Customer Reviews

This Is Stina Nordenstam

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I've owned "And She Closed Her Eyes" for several years. I HAD to find it after hearing 'Little Star' on the "Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack." I listened to that album through some difficult times in my life and I still have a hard time listening to that album. I'm still very intrigued by Stina's music.

I've had this album on my wish list for quite a while. I found it at a local record store and couldn't pass it up. I didn't really know what to expect. I figured it would be similar to "And She Closed Her Eyes." I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard the album. I've been listening to it for nearly two days straight!

There is a nice combination of what I consider classic Stina and some louder stuff. Her voice against a few loud-ish guitars and some trip-hop-ish beats work very well together. 'Everyone Else In The World' has a really catchy sound to it. It's a great song to lead into the album. 'Trainsurfing' makes those toes on your feet immediately start moving to the beat, they can't help it. 'Circus' is one of my fave songs on the album - it has a bit of bubble-maker sound in the background that adds a cool little sound to it. It's not a loud tune, but has a very cool 60's feel to it. :) 'Keen Yellow Planet' has Brett Anderson adding some very cool sounding vocals to it. 'Lori Glory' is another toe-tapping song, it's definitely a song to dance around your house to. I started singing along to this song by about the fourth listen.

Stina fans won't be disappointed!

Well, what an album! Pure pop brilliance from the start to finish. Stina distills over a decades worth of artistry in one short album that covers much ground musically and displays many of her various stylistic changes. I still think it is criminal that more people don't know about how good she is, especially when there is so much mediocrity in the world.

I used to say that "..And she closed her eyes" was Stina's most accessable release, and a good one for Stina first-timers to get, now it's almost a tie with "This is Stina Nordenstam"... well actually I think this probably just tips the scales slightly.

It starts with the classic "Everyone else in the world", and straight away Stina shows her brilliance...she conveys so much emotion and feeling in a three minute song. Beautiful! And that is just the start - it gets better, "Trainsurfing"'s great four on the floor beat and bass line, followed by Stina's dreamy chorus, "Keen Yellow Planet" sounds like pop music from another galaxy, and "Cirus", probably my favorite track on the CD, is so touching, with Stina declaring "I will be what's left of longing on this earth".. yes Stina, I agree 100% with you there.

Her music has always had this wonderful, sad, yearning feeling, that also uplifts you just as much. This release definitely shows her more positive side.

If you have heard about Stina and are curious, get this CD and have a listen.. By the way, the CD comes with a lots of pics inside of Stina running around like a pixie in white boots *sigh*

Thank you Stina!

Buy it, play it, listen to it and then loose yourself in it.And please people,pay no heed to Anja Garbarek fans raving on about how similar they are so that you'll go out and buy her album too. Yes they have quite similar sounding voices,uncanny even at times but thats where the likeness ends.If you like "And she closed her eyes" then you'll love this.The songs are arranged perfectly just so that you are'nt jolted by extreme ranges of tempo and by the time you've finished listening you'll want to enjoy it all over again.

Stina Nordenstam may not be a household name here in the States and, unless her albums are released domestically, she may never be. But that doesn't stop me from proclaiming 'This Is Stina Nordenstam' to be one of the best releases of 2001, if not THE best.

That Stina is a gifted songwriter goes without saying; she makes the art of crafting little pop masterpieces seem effortless. But the characteristic of this CD that really gets its hooks into you is its lo-fi aesthetic. With this release, Stina sees how much of a song can be stripped away while still leaving its essence. Her vocals are seldom above a whisper, as though her lyrics are tiny secrets that she's whispering only to you. And the barren instrumentation blends perfectly with her murmured musings. The whole affect is one of the sole inhabitant of a distant planet, sending out coded S.O.S. messages.

In the hands of most producers, the desire to add synthesizer washes, lush string arrangements and layered vocal tracks would have been impossible to ignore, given the strength of the songs here. But Mitchell Froom (who has worked with Los Lobos, The Latin Playboys and Suzanne Vega) isn't that kind of producer. His 'less is more' approach is the perfect match for Stina's songs. Brett Anderson of Suede guests on two tracks, providing backing vocals on the Young Marble Giants-tinged 'Trainsurfing' (my favorite song on this disc) and singing the Bowie-esque chorus of 'Keen Yellow Planet'. Other gems include the jazzy 'Lori Glory' and the menacing 'Welcome to Happiness' (its first line 'Welcome to happiness, no smoking allowed' serving notice that the title is one of sarcasm), and 'Clothe Yourself Well for the Wind' which features Stina on vocals and playing a piano that calls to mind some of Moondog's songs. This is a short CD by today's standards (just over 30 minutes). Like most great pop albums, it doesn't outstay its welcome.

If you like Bjork (who I can take of leave), Saint Etienne, Cat Power or Innocence Mission, you owe it to yourself to check out this CD. It even shares a feel with Young Marble Giants, though it isn't quite THAT minimal. The import price is steep but well worth it. While you're at it, get Stina's 'People Are Strange' (a mostly-covers album) and 'And She Closed Her Eyes', which are both great albums.

I've been awaiting the release of Stina Nordenstam's new c.d. anxiously for the past month,based on the fact that the music media in general have been raving on about it so much.Thankfully my very high expectations have been totally fulfilled.Initially I wasn't quite sure what to make of her extremely lo-fi sound but after a while this album really becomes very infectious and in my opinion it's the best release by a female solo artist since Tori Amos' debut and P.J. Harvey's "To Bring You My Love".

Introspective,fragile,haunting,ethereal have been many of the words used to describe this amazing c.d.It's only 31 minutes long but it's one of the few c.d.'s I leave on repeat play for an eternity-I reckon my neighbours have got to know it intimately at this stage.The music is quite hard to describe-at times it's very cold and stark at other times it's beauty glows very brightly indeed.Quite often the sounds are deliciously off-key.The music is very minimalist-sometimes you think they've not bothered to plug their instruments in-and yet it isn't a real acoustic affair at all.Her vocals sound unique-very clipped,sometimes you think she may be singing with the mic in another room.But behind all this barren sound there is a real depth and warmth that only comes after a few listens.She enlists the help of Suede's Brett Anderson for 2 songs-the first being a quite unique sounding duet.The second starts off with guitar and drums giving it an almost industrial feel-before Anderson comes in with a very Bowiesque chorus.Mitchell Froom of Crowded House fame is given credits for the production side of things-and his production is so delicate it's unreal.

The first song has a gentle piano and more industrial-funky rhythms(if there is such a thing!) backing an almost whispered vocal performance by Nordenstam.The effect is startling in it's beauty and quite haunting at the same time.It's the most infectious lo-fi song I've ever heard.Sombre moods do dominate at times on this c.d.The 3rd track has very little instruments being used except for drums that sound exotic and Eastern,yet very 21st century and industrial.Many of the songs have FX vocals that make some songs sound like Kid A's twin sister-most notably on the 4th track.Sometimes she does get a slight bit poppy and the overall effect is quite like the chic almost Riviera(in winter!) sounds you'd hear on early Saint Etienne songs."Circus" has this style in abundance with gentle acoustic and very gentle shimmering keyboards.Her voice is just so beautiful on this track.The last track is also very much like Saint Etienne also.Track 8 "Lori Glory" even gets to sound like early Cardigan's especially the rather quirky sound of the keyboards which sound like a brass section.Track 10 is only 1:35 long but it's the best short track I've ever heard.A very old sounding piano and more glorious vocals-that sound like they're miles away from the mic-the hypnotic effect is really great.

My review is probably a bit sketchy-but that is cos the music is really hard to put into words.It's simply a beautiful c.d.The thing is I can't ever see it being played on radio-but it deserves so much exposure.I think maybe it's going to be one of those c.d.'s that may reach a certain level of popularity just through word of mouth.Finally the superb portrait on the cover does sort of describe this c.d.-beautiful and introspective,vague and shimmering,black and white,delicate but with a certain inner-strength,cold yet still with a feeling of warmth desperately trying to shine through.Last year it was Sigur Ros-this year's hidden gem award has to go to this c.d.

The beauty of Stina Nordenstam's music has always been its exquisite details, its minimal sound texture and most importantly, it is pure bliss to listen to Stina's precious voice gibbering away. It is the voice of an extremely introverted girl who thinks that people's attention on her actually hurts. The first album's jazzy but classically influenced instrumentation provided a beautiful velvet carpet for her innocent voice to lie on. The sophomore album 'And She Closed Her Eyes' is so wonderful that it has become one of my all time favorite albums, a gem that I can't even bear to share with anyone else. Like most top-notch musicians, she moved on and gave us 'Dynamite', an album that acquired a sound that is familiar yet so unique. 'Dynamite' showcases a new direction in pop music just like My Bloody Valentine did seven years earlier. Her next project, 'People Are Strange', a collection of covers is rather disappointing for not being as consistently challenging and touching. While certainly it has its great moments, something distinctively Stina seemed to be lacking. OK, here it comes, a new album in three years.Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake's production workes for Stina, but in a very different way from her previous efforts. It gives Stina's music a rougher and more lo-fi touch, which works well with her own minimalism inclination. However, the unique Stina voice is swallowed by the '99.9 F'ish percussion. For a cause that is, it is a contrast made to signify her innocence and a world of chaos. It is easy to criticize this before letting the essence of the music effervesce, but please, be patient and you will find beauty in it. There are a lot of moments that the music shimmers, such as the hypnotic keyboard on 'Keen Yellow Planet' and the metallic percussion in 'So Lee'. It is a pity that on 'should-have-been-great-songs' like 'Trainsurfing' and 'Keen Yellow Planet', Brett Anderson's voice clearly outshone the subtle beauty in Stina's gibberish. It is just as an odd match as Thom Yorke's duet with Bjork. Thanks to the great songwriting skills of Ms Nordenstam, they still sound great even with Brett's disturbance. The theme of this album is still about loss, endless departure and sorrow. This is exactly what Stina does best. This one clocks slightly over 30 minutes, which makes dear Stina such a precious import from Sweden. But it is all worth it because she is from Stina.

Two years ago a friend of mine had a mixed CD with the song Little Star on it and I had to have more! I bought her CD And She Closed Her Eyes at Christmas in 2002. A year later I bought this album. I was a little afraid I might be dissapointed that the CD wasn't as good as the last. But I was very far from dissapointed. This album has a little beat to it that the other doesn't. It's very hard to compare the two because they are so different. I love her music and am ready to buy another album of hers. If any one has an idea which one I should get please email me. I don't know any other Stina fans in my area. My email address is aquaprincess@hotmail.com Thanks and I LOVE this album.

I've been a Stina fan for about ten years, and once again am really impressed with her latest work. Its a great album. If you liked "And She Closed Her Eyes" you'll love this. My only complaint is that I wish she had produced this herself. I really liked the direction she was going with Dynamite and People Are Strange, and feel she was really shaping herself into a truely unique producer. I can only imagine what the album would sound like if she had done this without Froom and Blake. While Mitchell Froom has produced some great work, he's a bit of a 'one horse trick' and he's been using the same style for 10 years. What he does is great, but his sound is so defined that it almost takes away from the uniqueness of an artist like Stina. Maybe it was a conscious decision to use him to try to make the record more appealing to a wider audience.