Post by anastasia on Mar 4, 2010 9:51:39 GMT 7
Up Close And Personal With Zee Avi @ Stereolab, Pan Pacific, Singapore (19/03/10)
Zee Avi is just 23 but she's an old soul. A huge talent in a petite frame with her self titled debut album achieving no. 9 on the Associated Press annual Best Albums of the Year in 2009!
The album was released in May 2009, the first joint release from Ian Montone's Monotone Label and Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. In picking Zee Avi's album, Associated Press wrote: "Listening to Zee Avi might make you recall Kimya Dawson's quirky lyrical style, but the Malaysian-born Avi has an eclecticism all her own on her debut CD. Her voice sounds dreamy, her lyrics smart and humorous. And paired with her acoustic picking, she sounds intoxicating."
With an eclectic pool of influences that range from such eccentrics as Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Daniel Johnston and Chris Garneau, to jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, to classics like Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin, this self-described "rock lover at heart" captures the dark, bittersweet qualities of romance with a crack left open for hope and optimism.
From the sensuous scat singing on "Honey Bee" to the sultry break-up song, "Is This the End," recalling the existential longing of Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is," Zee is hopeful of finding love, but equally aware of lurking heartache.
The songs on Zee Avi's debut are about an outsider's desire to belong and the tentative hope of moving on, filled with regret and loss, but boasting an impish, worldly wise sensibility. "I tend to be a loner," she nods. " 'Honey Bee' is about a romance between two nonconformists who are different from the rest of the hive, and are trying to avoid the pressure to be like everybody else."
"Just You and Me," the first song she wrote on ukulele, has a '20s New Orleans swing jazz vibe.
"I get my melodic feel from the simplicity of classic jazz, people singing what they felt with straightforward lyrics and not too many harmonies," Zee says. "Just a lot of honesty. I'm a girl of simple pleasures.
The elemental acoustic guitar of "Story of..." is enhanced with an Eno-like ambience that add to its shimmering quality, while "Poppy" is autobiographical "with a little bit of poetic license" that looks back at the demise of a two-year relationship.
"My stuff is pretty dark," Zee admits. "Most of my songs are about the reality side of romance, outlets to vent my emotions."
Zee appeared this January on From the Basement, the U.K. TV webcast/broadcast that has featured Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Damien Rice, the White Stripes and the Shins. From the Basement will also air on the U.S.'s IFC Channel.
From Malaysia to Los Angeles, Zee Avi is enjoying the ride and ready to take on passengers. "I'm still pinching myself" she gushes. "My parents always told me it's important to keep yourself grounded. I'm thankful, but at the same time, I just want to jump through the roof. It's been a pretty amazing journey, getting to work with some really wonderful people, a blessing, really."
Zee Avi's Monotone/Brushfire Records debut returns that blessing...and then some.
Monotone Records is owned by Ian Montone, whose Monotone, Inc. manages the White Stripes, M.I.A., The Shins, Vampire Weekend, the Raconteurs, Against Me!, Cold War Kids, Crookers, among others.
Brushfire Records is owned by Jack Johnson and his manager Emmett Malloy and is home to artists like Rogue Wave, Matt Costa, Neil Halstead, Money Mark, G. Love, Mason Jennings, ALO and Zach Gill.
Check these clips out...
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" <www.youtube.com/watch?v=N16W7_NOtr4>
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" used by Walmart for their summer 2009 television commercial <www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjEjEWRcT14>
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" used for Spa Citron television commercial in the Netherlands <www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciI7DCBTYn4>
An interview with Zee Avi <www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-usUxspUeY>
This is a ticketed event and admission by tickets only.
Tickets available at $28 Nett.
Zee Avi is just 23 but she's an old soul. A huge talent in a petite frame with her self titled debut album achieving no. 9 on the Associated Press annual Best Albums of the Year in 2009!
The album was released in May 2009, the first joint release from Ian Montone's Monotone Label and Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. In picking Zee Avi's album, Associated Press wrote: "Listening to Zee Avi might make you recall Kimya Dawson's quirky lyrical style, but the Malaysian-born Avi has an eclecticism all her own on her debut CD. Her voice sounds dreamy, her lyrics smart and humorous. And paired with her acoustic picking, she sounds intoxicating."
With an eclectic pool of influences that range from such eccentrics as Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Daniel Johnston and Chris Garneau, to jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, to classics like Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin, this self-described "rock lover at heart" captures the dark, bittersweet qualities of romance with a crack left open for hope and optimism.
From the sensuous scat singing on "Honey Bee" to the sultry break-up song, "Is This the End," recalling the existential longing of Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is," Zee is hopeful of finding love, but equally aware of lurking heartache.
The songs on Zee Avi's debut are about an outsider's desire to belong and the tentative hope of moving on, filled with regret and loss, but boasting an impish, worldly wise sensibility. "I tend to be a loner," she nods. " 'Honey Bee' is about a romance between two nonconformists who are different from the rest of the hive, and are trying to avoid the pressure to be like everybody else."
"Just You and Me," the first song she wrote on ukulele, has a '20s New Orleans swing jazz vibe.
"I get my melodic feel from the simplicity of classic jazz, people singing what they felt with straightforward lyrics and not too many harmonies," Zee says. "Just a lot of honesty. I'm a girl of simple pleasures.
The elemental acoustic guitar of "Story of..." is enhanced with an Eno-like ambience that add to its shimmering quality, while "Poppy" is autobiographical "with a little bit of poetic license" that looks back at the demise of a two-year relationship.
"My stuff is pretty dark," Zee admits. "Most of my songs are about the reality side of romance, outlets to vent my emotions."
Zee appeared this January on From the Basement, the U.K. TV webcast/broadcast that has featured Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Damien Rice, the White Stripes and the Shins. From the Basement will also air on the U.S.'s IFC Channel.
From Malaysia to Los Angeles, Zee Avi is enjoying the ride and ready to take on passengers. "I'm still pinching myself" she gushes. "My parents always told me it's important to keep yourself grounded. I'm thankful, but at the same time, I just want to jump through the roof. It's been a pretty amazing journey, getting to work with some really wonderful people, a blessing, really."
Zee Avi's Monotone/Brushfire Records debut returns that blessing...and then some.
Monotone Records is owned by Ian Montone, whose Monotone, Inc. manages the White Stripes, M.I.A., The Shins, Vampire Weekend, the Raconteurs, Against Me!, Cold War Kids, Crookers, among others.
Brushfire Records is owned by Jack Johnson and his manager Emmett Malloy and is home to artists like Rogue Wave, Matt Costa, Neil Halstead, Money Mark, G. Love, Mason Jennings, ALO and Zach Gill.
Check these clips out...
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" <www.youtube.com/watch?v=N16W7_NOtr4>
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" used by Walmart for their summer 2009 television commercial <www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjEjEWRcT14>
Zee Avi's "Bitter Heart" used for Spa Citron television commercial in the Netherlands <www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciI7DCBTYn4>
An interview with Zee Avi <www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-usUxspUeY>
This is a ticketed event and admission by tickets only.
Tickets available at $28 Nett.