"Raindance" by Nicole Tori
This will be the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series to customize my outpouring towards one or more friends in my life. I may or may not be sharing real names, depending on how likely they are to be embarrased. The first subject has inspired me with her force of spirit and determination to make it through. Her name is Nicole Tori, she works as an opera singer in New York City, and she does not mind seeing her name in print. She also takes marvellous photographs. She is a relatively new friend in my life.
Nicole, my first recommendation for you is the voice of Paula Frazer. I am most familiar with her earliest work, the spaghetti-western stylings of Tarnation, though her solo albums of the early- to mid-aughts are also well worth checking out. The song I’ve chosen for you speaks of a path “sharp and narrow,” and asks “which way can we go?” It’s a good evocation of those times when you take in your physical surroundings but wander along a different track spiritually, and then come back into yourself.
Tarnation: Your Thoughts And Mine
My second recommendation is the upcoming compilation Dark Was The Night on 4AD. It’ll be out next Tuesday, and it will include recordings from pretty much every band I’ve ever liked. Beirut will be on it. Here’s a sneak peak of the Bon Iver track. It puts me in mind of cold northern lanes, and the hesitation we might have in getting into our warm gear and plodding through. The thing about getting wet is once you’re wet, you’re wet, and there’s no need to worry about getting wet anymore.
Bon Iver: Brackett, WI
Finally, I recommend the spellbinding virtuosity of Andrew Bird. I first saw him open for Magnetic Fields in a big theatre in Philadelphia. My friends and I weren’t thrilled about the prospect of suffering through an opening act, but we had no idea what was in store. First he calmly gets his guitar out of its case and strums a D chord. Then he starts whistling. Then he steps on a pedal and the guitar keeps going, while he picks up a violin. Then he loops that, and begins harmonizing with himself. Then he comes out with some jaw-dropping lyric about frogs on a pond in Illinois or something. The man blew us away like no performer beforer or since. This track comes from his album Noble Beast, released a few weeks ago.
Andrew Bird: Tenuousness
Also, because I promised:
The Catbirds: When you had babies
I had the good fortune to see and hear Paula Frazer sing a set in Berlin two years ago. My friend Dana Schechter was playing bass with her. They played as a trio with a drummer whose name I’ve forgotten in a small bar/cafe in Kreuzberg, and I can’t recall ever being so spellbound by a voice in a live setting. Admittedly the analog reverb guitar pedal through which she ran her microphone line helped add a retro-unearthly quality to it; plus, hearing that signal added to the live voice in the small room made it better. But really, she was delicious. The one I think I liked best was “The Only One”.. the recording I have does not do the song justice. It takes you back to the early sixties, and when she comes out of the bridge with this eight-note melisma on one syllable it makes me shudder with sad ecstasy.