Customer Reviews

Sweet Shadows

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a typical year I purchase 30 or more CD's. I've gotten burned on a lot lately. This CD has been a real find and a revelation in a sea of medocrity. Forget the trip hop label, it means nothing in the context of this CD other than there is more drums and bass in the mix. There is a great variety to the music and the lead vocalist's voice is magical. All the songs, with the sole exception of a cover of "Dust in the Wind" - which is not bad but kind of strange in the context of this CD - are unique and worthwhile. If you have any doubt then download "Broken Bridge" and if you like it you will like the rest of the CD.

I first heard of Daughter Darling from www.triphop-music.com, and I'll admit I bought the CD from an indie label website to get it fast. I love trip-hop (if you accept that as meaning Portishead, Massive Attack, Lamb, early Hooverphonic, the first Goldfrapp, etc.), and this is excellent trip-hop! Daughter Darling appears to be two creative brothers (Travis & Stephen Fogelman), a DJ (Infinit), and an incredible vocalist (Natalie Walker), based in Philadelphia. The music is most like Portishead ("Let Me Speak" especially), but has a unique sound of their own. I would have to say this is the new sound of trip-hop. It flows beautifully and sadly from the first cut to the last, and I have been playing it over and over. Every song is great, but "You Won't See Me" is to me the obvious single, with stunning vocals and a cello. The only cover, "Dust in the Wind," is pretty stark and haunting compared to the original Kansas release.

I personally would not name it like that; I'd name it as the Sweetest Shadows, or Greatest Shadows. It's actually one of the most beautiful trip-hop albums I have ever heard, since I started listening to trip-hop every day, a decade ago. I dedicate a special room for this CD on my record collection, a space reserved just for essential albums, beside pearls like Dummy (Portishead), Blue Lines (Massive Attack), Who Can You Trust (Morcheeba) and Background Door (U-topia). Sweet Shadows is surely a masterpiece, a trip-hop that demonstrates the great sensibility of those behind it: Daughter Darling. There's creativity, there's poetry and over all there's trip-hop − overflowing. Are the skies the limit? It was hard to believe one could debut on the scene with that power, at least it's not easy to debut that way; and exactly because of that, there's now no reason to doubt they can be even better. The future will tell us. Yup, the future: Daughter Darling is the accurate answer to those who dare to label trip-hop as 90ies music; a beautiful answer to those who dare to say that trip-hop is something falling into decadence, as I have heard too many times. Yup Ladies and Gentlemen, trip-hop is alive and shouting out loud...

I don't often write reviews on here but this cd is so amazing that I couldn't resist! Natalie Walker's voice is heavenly and the music is haunting and ethereal. I highly recommend this cd. I know that it will be in my cd player for many many weeks to come until I've learned the songs backwards and forwards. A simply gorgeous cd. Daughter Darling's version of Dust in the Wind is stunning!

This is not Portishead or Fiona Apple or anything else. Daughter Darling has a sound all its own, and in that sense they are phenomenal. Yes, this album will fall under the broad category of "trip-hop" and as that it is very good. If you want a sort of "heir" to Portishead's empty throne, well, this is about as close as you can get, though I think it's unfair to compare anyone to the absolute perfection that was Portishead. Natalie Walker has a delicious voice, unique and warm and fantastic, and for the most part, the tunes and beats are great, extremely well-put-together. This is great late-night listening. C'mon, support an up-and-coming act. Get this phenomenal CD!

This is such a great album; lush music, nice lyrics and melodies, and Natalie's vocals are... oh God... damn amazing! It was not casually that a very good website specialized on trip hop as tripofagia.com did consider this the best album of 2003. I highly recommend this to everyone who enjoys trip hop. Sweet Shadows is essential! Go and get it!

Sara McLachlan-esque breathy, ethereal, yet powerful vocals get a trip-hop spin from Daughter Darling, and it's a case of two great tastes that taste great together. DJ Infiniti's non-intrusive scratching raises the group's moody, folkish, Celtic-tinged singing and tunes from the list of Lachlan-wannabes and helps the group stake out territory of its own. However, the album is not so trip-hoppy that I think it would only appeal to fans of that unjustly overlooked subgenre; the voice and piano work are strong enough to carry the album even without the edge Infiniti provides. The album is consistent in quality all the way through, with numerous highlights, and is enjoyable enough to sustain repeated listens. But beware of listening too carefully: the quality of the music exceeds the quality of the lyrics, and you'll start to notice if you concentrate too hard. The best way to listen to this album is to lie back let it wash over you without reflecting on it too much. Let Daughter Darling hypnotize you. You'll get lost in this album and love it.

This album is perfect when I'm in the mood to cool out. I love the way they blended good beats, acoustic guitars, piano, and a nice voice. This is a real find and a treat in a sea of medocrity. This is not Portishead, Morcheeba, Spicehouse, Zero 7 or anything else. Daughter Darling has a sound all their own, and a good one at that. This is great late in the evening listening. Sweet Shadows is truly one of the most beautiful trip-hop albums I have ever heard. There are very few CD's I can listen to from beginning to end, and every song on this album has something to offer all my moods.

The songs are really beautifully performed and written. Their style is a combination of jazz, soul, alternative, as well as many other types, and such variation in style shows a definite talent.

I would highly recommend this cd to music appreciaters of any genre. Typically, I'm mostly into hardcore and heavier sounds, but this is one of my new favorite cds.

I do not CARE what anyone wants to say negatively about this album, it is totally ethereal and sexy and deep and HER VOICE IS AWESOME...not in the conventional sense but it is just great!
I put her in the upper echelon category of female vocalists along with Emiliana Torrini, Bjork, etc... I have listened to this CD over and over and have found that it gets better with each listen.