Regina Spektor
A story about recording/producing Soviet Kitsch by Gordon Raphael
After recording thirty bands in 2002- my first year in London!, I went to New York for Christmas and was introduced to Regina Spektor, a young lady, originally from Russia, who was living in da Bronx at the time. My good friend Alan Bezozi, drummer extraordinaire was the one who asked me to meet her, and he wound up co-producing the album with me, as well as doing super-drumming on it (Carbon Monoxide, anyone??!!) She rocked an upright piano with her left hand, cracked a drumstick on a chair with her right - like tap-dancers or rhythmic horses - and sang amazingly from her heart simultaneously! One song was all it took for me to absolutely commit to recording her album, Regina's songs are so intense and vivid / her voice so free and expansive... Imagine Mr. Wolfgang A Mozart meeting The Moldy Peaches exactly halfway in the middle whilst smiling the most disarming smile in the world, then you can reasonably imagine what this artist's music sounds like... Her energy and spirit create instant fans at every show. Sound-engineers, club promoters and audience members all run up to her after each performance to gush praise and request CD's... For those who have seen and heard it all, you had better make some room at the top of the list for this complete treat of a musician/composer and visionary. I still think Soviet Kitsch is a remarkable time-piece, and am so happy to have been a part of it.
REGINA SPEKTOR - by Toby L (rockfeedback.com)
Witty, warm, invitingly charismatic, Regina Spektor's songs mirror a desirable, direct reflection of their enigmatic creator.
And, amazingly, you probably haven't seen or heard her yet. With shows up until now confined to the inner-sanctum of cafés and small venues residing in New York's Antifolk stomping-ground, though Spektor may be pals with fellow scene-leaders and stalwarts The Moldy Peaches and Jeffrey Lewis, her solo-driven expertise surpass and belie expectations of an otherwise idiosyncratic sound-template.
Piano-based, her songwriting themes range from amusingly wry observation-points (the playful 'Sailor Song', or full-on franticness of 'Punky (Your Honor)'), contemplative introspection (the haunting classical-quality of 'Flowers', or an, in her words, 'bastardised' version of 'Ave Maria'), not to mention carefully documented tragedy (the gripping 'Chemo Limo'), and never once does the formula prove, well, formulaic. Altogether matched by a personality and spirit so immediately approachable, Regina Spektor - no matter the level of hyperbole surrounding her produce - is a true classic artist in the making.
Official web site: http://www.reginaspektor.com/
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