Customer Reviews

Disconnection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you find this CD "grating", as one reviewer suggested, you would probably be happier with some sort of Lillith-Fair coffeehouse-girl-with-acoustic-guitar type of album. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But this isn't it. This CD is full of naked emotion, gritty guitar arrangements, and one of the most entrancing voices I've heard in a long time. Carina is at times throaty, soulful, and even bluesy. At others she wails like a banshee in true rock-goddess form. Comparisons to Sarah McLachlan, etc. are totally inappropriate. I think she lies closer to the likes of P.J. Harvey and Patti Smith. Songs like "Shoot", "Into My Blood", and "Monument" have a raw energy that is impossible to ignore. I challenge you to sit still while she sings "I wait all my life/Just for the rush/The passing of fire/Into my blood" before the music explodes into a gorgeous wall of sound. Seeing her live is almost like watching some sort of exorcism. This CD is not to be missed - I am looking forward to much more from this incredibly talented woman.

It's been years since a female vocalist's voice captured me as much as Carina Round. THE DISCONNECTION is an album full of promise, and for her unbelievable voice, her impassioned delivery and musical ambition I've dared award this recording five stars. Indeed, I'd grant the compositions four stars, the back-up three stars and the production two stars. Not to mention the fact that my copy was factory wrapped -- and scratched.

But all complaints aside, this young woman has potential to do anything with her voice. In lounge, she would blow Norah Jones right out of the bar. In well-composed, well-produced rock, she'd rise to the top like a bubble in a glass of champagne.

The cuts "Shout," "Lacuna" and "Paris" are especially fine, and despite any obstacles, she saves the day and then burns it up. The music vacillates between hard and loud and soft and searching, and the sequence works.

One hopes that next time 'round, this very talented artist -- who has an intuitive feel for lyrics, articulation, delivery -- will have the chance to work with a producer who believes in her enough to bankroll a stronger production.

But she captured me anyway, and at the current offering price you'd be crazy not to discover someone who will one day be a leading vocal talent.

On her website, Carina Round describes her second album, "The Disconnection" as "confronting things like joy, anger, pain and confusion and letting them go." Absent of a better way to describe the album, Round provides the compliment. The album is rough and raw, uptempo and slowly melodic.

The Disconnection is probably one of the best things you've heard in a good while. Round is oft compared to PJ Harvey and Patti Smith, maybe even Sinead O'Connor, but rest easy knowing that the 9-track disc is not another copy of a copy. Round combines simplistic piano melodies with random, invigorating electric guitars and a steady drum beat. That said, every song changes.

Highlights: "Into My Blood" (an uptempo song; "I wait all my life/Just for the rush/The passing of fire/Into my blood") and "Monument" (also uptempo and aggressive: "Red lights, cars zoom past/ New York had a heart attack/ Screaming into a new world" the harmonies here are beautiful) and "Lacuna" ("There's a lot to be/ Said for this morbid self-attention/ The problem lies in my external obsession/ Animal is hungry been sleeping for far too long/ Gonna fill this lacuna somehow")

Simply, this is an awesome album. Listen once, relax, then listen again and again. Let it sink in.

The first thing one notices when listening to Carina Round is the similarities between her and PJ Harvey - the vocal acrobatics, the naked self-confessions and the black eyeliner.

Despite these comparisons Carina does have her own distinct style, in fact I would say that The Disconnection, her second album, has an energy which, at times, surpasses Harvey. Practically each track has a manic intensity which is seen more in the Bukowski-ish and Denis Johnson like lyrics than the music. The best tracks here are Into My Blood, Motel 74 and the wonderful Sit Tight. The Disconnection is a very good album and it will be a shame if this talented artist remains undiscovered.

After Tori Amos,Carna is my Fav artist! Shes true to herself and to music,shes Fresh and she has awesome lyrics that are no Cheesy or Corny!and all the songs have a twist at the end! I LOVE Carina! also 1st Blood is awesome 2!! Buy it NOW! Trust me shs Greater than PJ. and most of artsits around today!
Lacuna,Shoot,Monument ROCK!
Kisses 2 Carina.

This album is incredible. Emotional and powerful music. One the most underrated little known albums around. Carina Round deserves the success level of other great women rockers like Karen O, Neko Case or PJ Harvey.

This is her best and most complete album. It is a masterpiece.

Whatever you do, do not become introduced to Carina Round by Slow Motion Addict, the vastly inferior radio ready follow up to her debut masterpiece. Her song "Shoot" will blow you away with the visceral guitars, "Into my Blood" will have you singing along, and her voice will instantly make you swoon. On the same level with PJ Harvey for sure, this is an excellent album that shows there has at least been some good music in the 21st century. Must own.

I've owned this album (cd) for about 2-3 years now. The songs Into My Blood, Lacuna and Paris captured my attention and appreciation early on. I hadn't listened to the album all the way through, very often, up until more recently. After spending some more time with it, virtually every song here, or, at least major parts of every song, have gained my appreciation. I've found myself enjoying The Disconnection as a complete work, and not merely as an album you "dabble into" for a few tracks, as I had done up until recently.

About the PJ Harvey comparisons, yes.. perhaps I see some of that. In fact, that's probably where I first heard about this artist, from some PJ Harvey-related forum or forum thread. I think PJ aims more for simplifying her lyrical and musical sound as much as possible, honing these aspects down to their most vital parts. It's an aesthetic she feels most comfortable with or drawn to, maybe in part to the strong blues music upbringing she had.

On the other hand, I see Carina as having a more "jazz" like aesthetic. Not in terms of sound, but in terms of approach. Her vocals are a touch more playful, more overtly manipulative in tonality within each song (it's fun to sing along to too! well, for me "air" singing, as I couldn't get anywhere close to hitting her notes!). I also see Carina's song structures switching up, going in various directions, where you don't see as much of that from PJ, especially later in her career.

One thing I like about Carina is her songwriting style, at least from what I've heard on this album. It's not too overtly confessional, as in that "woes me, I'm in emotional pain" way. She writes with just enough ambiguity to keep trite, maudlin sentiment from creeping in. What is she singing about? It feels personal and emotional, and you do get some grasp of direct meaning from her at times, but her writing style keeps things vague, which allows the listener to create their own meaning from the songs. Evocative mystery, you might call it.

If you are the type who likes clear meaning or straight forward stories which you can easily identify and identify with, well, the songs on this album might frustrate you a bit, or keep you from embracing them too closely. But if you are more attracted to emotion, feel, vocal playfulness, and you like a bit of mystery in your music, I think this album is something you really might enjoy.

A quick word about her band. I don't know if these are long time musical collaborators with her, or mostly a set of hired guns. Whatever their case, I think the musical aspects work well in the context of the songs. It doesn't ever feel disconnected to the material, or sound like generic rock band stuff. It just fits well, I think. Softer, more nuanced when called upon, rougher and aggressive at other times.

I do with this cd was mastered better. I didn't notice it at first, but after many listens, I've noticed how "brickwalled", as they say, this cd is. In other words, at the final step before release, an audio engineer chose (or was more likely told to) bump up the digital compression/loudness, so much so that the dynamics are squashed. Everything sounds as loud as everything else; voices, drums, guitars, etc. There are times when I go to crank some songs on the cd, but I hear (digitally created) distortion and I must lower the volume as a result. So frustrating! BUT.. this is the prevailing way in which most of pop & rock music is mastered (for cd) today. EXTREMELY depressing subject to me. Google "loudness wars" if you want to learn more about what I'm complaining about. Anyway, to end this on a more positive note...

Bottom line: this is compelling music from a compelling relatively unknown artist. See her live if you get a chance. She isn't a studio creation.. she can really bring it live too!

You hope that someone like this will catch on with a larger audience. She has a great voice. She is very experimental. Carina Round is very cool.