REGINA SPEKTOR'S RAUCOUS PIANO RECITAL

By the time I spotted an exuberant couple swing-dancing in the wide carpeted isles of the Daughters of the American Revolution ballroom, I'd already quit trying to guess what would come next. A Regina Spektor neophyte in a CBGB T-shirt, I knew I was out of place as soon as the DAR's chandeliers dimmed and Spektor's devoted fans began cheering. But it didn't take long before I was clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

A captivating performer with a voice like velvet, Regina Spektor has that effect on people. Raised in Moscow and then the Bronx, Spektor developed her distinctive style playing all over New York City, in small clubs, basements and synagogues--anywhere she could find a piano. Fast forward a decade and Spektor is signed with an imprint of Warner Brothers, playing a concert in one of the most patrician venue in all of Washington, DC. Her song "Chemo Limo" is rumoured to be featured on a forthcoming release from the president of hip-hop, Jay-Z.

None of these details do much to explain her utterly unique music. Combining poetic and occasionally bizarre lyrics with beautiful, halting melodies, Spektor's style is difficult to describe. Her sound has been labelled everything from "anti-folk" to blues to indie rock. MTV's James Montgomery calls it "twisty, turny, timeless and tangible music", yet others have complained that her songs are too precious. Her latest album, "Far", released over the summer, has been both praised for its ingenuity and maligned for its cuteness.

Though her recordings do occasionally border on twee, Spektor's live show is raucous. As she moved from her grand piano to face the audience for her "Dance Anthem of the 80s"--"So that's what you look like!" yelled one excited chap--I found myself swayed by her idiosyncratic charms. When she threw the strap of her turquoise electric guitar over her shoulder and let loose with "Bobbin for Apples", an unreleased gem full of amusing non-sequiturs, I became a genuine fan:
 
Lovely people, lovely places
I can't remember names and I can't remember faces
Someone next door's fucking to one of my songs

 
She also managed to dance awkwardly while singing a cappella, play the piano while keeping beat with a drumstick on a chair next to her, and touched on the other two hallmarks of a rowdy night out (drugs, rock 'n' roll) before the lights came up again.

Responding to criticism about her new album, Spektor said, "My job is not to make people happy, you know?" Perhaps not, but with a vocal range that matches her flighty lyrics and a captivating stage persona to compliment her impeccable piano playing, she is more than capable of doing so in concert.

Regina Spektor kicks off the European leg of her "Far" tour on November 30th in Birmingham.
 

~ CORBIN HIAR

 

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November 10, 2009 - 06:15 — Game of Thrones (not verified)

I do love here off beatness, defintley a woman dancing to the beat of her own drum.

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November 10, 2009 - 14:16 — Visitor (not verified)

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Regina Spektor has been around for a long time

November 12, 2009 - 02:11 — gaelle maddy (not verified)

i'm a great fan of Regina Spektor, so much that my own compositions have her footprint on them.
What bothers me is how the media has only been interested in her recently, so people discover her drum beating on a chair, her quirky style, voice, melodies only now. her first album was in 2001! and she's had a second, and then a third, and a fourth one etc. It took her last album -less quirky, more pop and mainstream- to get her the attention and recognition she's deserved.

I recommend the piano/voice album called "The Gravediggers And Other Short Stories", released in 2006 for the UK market. maybe available everywhere now that she's famous?

gaëlle maddy
www.myspace.com/gaellemaddy