| Sunday, June 22, 2008 | | · | Sponge and Marcy Playground to Rock Carnival Cruise | | Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | | · | MB Welcomes The Whiskey Rhythm Band | | Sunday, June 15, 2008 | | · | Badynee's Bogdon Bass In The Freep | | Saturday, June 14, 2008 | | · | Emergenza Showcase Review by Severance | | Thursday, June 12, 2008 | | · | Michigan Bands Join Two-Time Grammy Winner Ozomatli & Modest Mouse in New Movie | | Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | | · | Video Comments Problem Fixed | | Monday, June 09, 2008 | | · | The Next Great American Country Star Competition | | · | Long Branch Saloon | | Friday, May 30, 2008 | | · | MB Welcomes Lauderdale | | Sunday, May 25, 2008 | | · | Orbitsuns Host Fun Filled Round of Rock-n-Roll Bingo |
Older Articles |
|
| CD Review: Audra Kubat's ''Untitled For Now'' |
|
 Even though he's been accused of going "soft" by his wife, Mitch explains his recent fixation with Audra Kubat's "UNTITLED for now". In another lengthy review, Mitch writes...
'..Like taking SeconalŪ through my ears, Kubat's music makes me want to curl up like a cat in a window box on a cool, autumn afternoon.'
Barbituate references aside, two of Kubat's folk/pop gems have been included for your listening pleasure (hope you have a cable modem or better- but well worth the download if not). Click "Read More" below.
CD: "Untitled For Now"
Artist: Audra Kubat
Label: Remedy Records
Recorded at: Funhouse Studios
Produced by: Mike E. Clark & Audra Kubat
A Softer, Kinder Tool
My wife has accused me of going soft (insert obvious dick-joke here) because I'm really digging on Audra Kubat's sophomore release, "Untitled for now..." It's very folksy; coffee house music if you will. You wouldn't find anything like it in my wife's music collection. She likes her Tool and she likes it hard, thank you very much.
Well, if I've gone soft I'm in very good company. Kubat's co-producer is Mike E. Clark whose work with ICP (that's 'Insane Clown Posse' for the uninitiated) has garnered him national fame. Clark handled Kubat's music with a subtle finesse you wouldn't expect from someone who's made a career producing the violent rantings of scary-ass Juggalos. This record could have been easily ruined by any less a producer so Clark deserves credit for his adept ear, careful treatment and soft underbelly. Don't tell the Juggalos - I shudder to think what they might do with that information.
Tastes like...
Like a handful of female singer/songwriters who hit their stride in the early seventies (think Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Phoebe Snow), Audra Kubat pens highly personal accounts of her life and the lives of characters around her and wraps it in a soft, warm, blanket of acoustic guitar and the melancholy darkness of minor keys. Her warm, vibrant voice rings like a brass hand-bell in an empty airplane hanger, a feature she takes full advantage of on tracks like "So Real" (track 2) and "Listen to the Wind" (track6).
Her songs cover the gamut of singer/songwriter styles: from the intimate opener of "Someone Else" (track 1) to the cerebral "Everyone's Waiting" (track 5) to more traditional pieces like the Joan Baez-ish peace-anthem "Where is Love" and the more organic, woodsy folk of "Down by Her" (hidden track) .
Kubat includes a musical homage to America's 1974 hit "Tin Man" on the guitar rhythm and back-ups of her tune "Michelle" (track 3), a song about taking risks to inspire personal growth. She also sings musical quote from Arlen & Harberg's "Somewhere over the Rainbow" on the more optimistic "Every Day is a New Day"' on which she sings, 'If birds can fly then why oh why can't I?
Werds
Kubat's lyrics are often colored by loneliness, sobered by real-world resignation, but ultimately cling to shreds of hope with guarded optimism. Her sentiments sometimes flirt with the cliche' (I get suspicious any time an artist uses the words 'fly' or 'soul') but it's rare and her delivery is passionate enough to overcome any doubts about sincerity. In most cases her subject matter is genuinely humanistic.
'I see the fire in your eyes / burning deep inside / let it go before it takes you out...Time for fighting is over now / fighting is what makes our cancers grow ... Gotta let your spirit shine / don't let this world take you down / it will take you down' (from track 6 "Listen to the wind")
'...Lonliness / it's rocking my world / Can't seem to find my way back home / but I am the one that (sic) makes me feel high / I am the one that brings me out / I am the one that brings the sun into my life' (from track 12, "Untitled for now")
Kubat is acutely sensitive to her environment - maybe a bit too sensitive; on "Urge to go" (track 9) she makes a drunken one-night-stand sound like a profound experience. I think I laughed out loud, perhaps inappropriately and only as an ex-bandhead would, when she sang the following lyrics with heaped emotion:
"Dizzy and drunk I fell into his arms/ but it was the kind of love that ends / I knew I had fallen too fast / I knew I had fallen too hard / So I stayed there for a little while / We made french toast in the morning and kissed sweetly all night / oh, but in the end / I had the urge to go...'
I can hear her male companion in my head, complaining, "Dude, I don't know what happened. Everything was going great and then she just up and split! Artsy-fartsy chicks, I'm telling 'ya..." In this case, it might have been more interesting to explore why she felt the 'urge to go.' There's more than one lyric that hints at an unwillingness to commit. On track 7, "Waves", she asks, "And how can I be with somebody and still be myself / when I'm so close to riding the waves?" From my own experience, It aint easy baby.
Moods for Moderns
One of the most powerful aspects of music is it's ability to manipulate our emotions. If you're careful in your selection, you can ingest it like a mood-altering drug and change your vibe at will; one disc to get you pumped up for working-out, another for cleaning the house and yet a third for convincing the wife that yes , in fact, she does want to have sex with you (I'm still searching for that disc).
"Untitled for Now", on the other hand, is the perfect disc for quiet contemplation - if such a thing still exists in contemporary American life. Like taking SeconalŪ through my ears, her music makes me want to curl up like a cat in a window box on a cool, autumn afternoon. But it it's not sonic wallpaper for careless listening. The songs of "Untitled for now", like any fine art, can't be properly appreciated unless you're willing and able to give them some quiet attention. But you'll be glad you did - and refreshed for the escape.
Gems
Although Kubat's solo-acoustic tracks are beautiful and poignant, her music doesn't fully manifest it's power until she's backed by a band; perhaps the very reason she formed the group Stunning Amazon. Musicians Mattew Thibodeau (electric guitar), Chuck Bartles (bass), and Will Osler (drums) bring color and passion to her songs with dynamic finesse and subtle but masterful technique (don't think I didn't appreciate that bass harmonic on "Everyday's a New Day", Chuck).
On "Everyone's Waiting" Kubat draws you in, settles you down, then launches you into the stratosphere with harmonic combinations I haven't experienced since I listened to CKLW radio as a kid. Pure heroin for a song junkie of my thirty-something generation.
Sleepy"(track 10) provides a perfect example of the contrast between Kubat's soft-spoken, solo-acoustic style and the emotional punch provided by her backing musicians. This song has such a powerful ending I think it should have closed the record. But we have such an aversion in this culture to end anything on such a dark note, I can understand why she closed the record with a more optimistic tune.
Conclusions:
I've spent over a month living with this record; I've listened to it while doing electrical work, sanding drywall, painting offices, cutting cinder-block (all very manly tasks, mind you) and I still really dig Audra Kubat's "Untitled for Now". It puts me in a very nice autumn rasa that's congruent with the regeneration of life by decay. It's the musical equivalent of the warm smell of rotting leaves, if you can understand that subtlety. If Audra Kubat's at a loss for a title, I'd call it "the inevitable change of season".
Ok, ok, so my wife's right - I've got a soft, mushy, feminine side. You'd think she would identify with that, but alas, she doesn't understand my attraction to this kind of music. I suppose I could argue that she lacks the sensitivity to appreciate what Audra Kubat has accomplished in her songwriting - but knowing what not to say sometimes is the key to proper harmony.
-Mitch
See Audra Kubat up close and personal at:
Jacoby's on Wednesday, Oct 16th for the WDET benefit. Get a Get a map to Jacoby's
AUDRA KUBAT with special guest URBAN FOLK COLLECTIVESaturday, NOVEMBER 23
at The Furniture Factory, 3rd St. (Wayne State Campus) Detroit, Mi.
|
|
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
Re: CD Review: Audra Kubat's ''Untitled For Now'' (Score: 1)
by chuck237 on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 @ 16:02:25 MDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | It's true. Audra is quite an amazing songwriter and an equally amazing person. I've found her music to be extremely inspiring and enlightening. I have'nt heard her latest cd release, but have seen her at Agave in Detroit and I've always walked away wanting more. I'm looking forward to getting a hold of her disc.
Chuck
Eightfold Path |
|
|
| |
Average Score: 5
Votes: 4
|
|
|
)
