Album Notes

CORREATOWN is the first album by Angela Correa to be released on Bed Pan Records, a tiny independent label in San Diego. Initially, the songs were meant to be a humble little demo of one takes- Angela just playing & singing a natural performance. However, after listening to the songs producer Gregory Page decided to paint in a little color between the spaces of music and lyric Angela had created. Most of the songs chosen for the album were actually the first take. The result is a collection of songs that are intimate & sincere, yet loose and organic in texture. Haunting, genuine, beautiful & sparse are words most often used to describe the music of Angela Correa. Currently based in Southern California, Angela is originally from a small town in Northern California. Her music skirts genres; it is an amalgam of early American folk, country blues & a certain lo-fi indie rock temperament. Influenced as much by Elisabeth Cotton, Bessie Smith & Jack Elliot as the likes of Beat Happening, PJ Harvey & Neil Young, Angela flirts with traditional folk by telling rich stories brought to life with real melodies, distinctive arrangement & contemporary topics. She is both literate and whimsical, and the nuance & subtlety of her voice is what most intrigues listeners. "We just got Angela Correa's mysterious self-released CD, Correatown, in the mail and fell in love with her hooky balladry and vulnerable, slightly twangy vocals. (Note: We're not talking about Amy Correia.) You read it here first: Angela Correa, who just moved here from San Diego, is going to be a much loved L.A. artist in about 10 minutes." - Kate Sullivan & Falling James, LA Weekly Picks of the Week April 8, 2005 "Angela Correa recorded most of these songs in one take... one very lovely take. The disc is as alt-country or Americana as you will like -- haunting melodies, darker edges and a solid, heartfelt vocal. Think of Kathleen Edwards and songs like "Mercurial Heart" will jump out and grab you. Touches of keyboards and drums round out the songs, but if left alone Correa would shine. Correa could sing the horoscopes and draw you in judging by the gorgeous "Super Paper Airplanes" that resembles Sheryl Crow circa The Globe Sessions. She is in no hurry on these slower, roots-oriented tunes, especially the sway-inducing "Savvy Young Punks" although this one has some subtle pace changes. The lone up-tempo track early on is "Pinwheels" which resembles Lucinda circa Essence. There are several great tunes here, whether it is the somber "Saint Dinan" or the engaging "The Songcatcher". World weary and filled with some heartbreak, Correa nails each number perfectly, particularly the gorgeous "Hardship to Be (Souvenir)". A broken heart never sounded so good..." - 8/10 POPMATTERS.COM JULY 2005 "The problem with Angela Correa is that she's just too damn good at what she does. If Correatown was intended to be ten songs ripped from a soul in an attempt to exorcise some demons, then she's succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. Simply listening means you won't feel the same at the end as you did at the beginning, so God knows what writing and performing the songs did to Angela Correa. The difficulty is that the songs are so intense and personal, they swamp and eventually submerge the listener in the anguish, it all becomes just too much. Correatown began life as a collection of one-take demos, recorded as they happened. Producer Gregory Page was so impressed he decide to add some colour, it is Angela Correa's - and our - great good fortune that he did little more than add the subtlest of shades. Correatown contains the bare floorboards of songs and, if artist or producer ever stray from that ethos, then they will be making a grave mistake. Correa possesses a voice that seems permanently on the edge of breakdown and the sparsity of the accompaniments merely serves to highlight its fragility. Perhaps it's a cumulative effe