place (despite being 20th-century compositions). Lush with history and meaning; beautiful, soothing, mysterious. Almost sacred in the very hetero-rhythms. If we humans can make our voices cooperate so perfectly at this complex level, we are capable of anything...if we just work together. What's so bewitching about this all is how simple it sounds, when it is anything but.

Solo female vocalist singing hymns a cappella in a foreign tongue? Yes, please! Of course a whole album of just that would be a bit too monotonous even for me, so it's quite nice that the tracks alternate between the soloist and explorations of the hardanger fiddle (an eight-stringed Norwegian instrument). This is a beautiful, understated, nuanced album that I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people found boring. As far as I know, the songs played here are not original compositions but traditional tunes.

I'd rather listen to a pussy metal emo boy band than this crap. rules!

I've heard from one of my Balkan friends about how weird and backward the superstitions of Eastern Europe can be, but I guess there's a positive flipside to all that? Transylvanian music from villages preserved through the centuries! If you want authenticity, I guess we gotta take the bad with the good. So thank whatever superstition you follow for the existence of Béla Bartók, whose research made all this possible! If you're into fiery, folk strings, don't miss this album.

Jordan Lee's preoccupation with personal transformation continues on this lovely little album--easy on the ears, a delight for the heart, and a lifting of the spirit--but this time he seems to be focusing on the moment of transition from one thing to another, like dusk, for example, or life feeding from death to be reborn.

One thing I always take away from a Mutual Benefit album is a sense of traveling, and not just traveling but traveling as a metaphor for one's life, which is, of course, a tried and true metaphor as old as the hills. Like his other works, this EP is a musical kaleidoscope, continually changing and evolving and turning over in upon itself as it gives birth to something sonically new each moment.

Another gem by this artist, he takes up where he left off on, not really doing anything different or trying to innovate. This is just another chill message of love, awareness, and relaxation. When I need to chill out at the end of a long, stressful day, this is one of the few albums that can do the trick.

If you've ever spent a day on the river, this album is what that day feels like. I grew up on the Mississippi, sailing and swimming and fishing. Lazy summer days where the only agenda is to have a good time. Have a nice day without reference to anything outside your experience. Drift along and enjoy life, and in the drifting, learn something about yourself. Learn that you weren't meant to be afraid. Embrace the beautiful lack of memory of the river.

The entire classic Vashti Bunyan album re-recorded with Jordan Lee's dreamy aesthetic. Have a nice day!

Ten minutes of lying in the tall grass and just enjoying the respite, sun shining down on you, butterflies overhead, you wiggling your toes. Nothing to write home about... what I mean is, keep this one to yourself.

Apparently the original dark ages are merely a historical myth, so are we living in a new age of myth? Does the world around us actually exist?

I'm always a fan of the sound of rubber ducks and/or rubber horns, especially when you throw in random samples of some studio audience applauding. And when a woman bleats, that just seals the deal. Some strong psychedelic moments on this one, like when Rita Lee sings and the guitars go heavy, or when the dude sings and the music goes all underwater-folk. Looking at translated lyrics, a lot of these songs are about a whole handful of nothing, but damn it's all so cool. They even have their own version of "She's Leaving Home", I guess a common theme of desiring independence in the age of revolution. Wow. This album hits like every popular style from the late 60s. Including the giggling.

Groovy organs and smooth vocals, turning sassy in spots, with a celebratory atmosphere where whistles go off at random times. That’s how this album opens, and it grabs my attention. Then the music moves into more delicate territory, not sticking to a single sound, having different instruments lead on different songs, even doing some passionate vocal blues before playing with some doo-wop. There are also some unexpected, interesting moments with found sounds and non-music samples.

Like most things on this list, the music ain't my thing, but the album cover fascinates me. It's like a painting of a sonogram, where the baby is safe in the womb, protected from all the noise of the world.

Lazy. Lazy organ, lazy harmonica, lazy bongo, lazy guitar, lazy woodwind. Everyone sitting around in a circle making hippy music. Lazy vocals ranging from gruff mumbling to high nasal whines. By the way, the laziness is a feature, not a bug. The music doesn't really go anywhere, but it's not supposed to. This might frustrate people who are looking for an end-goal to their listening.

The "let's go back to the beginning" motif is so so so strongly influenced by Red Headed Stranger, and that's fine, but what suuuuuuucks about this album is everything else. Especially those processed vocals. Kacey, you have a beautiful voice already, but you just had to go ruin it with all those lowest-common-denominator vocals for all the stupid people out there who breathe through their mouths while streaming.

Actually, I bet this album would be great if she re-recorded it as an acoustic album that also kept her vocal twang. Way to squander all you had, Ms. Musgraves.