textura

Albums
Alejandro & Aeron
Balustrade Ensemble
Jeremy Bible
F.S. Blumm
Cadence Weapon
Cataclyst
Cepia
Chloé
Cooler
Disinterested
edIT
Erik Enocksson
For Barry Ray
Ernest Gonzales
Grand National
Hakobune
Halou
Frode Haltli
Arve Henriksen
Ielasi & Ratti
Jumpel
Lawrence
Lickets
Manual
Melodium
Mono
My Fun
Marissa Nadler
Prints
Rekalix
Remote_ vs Ontayso
Will Saul
Sixtoo
Small Sails
Songs Of Green Pheasant
Christian Wallumrød
White Rainbow
Xeltrei
Yndi Halda

Compilations / Mixes
Paolo Mojo
Ewan Pearson
VA: 5 Years Get Physical
VA: Monza Vol. 2
VA: U-cover mix 01 [a]
VA: U-cover mix 02 [d]

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Ateleia
Pier Bucci
Cio D'Or
Cloudland Canyon
Curium
Laurine Frost
Dave Graham
Hakobune
The Infant Cycle
Lerosa
Lullaby Leagure
Mole Harness
Mowbray & Sullivan
Ontayso
School of Seven Bells
Science Teacher
Sleep Robot
Unwed Sailor
VA: Spies & Lies
Rick Wade

Marissa Nadler: Songs III: Bird on the Water
Kemado

That Marissa Nadler grew up in a small town in Massachusetts might begin to account for the rustic melancholy of her material. But biographical details alone hardly account for the timeless character of Songs III: Bird on the Water, the third album by this one-time Rhode Island School of Design student (the first, Ballads of Living and Dying, appeared in 2004, followed by The Saga of Mayflower May a year later). It's a haunting, eleven-song collection of classic folk ballads, incantations, and madrigals—fables of enchantment that seemingly emanate from some wondrous forest, and sung in a voice as fresh as cool country air. Often accompanied by a slight quiver or warble, her voice turns especially ethereal when multi-tracked in “Feathers” and “My Love and I”; elsewhere, the swooping arc in her delivery of “Oh, my lonely diamond heart” (“Diamond Heart”) and “She'll be crying” (“Leather Made Shoes”) captivates.

Though accompanied by a solid and supportive group of musicians (Helena Espval's cello provides keen counterpoint to the vocal during “Feathers,” and Greg Weeks' scalding ‘acid leads' boost “Bird on Your Grave”), Nadler, deftly accompanying herself with bluesy finger-picking, is clearly the focal point. Lyrically, her material rewards scrutiny, too: “So have you heard, I'm a singer now / With reliquary eyes, and a diadem frown,” she sings in “Diamond Heart,” and when was the last time you heard words like ‘reliquary' and ‘daidem' in a song, let alone in the same line? At times, Nadler's writing leans towards the fantastical (“Silvia, Silvia, Silvia / I met you in the belly of a whale”), and her dirge-like ballads exude a sadness appropriate to subjects like death (“Oh what a day to die”), failed romance, and regret of one sort or another (“Tomorrow I'm gonna leave a bird on your grave / And say a little prayer for you”). Fans of Mazzy Starr will be drawn to the bluesy lilt of “Mexican Summer” while Leonard Cohen devotees won't be put off by Nadler's respectable reading of “Famous Blue Raincoat.” And though the similarity seems strange, the chord sequence and main melody in “Rachel” vaguely recall Blondie's “Call Me” (play “Colour me your colour, baby” and then “The men would come to you and me” and you'll hear it). By album's end, you may be convinced that the term ‘sirenesque' should be applied to the album in general rather than a mere song or two. (The CD includes a download card that provides access to four unreleased bonus tracks including a cover of Neil Young's “Cortez the Killer”).

October 2007