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Regina Spektor, The Earlies and Joff Winks

added 07 September 2004 at 10.24

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, with support from transatlantic conspirators The Earlies and the sublime Joff Winks. Watch all three sets live and on-demand, right here.

Regina Spektor 'X-posure Live' [Dial-Up] [Broadband]

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

The Earlies 'X-posure Live' [Dial-Up] [Broadband]

The Earlies were formed in a studio bar in Burnely, Manchester, where half of the core members still live. The other two live in Texas. Since their inception The Earlies have expanded to include a further six people. As you can imagine, getting together for rehearsals involves a number of logisitical difficulties.

Not that you'd know it, The Earlies deliver staggeringly ambitious, many layered constructs of harmonies, synths and psychedelia with the kind of offhanded effortlessness with which milkmen deliver gold top. From the Flaming Lips-esque 'One Of Us Is Dead' to the pulsing, tribal gospel of 'Bring It Back Again', this is music so intricate it can only ever emerge spontaneously, like magic.

www.theearlies.com

Joff Winks 'X-posure Live' [Dial-Up] [Broadband]

First coming to industry attention via an Xfm Unsigned slot, it's fitting that we should continue our Joff Winks patronage with X-posure Live. Hailing from Oxford and bringing more than a touch of his hometown's dreaming spires and grandiosity to his music, Joff comes over like an particularly English Jeff Buckley. The soaring, heartfelt 'Juniper' is a particular highlight.

www.joffwinks.com

Watch More X-posure Live Sessions

Tagged as Regina Spektor, archive

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