Prodigy? Emilie Autumn

I just don’t get it… Of practically every female artist I listen to of late, someone, somewhere invariably says they “sound like Tori Amos.”

Take Emilie Autumn, my latest audio crush. She’s a multi instrumental, cross genre chameleon of a star with prodigious amounts of talent. Classical violin trained from the age of four, nonconformist, Nigel Kennedy aficionado  in both style and attitude (which subsequently lead her to being kicked out of several prestigious, yet conservative teaching establishments).

“Victoriandustrial” is a label she’s placed on herself, “corsets and combat boots” a juxtaposition of styles that is mirrored in her heavy hitting gothic rock fused classical.  
Yet despite all of this attention and fame granted by her rather sexy alter ego, she has remained true to her solid classical heritage, demonstrating commendably deep and stable roots with her release of a gorgeous classical album at a time when, well, let’s face it, classical is not exactly pop.   

Emily Autumn – Opheliac

So this Tori Amos woman… is she the what then? The root of all modern female artists? The *mother* of all modern female artists? Or is it more a case of a “tastes like chicken” moment when people forget what Tori’s music actually sounds like but are left with just a vague impression, an aftertaste if you will? I’m sorry, but I just don’t see (hear) the resemblance in anything more than one of the many influences (because there are oh so many) to grace her songs.

I mean, come on, there are moments, yes, just like there are moments when the flavour of the food you’re eating becomes a little indistinct, and even… dare I say it, chicken-like.

Yet saying she sounds like Tori Amos is much too simplistic and does her a disservice, as if she’s a follower rather than a setter. Why, then, don’t we add the obvious observations of similarities with Kate Bush’s killer flyaway choruses, Sarah Nixiey’s sumptuous prose, Sia‘s sultry smoked out close-miked vocals, Annie Lennox’s awesome vocal presence, The Cocteau Twins’ complex countermelodies, Siouxsie Sioux’s sexy gothica, Bat for Lashes’ beauty and style, Fayray‘s fabulous classical accoutrements, Imogen Heap’s incredible acoustic vocal flourishes. Heck, let’s even add Bette Midler’s beautiful bar-tale storytelling and noiresque mystique and even an occasional splattering of TLC for heaven’s sake! There are heaps of influences in there because this woman is a one-girl artistic encyclopædia who has experienced and even mastered ranges of music and art beyond what most modern “popstars” could even name. She has more talent than an average studio band rolled up into one sexy gothic lolita package.

Come on, admit it, it was a chicken moment… she doesn’t really sound *that* much like Tori does she?

Good Things Come in Threes: Three Women and their Pianos – Fayray (Hourglass).

This is my second in a short series of articles looking at good things that come in threes.

The first in the series was Women with Attitude, where I took brief look at Lily Allen,  Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse.

This time, I’ll be looking at three culture-crashing Asian singer-songwriters who have taken my fancy over the last couple of years. And no, this is not a typo, Angela Aki and Angela Ai are different people.

The two other articles in this series cover:

• Angela Aki a Japanese-Italian solo artist and pianist, brought up in Japan educated in the US and made famous by her Final Fantasy XII theme tune.
  • ANGELA AKI : HOME  REVIEW
• Angela Ai, an American Born Chinese, raised in Columbus, Ohio who is a Pennsylvania U graduate, an actress, on Broadway, a singer and a talented pianist.
  • ANGELA AI : HISTORY  REVIEW

Fayray (Album: Hourglass)

Hourglass is a beatifully produced, audiophile grade album with impressive taste and style. A real treat to Jazz and Pop fans alike or those who want to stretch their hifi with some well recorded accoustics and female vocals.

The opener, “First Time”  starts with the powerful, subterranean stings of a beautifully captured double bass that will sound best with decent earphones or a subwoofer. The deep strings give way to an English voice which if not of unfettered, soaring range is one of impressive control and resonance; as rich and pure as the accomplished band that backs her.

Most surprisingly, First Time is sung entirely in English on a Japanese album, making it an unusually brazen opener for a rising star. Taking into consideration its slower, more understated, calmer pace and its also being far less famous than several of the others songs on the album, she bucks the recent trend of lining up the popular singles 1, 2 and 3 to catch casual listeners in the shopping centres at the expense of album flow, rhythm or atmosphere.

The fact that this is so demonstrates the confidence in her craft and control over her own production values.

The pace picks up a little with the third song, a Wong Faye esq ballad “最初で最後の恋” (My first and final love) and a rather 90s retro “Fell” harking back to Nakajima Miyuki with a little added electric guitar.

Classical piano influences show through heavily with most songs featuring an accomplished piano or keyboard track, played by herself.

The fifth song is a meandering, self composed piano instrumental solo demonstrating (perhaps a little unnecessarily) her prowess in front of a keyboard. Although a beautiful piece in and of itself, I can’t help feeling that it was a little unessessary.

“白い二月” (White February) is an Enya-like, synth piano floating number featuring her voice sailing breezily across its entire range into falsetto.

“道” (The Way) ups the pace to about the fastest and most upbeat the album gets with another Wong Faye influenced unashamed pop song and one of the few tracks which dispenses with the keyboard as the main melody carrier and instead pulls in a battery of electric, accoustic and spanish guitar.

“Look into My Eyes” is the hit single that put the album on shelves throughout Japan and features Fayray in her best light: On classical piano and in control of voice, the song’s well crafted rhythm and its gentle melody with other instruments, accoustic and electric guitars, a full string section and decent drums following her piano in its wake like the Pied Piper.

“Living Without You,” the second English composition on the album and signals the entrance to the final, distinct segment of the album.

It is a classic piano ballad, slow and thoughtful and if not a classic in itself is nevertheless a pleasent listen and lays the way for the final three songs, which feature her on the piano with a sprinkling of backing, winding down the tension with her gentle, soothing tones and masterful playing in a string of medium-close miked accoustic compositions, which she produced, penned, perfomed and sung herself.

Fayray’s classical background, starting at the age of 4 with the piano, squarely places her in the top echelon for technical ability. Adding intelligent and thoughtful compositions supported by an accomplished, confident voice which does not squeak, squeal, grate nor need computer assisted modulation makes her accessible and enjoyable to a wide range of Japanese and overseas listeners alike.

Mini Facts

Although she works in collaboration with a number of colleagues, the album is essentially her own production.

She often appears on TV in Japan, in dramas as well as hosting TV programs as an English language interviewer of artists, politicians and other notables.

Fayray, Hourglass (Japan, 2004)

 

1. first time
2. 願い (Negai; Wish)
3. 最初で最後の恋 (Saisho de Saigo no Koi; My first and last love)
4. feel
5. 樅の木-樹の組曲- (Momi no Ki-Jyu no Kumikyoku-; Fir Tree -Musical Suite of Woods-)
6. 白い二月 (Shiroi Nigatsu; White February)
7. 道 (Michi; Road)
8. look into my eyes
9. living without you
10. 口づけ (Kuchizuke; Kiss)
11. 愛しても愛し足りない (Aishite mo Aishitarinai; No matter how much I love you, it’s never enough)
12. 名前 (Namae; Name)

Next up, I’ll be taking a look at Angela Aki.

Album Review: Bic Runga – Birds (2005)

Over the last six months, I’ve noticed a serious shift in the styles of music that turn me on. Again, I’m forced to attribute much of this evolutionary shift to my emusic account forcing me to listen to music I might not have paid much attention to had I been given the choice to ignore it.

However, there are certain albums and artists who just seem to come out of nowhere. My previous crush album, “O” by Damien Rice is one such album, and so is this, Birds by Bic Runga.

How I found this album:

This is a good one, even for me.

I was looking for a photo of a Biro for a project and of course, typed in Bic, being the quintessential Biro manufacturer and was presented with the following images in Google.

And there it was, Bic Runga’s photo! The face of a woman this gorgeous naturally stood out when arranged alongside the random, moodily lit images of pens, lighters and machine parts I came across. Feeling obliged to click on the image, I found a favourable review of her latest album.

Intrigued at seeing an Asian face on an English language album review I decided to go to her website at

www.bicrunga.com which quite spectacularly, has entire songs of hers for playback!

Impressions

OMFG what a voice and what an atmosphere. It’s like Karen Carpenter and Tanya Chua meet Sarah Nixey and Cat Power in a diner. Immediately, I rushed over to emusic to see if they had it for download, and they did!

I consider the threshold for a worthwhile album when it has three keepers on it. That’s generally because a full album is three times the price of a single here in Japan. An album with five songs on it is a gem… but to have no less than eight tracks that I’m completely in love with is a record breaker for me. 

Her songs start out promising very little, some reverb laden guitar rolls in with a spot of high hat and light backing of rimshot, duping the listener into thinking he’s listing to country and western. The first inkling one gets that this is something entirely different is when her sublime voice drifts in along with a raft of sultry classical strings, transforming the songs, causing them to blossom into pieces of pure beauty.

And just when you think it can’t get any better, Bic hits you with a full, satisfying chorus and you’re hooked. 

Bic Runga is without doubt an absolute master of the perfect chorus. Within a month of buying this album, it has become my all time number one played album and Bic Runga my number one played artist since I joined Last FM and started to trust them to keep hold of my playing stats.

From the curiously addictive Winning Arrow with its close-miked recording and fabulous resonance through to It’s Over, a laid back sultry number, virtually the entire album is a keeper.

Track Listing

1. Winning Arrow
2. Say After Me
3. Listen
4. Birds
5. Ruby Nights
6. No Crying No More
7. If I Had You
8. Captured
9. That’s Alright
10. Blue Blue Heart
11. It’s Over

And as the icing on the cake, the album comes with five live recordings which somehow sound even better than the studio versions above.

This is as near to perfection as mere mortals can get, and she’s directed, produced and recorded herself just for our enjoyment.