Customer Reviews

Lady & Bird

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

 

 

"Nolita," Keren Ann's fourth full-length, is finally garnering the French artist the attention she deserves. That said, I like "Lady & Bird," a collaboration with Iceland's Bardi Johansen (Gang Bang), almost as much. It has the soft and gentle vocals one would expect combined with some appealing weirdness, like a cross between "Alice in Wonderland," "Night of the Hunter, and Air's "Virgin Suicides" soundtrack--both musically and thematically. That said, I don't quite "get" the concept; something about two lost children named Lady (Keren Ann) and Bird (Bardi), but the tunes are great and the covers, the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says" and "Suicide is Painless" (the theme from "M*A*S*H"), seal the deal.

Keren Ann sounds just charming on her own, but "Lady & Bird" manages to make her sound even better -- simply by pairing her with Iceland's Bardi Johannson, of the Icelandic band Bang Gang. The result is a dreamy, sparkling little pop album that leaves a bittersweet trail in its wake.

It opens with a music-box tinkling mixed in with acoustic guitar. "Feel what I feel/... going nowhere," Keren Ann croons softly in a voice that seems to have a dozen discordant echoes. That is only enhanced with "Shepherd's Song," a downright creepy rock song with gothic keyboard and a deep voice telling a strange story ("They knew about the presence of other people... they knew about the sun").

They don't really do anything that hard again. The rest of the album is made up of gentle, gauzy pop with different themes -- a faithful cover of the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says," fluting ballads, sparkly trip-hop tripping over an organ, and various wintry pop songs that grow more ethereal as the album winds down.

"Nana says that we all makes mistakes... I think they cannot see us," says the fictional "Lady" in the closing song, as a pair of children feel isolated from the world of grown-ups, and decide to cling to one another. To round it off, there's a live performance of "Do As I Do," but it seems rather anticlimactic.

Icelandic pop music has a reputation for wintry, eerie, elusive sounds, especially with artists like Bjork and Mum. Johannson doesn't do anything to dispel that reputation here, but Keren Ann's presence grounds it with her sweet voice and knack for less ethereal musical stylings.

Very soft acoustic guitar makes up the backbone of this album, but it's not the only instrument used. Equally soft flutes open "Walk Real Slow," and a few songs are heavily laced with airy trip-hop blips and soundscapes. Not to mention that dancey little organ that bounces through "Run in the Morning Sun."

Keren Ann's voice is usually quite pretty, but here she sounds like a pensive angel. Her vocals are layered constantly, with shifting words and intonations under one another. And the songs she sings are pretty -- some are rather simplistic ("Do As I Do" is basically four or five lines, repeated), but often they are bittersweet and evocative ("Through the window of my neighbours/There are fallen leaves/In my pillow...")

"Lady and Bird" is a rare collaboration where you wouldn't be able to identify the artists, unless you were told who they are. A quiet, bittersweet little masterpiece.

This is a CD that can be played from beggining to end without skipping a track. When I heard Do What I Do i must have repeated that song alone about three times before I gave any other song a chance, only to find out that the album just gets better with each song. The music is just so smooth and blends perfectly with Keren's vocals. I don't know anything about Bardi and his Bang Gang, but if your a Keren Ann fan you will definetely like this.

I have been really into M*A*S*H lately, and I wanted to hear the words. I came across their version, and fell in love with all of the music. I love it.

Keren Ann sounds just charming on her own, but "Lady & Bird" manages to make her sound even better -- simply by pairing her with Iceland's Bardi Johannson, of the Icelandic band Bang Gang. The result is a dreamy, sparkling little pop album that leaves a bittersweet trail in its wake.

It opens with a music-box tinkling mixed in with acoustic guitar. "Feel what I feel/... going nowhere," Keren Ann croons softly in a voice that seems to have a dozen discordant echoes. That is only enhanced with "Shepherd's Song," a downright creepy rock song with gothic keyboard and a deep voice telling a strange story ("They knew about the presence of other people... they knew about the sun").

They don't really do anything that hard again. The rest of the album is made up of gentle, gauzy pop with different themes -- a faithful cover of the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says," fluting ballads, sparkly trip-hop tripping over an organ, and various wintry pop songs that grow more ethereal as the album winds down.

"Nana says that we all makes mistakes... I think they cannot see us," says the fictional "Lady" in the closing song, as a pair of children feel isolated from the world of grown-ups, and decide to cling to one another. To round it off, there's a live performance of "Do As I Do," but it seems rather anticlimactic.

Icelandic pop music has a reputation for wintry, eerie, elusive sounds, especially with artists like Bjork and Mum. Johannson doesn't do anything to dispel that reputation here, but Keren Ann's presence grounds it with her sweet voice and knack for less ethereal musical stylings.

Very soft acoustic guitar makes up the backbone of this album, but it's not the only instrument used. Equally soft flutes open "Walk Real Slow," and a few songs are heavily laced with airy trip-hop blips and soundscapes. Not to mention that dancey little organ that bounces through "Run in the Morning Sun."

Keren Ann's voice is usually quite pretty, but here she sounds like a pensive angel. Her vocals are layered constantly, with shifting words and intonations under one another. And the songs she sings are pretty -- some are rather simplistic ("Do As I Do" is basically four or five lines, repeated), but often they are bittersweet and evocative ("Through the window of my neighbours/There are fallen leaves/In my pillow...")

"Lady and Bird" is a rare collaboration where you wouldn't be able to identify the artists, unless you were told who they are. A quiet, bittersweet little masterpiece.

This is the new record by Keren Ann Zeidel and Bardi Johannsson. Keren Ann has done a lot of solo records in the past. This is a little different. The first song "Do What I Do" is more like Polyphonic Spree. "Shepard's Song" has some weird manipulated voice on it. This is supposed to be a children's story. But it goes on with "Stephanie Says" a song made famous by Lou Reed. "Walk Real Slow" is like a Beatles song. They also cover the song "Suicide Is Painless." Many people know this song from MASH. But Manic Street Preachers also covered it. This album has a lot of interesting moments. Keren Ann has been touring constantly for over a year, with many different lineups. She has let all sorts of sounds and music influence her. It seems like she has developed a new musical personality. This is good stuff.

Two of my all time favorite albums are Keren Ann's "Not Going Anywhere" and "Nolita." Everything after Nolita has been a BIG disappointment. Sorry, that's just the way I hear it.

Lady & Bird has no soul, no rhythm, and is just bland and repetitive. It's weird too as others have mentioned, not that I don't like weird stuff, but this weird in a bad way. Too much special effects and not enough music. Not enough Keren Ann. Too cute and cheeky. I don't like it!!!

Though it's non of my business, I think Lady should dump Bird and get back to her roots. I still think I'll risk ordering her "Keren Ann 101" that just came out. I hope it's a good'n.

John

I accidentally stumbled upon Karen Ann about 2004 (or maybe because of a New Yorker article about her?). Nevertheless, I was enchanted by her songs and voice and unique style. When I lived in Chicago, I had the opportunity to attend her shows at three diverse venues. Each was a great pleasure. After her 1st three solo records, I became curious about this "Lady & Bird" thing.
I was much dissappointed in comparison with what I had previously heard. Not to say it was bad, but just sort of lame in comparison (Blue Skies being the possible exception). I have just now noticed that there is a new L&B record. It might be better as it contains about a half dozen songs, versions of songs from previous Keren Ann records.