Regina Spektor – Far
I’ve never spent much time listening to Regina Spektor, so this won’t be much of a retrospective piece. Nor have I had the worst of luck lately, so this can’t be a very bitter piece. It’s for those reasons that this review is so glowing, or is it that Regina Spektor’s new album Far on Sire is really just that good, heeding no reason for “looking backs” or “fuck you’s.”
The album is chock full of shrill coos, fake New York accents, and well-written piano pieces. Some are happier, some are sadder; but they’re all pretty fucking good. Or at least they fall somewhere near neutral – “Blue Lips” – so as not to take away from the others. Choruses on “Eet” and “Human of the Year” showcase Spektor’s perfectly awkward high-pitch pipes while songs like “Folding Chair” let you know how carefree (reckless?) Regina is with her songwriting (“I’ve got a perfect body/Because my eyelashes catch my sweat.”), accompanied by poppy piano-drum duets.
And it should be noted that nothing on the album sounds like “Machine.”Whether it’s a sunny afternoon or a rainy 7am before your daily indentured servitude, Far is an album worth hearing, even if it doesn’t make it into your top-ten albums of all time list (which, if you have, you may be trying too hard). Spektor doesn’t seem intent on breaking barriers or amassing an army of fans, and this is what makes her delightfully middle-of-the-road songs just above OK.
Regina Spektor – Laughing With
That mystically distanced persona that Regina Spektor entertained and confused people with when she first made her entrance into the public domain, continues to fade into the background as she gets more personal and heart-tugging. ‘Laughing With’, hoists up the hefty topic of faith and decorates it in a down tempo key led instrumental, giving extra potency to the stirring lyrics;
“No-one’s laughing at God when they’ve lost all they got and they don’t know what for?
No-one laughs at God on the day they realise that the last sight they will see is pair of hateful eyes.
No-one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their last goodbyes.”
This dreamy reflection shows Reggie at her most accessible and the lobbing vocal nature will have you swaying like a baby in cradle. This nimble voiced Russian born New Yorker, will set off intrigue alarms with this subtle yet colourful snippet of her new material, amongst the music press and general the public. Ahead of her potentially focus changing fifth album, ‘Far’ (due out 22/0/06/2009).
Ben Folds and Regina Spektor on Late Night with Conan tonight
Ben and Regina will be performing the new single, “YOU DON’T KNOW ME,” from Ben’s new record WAY TO NORMAL, out this week on Epic Records.
Ben’s on tour right now. He just played two sold-out nights at Terminal 5 in NYC, as well as dates in DC and Boston and Providence. The rest of the tour dates are below:
10/03 Ft. Wayne, IN Embassy Theatre
10/04 Louisville, KY Whitney Hall
10/08 Athens, OH Ohio University
10/09 Detroit, MI The Fillmore
10/10 Chicago, IL Congress Theatre
10/11 Green Bay, WI OKOBOS Fest
10/16 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
10/17 St. Paul, MN The Myth
10/18 Kirksville, MO Pershing Arena
10/22 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theatre
10/23 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
10/24 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
10/25 Austin, TX Stubb’s
11/11 Tempe, AZ Arizona State University
11/13 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
11/14 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern Theatre