Niki Carmen - Preview EP

I've had the privilege of being exposed to the talent of local folkster Niki Carmen for a couple of years now and in order to fuel anticipation for her debut full length, Niki has release an EP that simply skims the surface of what this bright young talent is capable of.

Her Preview EP is a collection of well produced tracks that melds together the vibe of sixties influenced folk tinged singer songwriter material with a very modern sounding mainstream (but not too mainstream) pop sensibility. The album opens with Forever Young In Green Grass, a very strong opener that showcases Niki's accomplished vocal stylings, along with her uncanny ability to paint vivid mind pictures by means of her adept lyricism. The pristine production on this track also adds to the overall mood that comes from longing for one's hometown. Feather In My Hair is a beautifully chilled out number that is the perfect indoor remedy for a cold winter's day. In Girl Behind The Moon, Niki's voice displays a slight similarity to Leslie Feist, which may not be the moment's most original sound per se, but is still impressive nonetheless. The fiddle is featured quite prominently in this song, adding to its authentic sound but never detracting from its overall appeal. Your Life Is A Beautiful Thing is the most organic sounding song on the album, keeping the instrumentation minimal, allowing Niki's voice to be front and center. This allows an endearing vulnerability to shine through, making this track perhaps the most heartwarming of the bunch. Next we have Foreign Ground, which contains a lyricism that displays a maturity that goes far beyond what Niki's age would suggest. The song perhaps overstays its welcome by about a minute or so, but minor quibbles aside, it is still an impressive slice of poetry. As mentioned earlier, the EP is immaculately produced and nowhere is this more evident than in Close To The Edge. Particularly in the song's second half do the overdubs and instrumentation lift the song to anthemic heights. The last song is Spare Part To Your Heart, a song that has always been a personal favourite of mine. I've had the privilege of hearing her perform this song live on a number of occasions and I have to admit, that this is the only case where the song suffers a little bit due to excessive production. Particularly is this true in the addition of a very distracting and unnecessary harmonica part that unfortunately buries the song's melody away and almost relegates Niki's voice to the background. However I'll admit that these criticisms may be due to my own personal attachment to this song and there's no doubt that the performance is still strong enough to garner plenty of enthusiasm.

Overall, this little pre-debut teaser is an excellent taste of the wistful and melancholic nature of Niki's musical talent. Her abilities are undeniable and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for this vibrant new talent on the indie scene.

Photos: Niki Carmen @ Free Times Café on flickr
Myspace: Niki Carmen
Download: Forever Young In Green Grass mp3

Download: Girl Behind The Moon mp3


Other stuff: Sorry for the mild news hiatus lately, I've been pretty busy, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any exciting things going on lately. Here's what I've got for ya:

Crawdaddy online magazine has their fantastical 2008 year end review online, which includes a list of the top 10 live bands of the year. Included in the list is Mudhoney, My Bloody Valentine and Magnetic Fields. What year was this again? (Notice that they used MY picture of Mudhoney? How cool is that?)

Stereogum has put up a tribute video featuring all of the bands that have decided to call it a day in 2008. I was sad to see the demise of Phantom Planet, Be Your Own Pet and Junior Senior. As for Velvet Revolver, did anybody know that they were even still around?

There are about a billion year end best-of lists circulating on the interweb right now, but Soundscapes is always the most interesting one since they usually feature CD's that aren't on any other list. Their numbers one and two are uncharacteristicly predictable this year, but the rest of the list contains some pretty neat suggestions.

[Via Chromewaves]: In order to promote their upcoming Ready For The Flood album which is due in stores early 2009, Gary Louris and Mark Olson are going to be playing a seated (!) show at The Mod Club on February 4th. Tickets are $22.50 and it's going to be suh-weet!!! [Myspace: Ready For The Flood]

[Also via Chromewaves]: Wilco will be releasing their very first concert DVD entitled Ashes Of American Flags which should be available in early 2009. Apparently a new album is in the works also. [Myspace: Wilco]

The Matthews Brothers are playing a free show at The Horseshoe on Tuesday night (Dec 30th) with Tree Star, Quiet Center and Sound Foundation. They are the second band of the night, coming on at 10pm. [Myspace: Matthews Brothers; Tree Star; Sound Foundation]

If you're not going to be partying with The Sadies on Dec 31st at The Horseshoe, a fun (and slightly cheaper) alternative might be to check out The Bicycles at The Tranzac with a whole whack of other amazing bands. Tix are $12 adv, $15 door. Check out the entire band list on The Tranzac website. [Myspace: The Bicycles]

And finally, there's still a couple of days to enter my contest to win a pair of passes to next Friday's Amos The Transparent show at Rancho Relaxo on Friday January 2nd. Whale Tooth and Bellewoods are opening and the contest rules can be found here. [Myspace: Amos The Transparent; Whale Tooth; Bellewoods]