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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 8:29 pm 
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Who are those guys?

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I picked up "Weightless" but the Becca Stevens Band sometime last year and like it a lot, but I missed the fact that this new one came out last April. Weightless is really good, kind of stradling an imaginary line between bluegrass and jazz, but this one is a big and very impressive step forward in my opinion. This is very intelligent, sophisticated, music that still connects emotionally and doesn't fit easily into any category. Not for everybody, but I think it's pretty close to brilliant.

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Perfect Animal marks a quantum musical leap for the North Carolina-bred, New York-based artist. It boasts her most personally-charged songwriting and her most urgent, impassioned singing to date, along with vivid, adventurous arrangements that show off her fiercely expressive guitar work as well as the talents of her longstanding band: keyboardist/accordionist Liam Robinson and bassist Chris Tordini, both of whom Stevens has worked with since 2005, and drummer/percussionist Jordan Perlson, who joined three years later.

Although Perfect Animal was recorded in five different studios in three states, with Stevens and band recording with producer Scott Solter (renowned for his work with the likes of St. Vincent, Spoon, and the Mountain Goats), the album's seamless intensity remains consistent throughout. "That same push and pull that defines 'Imperfect Animals' helped me make this album what it is," she explains. "It wasn't a quick, easy birth; it was a long labor of love. We worked on it for over a year, recording in different places and putting all the pieces together as they came. This was the first time that I was really hands-on with the technical side of making a record. I handled a lot of the editing myself which was grueling at times, but it was also extremely rewarding, as I learned a ton, and I can truthfully say that at the end, even after knowing every track inside out I'm not tired of it, I still love it, and I'm very proud of every single piece."

I wanted to use the word 'animal' in the album title, because writing and recording this set of songs was like taming something that had a life of its own," Becca Stevens says of her revelatory new album Perfect Animal. "The title came from the track 'Imperfect Animals' which I wrote about the instinct to strive for perfection pulling against the understanding that such a condition is not humanly possible. That's a big theme for me, and it's something that I go through in my daily life, in my relationships, and every time I write a song.

Tracklist
1. I Asked
2. Imperfect Animals
3. Thinkin Bout You
4. Be Still
5. 105
6. Tillery
7. You Make Me Wanna
8. Reminder
9. Higher Love
10. JAC

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T3YBQ0C/?tag=imwan-20


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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 9:43 pm 
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Man Of Peace

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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:48 am 
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The Last Hippie

Joined: 26 Jun 2006
Posts: 28461
Location: Ohio
david crosby is a very big fan hers.....he did a webcast with her and the leader of snarky puppy recently, my wife found it on facebook.....it was very interesting.

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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 9:40 am 
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Who are those guys?

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I saw that, Renny -- it's very entertaining (Crosby is in fine form). Becca and David both appear on the new Snarky Puppy album that's coming out soon. I first heard Becca Stevens on "Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro" by Billy Childs, where she does an outstanding vocal on "The Confession." On a tribute album that also features vocals from Alison Krause, Shawn Colvin, Esperanza Spalding, and Rickie Lee Jones, Stevens more than holds her own. BTW, that's an amazing album, too.


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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:31 pm 
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Who are those guys?

Joined: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 2931
Location: home
Bannings: Who, me?


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 Post subject: [2015-04-07] Becca Stevens Band "Perfect Animal" (Universal)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:34 pm 
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The Last Hippie

Joined: 26 Jun 2006
Posts: 28461
Location: Ohio
i am listening to her as i type this, just wonderful, very joni mitchell at times for sure. i can see why crosby likes her.

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