posted by Jessica on April 1, 2012
{photo by Jessica Mlinaric}
After five quiet years without touring, Fiona Apple took the Lincoln Hall stage this week without a word and “Fast as You Can” she was back. The announcement of her mini-tour caused frenzy among fans, who assaulted the venue’s servers in unprecedented numbers, crashing the site in many cases and causing an outrage among the incensed and ticketless. Few situations send my heart rate into such a palpitated state as the purchasing of prized concert tickets, but I made damn sure I would see Fiona. A second show was added to the tour’s Chicago stop only, and those of us lucky enough to see the songstress can attest her live concert was as captivating as ever.
The powerful performance included classics like “Sleep to Dream” and “On the Bound,” closing with “Criminal.” Just as alluring were three new songs Fiona debuted from her upcoming album due out this June, “Anything We Want,” “Valentine,” and “Every Single Night.” The audience shouted its admiration between songs and Fiona came out of her reverie to smile in thanks. She infused the show with her brand of whimsy, breaking into the occasional jig and featuring an old kitchen pipe as a percussion piece.
Fiona’s reflective and recalcitrant music shaped my adolescence while my classmates memorized boy band dance moves. If you had asked me my favorite poems in junior high, I would have named Fiona’s When the Pawn… and Prufrock, budding lit major that I was. I imagine more than one high school relationship argument was fueled by overexposure to her lyrical indignation on a given day. The first time I saw Fiona Apple live involved driving five hours across Ohio (including a stop to pick up my cousin, a fellow Fiona-phile) and ending up back on campus just in time to hand in a final exam. That show was the most passionate, eloquent, and spellbinding performance I had ever seen, and more than one audience member was moved to tears.
Her performance this week at Lincoln Hall was just as enthralling. Fiona does not just sing; it’s an entirely visceral enterprise as if the crowd is privy to a physical and emotional internal journey she’s experiencing number by number. While her vocals range from her characteristic sultry growl to heart-shattering highs and belts of bravado, the singer swirls and paces onstage. Fiona is perhaps most emotive when commanding the piano keys, framed by the glow of a few red church votives. Otherwise her hands wring, tug at her skirt, flutter through the air, or clutch the microphone with white knuckles, as when crooning “”I just want to feel everything, so I’m gonna try to be still.”
Fiona Apple gives all of herself when performing; rendering fans all the hungrier for the rare times she shares her unrivaled talent onstage. Connecting with some of her old songs that are such a part of me and revisiting them with new insight was all the more poignant. No matter the absence, Fiona Apple’s power, honesty, and grace are always resonant, always craved as long as she is willing to share them – the mark of a truly extraordinary machine.
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Female vocal • Singer-Songwriter • SXSW2012
(6 votes)
Loading ...posted by Ariana on October 13, 2011
Finally! Leslie Feist has released a new album, entitled Metals (released just last week in the US and Canada). It’s definitely been a while, or at least it feels that way to me. Feist is one of the few female voices that I can tolerate, let alone enjoy and actively seek out. Check out the series of impromptu videos on Feist’s Youtube. Offered below are two songs that aren’t the single (“How Come You Never Go There”). The new album is cohesive and lovely, and it does just what it really should, which is to delicately wrap itself around your heart.
I listen to “Cicadas and Gulls” and look out my window at the burgeoning fall in the courtyard, and yes, trite as it sounds, I watch the play of light through the leaves and on the river beyond and approach what feels like happiness.
Feist – The Bad in Each Other (Downloaded 888 times)
Feist – Cicadas and Gulls (Downloaded 849 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Broken Social Scene • Female vocal • Singer-Songwriter • Soulful
(12 votes) Loading ...posted by Tina on October 4, 2011
It’s been awhile since we brought up a Seattle band. I always seem to find the singer songwriters. Listening to a little Ray Lamontagne radio on Pandora brought Rocky Votolato into my life. One of my favorite things about music is discovering the history of where the music comes from. How did it come about? Why these lyrics? Why this guitar pitch? What keeps them going and writing? Moving forward till they reach that level of success where the music finally does what the creator meant it to do. Get to you. You would never guess it, but this singer songwriter started out punk rock. Through life’s trials and travails it brought him to a serene place where he was able to find peace and produce music with a soft spoken voice and passion from within…
His latest release True Devotion in 2010 shows signs of brilliance and ethereal lyrics with just a hint of sadness from experiences we can all relate to. Being lost at one time? Finding it hard to find your path and your purpose in life? Rocky Votolato covers it all. You can always find that musical artist who hit home with one or two tunes. But to put those experiences into music with all your heart is an accomplishment that should be well praised. I know I couldn’t do it. Rocky Votolato can. I chose to post a song from one of Votolato’s older albums Makers as it strikes a match and hits a chord that I’m familiar with. And let’s face it…it’s just plain catchy.
Rocky Votolato – White Daisy Passing (Downloaded 292 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Acoustic • Male vocal • Singer-Songwriter
(6 votes) Loading ...posted by Adam on September 13, 2011
It’s always quite exciting when you discover a new artist, but it’s even more exciting when you find someone local to yourself. Jake Bugg, a 17 year old from Nottingham, has a glorious voice which instantly reminds you of acts such as Bon Iver or The Tallest Man On Earth, and he writes so poetically his words float through the air. He is unsigned currently and is yet to release any albums but I’m sure you’ll agree neither will take long. [Update: Jake was just signed in the U.K. and will have an album out in 2012!] Jake is one of those rare singer songwriters that can catch you in a moment with just his voice and a guitar; it sometimes feels like he’s only singing to you. AT 17 he has already played the Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals.
“Someone told me” is a beautiful track which will make you stop whatever you are doing just to hear the rest – I promise you. It’s spine-tinglingly good. It’s currently receiving some airplay on UK radio and is sure to fire Bugg into success. This track clearly shows the resemblance his song writing has to great Dylan and Donovan. The second track, “Love Me The Way You Do,” has a bit fuller sound, and evokes classic 60′s folk. Both feature solid songwriting and Bugg’s expressive voice.
Here is Jake playing two tracks during a BBC session in August:
Jake Bugg – Someone Told Me (Downloaded 535 times)
Jake Bugg – Love Me The Way You Do (Downloaded 431 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Acoustic • Amazing Voice • Beautiful Lyrics • Male vocal • Singer-Songwriter
(17 votes) Loading ...
