Watch: Kishi Bashi - "I Am The Antichrist To You"

It's not secret that violinist/looper extraordinaire Kishi Bashi takes a while to do things. The entrancing layers of his music do not just appear out of nowhere after all. And such attention to detail certainly does seem to carry over into other aspects of his life as well. After teasing its release for months, we then got the video for "Bright Whites" and looks like 151a's most hauntingly beautiful track "I am the Antichrist to You" (first track from the album I heard by the way) has received the video treatment as well.  The stop motion video was actually meant to house a song from K.'s old band Jupiter One that never really saw the light of day. The band broke up and so K. shelved the video only to bring it out and use "I Am the Antichrist to You" and while I haven't heard the Jupiter One song he planned on using, I'm fairly certain Kishi Bashi's own track is a much better fit.

Animator Anthony Scott details the story of a puppy and bunny from a magical world where everything is more or less sunshine and rainbows. Until their colorful world of imagination and wonder is threatened by the arrival of a gloomy and oppressive one of logic represented by numbers. Then things get dark. Really dark. There's a scuffle, tears are shed, and the songs climax occurs right at the most poignant of moment. It's text painting at its finest. Hard to imagine the video existing as anything else besides this wonderfully emotional pairing of plot and song.

The video also functions as a touching tribute to K.'s former tourmate with Regina Spektor, cellist Dan Cho
who drowned two years ago.

Watch the video for Kishi Bashi's "I Am the Antichrist to You":


(via Huffington Post)

Regina Spektor - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats (2012)

Long before ARMS or even Sondre Lerche there was Regina Spektor. My regular go-to gal and pinnacle of songwriting excellence and keeper of the eternal flame of my oppressive fandom. My experiences with Regina Spektor are decidedly long and storied and undoubtedly one-sided: A weekend trip to visit a recently displaced friend when I was in my early high school days was when I was introduced and while originally thinking her  silly and insane, I found that I had grown to like and respect her. Her songs were smart but not stuffily so and the more I listened the more I found I'd learn. The meanings were subtle but the narratives were engaging and entertaining, and her talent undeniable.

My love of Spektor's music soon grew to eclipse that of her current output and so I took to the web and discovered a treasure trove of live recordings of songs that she's yet to commit to tape. Recorded by fans at live shows spanning her entire career thus far, the collection was impressive; about 170 different songs if memory serves. I had joined message boards and even regularly visited a Livejournal group (despite not actually operating a Livejournal) just for the latest scoop on her and information about where I might obtain more recordings.

Despite not seeing a single live show of hers (due to being a high school student with absolutely no disposable income), I felt like I could personally vouch for the impressiveness of them because of the recordings. Her song "Making Records" seemed to all but agree with this as she seems to lament committing her voice to tape noting the machines ability to bring her vocals to a level of perfection she cannot humanely recall. In fact, my love of her was so strong that sensing the obvious bias one of my blog's first major tenants was that I was not allowed to blog about her.

And I remember exactly when the fires of my love were snuffed out: the release of 2009's Far. The album wasn't terrible, not by a long shot but my love of ska/punk music as well as my own distaste with what other kids around me were listening to had distilled in me a distrust of major labels - a distrust which heretofore had never been directed at Spektor despite her place on a Warner Records subsidiary.

"Laughing With" took all of the mystery out of her songwriting making it quite clear what she was singing about, not allowing me to discover for myself the serious tone of it. But even that was fine. The act of severe betrayal happened in the form of much beloved "Folding Chair" - a simple little love song that was quintessentially silly Regina but still serious, it was when the overproduced instrumentation and overproccessed vocals kicked in that I felt my fandom deflate, a suspicious shield of distrust erected in its place. I could never completely dislike her because quite frankly, the album was still packed with more than enough good songs and her back catalog still had the same effects on me. But I knew from that day on, I'd be dubious of any of her future releases.

When Regina Spektor announced What We Saw From the Cheap Seats earlier this year, I had mixed feelings. I remembered the sting of Far's overproduction and death of Spektor's simplicity but I was still curious and filled with hope. First single "All the Rowboats" though relying on production techniques did so inoffensively and my hope was renewed though with a heavy layer of mistrust. The first sign of a misstep would see me bolting never to return. Or so I thought: With the release of second single "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" there's synthesized piano and drums which I wasn't quite fond of and yet, I stuck around and I'm certainly glad I did.    

Opener "Small Time Moon" proves like "All the Rowboats" that the studio perks that are afforded to Spektor aren't always bad thing, giving the track a bouncy, joyful flare that might not have come off before. "Oh, Marcello" sees the return of a quirkier, much missed Spektor as she fully adopts the character of a Italian woman, affect included, to spin a plot that could very well be out of Shakespeare or his contemporaries which she combines with a stolen set of lyrics from The Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" to create a bit of a quizzical anachronism. After "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas", Spektor finds a pretty spot on balance between her own talents (vocal percussion abounds) and those of the studio so that you don't have the same jarring experience ever again. You even get a very obvious peek to her likes and influences with the soulful "How" which recalls Billie Holiday plainly and simply without merely sounding reductive.

My problem with What We Saw From the Cheap Seats is exclusively from a place of privilege. I had heard many of the songs before a multitude of times before I suppose I was meant to. While Spektor has supported the recording of her songs and the sharing of her songs (in most cases, if they aren't detrimental to another person's vision), I essentially have undue knowledge I shouldn't have. Perhaps if I hadn't heard the live version of "Folding Chair", I wouldn't have been so offended by the album version or so distrustful of the computer-friendly "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (I will call it by its originally name forever), my ears might have still pricked up (not in a good way) when I heard both of these songs but who's to say.  And so my feelings while not to be totally disregarded aren't exactly the status quo. Even at her most overtly poppy, Spektor is at her most endearing. They may not give her the proper forum to display her impressive plethora of talents but they're hard to fault.

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats seems to be the foil to Far, featuring Regina Spektor at her most fun, thoroughly enjoying herself. Not that there's not fun songs on Far, but where songs like "Two Birds" and "Dance Anthem of the 80s" seemed more cute than anything, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats pulses with smile-inducing splendor even at its most serious ("The Ballad of the Politician", "Open"). It's fitting that Spektor returned to fan recordings to select songs for this album because they allow her a certain freedom she doesn't really take full reign of in her more recent songs. Rediscovery imbues in her a sense of wonder and playfulness.  The album's strongest tracks are in fact, the oldest "The Party" and "Jessica" don't really hold a candle to "Open" or "Patron Saint" and yet, the album's not a competition. Even the weaker tracks sparkle with Spektor's radiant charm.

Watch: Regina Spektor - "Call Them Brothers"

Since the release of 2009's Far, I've more or less downgraded Russian-American piano songstress Regina Spektor from my favorite artist that I listen to religiously to artist I like and will listen to when the mood strikes me. Pair that with the fact that she's spent the better part of 3 years heavily engaged in some quiet composition for a musical slated for Broadway and I more or less forgot about her. With the release of her upcoming album What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, I'm hoping to recapture some of that love. The biggest problem with that seems to be a big budget studio sound she has access to. Which results quite sadly in some effects that are pretty much unnecessary - Spektor is an artist who's vocal power is best left alone with only the accompaniment of her piano or her frequent friends and collaborators.

So while each single has rolled out and I've more or less been at odds with my want to like them and my sadness that they are heavily produced ("All the Rowboats" being the exception since the production really flushes the song out), this latest release from Spektor: The video for "Call Them Brothers" has me changing my tune a bit. Originally recorded for Jack Dishel aka Only Son's sophomore album Searchlight, the two have essentially created a whole new acoustic version to be releases as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of What We Saw From The Cheap Seats. If any of the songs are as good as "Call Them Brothers" I have rising hopes for the album.

Watch the video for "Call Them Brothers" here:


And in case you missed (I pretty much did), Regina rolled out new track "Small Town Moon" not too long ago, listen here.

Regina Spektor's What We Saw From The Cheap Seats is out May 29th.

Watch: Regina Spektor - "All The Rowboats"

Almost a month ago to the day, Regina Spektor emerged seemingly out of nowhere (but most likely her NYC apartment where's she's composing music) to drop the first single off her upcoming album What We Saw From the Cheap Seats. If the bombastic, percussive single wasn't enough she's also followed up with a spanking new video for it today.

The video opens up with Spektor lying tied up in a boat seemingly dead before cutting to her standing on a dock. Her hair blown by the wind as she stares intently at the camera singing the words as nifty effects creates waves underneath her and the song grows in intensity - it's not long before the video becomes all action. Regina takes a plunge off the dock and there's cuts to her struggling in a net and running away from confining designs as they press ever closer and her lyrics about trapped works of art are delivered more and more powerfully. The video which I thought as first was just a random assortment of images and themes suddenly takes on coherent form - as it becomes more and more obvious Regina Spektor herself is in danger of becoming a commodified masterpiece she's singing about (at least in the context of this video) - I wouldn't be surprised if you suddenly let out a epiphanic "OH!" like I did. The rest of the video makes sense out of all the previous images before capping it off with a bit of an unexpected twist which I won't ruin for you.

Watch the video for Regina Spektor's "All the Rowboats":


Regina Spektor's What We Saw From the Cheap Seats is out May 29th.

Regina Spektor - "All the Rowboats"

New York chanteuse Regina Spektor has an album coming out this year and it might be the most excited for an album I've been. The follow up to 2009's Far, Regina Spektor hasn't been that forthcoming with info on new album What We Saw From the Cheap Seats especially considering that it's supposedly coming out in about two months. Yet all of that changed today with the premiere of brand new single "All the Rowboats". It's a song she's performed live a couple times but the new version features slicker production and fills out all the sounds Spektor has claimed were going on in her head and unlike Far's "Folding Chair", actually benefits from the added production.  It is May yet?

Listen to Regina Spektor's new single "All the Rowboats" which if official out tomorrow.


(via Stereogum)

Regina Spektor covers Radiohead for charity

Regina Spektor, the Russian-American anti-folk/pop siren has almost always contributed to help those less fortunate just last month she played a Haiti Benefit show in NYC, now she's back performing a cover of Radiohead's "No Surprises" to raise money for Doctors without Borders. 100% of the proceeds will go toward helping those in the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. You can listen to the track at the link provided below and if you like it, why not shoot on over iTunes and purchase it. It's for a good cause!

Listen to Regina Spektor cover No Surprises by Radiohead here:
http://stereogum.com/354561/regina-spektor-no-surprises-radiohead-cover/mp3s/