Customer Reviews

Far [Vinyl]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who've gotten to know Regina's music over the past few years, "Far" will not disappoint. Some songs offer thoughtful lyrics; others, a catchy chorus with trademark Regina vocals. It's true, this album definitely has a clean-cut studio sound, which is a sharp contrast to "Soviet Kitsch." But the music at its core is just as remarkable.

The special edition of this album comes with two bonus tracks: "Time Is All Around" is an upbeat track with some not-so-upbeat lyrics, and "The Sword & The Pen" is a somber song that seems to conjure up classical Russian composition. One note of interest is that ten minutes of silence has been tagged on to the end of "Man of a Thousand Faces" before the start of the bonus tracks. I suppose the idea was to keep the bonuses as a separate entity. However, if you rip this album to your computer to transfer to an mp3 player, you may want to trim that time off.

This edition also comes with a DVD featuring music videos for "Laughing With," "Eet," "Dance Anthem of the 80's" and "Man of a Thousand Faces." I'm not a huge fan of music videos in general, but these are worth a few viewings.

It's worth noting that this edition comes with full lyrics for all songs, including the bonuses. I believe the regular print DOES NOT. So if you like knowing all the words, this would be the edition to get.

I read many reviews before actually listening to the album, which got me to think it's going to be a completely commercialized and soul-less piece. But after listening to it probably 20 times over the past 2 days (I just can't stop listening to it) I think it's an excellent album, complete with creative and insightful lyrics, beautiful vocals and melodies. It might be less raw than her previous work (which she had single handedly produced) but that's just natural. People often expect artists to produce the same product they love over and over and get disappointed when they move on. Only thing is, the artists that do survive trend changes actually flow with them (e.g., Joni Mitchell, Madonna among others).

Even though I'm perhaps a bit older than Regina's main audience (I'm 58), I stumbled across this CD after reading an article about it and thinking at the time that this sounded like something I'd enjoy. Well, I was right! This is a terrific CD from someone I had never really heard of before and one of the best I've heard in a long, long time. I can certainly see some Grammy nominations coming her way! A modern classic!

Ok. I like Regina Spektor. I said it. I decided to diversify up my collection a little bit, and had heard this chicky on the radio once or twice and figured she was alright...wanted some smooth subtle music for my turntable, to play when entertaining company and whatnot... The album however is infectious, and I am a little bit suprised how easy it is to get into on a whole.

From what I've read this is her most pop heavy production yet (there must be at least five songs here currently on the radio...) While some reviews are shunning on the production, declaring it robs the feeling of her raw past records... I can't agree. The production here is extremely well done, giving a strong punch to the tone and attitiude that comes from her songs. ...Sure I may have to look later for the raw grit that is promised in her Soviet Kitsch album... but just to get a sense of style, I'm digging fine on this one.

The music is expressive and catchy, and she crafts a poem in every song. Not poems for poetry lovers... I'm not a poetry lover. I like words that pop in the brain like firecrackers. There is an ironic sadness that often times puts you on the spot.And yet somehow the whole album remains joyful, but never sappy or contrived. Its Good stuff... it's good to see that this one crawled out from the raw side of the music biz, and has infiltrated the pop side. I hope to see more good things...

Spektor's voice is pure, honest, and refreshing. With crystal-clear ease, her melody twists around playfully in tantalizing patterns. Every song is fun and unique, but meaningful at the same time. There's so much to chew on here; you can listen to it again and again without getting bored. From the serene "Blue Lips" and "Human of the Year" to the upbeat "Machine" and "Dance Anthem of the '80s," the songs cover a wide array of attitudes and emotions. Nonetheless, they flow seamlessly into one long stream of pure music. The lyrics are unique, and the vignettes Spektor depicts are priceless. If you're looking for a female vocalist to sing her heart out on top of gorgeous keyboard harmonies into a relaxing night, this might be the album you're looking for.

Fun. Magical. At times dark. This album makes me feel like I'm under a blanket fort with my best girlfriend while she tells me secrets and stories by flashlight. Regina Spektor's voice is warm and comforting, and when she soars, heartbreaking. My favorite album so far this year.

I have to hand it to Regina Spektor -- she actually has managed to refine and further her unique anti-folk/pop sound, but also keep the unique qualities of her older style. Her third studio album "Far" is all about this -- lots of multifaceted, fluid expanses of piano, weird little songs about computers made of macaroni, and a quirky little voice. It's a more polished piece of work, but still has the twists and edges to keep it interesting.

"We sat there looking at the faces/Of these stranges in the pages/'Til we knew 'em mathematically," Spektor says over a powerful, bouncing piano melody. She sings of creating pasta computers that "counted up our feelings/And divided them up even/And it called that calculation perfect love" and cutting out their own little pebble-hearts that they "struck 'em so hard/So hard/Until they sparked."

Well, it's nice to see that she isn't writing your average MTV goopy love-ballad about kissing.

It's followed up by a wistful little ballad with a title like a hiccup ("Eeeee-eeeeee-eeeeet!") , a horn-and-synth-riddled pop melody that bounces and swirls alternately, a stompy piano-rockers, mellow slower songs, soaring ballads about the ultimate prize ("Human, human of the year, you are"), a dance song or two, sprightly sunny pop melodies, a pair of rambling anti-folky songs.

It's nice to see that greater exposure hasn't taken away the weird from Regina Spektor's work. Rather than your usual silly love songs and personal laments, she tackles the loss of familiar things, God's sense of humor, a society full of chipper automatons ("They started out beneath the knowledge tree/Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences") and a 1984-esque story about being "hooked into machine." When it's not bizarre, she inserts little quirks and strange images that stick in your mind ("Blue lips, blue veins/The color of our planet from far away").

She also has become more polished musically, with everything a bit smoother and nimbler than before. Her piano is still the centerpiece -- it jabs, flows, bounces, ripples and elegantly twists -- and it's accompanied by the occasional swirl of synth, some horns, and plenty of subtle drumming. Listen carefully and you can hear a bit of violin in songs like "Laughing With," and some tambourine in "Blue Lips," just enough to flavor their sounds.

The song that doesn't fit in is "Dance Anthem of the 80s," which sounds like a token dance song, which tries to fuse anti-pop and dance. It doesn't quite work. The jabby jangling "Machine" (with its eerie synth and jingling chains) doesn't entirely fit either, but taken alone it's a brutally memorable song.

Well, enough of that. Spektor's slightly creaky vocals weave easily between clear high sweetness and quirky murmurs, and she's got a special knack for evoking a slightly magical, bittersweet worldview -- genies, a genial deity, love games, balloons, a lake that turns "thick as butter," and rainy streets. Lots of delightfully odd phrases ("and the pride inside their eyes/is synchronised to a love you'll never know") and images (sparks flying from a pair of pebble-hearts).

The special edition comes with a DVD with some extra music videos -- the surreal Escheresque "Laughing With," a frolic on a suburban frontyard in "Dance Anthem of the 80s," a soft-focused and elegant "Eet," and the black-and-white images of her face shot through a giant lens, surrounded by strange mirrors, snowglobes and contorted shapes. And there are two extra songs: the quirky sputtering "Time Is All Around" and the swirling strum-heavy "Sword and the Pen."

Despite a couple of ill-fitting songs (one awkward and one awesome), Regina Spektor's "Far" is a solid follow-up to her anti-folk and anti-pop tunes of the past.

***I would rate this on the high end between 4 & 5 stars***

I am NOT a fan of "popular" music, though this may be classified as "folk" I would still think of it basically as "pop". Few modern musicians impress me and I tend more toward Classic Rock, MoTown and Classical; feel that it is fair to share that before writing this review.

To say that Regina Spektor is impressive is an understatement. I had not heard of this wonderful artist until a week before the release of this album. I now intend to buy her entire catalogue; she is a shining example of individuality in our bleak, cloned, irksome and depressing current musical landscape.
Her music is excellent, her use of atonality is quite catchy. Her vocals are quirky, she has what I could only call an unconventional singing voice; but she sings well with the pipes that God gave her. The music is great, a spin on the piano centered bands of late; but enough of a twist to make it an enjoyable, unique listen. Many of the piano solos are almost epic in their ability to encompass the mood of the song; much like Classical piano concerto solos, in my humble opinion, but this shouldn't surprise as Spektor is Classically trained.

A quick rundown of my impression of each of the songs:
5 Stars - 'The Calculation' - THE album standout, in my humble opinion; the only way I can describe it is jazz/blues/reggae/quasi-country fusion.
5 Stars - 'Laughing With' and 'Blue Lips' - both have amazing depth & simplicity in what remains astounding as a finished product.
5 Stars - 'Eet', 'Folding Chair', 'Machine', 'Human of the Year', 'Two Birds' and 'Genius Next Door' - with creative, strikingly idiosyncratic sound, vocals & lyrics on each these all stand somehow apart from any easily identifiable genre.
4 Stars - 'Dance Anthem of the 80's', and 'Man of a Thousand Faces' - both are entertaining but have slightly less sheen overall; still above average.
3 Stars - 'Wallet' and 'One More Time with Feeling' - these just didn't hit me as hard as the other offerings but are still worth a listen and register on the high end of the 3 star rating.

I highly recommend this album, this artist, and I think that Regina Spektor's star is on the rise. This should be a Grammy nominee at the least, but honestly I think a Grammy win is deserved.

Enjoy!

I also stayed away from this album for a few months because I was scared in being disappointed in Regina. HOWEVER, I can not stop listening to each song, I find myself singing her songs when I don't mean to, the lyrics touch your soul, move your soul just as much as her previous songs. I am impressed and surprised.

This is one of the most addictive and haunting CD's I have ever listened to. I just love her style and the folksy lyrics. I find myself hearing bits of her songs over and over again in my head - that almost never happens to me! What a wonderful artist **applause**