Her narrative includes the deep study and appreciation of a lot of music I like, such as Dead Can Dance, Kate Bush. Wait, wait, it gets better. When living in San Francisco she studied Bulgarian folk music for I think 5 years. These are influences to appreciate when one listens to the most recent...hell everything. This five year emersion into Bulgarian folk music....Shana was very specific on what she liked, "raw, mountain Bulgarian folk". There is an intangible something binding the continuum that spans lets say the two most recent releases. And we can read or not read into what she chooses to study or like when you listen to her music. There is something already in her that seeks out what it does. It is her nature before nurture. And I'm happy that she wandered this far away from Brooklyn. As I listen to this I am so reminded of Mediaeval Babes/Miranda Sex Garden. They did like 3 full length albums as indie, experimental rock, MSG during the 90's. Then some from that band formed Mediaeval Babes....sorry for that tangent. These are bands I've been seriously into.
I rant for it to make sense to me......Shana Falana took a chance on herself in reference to In The Light, very different from Velvet Pop. Songs were shaved off until a more truthful representation of Shana was all that was left. Keeping the songs was the safer way to go. I would still love to hear the songs that were taken out, but still this risk she took I find admirable, and I'm willing to listen to the final product as she sees it fit. All that I gathered from seeing the two part Youtube interview.
Something to marvel about when listening to Velvet Pop is how different the songs are from each other even under the general umbrella of dark, heavy, mysterious. Listen to Brainy Fox, I Don't Want It, hmm after You Know . I thought it was a compilation of different artists at first but with time, what binds the continuum will be more apparent. I do not recall what previous research compelled me to see her at the Bottle. However, I do recall what sold me live. It was Anything from Velvet Pop, and Light The Fire . Both impacted on me live and the recording. And lets say for the moment they represent the two seemingly different CDs. On stage it's Shana and her guitar and a drummer. When you hear them later this distance starts to form between them before it seems to shrinks as in settles in the mind. What binds the whole continuum is this ritual authority that is in all the instruments. In VP your attention is commandeered in the first 3 to 5 seconds with the various styles held within. They are without question rock in many of its most crystalline forms. Light has songs that don't fully reveal until well into the middle two minutes, yet your attention is sustained because your curiosity is always engaged. Your wait is not cheated. The longer more ambient ride pays off, at least to me. And this is the risk that I admire her for doing. She went long hand and trusted her money on it. Stripped the final product of all that sells easy to see what happens. Dizzy Chant progresses and spins itself taking with it more instruments, more complexity with each turn. I don't know what she says but her voice has the authority to make it not matter. Its too magnanimous and irresistible to ignore. You're running downhill, descending the stairs with more instruments shaping your step. It begins as this intimate voice and guitar conversation that becomes this nice dream pop dinner party. U R Everything has you sprinting some green wild open flat field with the speed of a downward slope. You got the open joy of Julie fucking Andrews. You are never lingering about. This dream pop with forward drive And your not overpowered with sweetness or directness. Songs have the time to develop slowly and pick up momentum. Some have a second wind that almost creates a different song within. Perhaps its me becoming this rabid fan. I like In The Light and Velvet Pop. The shock that comes from hearing them both has you marvel at the artist that much more.
Zig
