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NICKI JAINE
Of Pigeons and Other Curiosities
(Shaman)
Cabaret is alive and well in the capable hands and throat of Nicki Jaine. This is the dark cabaret music of Bob Fosse's film, though, without a shred of camp. While Jaine's got ties to the Goth scene, her music exists in its own universe, one in which Kurt Weill and Nico orbit a shadowy planet like twin moons. It's a world where hearts still throb ("Untitled," "Disaster, You're Beautiful"), but the real danger is "Octopi" ("They're everywhere!" she declares), and a "Pigeon Named Crow" is a better confidante than a person. Accompanied mainly by her own guitar and piano, with occasional tasteful rock arrangements, Jaine takes us on a tour of her little corner of reality, one in which Nick Cave would be as comfortable taking tea as They Might Be Giants would be hitting the absinthe. The truly scary thing? This is her first album and she's only going to get better.
Michael Toland
High Bias
September 2004