Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2524 in Digital Music Album
• Released on: 2005-10-31
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Literally astonishing music
A few months ago, a friend of mine suggested we go see Imojean Heap play at a local club in my hometown of Nashville. Having nothing else better to do that night, I tagged along to see what all the fuss was about, as she really had gotten herself excited to see this artist. Though I can't remember the name of the guitarist who played first, I do not think I will ever forget the moment Zoe Keating stepped onto the stage. I had seen cellists in this kind of setting before, the music they played never really impressed me. So when she sat down in her chair and started fiddling with her samplers, I figured I was in for a rough half hour. Then she started playing "sun will set," whose bright melody and rich harmonies quickly got me interested in the music. She also quickly impressed me with the way she kept everything in sync so well while recording the samples _live_. When she finished the song, I found myself eagerly wanting more.

And then she started playing "fern."

I don't think that I can describe to you all here how sublime a piece of music "fern" is. So much expressiveness comes out through her playing, and the tension developed during the course of the song holds one spellbound. Indeed, my mouth hung wide open throughout the piece: eight straight minutes!! I can't remember much of the concert after she had finished playing "fern." All I remember is listening to it again and again in my head. After the concert had finished, I made straight for the little display where I impulse-bought her album, "Natoma." I simply couldn't leave the club without it. While waiting for the traffic to die down in the car, we put it in the stereo and let ourselves be immersed. "Legions (war)" is a very beat driven work that seems to be taken out right out of the Scottish highlands (By the way, she uses the cello to make all percussion sounds. This includes tapping the bridge). Frankly, "Legions (war)" and "fern" are enough to make the album worth buying. Actually, in my view, "fern" is enough to make the album worth buying. But the rest of the album has quality material, also. The only track that does not personally thrill me is "legions (aftermath)." Hearing all of the vibrato in the cello strings (the track is slowed down to one-fifth of the original speed) does more to annoy me than anything else. But aside from that, this album has given Zoe Keating's solo career a remarkable start, and I cannot wait to see what she will create for us next.

Haunting and engaging - a unique combination
Like the first reviewer, I bought the CD after seeing her play live (opening for the California Guitar Trio). (I've bought it again since to give as a gift.) I think if I hadn't seen her "do" her stuff live I would have believed it to be studio trickery. She begins with a few short passages that she records to individual tracks on a sampler on the floor which she controls with her foot. Rhythms, bass lines, basic structures. She starts them looping, and she then plays melodies and harmonies that soar and dance over the recorded layers. The repeated looping passages brought to mind Frippertronics and even Philip Glass, but the cello has a warmth that makes the sound more intimate, more human-scale somehow. She played some pieces in the show that are not on this disc, so I hope there are more recordings to come. If she ever comes to play at a town near you, go see her!

A feast for the ears!
I had no idea Keating did her own loops to create this music. Her technique gives her music an interesting, multi-layered texture that is both unique and beautiful. I am a huge classical music fan (particularly liking the cello) as well as a huge fan of alternative music, and this CD struck a chord in both categories for me. I could rhapsodize about various tracks, but instead I would recommend that you discover Keating's music on your own. I'm sure the experience will be worthwhile.