One of the showcases at this year's SXSW that I absolutely had to attend was
Fanatic's. I mean there was no way that I was going to miss Page France,
Why?, the Castanets, the Black Angels, and Wooden Wand under one roof. On
the list though was one artist that I had never heard of, that artist was My
Brightest Diamond. I was pretty impressed with her performance and I had the
pleasure of seeing her, Shara Worden, again the next day with about 20 other
people. Since then her debut album, "Bring Me The Workhorse," has dropped on
Asthmatic Kitty (she also does some stuff with Sufjan Stevens) and she has
been getting a lot of buzz from all the right people. Worden comes from an
interesting family that contains a National Accordion Champion, a church
organist, and an epiphone player. If that wasn't enough she also is a
classically trained Opera singer, no wonder she has talent oozing out from
everywhere!
:My Brightest Diamond - Something To An End: I
specifically remember this song from SXSW because of the line "So beautiful
and terrible." I don't know why but that has been floating around in my head
for months and now it will inevitably float around in yours. I really love
the music in this song, it has this really pretty and eerie feeling about it
that fits perfectly with Worden's beautiful and sometimes haunting vocals.
My Brightest Diamond makes me think of a cleaner more beautiful version of
Ambulette, which is neat, I just need them to tour together so that my
obsession with Maura Davis can be supported by my new love for Shara.
:My Brightest Diamond - Magic Rabbit: For me,
this song really brings home the Ambulette comparison that I made up above
and it really showcases how the music used is perfect for Shara's voice.
Every time that I hear this song I always have to hear it twice because of
how captivating it is. Not a lot of artists are that great at making a five
and a half minute song breeze by like it's two minutes but it doesn't seem
like too much of a challenge for My Brightest Diamond. My favorite part is
at the 3:13 mark when the song suddenly gets loud and does it's best to blow
your mind, watch out.
:Jedi Mind Tricks - Razorblade Salvation featuring
Shara Worden: The first time I heard this song I thought that it was
overly amazing. I love Worden's vocals in contrast with those of Jedi Mind
Tricks and the track feels like something that could be a hit with the
masses. Oddly enough it is your standard hip hop structure with a couple of
verses and a hook that gets stuck in your head, hence calling it a hook. I
have never really heard too much JMT but after this I think they are
something that I will check into a bit further. I feel the need to warn you
that you will probably listen to this a lot.
-
John Laird -
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