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Nicki Jaine
Of Pigeons And Other Curiosities Shaman Records
by Matthew Hoffman
Staff Writer
Comments: Normally German "Cabaret" Style music is not this Web site's cup of tea; in fact, it took 30 minutes to even hear anything that remotely resembled rock and roll music. Mostly piano and light acoustic guitar based songs dominated by painfully slow vocals, very similar to Marlene Dietrich in the mid to late 1930s, are what you get the first 7 songs on Of Pigeons And Other Curiosities. The amazing thing is they are all & amazingly good. Every God Darn one of them. Jaine has not only recaptured this genre but also made it so damn cool that you could expect college sororities to have Cabaret singing contests while drinking excessive amounts of tremendously cheap wine.
Amazing Nicki masterfully pans ultra-slow vocals like "that's the sound of girls breaking" or "Pretty faces are a dime a dozen" with such precision, emphasis and conviction one can't help but be impressed by its uniqueness. The clarity of her vocals also allows for imagining exactly what she is describing; pretty faces are actually prettier when sung by Jaine then they have ever been or will ever be again.
Genius lyrics like "But I'm a child and I don't care for the things that I play with, for I'm a child and only care for what I can get away with" take the listeners back to their mischievous youths. Other great lyrics like "you're your nothing short of disaster, you're beautiful! You're nothing short of the noise in my mind," shine as well. Beautiful cello highlights the wonderful song entitled "Untitled." Oh and back to the highlight song, "Antarctica." Wow, what a ride! This song is two parts Cabaret Noir and one part metal, with the final product making you think is this song actually creating a whole new type of metal genre? If she wanted to, this song could inspire a whole new way of thinking about metal, as her new creation is something scary, smart, sexy, Goth and just damn good.
Most of the time it's hard to find three good words to say about new material, with this album it was next to impossible to stop sprouting superlatives! This record made and initially released to huge acclaim in 2004 is now available on most Internet CD sites. If you are reading this review to find an amazing new album, then get this CD.
Guys, if you are looking at buying some background date music to add to your metal collection this is it! This album will make 99.9% of your dates think you are so much deeper than they thought. If you don't score on the first date after they hear this CD then it's your own weak-ass fault, 'cause Nicki could put a dead donkey in the mood! If you buy this CD and don't like it, then watch the entire Marlene Dietrich weekend on AMC. After that, pop it in for another run, and you'll see its genius then, for sure.
Band Members:
Nicki Jaine-Vocals, piano, guitar
Mark Bohn-Drums
Alannah Irwin-Cello
Track Listing:
01 sound of girls 2.54
02 pretty faces 3.21
03 should have known 4.43
04 pigeon named crow 3.07
05 amsterdam 3.18
06 animals crawling 4.26
07 octopi 4.31
08 antarctica 4.35
09 disaster, you're deautiful 3.52
10 untitled 4.19
11 one more show 3.22
HRH Rating: 9.25/10
Hardrock Haven
July 2005