urgency to bleed

Shara Worden has one of those voices where she could probably recite the phone book and get away with it. This perhaps accounts for the fact that each of her albums, though vastly differing in tone, has been such an aural feast. First came her debut album as My Brightest Diamond, Bring Me the Workhorse; dark and dramatic, it was propelled mostly by the dizzying rise and fall of Worden's operatic wail and her wickedly black lyrics. Its follow-up, A Thousand Shark's Teeth, was a more subdued and somber affair, sometimes so gorgeously soothing that it verged on soporific, though the voice remained always inspiring. Now, three years later, she has returned with All Things Will Unwind, which builds on elements from both of her prior releases while also bringing something new to the table: it is, so far, the brightest, most playful thing Worden has ever done. Thanks in large part to their richly-orchestrated arrangements, even the sleepiest songs here sound full of life, like the slowly building "She Does Not Brave the War" and the endearing closing ballad, "I Have Never Loved Someone." Meanwhile, faster-paced numbers like "Ding Dang" and "There's a Rat" are delightfully tongue-in-cheek and quirky but resist tumbling into the cutesy cliches they could so easily become in lesser hands. Where the album most succeeds, however, is in the moments that fall somewhere between these two extremes. "Reaching Through to the Other Side" and "Escape Routes" are intriguing paradoxes, quixotic and lively but with a melancholy, vaguely foreboding undercurrent. "Be Brave" is both strangely chilling and highly infectious. It shifts through several moods, from the sparse, spooky beginning to a threatening pep talk from Worden to herself ("Shara, now, get to work/Shara, this is going to hurt") to the uplifting chorus to a final emotional outburst of frustration ("It's so hard, it's so heavy to be hungry to be happy/It's so light, it's so easy just to be/Oh God, what would you do with me?/Oh God, what's my responsibility?"). Also sublime is "Everything Is in Line," a call-and-response duet with DM Stith. Featuring passionate vocals from both parties, the most surprising thing about it is its relative simplicity, considering how immense and complex it sounds. It's the pinnacle of All Things Will Unwind, which explains why its chorus provides the album's title. Overall, All Things Will Unwind is a diverse and immensely enjoyable listen, not only because Worden's got one of the best voices in independent music today but also because she's also a brilliant songwriter. She knows exactly when to pull back and when to let it all hang out, which is precisely what makes her music so compelling. You may come for the voice but you'll stay because of the songs.

Here's a lovely video of Beach House performing "10 Mile Stereo" on Conan from last Monday. I can't get over how flawless Victoria Legrand's voice sounds live, my goodness. I think it actually might even sound better than on the album which is quite awe-inspiring. If you haven't heard Teen Dream yet, well, then, what are you waiting for?!? It's one of the best albums of the year! And I promise, I will do a better job of convincing you of that once I actually get around to posting my top albums of the year. Until then, enjoy the performance.


In random free music making its way around the Internet, Owen Pallett has released a demo EP that you can stream and download for free here. It's mostly instrumental, containing a few songs from Heartland without vocals and some new compositions. But the clear standout of this little collection for me is the one song that does have vocals, an alternate version of one of Heartland's best, "The Great Elsewhere," with Shara Worden from My Brightest Diamond singing instead of Owen. It helps that the song is just fucking amazing anyway but I'm fairly certain that Shara could sing anything and make it sound like a work of genius. She's that good, folks.

Also, Sherri DuPree-Bemis from Eisley recently posted a lo-fi cover of Kanye West's "Heartless". I didn't think this cover was going to work but it turns out, it's actually quite a perfect choice. Sherri turns the song into kind of a dark, plaintive acoustic guitar ballad and, oddly enough, it seems completely suited to this style. Also, her voice sounds as beautiful as ever. Here is that for you.

I kind of wrote this song off as boring for a very long time. I do that with slower songs a lot because they don't tend to hit me as quickly as more upbeat songs do. Now I realize that, though the first half of this song is very slow and languid and molasses-like, it's the farthest thing from boring in the world. However, I do still enjoy the last part of the song ("For this is a ride going nowhere...") the most, where it picks up a bit. Shara's voice there just completely transforms from pretty to intense and emotional and huge. It gives me chills it's such a fantastic pay-off for the very slow build-up that leads into it. The emotions she can wring out of her voice just amaze me to no end, never mind the fact that her voice technically is extremely impressive as well.


P.S. Go download "Golden Star" if you haven't, too. That's my other favorite song from this album currently.

I've been kind of non-existent here lately, I know, at least compared to the rate that I used to post, but here's a little something to make up for that. I've been wanting to make a new mix lately but had absolutely no ideas for it. Between that and trying to think of something - anything! - to post about, this one was born. The seed was planted last night when my Zune decided to play me "Get Big" and "Warrior" back-to-back and I thought it sounded quite nice, so then I kept thinking about other songs that would work with those two. There is really no hugely obvious theme this time... I guess just that all of the songs are kind of dark and moody and sad, different aspects of depressing, I suppose. And basically I just think they all sound good together and they're mostly songs that I've been obsessed with lately. I think there are only two that I've posted previously, so that's a plus. And I just have to say, I'm the kind of person who feels like it's wasteful to not use the entire 80 minutes of a blank CD, so it was extremely hard for me not to try and fill up the last twenty or so that remain with this. But there are really no other songs I felt the need to add and I was afraid that any half-hearted inclusions would disrupt the entire thing, so I left it be. Also, there is really no reason for the two parts, just me being pretentious, I guess. (And yes, I realize that Orenda Fink is technically on the CD three times which I generally try not to do but whatever...)

( I'm landing now, forgetting how. Your gravity ruins everything. )

Download entire mix (87 MB)

Let's talk upcoming albums that I'm extremely excited about:

( Click for mp3s + links to buy. )