Track Listing

1. Ode To Divorce
2. Poor Little Rich Boy
3. Carbon Monoxide
4. Flowers
5. Us
6. Sailor Song
7. Whisper
8. Your Honor - Spektor, Regina & Kill Kenada
9. Ghost Of Corporate Future
10. Chemo Limo
11. Somedays

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2580 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-12
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Regina Spektor; The original, before Kate Nash...
When I bought this CD i had already heard Samson, Us, Better and various others, and like many people i thought she had a similar and of course more original style as Kate Nash; Listening deeper to this album however, there is a certain edge to this album that Kate Nash could never quite reach- Regina spurts off into unexpected and abrupt directions with her music, with unsettling tones that become rather surreal but beautiful- Chemo Limo is my favourite; it's like you're in a dream. If you like to hear fresh music that makes you feel alive and almost like a kid running through fields again, then this certainly is the one for you. it won't be anything like you've heard before, or your money back.... right amazon? ;)

It's contagious
Singer-songwriters are a dime a dozen. And even among the good ones, it takes something special to stand out.

And Regina Spektor stands far above your typical singer/musician, with her quirky antifolk and her eccentric songwriting. In her third album, "Soviet Kitsch," Spektor does it all her own way, as if there had never been music before, and she's just inventing her own styles.

Unlike a lot of albums, it doesn't start off with the catchiest song. Instead, it's the melancholy violin and piano of "Ode to Divorce," with Spektor singing meditatively, "So break me to small parts/Let go in small doses/But spare some for spare parts/You might make a dollar..." She sounds like the indie cousin of Fiona Apple in such songs, as well as in the cancer-themed "Chemo Limo."

But it doesn't stay bittersweet all the time. She dabbles in punk rock in the colourful "Your Honour," commiserates with a literate "poor little rich boy" who doesn't love his mom or his girlfriend, and finishes with a quiet little song about love, loneliness and sorrow. The highlight of it all is "Us," a fast-paced, rippling piano tune that is just catchy enough to catch your notice, but not enough to be annoying or poppy.

Listening to Regina Spektor is a bit like listening to a kaleidoscope -- every time you hear her, her music sounds a little different. That's not something that can be said of many artists, and it only underscores the oddball, quirky sound. You definitely won't be able to forget this, once you've got "Us" stuck in your head.

Spektor is often compared to Tori Amos and Fiona Apple, for her use of piano and some violins. Honestly, she sounds too weird to be either. But she puts that piano and those violins to good use, creating everything from jagged folksongs to shimmering ballads. The piano tinkles along unpredictably, in a manner that simply follows the song, rather than the other way around.

And Spektor's singing is even better, since she uses her voice the same way she does her music. She even changes tempo in mid-line: "You don't love your giiiirlfriend/And you think... that you should... but shethinksthatshe'sfat/Butsheisn'tbutyoudon'tloveheranyway!" She does little jabbers, snarls, trills and squawks, as well as the more typical soaring and crooning.

Regina Spektor's "Soviet Kitsch" breaks all the pop rules, and makes beautiful little songs that are as alluring as they are disturbing. It's contagious!

Just lovely
Upon my first listen, I found this album musically simplistic and somewhat plain, but as I listened to it again and again, I realised that this trait was, in fact, one of Spektor's charms. The album is quirky, quaint and wonderful.
Her lyrics are dark, honest and meaningful - one track that showcases Spektor's lyrical talent is "Chemo Limo", a melancholy yet uplifting track about a single mother of four with cancer (and is, for the record, one of my personal favourites). The lyrics are just fantastic.
The piano accompaniment has a simple, almost child-like charm (particularly prominent on the track "Ghost of Corporate future") that takes on a variety of styles, from sassy ("Mary Anne"), to melancholic ("Carbon Monoxide"), to uplifting (the well known track "Us"), to playful ("Poor little rich boy"), to nationalistic ("The Flowers"). Her Russian influences are prominent in the latter track.
And of course, her vocal work is great. Very quirky and individual. Some Bjork-like influences are heard in a few tracks, but Regina has a very unique style that seems to fit in with her kooky lyrics and piano accompaniment perfectly.
This album covers a lot of different styles in a relatively short space of time, yet it doesn't sound incoherent or "wrong" - but in fact comes across as a satisfying, distinctive, completed work of ART (if I can be bold enough to say so). This was one of the album's strengths against her most recent album "Begin to Hope" - the production here is somewhat minimal, which gives "Soviet Kitsch" a raw, distinctive sound that is very likeable.
In conclusion, this album is GORGEOUS. My only complaint about this album was the rather insipid track "***" where a child whispers about its anticipation for the next track. I didn't like this. However, it's a flaw small enough to give a 5-star rating anyway. I just skip that track when I'm listening.
Long live Regina!