Sorry for being scarce, my few but loyal readers. Well, at least I think you're loyal. Belts have been tight in these parts, so I haven't had the graft to keep up with everything I want to write about. For awhile, I was thinking about simply calling it quits rather than leave this thing open with nothing happening. However, we're back for at least one more ride around the block.
If you've been paying attention, you already know that I'm a huge sucker for women musicians that arm themselves with pianos. During my searches for new music to review this year, I stumbled onto a performer I had never heard of, Canadian native Sarah Slean. Unfortunately, someone at her record label has a vicious hatred of America, so her albums aren't released here in the USofA. Poo. That roadblock thus standing in my way, plus the fact that I was too stupid to simply visit the online store at her website, I never ordered
The Baroness, her offering for 2008's list of new releases.
So, many months pass since I, like a bonehead, forget to buy
The Baroness, instead wasting the money that would have been better spent on good music at worthless bars in my boring hometown. I spot a myspace bulletin from the Sarah Slean page, stating that a limited availability EP of b-sides and unreleased material was to be released within a few days of the post (December 9th, to be exact). The EP would only be available as a digital download, or as a CD sold at live shows and in small quantities at the online store. I hate it when artists do this; they put together a small release of songs that weren't widely available to begin with, and then only sell it at live performances. I notice this is done primarily by musicians that never tour anywhere near me, leaving me with the option of either buying it from some online scalper that marks up the price to double original sale, or resigning myself to never owning a physical copy and bootlegging the damn thing.
So, at some late hour December 8th, I created an account at sarahslean.com/store. By 12:05am December 9th, my order was placed for
The Baroness Redecorates. By Saturday, it had arrived.
I can't say the packaging is anything extravagant. The cardboard sleeve method of CD packing seems to be cropping up everywhere, but this is ridiculous. You'd think they could have at least given it a double sleeve, inner and outer, for protection. Aside from women with pianos, I'm also a big sucker for fonts. The 1920's/1930's art deco sort of font that adorns the cover is quite nice, and very fitting for Slean's overall style and effect. But enough of this hooey, we're here to hear about music.
As we've already established, Sarah Slean, being both female and a pianist, typically gets lumped into the genre of "piano pop." However, what really makes her work stand out for me is how un-pop it is. From what I've heard on
The Baroness Redecorates, she veers away from the popular stylings of contemporary piano-heavy music and focuses on more classic forms. I'm no expert on such styles, me being a lowly critic and not a music theory major, but I'm hearing all kinds of good stuff: "Parasol" is a lovably demented tango; "Compatriots" is a bewitching waltz. The amazing string sections on "Modern Man I &II," "Hear Me Out," and "The 'Disarm' Suite" break the assumption that she's writes music solely for the piano. Class and style seemingly come naturally to Ms. Slean, and I'm entirely enticed and swept away to a alternate 1920's imaginary world. I love her singing voice, and her songwriting is excellent. The music is wistful, romantic, dramatic, and occasionally absurd.
Now that we've got the praise out of the way, I can't say for sure if this is an ideal place to start for the Slean neophyte. Sure, the music is great on all levels, but bear in mind that
The Baroness Redecorates is a collection of b-sides and other tracks cut from
The Baroness. The very title implies that this EP is significantly different from the album with which it shared recording sessions. There stands the possibilty that these tracks were cut from
The Baroness because they simply didn't fit in with the majority of the songs in any way. Since this is my introduction to Ms. Slean's music, I have no idea what the rest of her catalog sounds like, and how this compares to the majority of her work. I feel as though I've been given a glimpse into another world, a fantastical realm where art deco never left and all that can be seen is beautiful with the right touch of style, but my vision is blurry because of an impacting opera glove that sent my glasses flying across the room after I made a saucy comment regarding an elegant lady's elegant dress's neckline.
Sorry, lost my place there.
The Baroness Redecorates is a right treat, exquisite in every sense, made of pure elegance. Since this is an EP, it comes with that criminally short sensation associated with EPs of higher quality. I can only say I'm thirsting for more, and will no doubt sooner or later venture further into that unknown realm of Sarah Slean's musical beauty, hoping this sample was but a taste of what's to come and not a radical oddity.
Unfortunately, the sarahslean.com store is out of copies of
The Baroness Redecorates (sold out in under a day, so I heard), so if you want the CD, you're going to have to either hunt for it on eBay or make a drive to Canada to see one of her live performances.
Sarah Slean's official
website and
myspace
For those of you interested in the music of Neko Case, you probably already know that she will have a new album out this year. Just released is a song off this new album, "People Got A Lotta Nerve." Free download too. I'm a bit of a new fan myself, having only recently picked up Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. I'm excited about Middle Cyclone, coming out on March 3rd of this year, and I'm liking "People Got A Lotta Nerve."
