Customer Reviews

I Am

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I really enjoyed the general atmosphere that surounds the songs on I am. The album has a very raw feeling to it that gives more potency to some of the off- kilter ballads. While there is a general lack of fullness intrumentally, Ms. Nibletts voice can scale to a frantic howl and instantly makes you forget. In terms of other female vocalists like Mirah, Joanna Newsom, Cat Power, CocoRosie, Niblett holds her ground. What this album may be lacking in fullness, can be found in the unusual, yet beautiful vocals of Niblett

This recording consists of songs that 1) include only drums and vocals, or 2) include only a ukelele and vocals, or 3) drums, electric guitar, and vocals. No bass. No other instruments. It's refreshing to hear such a raw recording.

But it still may not be so refreshing if it weren't for the singer and the lyrics. The female singer has a vocal sound and style that at times reminds me of Bjork. The lyrics are quirky, with lines such as "It was fun being a baby," "Come on fireflies, let me see you have sex," an upbeat-drums-only song whose main line is "We're all gonna die--we don't know when, we don't know how," and "Your body needs you; your limbs they need you; your fingers need you."

The guitar/ukelele chords and melody lines are often different from what is normally heard, adding to the appeal of this album. And finally, topping off the charm is the artwork of the lyric sheet, which looks like it was done with crayons and magic markers.

If you're tired of mass-produced sound, check this one out.

Y'know.... maybe it's because I've been hearing SO MUCH music lately, that i guess at a certain point you just start pushing aside records that didn't really STUN you.... and maybe you lose your ability to really -listen- to songs when you're always listening to music and don't really concentrate, but this record, to me..... was TERRIBLE. it was sooo bad, that i couldn't believe anyone actualy published this record. The songs sound too much alike, the music is not catchy and unpassionate, samey, repetitive, annoying at times (how does she decide when those drums come in? they have nothing to do with the songs' flow). Just to give you a clue of my musical tastes, so that maybe you will see that my review will or will not appeal to you, I like singer song writers like Fiest , Elliott smith, Matt Pond, Money Brother, Nick Drake, Aimee Mann, Morrissey, Jeff Buckley, Jack Johnson, Ryan Adams, Damien Jurado, Joseph Arthur, Richard Hawley, Grant lee Phillips and more. All of these are SO MUCH better musicians (in my opinion) than Scout Niblett, who i have beed hearing so much about lately, and who has dissapointed deeply. Sory Scout.

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