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Posted in music | pictures | tour dates on January 21, 2008
Marla Hansen @ Pianos, NYC - BV CMJ, Oct 20, 2007 (Bao Nguyen)

She plucks that viola in precise patterns–repeated notes, a syncopated chord, a countermelody–as the only accompaniment for her gentle, transparent voice, which has an undercurrent of Celtic melancholy. The songs are sparse, meditative and utterly involving. In “Talk To Me,” as she plucked two alternating notes an octave apart like a slowly ticking clock, she sang, “I wish you could talk to me/You turn away, and it breaks my heart.” There’s a sense of timelessness in that song–and no setup time necessary. [Jon Pareles, NY Times]Marla Hansen's resume keeps getting cooler and cooler. In addition to all the Jay-Z/The National/Kanye West/Sufjan Stevens stuff we already knew about, I just realized that she helped perform Jonny Greenwood's "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" as part of the Wordless Music Orchestra the other day, AND she'll be playing as a member of Jens Lekman's band on his upcoming European and U.S. tours. Tonight (Jan 21, 2008) she plays solo at Union Hall. Lauren Smith is also on the bill.
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I saw a lot of really good shows, some of my favorites were Andrew Bird at the Pygmallion Festival in Urbana, I had never seen him live before, he performed solo and completely blew me away, I think he’s from another planet. Tim Fite at Union Hall in Brooklyn was also a revelation, he’s one of the best showman out there. And I just saw the Dirty Projectors at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow, they were fantastically complex and beautiful. As far as records go, I’ve been listening to In Rainbows way too much, I can’t help it, it’s just really really good. I think it has some of their best songs ever, especially Nude, All I Need and Arpeggi. I’m not so excited about the last two tracks though, I listen to the first eight and call it an EP. I just love the Grizzly Bear Friend EP as do most self respecting Brooklyn hipsters, and I bought the Loney, Dear record last week and am loving it’s popiness. I like the new Jay-Z record a lot too. I’m behind on my record shopping though, I still haven’t heard the new Iron and Wine for instance, so I’m not ready to claim a favorite record until I do some more listening!
Posted by Marla Hansen at Muzzle of Bees | January 26, 2008 9:44 PM