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***Having combed the notoriously tough and crowded NYC club scene to rave reviews for the better part of the past year, NYC-based Ursa Minor has emerged with a debut release that perfectly captures the stark, distilled beauty of their subtly dynamic music. Envisioned, founded and fronted by sireny singer and keyboardist Michelle Casillas, Ursa Minor combines contemporary rock, singer-songwriting, ethnic, and experimental musics to which Casillas was exposed growing up in Manhattan and working as a sound engineer at downtown venue Tonic. The result is ethereal yet concise, wrought with ringing Rhodes work, enunciated keens and alto murmurs, moody drum snaps and strong melodies weaving hypnotic lyrical imagery. Her Village Voice-described "storm cloud-through-picture-window" songwriting engages themes of alienation, love, hope, and fear, against a sparse, organic, haunting instrumental backdrop. The band's rhythm section, Robert di Pietro (drums) and Robert Jost (bass), share a similarly vast pool of influences, having played together for several years in various projects, developing a unique chemistry and flexibility in music which blurs the lines between rock and singer-songwriting ritual and the freedom of jazz and experimental music. Silent Moving Picture was produced by fellow Smells Like Records artist Tony Scherr (bassist in Sex Mob, Lounge Lizards, and the Bill Frisell Trio), who is also featured on guitar. Other contributors include Jane Scarpantoni (Lounge Lizards, Nirvana, REM) on cello, Yuri Lemishev on accordian, and Chris Brown on clavinet. The album also includes a bold interpretation of the Jane's Addiction classic "Summertime Rolls." Fans of strong songwriting and soulful singing in the spirit of Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, and Christine McVie will surely find bliss. |
