Kismet

Jesca Hoop | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Red Int / Red Ink
• ASIN: B000T4SXCY
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,061 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Jesca Hoop counts early early folk songs, pop radio, chamber music, gospel music, 20’s to 40’s jazz, ol’ country, ol’ blues, slave songs, dance hall, murder ballads, rock and roll, blue grass and my backyard among her numerous musical influences to her debut album Kismet. Hoop is a striking, dark haired songwriter from Northern California who writes and sings twisty, sprawling, lyrically abstract songs featuring strange sonorities and offbeat rhythms. Jesca Hoop’s music is like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night. Tom Waits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The real thing, September 18, 2007

By 

Big Shrike "Do the evolution!" (LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kismet (Audio CD)

Excellent debut from a very talented singer/songwriter with a unique take on a lot of old music styles and forms. But don't get me wrong...this is very contemporary with a big fresh dose of eclectic. And her voices truly weave spells. It is funny to see the favorable comments from Tom Waits in the product synopses because he is the perfect person to have an opinion about this disc. I caught her wonderful concert in Los Angeles last spring and I am very happy to see her get a label. No one else sounds like this stuff...and that is a good thing. Now I would love to see her collaborate with someone like Tom Waits. The results would be great!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, original and shockingly good, November 8, 2007

By 

J. Schuyler (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kismet (Audio CD)

Jesca Hoop is utterly original. Captivating, funky and strangely mystical, listening to Kismet is like taking a walk through a Tim Burton-influenced enchanted forest. Each track is perfectly unique and distinct, yet each melds seamlessly with the next.

Though her voice is so pure and shockingly versatile that a reasonable comparison is nearly impossible to draw, there's something vaguely Elizabeth Fraser about her abstract approach to songwriting and lyrics, yet her clear, crisp, decipherable vocal stylings suggest something more direct.

I'd say Tori Amos, but Hoop is not nearly so hard-edged. I'd go with Imogen Heap, but Hoop is much more original and focused. She's ... well, she's unlike anything I've ever heard, but I've had the album on repeat since the day I bought it. Buy it. You won't be disappointed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kismet - Jesca Hoop, November 24, 2007

By 

S. Post (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kismet (Audio CD)

I had heard a review and bits of this CD on the radio, and it sounded intriguing and new. And indeed it is both - varied, unusual, melodic but with a very personal stamp. So far I've been playing it daily, and find Hoop's treatment of her themes always charms and holds my interest. Can't imagine anyone not enjoying it - I've bought several for friends and family.