Oh Vanille/Ova Nil

Diane Cluck

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Original Release Date: March 15, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Important Records
• ASIN: B0007M22U2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,369 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Diane Cluck’s hauntingly clear voice weaves melodies full of love and pain through her intentionally sparse arrangements of piano, acoustic guitar and harmonium. Perfect as they are, any additional instrumentation would be unnecessary adornments on these "skeleton" songs, as she calls them. Classical training and an obsession with Erik Satie have instilled a tasteful minimalism in Cluck’s work. Until now, her recordings have been self-released, and even now, with this full-length on Important Records, Cluck has only allowed it to be issued in an edition of 500. As a result, this is the fourth installment in Important’s Arts and Crafts series, featuring 11 tracks released in packaging handmade made by the artist. It is our hope that an unlimited edition can eventually be arranged.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 14, 2005

By	Puabi (Californialand) - See all my reviews

What first caught my interest with this album was the cover art. Diane made it herself, from what I understand. Like the rest of the recording, it is elegant and weird. Devendra Banhart lauds Diane's lyrics, and they are overall beautiful and moody, like the tunes. Cluck plays the guitar wonderfully well, in such a layered, rich fashion that you want to listen to tracks over and over again to catch everything. "Have I told you how I like to see a man submit to ecstasy, will all his inhibitions free, and moaning like his mother?" she sings on one track, and it just gives you goosebumps. (What'd I tell you about the weird!) I can't choose a favorite song, but the last one, "Wild Deer at Dawn," is such a lovely close, it really makes your heartbeat as steady as the person's in the song. "Beat...beat...beat..." and it segues off into silence and you're just sitting there content. I can't recommend this recording enough, I will make all my friends buy it. It's simply too good to let fall beneath the cracks, and 500 copies is really too small a number, though it does make one feel special for having it. Thank you Diane for this marvellous work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking minimalist folk, April 16, 2005

By	Loring D. Wirbel (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Perhaps it's not fair to review a studio album, not having seen a songwriter who's supposed to be defined by her live performances. But folks who fell in love with "Macy's Day Bird" will fall all over themselves for her Important Records debut. No extra instruments or layered tracks here, though we do get some voice-over harmonies on three or four of the songs. What we get instead is the unadulterated essence of Diane Cluck's remarkable voice, and some of the best writing you'll find these days. I privately give this five stars, and consider it in the running for best relesae of 2005, but its minimalist, semi-lo-fi nature might be off-putting for those used to 24 tracks of production in everything they throw in their ears. Consequently, the four stars represents the tiniest "caveat emptor," but if you don't get what's going on here, it's your loss. An insanely beautiful album.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cluck power, January 17, 2009

By	IRate - See all my reviews

She does the minimal solo thing much more effectively then one of her overrated influences, and her vocal command is impressive if slightly abused. However, this is still one of those albums to help listeners familiarize and make future investments in the artist rather then being a complete success in and of itself.