Tzadik
2003
2 Foot Yard
About This Album
Taking time off away from her work with Tin Hat, violinist Carla Kihlstedt offers her debut as a leader in a manner quite removed from her duties with the band she is associated with. She sings on nearly every one of these selections, and though her voice is quite pretty and balanced, it borders on the distressed or distraught. As with most Tzadik CDs, the unusual is the norm, but in the case of Kihlstedt, she's taken an unexpected turn in presenting music that is so internal, introspective, and insular that it may only appeal to the cognoscenti, not the general public at large. Think Laurie Anderson meets Shania Twain meets Isaac Stern, Stéphane Grappelli, or Mark Feldman. It's a curious blend of goth, pure country-pop, neo-classical, and string-based improvisation, with a taste of lightness here and there, but mostly dark. The sad tango of "Gone," serene and atmospheric "Last Resort," contradictory "Lovely Ugly," weary-sleepless to angst-ridden and raucous "Flinch," and self-effacing "History" set the tone. Not that there aren't mood variations, but the degree of variety depends on one's taste. She does a pop square dance to bluesy 7/8 to waltz tempo "Empty Cupboard," goes both slinky and wild with melodica and harmonica backdrop during "Peel" (the lyric is "peel me down"), and uses industrial sounds while contrasting the sour/sweet attitude on "No One Nicer.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4 and 7)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

 
report abuse