Customer Reviews

The Blackened Air

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although Nina Nastasia's voice is beautiful and the instrumentation stunning and unique, it's the songs that make her special. She has a keen talent for words, knowing when to skirt a weighty subject with semiotic mysteries and knowing when to tell it like it is.

In Oh My Stars, Nastasia portrays in a removed manner, an afternoon in a girl's life where she witnesses an unnatural phenomenon that marks her. Later she is preyed on by a watcher in her home, whose plans for her are thwarted (or perhaps not) by her father. The two unusual events put together suggest an alien encounter, or maybe a romanticized account of a young woman losing her virginity. The vagueness of the story is startling. In Been So Long, Nastasia addresses her mate directly, expressing her resignation that their relationship has lost some of its magic, yet proclaiming that her faith is not shaken. It is spoken flatly, and to a poignant result, "I don't know if we'll ever be free like that first year we spent/but I know I can't live without you/I still love you".

The Blackened Air is of consistent strength all the way through. There isn't a weak song, no fissure in Nina Nastasia's concept, writing, instrumentation or performance. Nastasia is a seasoned songwriter whom many are sure to emulate, if her body of work continues to be this good.

A friend of mine who recommended this album described it as "Gillian Welch backed by the Dirty Three." While Nina Nastasia's style is not as retro-country as Gillian's, they both share a dark Appalachian inflection in their deceptively ordinary-sounding voices which get richer with every listen. The impeccable Steve Albini production and dramatic instrumental, mostly-acoustic backing (including cello, accordion and musical saw) is indeed reminiscent of Dirty Three at their finest. I would highly recommend this to fans of either or both artists.

Like most great art, the more time you spend with Blacked Air, the better it gets. I dare you to find a more gut wrenching tearjerker this year than the album closer "That's All There Is."

At All Toorrow's Parties I saw Nina Nastasia and although I knew I liked it, I foolishly left as I was hungry. This is now up there with not going to see Bill Hicks and buying a Stiff little Fingers Ticket rather than a Nirvana ticket in 1991. When I first played the album a couple of the songs caught my attention but then I started to play it to chill out and the whole thing began to sink in (couple of tries instant gratification fans) the storytelling shakes you up as the beautiful,delicate voice reveals a world-toughened interior with a realistic view of life. One at a time you get infected by each song in a random order until you spend a week with them chiming in your head while walking through your day-to day life. Albini's done an incredible job with a beautiful bass-drum heartbeat throughout and the harsh edges of the most delicate instruments (violin & Saw) reflecting the same qualities in the delicate but barbed vocals. The darkened heart of a poetic soul will give you more tension, fear and warm sorrow than anything the bands who pretend to embrace darkness will ever come up with. Incredible.

With Steve Albini at the controls and some very talented musicians in tow, Nina Nastasia's The Blackened Air makes for quite a record. Instrumentally everything sounds great, and the songwriting for the most part is solid. I could probably listen to Nastasia's voice singing just about anything and be perfectly content. "So Little" is a really good song, and "This Is What It Is" is an extraordinary song. The lyric about her having perfect pitch cracks me up every time. My sole complaint is that the record is a little long and the writing is not necessarily consisent all the way through. But I honestly would have bought the disc just for "This Is What It Is." Nice job.

Once again an incredibly beautiful album by an amazing singer. This album is quite a bit slower than "Dogs", but she steps away from her set style to bring the listener to an even more personal level. The intimacy that is established between the artist and the listener is enough to make you feel you are in the room with her. She goes beyond herself, to make songs that are shorter (which almost seem like introductions) and songs with abrupt "choas" which sounds surprisingly sweet. A truely great album from an amazing female singer/songwriter.

I love this record. I have less than ten records from my twenty-some-odd years of avid record collecting that I never tire of, and "Dogs", Nina Nastasia's first record, is one of them. Time will tell for The Blackened Air, but so far I'm feeling that it might even be better.

Nina Nastasia is a great songwriter. She can hint at genres without affectation, and she writes about simple, essential things, but from a complex perspective.

Top stuff, Nastasia's music. Her instrumentations are varied and sometimes overwhelming, but never to the detriment of her clear vocal delivery. Some of her lyrics make me wonder if she's happy, but Nastasia's songs never come across maudlin and self-satisfied like most singer-songwriters I hear. As an Albini fan I would say that this and perhaps Seamonsters (The Wedding Present) are his best sounding records for my money.

This is a fantastic album. Those who have written otherwise do not know good music when they hear it. The lyrical worth, production values, flow, voice, combine to create one extraordinary album. Don't miss out; this album delivers.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10

When I listened to the first two songs on "The Blackened Air", I thought I was going to be blown away by the rest of the album. These two songs ("Run All You..." and "I Go With Him") have such a dense, incredible sound to them that I thought they would be an introduction to an intriguing collection of rock guitar, intricate percussion, and howling violins.
But "The Blackened Air" never quite got me feeling like I had been successfully polluted (sorry, had to say it). The Most of the songs are less than 2 and half minutes long. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, but it seems like Nastasia never reveals what I know she is capable of musically (her album "Dogs" is fantastic.).

The first song on the album that doesn't feel incomplete is painfully repetitive ("This is what it is.") Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this album and I'm happy with my purchase, but my main criticism is that I just want more!
Nina Nastasia is an incredible musician, and "The Blackened Air" is a testament to that statement. This album does have its moments. The six minute "Ocean" is far reaching in scope and emotion, "I Go With Him" is poignant, "Rosemary" is dark and sweet; but I feel a little unsatisfied with the album as a whole. It's still a great display of Nina Nastasia's song-writing abilities, to make music that is at once both delicate and imposing.

Favorite Tracks: I Go With Him, Little Angel

and so like Richard Hell I'm tempted to take it or leave it myself. Nina has a sweet voice and can carry a tune if not pushed too hard, and the accompaniment is subtly inventive and appropriate. But there's nothing truly compelling about this CD in my mind - I've purchased it and it's good; I don't dislike it enough to trade it, nor do I love it enough to play it more often than merely occasionally to jog my memory into recalling that it's nothing worth worrying myself over.