Dana Alexandra - "Hand Me Down" -- download now!Seeing Dana Alexandra last week at The Fire made me realize what was missing from the last two shows I saw her play: an audience slowly filling the room and being won over one person at a time.Like most of the best things in life, finding Dana's music is all about being in the right place at the right time. I can't imagine anyone not being impressed by her voice once they hear her -- the problem is getting the People to the Voice. Over the course of a breathless 45-minute set which featured new songs, old songs, increasingly unmanageable hair and a story about how boa constrictors size you up before eating you, she won over a good-sized crowd for an unknown performer opening a show at Philly's grungeiest of grungy venues.But the real magic happens on her debut album. Dana uses harmonies the same way Keith Richards and Jimmy Page use guitar riffs, as something both stylized and structural, decorative and devastating. The songs are catchy, her voice and melodies grow on you quickly and unexpectedly, extra touches (piano and ukelele) never seem unneccessary or gimmicky, and the "live-on-the-floor" immediacy really shines through. My prediction: If she keeps writing this way, she'll be one of the biggest singer-songwriter draws in the Philly scene within a year. But don't take my word for it -- see her live at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore on August 21st, and check back here tomorrow for Pt 2.
In Philly, however, it was an absolutely fantastic weekend, perfect for sitting on your porch, deck or cement slab with a cup of tea and reading a book. But what's a relaxing Saturday morning without the right soundtrack? Enter Teitur, Stockholm's current hot shit folk singer (I'm pretty sure those words have never been strung together before now):
Paste describes him as "foremost a pop craftsman, something that's occasionally obscured by his favoring of minimalist strings, hushed backing harmonies and pulsating horn sections." That's pretty spot on: it's a haunting and spare album, but there are bursts of sing-along tunefulness (see the chorus of "Start Wasting My Time"). His voice falls somewhere between the matter-of-fact delivery of Ben Gibbard and the slightly hammy and bleating sound of the Decemberists' Colin Meloy.
It's a good record, start to finish. Check out the songs (remember to click "Download Original" on the right) and let me know what you think.
