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Happenstance
 
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Happenstance

Rachael Yamagata
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews) More about this product

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
  • Original Release Date: June 8, 2004
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: RCA Victor
  • ASIN: B00022KF1A
  • In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,571 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Listen to Samples

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1. Be Be Your Love
2. Letter Read
3. Worn Me Down
4. Paper Doll
5. I’ll Find A Way
6. 1963
7. Under My Skin
8. Meet Me By The Water
9. Even So
10. I Want You
11. Reason Why
12. Moments With Oliver
13. Quiet

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
There is a combustible quality about newcomer Rachael Yamagata that for a lot of listeners will call to mind Fiona Apple: A first spin of Happenstance can make you itch with the thrill of discovery, but it also leaves behind the impression that its singer is vaguely dangerous; which is exactly what makes these songs so absorbing. "Everybody's talking how I can't be your love," she pouts in a melodically engineered stutter on opener "Be Be Your Love," one of several tracks pairing her with a piano that seems to take the brunt of the punishment for her wrecked relationships. The rest of the disc unravels with similar heat: When she growls in her full-time rasp that "(You've) worn me down/like a road/I did everything you told" on the very infectious indie-rock leaning "Worn Me Down," you believe her. But the less stormy numbers work as well, with "1963" coming off as flower-power pop grounded by a voice that knows better and "I Want You" wending its way through a fat, heartsick wallow to emerge someplace burnt in honesty. A late minute-long instrumental feels more tasteful than pretentious, adding to a monster of a debut already fueling hopes that happenstance--the term, not the album--will play a miniscule part in Yamagata's eventual output. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description
Happenstance…the never can be…

Main Entry: hap·pen·stance; Etymology: happen + circumstance: A circumstance especially that is due to chance. - Merriam Webster Dictionary

I apologize for insisting on writing my own bio, but I just can not be satisfied with another’s account of my psyche when even I don’t understand it myself. Welcome to the world of this indecisive control freak hopeless romantic…

Happenstance, produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews etc.), is a collection of songs inspired by my obsessions, often love related, but not always. It’s about the battle between chance circumstances and the belief that everything happens for a reason. The title and the back cover addition of ‘the never can be’ suggest that I’m not really endorsing chance, but, in fact insisting that there must be a reason for repeated broken hearts – perhaps a promise of a better situation, learning experience, the greater love etc. It’s a circular argument… and it’s merely a matter of ‘happenstance’ that the title is what it is anyway. Without the hopefulness of reason, how could anyone weather the highs and lows of relationships and this delightful junk called love.

Look to the second album for a more cynical approach in which it all goes to hell and nothing makes sense and chance is winning…

See all Editorial Reviews


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Customer Reviews

116 Reviews
5 star:
 (70)
4 star:
 (27)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (8)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (116 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Under my skin, August 16, 2004
Ever had a song that had been stuck in your head for what seems like eternity? I have and that song that has been stuck in my head for eons is Rachael Yamagata's infectious "Worn Me Down". My local radio stations has been playing "Worn Me Down" quite a bit. It is one of the few songs that I actually enjoy listening to on the radio. I have not been able to get that song out of my head (which is a good thing). I finally broke down and bought "Happenstance" over the weekend. It took me a few listens and over time, the cd gradually grew on me. I can certainly hear the comparisons to Fiona Apple but as another reviewer wrote here, Rachael has a huskier voice. Plus her lyrics aren't as depressing as Fiona Apple's. She also reminded me of Beth Orton (a little bit) but minus the english accent. I guess I can hear a little Norah Jones in Rachael but nowhere as indecipherable as Norah is when it comes to singing. Next to "Worn Me Down", I thought the first two songs "Be Be Your Love" and "Letter Read" stood out for me on the album. "Happenstance" is one of those albums where everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in in terms of various influences in Rachael's music like country, jazz, and folk music. If "Happenstance' is anything to expect from Rachael Yamagata in the future, then I am looking forward to hearing more from her.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, September 29, 2004
My first impression on Rachael Yamagata's Happenstance was overwhelmingly pleasing. This is quality music. What makes it high in quality? Creativity encapsulated in TALANTED artistic expression. Listening to the tracks the first time comes feeling of enchanting inspiration. It seems the "Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility" does not apply with this album. In other words the replay value, atleast for me, does not decrease in any way. Every track is unique in style. Rachael Yamagata has a wonderful, sweet, gentle, soothing hurricane of a voice. Breath-taking. Yet there is a fine balance between her voice and the instrumental progression. Neither being aggressive over the other. There is no "favorite" track here, and rightly so. Judging from this album, I can confidently say that Yamagata acquires substantial progress for the indie rock culture. 5-stars hands down. If all you do is listen and follow mainstream_trl music, you must die. Listen to a bit of life for a change.

Pros: creative, beautiful, anti-law of diminishing marginal utility

Cons: if listener has been first contaminated by what is, according to the unattentive ear, deceptively 'similar' in mainstream... it may require cleansing of the mind, soul, ear.
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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Smoky and moody, heavy with drama., October 26, 2004
By D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
Rachael Yamagata's voice and vocal technique are positively apocalyptic -- a low, husky moan that automatically adds a load of anguish to all her songs, even an upbeat swinger like "I Want You". It's a seductive sound, however, kind of like the very dark, almost Goth doppelganger of Norah Jones. Even Fiona Apple sounds carefree by comparison.

The performances on this record are terrific all around, with a groove-heavy rhythm section and good, engaging arrangements in the jazz and rock veins. If anything, te weakness of this record is that it doesn't really vary its emotional approach. Everything is dark, heavy and menacing; it could use a little bit more lightness and sparseness -- as in the "hidden" 14th track (named as "Ode to..." in Rolling Stone), where Yamagata's airy singing and the lonely acoustic guitar provide some much-needed contrast to the dense melancholy that came before. However, the singular mood of Happenstance can also be a plus. Put it on when you're in a black, depressed kind of mood and it'll sound like it's expressing your emotions for you.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Norah
If you are a fan of Norah Jones, you will enjoy this CD. Rachel Y has the same type of voice as Norah but adds more piano to her sound. Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. Canclini

5.0 out of 5 stars rachael, this one's for you
Hi there, Rachael. I hope you read your own reviews occasionally. I just got back from a trip where I saw a guy I had a thing with years ago, and the thing is still there. Read more
Published 13 months ago by annielaurie

5.0 out of 5 stars Not enough adjectives
The really hard part about trying to describe what's so good about Rachael Yamagata's CD 'Happenstance' is that there just aren't enough words to say it all adequately. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Richard Stoehr

5.0 out of 5 stars A year later and it's still a favorite
This album amazed me the first time I heard it a year ago and I have yet to get bored of it. Known for Years gets my attention every time. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Heather

5.0 out of 5 stars Happenstance
I loved this album when I first heard it and listened to it every day, as it was in my cd alarm clock. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mitchell D. Sullivan

5.0 out of 5 stars Every song is good
I had the opportunity to meet Rachael and see her play live at a small venue in San Fransisco . She sat at the black piano, and sang her heart out. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lesley Daley

5.0 out of 5 stars Racheal Yamagata , Happenstance
Rachael's performance on this album is stunning! I would however love to hear more formation in her lyrics to be clearer sounding in the pronunciation of words as Rachael sings... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Alison J. Tew

5.0 out of 5 stars Best cd I have heard in a while
This cd is absolutely amazing. I saw that a lot of people found it to depressing. I find that this is what give this album the feeling that it has though. Read more
Published on April 8, 2007 by Blake Clements

5.0 out of 5 stars PJ Harvey/Natalie Imbrouglia (sp)/Sheryl Crow/Aimee Mann All rolled into one.
Oh yeah and Nora Jones too. Yamagata's voice and songwriting exibits all the strenghts of the aforementioned vocalists and writers and none of their drawbacks: repetition. Read more
Published on February 26, 2007 by T. Sanford

4.0 out of 5 stars Great surprise
Bought this as a gift but liked it so much I kept it! One of those rare CDs where you can say every cut is a good one! Read more
Published on February 23, 2007 by CMA

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