(from xfm.xo.uk)
More future music for London from The Barfly. This month's installment is headed up by the charming genius of sometime Strokes collaborator Regina Spektor [...]
Hailing from the New York of The Village Voice and folk cafes, rather than the NYC of Times Square and Central Park, Regina has nonetheless rubbed musical shoulders with The Strokes on the 'Reptilia' b-side 'Modern Girls And Old Fashioned Men', which is how many people discoverd her third album (and major label debut) 'Soviet Kitsch', titled in tribute to Regina's Russian heritage.
Blending the kooky charm of Bjork with the discreetly sinister undercurrents of Tori Amos, Spektor is full of surprises and contradictions. Just as you're being seduced by the knowingly cute delivery you're stung by a barbed subtext before discovering an awkward lump of passionate emotion almost as quickly. So 'Samson' drips pity and pathos in equal measures, 'Poor Little Rich Boy' is all impromptu percussion and furious delivery, the call and response centrepiece of 'Ohmerica' offsets it's weighty subject matter nicely and even opener 'Carbon Monoxide's Fozzy Bear style chorus of "Walk-a, walk-a, walk-a, walk-a" can't detract from its fragile dignity.
www.reginaspektor.com
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setlist: thanks Chris Demian for the timestamps / @chrisdemian4886
0:00 Carbon Monoxide
4:57 Folding Chair
8:40 Baby Jesus
11:42 Apres Moi
16:30 Bobbing for Apples
19:06 Poor Little Rich Boy
21:45 Uh-merica
25:36 Summer in the City
29:00 Samson
32:23 Sailor Song
35:20 Reginasaurus
38:20 Bartender