Hips and Makers

[David Koehler <drk@leland.Stanford.EDU>]

I posted this to Ecto first, but then thought that some love-hounds
would be interested as well...

Hello all,

With all the furor lately over Sarah's FtE (got it) and Tori's UtP (not)
I'd like to put in my 2 cents for the new Kritin Hersh album that was
released this Tuesday.  While I adore Throwing Muses I realize that they're
a little outside "typical" Ecto fare.  The new one by Kristin, called
_Hips and Makers_, is a different breed all together.  All the songs are
acoustic -- mostly guitar with some piano, cello and sparse percussion.
Kristin's voice is sweet and delicate, and often seems on the verge of
cracking.  This fits the songs perfectly, since they are classic Kristin
(ie. lots of angst and pain).  REM's Michael Stipe sings back-up on the
first track and actually does a decent job (my personal bias against his
regular band notwithstanding).  :-)

While there are a couple of weak songs, I find it to be remarkably strong,
especially considering the limited instrumentation.  Anyone who likes
the Muses, particularly Kristin's lyrics, should definitely get this album.
If you like intelligent, well-written songs with a good dose of emotional
pain you might want to pick it up as well.

Cheers!
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      David R. Koehler                    "Just being alive --
   drk@leland.stanford.edu                 it can really hurt"   Kate Bush
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