On the Radio, Pt. 1 [Vinyl] [Import]

Regina Spektor | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (July 6, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Wea/Warner
• ASIN: B000G2YC2E
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,971 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. On The Radio

2. Aint No Cover (Live At Bull Moose Record Store Portland, Me)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is how it works..., September 28, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Radio, Pt. 1 [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

"Begin to Hope" is Regina Spektor's most radio-friendly album so far, with perkier melodies and some decidedly catchy little songs alongside the piano anti-folk. One of the most infectious songs of that album is "On the Radio," a catchy little pop song, which is paired here with its exact opposite.

"This is how it works/It feels a little worse/Than when we drove our hearse/Right through that screaming crowd," Spektor croons, over a quirky piano tune laced with shimmering synth, and the jazzy drums and handclaps. This is one of the Spektor's poppiest tunes to date, but it's a memorable pop -- its rippling music and offbeat melody make it stick in your head. This is not MTV music.

She sings of sleeping DJs, attacks from "ancient bees," and songs that run over and over. Then halfway through, she switches topics to love and life in general: "You laugh until you cry/You cry until you laugh/And everyone must breathe/Until their dying breath," and then about love and relationships in particular: "You peer inside yourself/You take the things you like/And try to love the things you took/And then you take that love/you made/And stick it into some/Someone else's heart/Pumping someone else's blood..."

For the second song of the single, Spektor goes the exact opposite way -- "Ain't No Cover," a song that is pretty much a capella. Just Spektor crooning in her quirky voice, with a slow drum beat like someone kicking the wall. It's also different lyrically -- where "On the Radio" reflects on love, "Ain't No Cover" revels in it, whatever the flaws of the man she adores.

One of Spektor's best points has always been her quirky voice -- it's flexible enough that she can sing all sorts of songs, but it never sounds like anyone else's. There are little creaks, warbles and oddities in the way she sings, which give an unpolished charm to whatever she sings. And it's nice to see that pop melodies don't detract from her oddball lyrics.

Spektor is one of the few artists to successfully "go pop" without losing her unique sound, and this single shows all her strong points at once.

5.0 out of 5 stars Not LP but 7" EP (aka 45), March 12, 2009

By 

Benjamin C. Harman "Just Ben" (Coldwater, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Radio, Pt. 1 [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

Folks love or hate Regina's quirky vocal stylings. I'm glad to love them and her. Regina bought the back of my head with 11:11. Since then, I put the atic in Regina fan.

This 7" European import single features "On the Radio" on side A and on side B "Ain't No Cover" recorded live at Bull Moose Records in Portland Maine.

There is a second version of this single. It is also a 7" European import of the same title, "On the Radio". The cover art differs slightly in that Regina looks directly at the camera instead of down and to the right. Also, the B side isn't "Ain't No Cover" but "20 Years of Snow" recorded live at Shepherd's Bush Empire. So, Reginaphiles may want to be sure to get both versions.