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One of the more pleasant surprises of 2006 was the breakthrough of indie singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. Of course, she already had all the trappings of a star: Here was an eccentric piano pounder, blessed with a mercurial voice and a refreshing sense of humor, who wrote evocative songs inspired by the most minute details of her day. -- Boston Globe
Preciousness - or a hilarious take on preciousness - is Regina Spektor's stock in trade. As a performer, she's disarmingly ingratiating and humble in the face of applause. -- The Washington Times
Of all the lines an artist can spend her life crossing, the one between "cute" and "cutesy" is one of the riskiest. Seriousness attaches itself to explicit violence or sexuality -- think of Eminem and Madonna, discussed in the halls of church and state. Going deep into the realm of childlike wonder and whimsicality has the opposite effect. People smile at art rendered in pretty colors and a sunny voice, but they don't think about it too hard; doing so might result in sugar shock. -- LA Times Blog
Regina Spektor is 29 years old. I point this out because on her newest album, Far, Spektor alternately imitates dolphin noises, talks about making a computer out of macaroni pieces, and fashions a refrain out of repetitions of the non-word "eet." And that's just within the first four songs. -- Pitchfork
If you look on YouTube, you can see a video of Regina Spektor losing her temper. It's October 2007, and the Russian-born singer-songwriter is playing for students at Brandeis University, just outside Boston. A few bars into a new song, One More Time With Feeling, she stops and turns to face the audience from her piano stool. -- BBC News
So the emergence of the Moscow-born, Bronx-raised Regina Spektor and her 2004 Sire Records debut, Soviet Kitsch, wasn’t so much a breath of fresh air as it was a much-needed swig of whatever potato-brewed goodness Spektor was chugging on her album cover. Classically trained but, equally, a student of bootlegged Western pop cassettes and noisy New York streets, Spektor plinked, plunked and crooned about ghosts and loogies, and she rapped about cancer and the strange sorrows of privilege with a beguiling panache, a completely new and delightful amalgam of her own design. -- Paste Magazine
The buzz: A darling of New York’s anti-folk movement from a few years ago, Spektor has seemed poised to take her weird-pop piano tunes mainstream and major for a while now. But she’s always been just a little too indie and odd to really compete with the Sara Bareilles/Hotel Café/”Grey’s Anatomy” types—a fact most of her fans relish. “Far” marks the classically trained, Russian-born singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album. -- Metromix Hampton Roads (VA)
When I interviewed Regina Spektor last month, I promised to put the full transcript on the blog... -- Discopop Directory
Since being “discovered” by the Strokes in the early 2000s, Regina Spektor’s been polishing her act for the mainstream. The end result is far, a surprisingly dull record featuring almost none of the playfully whacked, creative gusto that was, up until now, her trademark. The rough edges Spektor once proudly flaunted have been sanded down by no less than four (!) producers... -- SA Current
What if you found a sweet-looking older man’s wallet in the street? Or the local lake turned as thick as butter? What if there really was a 'human of the year' contest? Or you inexplicably forgot the words to your favourite song? -- Drowned in Sound
Regina Spektor was already tipping toward big-time pop on her last record, Begin to Hope. On Far, her third, she's gone full-blown; this entire album is a string of catchy hooks and pop-sweet melodies. -- Hartford Advocate
Comments
I hadn't properly read that review, I think they guy is a hater. "meaningless mush' was used to describe one of the songs, think it was Dance Anthem- I think anyone that has done their 'research' knows that Regina's lyrics have their own meanings, and I mean some of them are very obvious, whereas others are deep imagery and require some looking in to- yet all her songs work fantastically well without deep analysis.
Excluding the one negative review, from a website that very often is strict and un-generous in their ranking, I think it's safe to say Regina's work is receiving good reviews.
There's a reason for the album being both 2nd and 6th, simultaneously, on the iTunes album chart.
People judge music for themselves, thus this negativity will hardly deter very many people.
Quote:
He's about the 3rd or 4th reviewer to state that Laughing With is about atheism. What a retard. He either a) doesn't have the intelligence to decipher what the song is really about, or b) is just plain stupid. It's so fucking obvious that she's NOT talking about atheism.
Making the review seem a little 'rushed off' in my view.
The only thing I find in his 'credit' is him mentioning that the songs will probably sound good in a concert- that, we know, they do.
This fellow really should do his homework before writing a review; you would have thought that general practice!
I've yet to check what other reviews 'Joshua Love' has written, so I can't really say if he is being exceptionally harsh towards this release, or if he is, in general, strict.
-Good review, short and sweet. Also good comparisons to other artists, Fiona Apple etc...
www.rollingstone.com/.../far
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