Regina Spektor
I have a confession to make.
I have totally, and completely fallen in love with Regina Spektor. I’m, unfortunately, one of the heathens who didn’t know about this amazing talent until, well, this week. I pretty much ignored recommendations from friends and now I look particularly stupid because of it. I have now discovered that Regina Spektor is some kind of musical goddess.
Basically, as the story goes, I was looking for some tracks to play on our comeback radio show last Monday and I came across one of her tracks, admittedly the first one I’d heard, Better. I thought it was okay, but in the end the track was cut from our playlist at the last minute due to time constraints. Ironically, when we were on air Natters requested some Regina Spektor but we couldn’t find any in the studio, so we said we’d play one on the next Monday. So, when I was tracksurfing on Sunday night for a playlist for the show, I found Hotel Song in one of my compilations I’d bought recently, liked it, and stuck it on the playlist. After the show, I went and ordered her album, Begin to Hope and oh my Christ, if it isn’t the bestest thing ever.
Regina Spektor is a pianist singer/songwriter from New York, but is originally from the old Soviet Union before emigrating with her parents to the Bronx in 1989, aged just 9. Her music is predominantly marked as anti-folk, a mixture of charged lyrics with a folk sound, although her influences seem to be from traditional Russian, classical, folk and hip-hop music. A lot of the stuff on Begin to Hope is more towards pop music (leading to cries that Regina has sold out) but personally I think it works really well, and certainly I think the album is a masterpiece. The most startling thing about Spektor’s style is her vocals, mixing a dainty, angelic voice at the top of her range with an almost trumpet-like lower-range that reminds me of The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer.
Oh, and by the by, sorry James, but she is also a cutie. Listen away…
Regina Spektor – Us MP3 Expired
Regina Spektor – Samson MP3 Expired
Regina Spektor – That Time MP3 Expired
Regina Spektor and The Strokes – Modern Girls and Old Fashioned Men MP3 Expired
Regina Spektor – Fidelity
(Check that trumpet-voice out!)
Buy Begin to Hope
Buy Soviet Kitsch
Mathew Mannion
18 Oct 2006 23:32
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Tags: Anti-Folk Music Regina Spektor
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Comments (7)
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7 comments by 2 or more people
[Skip to the latest comment]He sees the light!
18 Oct 2006, 23:53
Le Ray
I just checked out her website, where (if you didn’t have a go) you can play a version of Tetris called, naturally, ‘Spektris’. Nice… But anyhoo – I muchly liked ‘Hotel Song’ and most of the others there. May have to check out the whole record…Good times
19 Oct 2006, 00:25
Damn you this was going to be my first and only entry on á la, the only thing I cared enough about to contemplate blogging.
19 Oct 2006, 09:59
jonathan
sweet christ she is hot
24 Oct 2006, 08:05
Wow, thanks a lot for this… I had never heard (of) her before encountering this entry. This great recommendation will definitely have me coming back á la discothèque. I must say: although the songs and music video you uploaded from her latest CD are certainly very attractive (very Fiona Appleish), you must listen to her earlier recordings. I downloaded/bought 11:11 after listening to a couple of the songs in it. It’s SO good!
24 Oct 2006, 12:18
Mathew Mannion
After listening a bit more I must admit to prefer her second (self-released) album, Songs. 11:11 is good, but possibly a bit too… raw? It’s difficult to describe. Soviet Kitsch is definitely worth getting your hands on if you don’t have that too :)
24 Oct 2006, 12:28
There is no getting away from it: Songs and Soviet Kitsch are both very good… both “rawer” than Begin to Hope :) But there is something special about 11:11... maybe the double bass? :) Again, thanks for this great recommendation.
24 Oct 2006, 20:51
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