a r t i s t : Evangelista
t i t l e : Hello, voyager
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Constellation
c a t : CST050
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2008
t r a c k s : 09
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 56,9 MB
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We can call this a debut record of sorts, as it is the first
album to be released under Carla Bozulich's new band moniker,
Evangelista. Bozulich's first record for Constellation, issued
in 2006, was released under her own name, and bore the album
title Evangelista. That album title has now migrated to become
the band name. So...this is the new album, titled Hello,
Voyager, by the newly named band Evangelista, featuring Carla
Bozulich. You follow? No worries, there will not be a quiz.
Carla's 2006 Constellation release was widely celebrated as
her strongest, most fearless and compelling record in years,
and ended up on many year end lists, including The Wire (UK),
Blow Up (Italy) and WMFU (Brian Turner's blog) to name a few.
Carla toured Evangelista all over Europe and North America,
with core bandmate Tara Barnes at her side, and a rotating
cast of other musicians, including Shahzad Ismaily and members
of Thee Silver Mt. Zion (all of whom contributed to the
original recording as well).
The Evangelista band continues to comprise Carla and Tara as
its nucleus, and continues to build on its relationship with
Montreal (where the last album was also made). Hello, Voyager
was recorded in Montreal at the Hotel2Tango by Efrim Menuck in
late summer 2007, with an even larger cast of Montreal
musicians joining Carla, Tara and Shahzad this time around, to
work up a more stylistically diverse batch of songs. Raw,
beautifully ravaged, semi-improvised soundscapes still
underpin Carla's incantatory sung and spoken lyrics on the
album's opening and closing tracks, but much of the rest of
the record is more overtly composed. Blistering nuggets like
the snarling "Smooth Jazz" and the desperate "Truth Is Dark
Like Outer Space" are the most rocking tunes Carla has put to
tape since the demise of The Geraldine Fibbers, while "The
Blue Room" (one of Carla's finest songs, and one she has been
carrying around for many years) is finally captured in a
stunning studio arrangement that includes organ, violin, cello
and contrebasse. "Lucky Lucky Luck" is a playful, sassy,
fractured take on the misfit narrative and "Paper Kitten Claw"
is its methodical, reflective, poetic foil. Carla's voice
perfectly sets and channels the prevailing mood on each song,
and is strong as ever.
The new album includes contributions from over a dozen
Montreal players, including most of Thee Silver Mt. Zion
(chiefly on string arrangements), as well as Nadia Moss
(organ) and a corps of local drummers who bang out the
thunderous rhythm track on "Smooth Jazz" and drive the epic
sprawl of the album's closing title track.
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01-Winds Of St. Anne [04:06]
02-Smooth Jazz [02:29]
03-Lucky Lucky Luck [03:27]
04-For The L'il Dudes [02:48]
05-The Blue Room [04:53]
06-Truth Is Dark Like Outer Space [02:26]
07-The Frozen Dress [06:28]
08-Paper Kitten Claw [05:15]
09-Hello, Voyager! [12:13]
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44:05 min