Customer Reviews

Small Revolution

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I first heard Lindsay Mac's music through a folk compilation CD last year and knew right then and there that I had to purchase her CDs. Fresh vocals mixed with the beautiful music of her cello makes an excellent blend in today's world of cookie cutter musicians with no originality. For me, it is hard to label her music because she covers so many genres: jazz, folk, pop, classical, and possibly more. That is what makes a great musician in my opinion.

Lucy lives a mundane modern life, but she remembers her dreams of something better. Lindsay Mac tells her story in the opening track of "Small Revolution" -- and, I confess, I might have passed it by if it weren't for the gypsy-inflected cello that dips and soars through the music. Lindsay isn't just telling me about Lucy's dreams, she's showing them to me.

Lindsay is a dedicated singer-songwriter in a folk-pop vein and with various jazz and funk influences readily apparent. Her voice -- strong, sweet and cynical, and very expressive -- is not her only instrument, however; she adds spice to her arrangements with plucked and bowed cello, an unusual but decisive choice that makes her songs especially fresh. She is classically trained, but delightfully free of musical inhibitions.

With one exception, the songs here are originals, and Lindsay crafts stories and moods that are both entertaining and sophisticated. Lindsay follows "Lucy" with more songs that court a theme of personal freedom. "Use Me," written by Bill Withers, is a funky, liberated approach to sexual gratification, while "Nowhere" introduces us to the manager of a remote convenience store who wishes for bigger, better and finer things in life. "Glass Jar" is a confused plea for self-growth. On the title track, Lindsay uses a Peter Pan metaphor to take flight from the mundane.

There is romance here, too, and nowhere does Lindsay express it so well as she does on "Pale Reflection." The soft, bittersweet song describes a man whose happy memories of his late wife are sparked by the scent of dish soap -- "So he took a hand of the bubbles he would have placed upon her head/And turned down the lights and danced alone that night instead." Love is, of course, more awkward at its inception, and "Stumble" gives a light-hearted voice to the confusion that walks hand in hand with a sudden new attraction. "Turn Me Away," on the other hand, teeters on the edge of a painful breakup, while "Last Resort" takes a healthier, more emphatic course to the sound of light lounge jazz.

Bassist Jesse Williams leads the way with a strolling beat as Lindsay deconstructs her man with cynical detachment in "Out of Me" ("The way you sit in your chair/The way you think that you seem/The way you order your drink tonight now darling/You annoy the sh!t out of me"). The final song, "Drifted," combines the themes of freedom with unavoidable romance.

This is good stuff, addictive even, and it reveals the bright star of a new talent on the horizon. With a debut album this strong, I can only imagine how Lindsay's music will evolve by the next one. I'll be waiting eagerly to hear the results.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor

Frankly, I don't know what kind of music this is but it is an extraordinary concept, voice and production. The lyrics make you think, the arrangements exceptional because Ms. Mac accompanies herself on the 'cello. The the greatest thing about this recording is the power and emotional depth of Ms. Mac's voice.
Jon Appleton
White River Junction, Vermont

A great album. It's great when an artist uses an instrument in a unique way but still makes music that is a approachable. She does a very good job of using the music to emphasize the emotion of the lyrics. Glass jar is a good example. If you like Michael Hedges or Leo Kotke but are looking for something unique this will be a satisfiying choice.

It's new, awesome and totally delightful.
She has incredible lyrics and sure can strum that cello!

I saw Lindsay Mac do a live solo show in San Francisco recently then bought the disc. If you like Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird or Patricia Barber, you'd probably be rewarded to copy me and check her out both live and on cd. At first when I heard her do Bill Withers' "Use Me" I wanted her to slow it down and make it more jazzy the way Patty Barber changes "Ode To Billy Joe", but when I heard the cd version, which makes great use (a rare thing) of scratches and turn-tablism -- pomo, baby -- I took that back. Although classically trained at Interlochen, Dartmouth and Berklee, she stands and strums or picks her cello like its a guitar or mandolin!!!

Lindsay Mac has a haunting voice and a funky sound, and her plucked cello adds an incredible dimension to the music. Its original, its got soul, its funky, its beautiful. No matter my mood, there are tracks on this album to match. Mac is able to pull off being technically sophisticated and highly original while appealing to a wide audience. This CD is my new favorite -what an album!

A friend of mine played me this CD last month, and I haven't stopped listening to it since. Even after what must be a thousand times by now, every time I hear it, I notice something new and different in this eclectic group of songs - whether it's a witty or wise lyric, or an unexpected instrument artfully layered into the mix.
I just can't seem to get tired of this CD. It's a breath of fresh air to find an artist doing something so creative - seriously, who else plucks the CELLO, and makes it sounds so so good? I can't come up with just one word or genre to describe Lindsay's music, but that is what makes her so amazing, she defies it all.
And have I mentioned that her voice is absolutely mesmerizing. That's just icing on the cake of this fantastic CD.
You only have to hear her once to completely fall in love with this unbelievably talented new artist.

So happy to have added this to my collection. Lindsay's lyrics and amazing voice make this a must-own for anyone claiming to enjoy musical talent. Only thing better was seeing her live in Boston.

This album, like summer night's breeze , brings me a total fresh feeling of music, story-telling and living...