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Imagine a gene lab accident. Beakers holding the DNA of Bob Mould, Elisabeth Fraser and David Lynch crash to the floor, their contents mixing. Synthpop/Emo/Hyperhookhop--whatever it's called, Rachel Margaret's music is supercharged and gift-twisted.
Genre:
Rock: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Release Date:
2007
Albums you will love
Emily Maguire
Keep Walking
Folk: Folk Pop
Buena Vista Park
© Copyright-Rachel Margaret
(634479593895)
Record Label: Rachel Margaret
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Deep longing has a new voice.
Imagine a gene lab accident. Beakers holding the DNA of Bob Mould, Elisabeth Fraser and David Lynch crash to the floor, their contents mixing and recombining as they drip down the wall toward an electrical outlet. Days after the cleanup, the technicians lean over their benches. In a corner, behind a seam in the flesh-colored linoleum baseboard where the mops couldn't reach, is a still-damp spot...
She calls it Acoustic/Synth Pop. Emo/HyperHookHop, Marge, whatever it's called, Rachel Margaret's music is supercharged with truth and mysterious beauty in ways that only the profoundly gift-twisted can bring.
How does she get such concentrated power into her work? "Sometimes I'm driving down the road and words and music just come into my head. I find the best songs come to me pretty quickly, and in weird places. I want to connect with people, but I'm kind of a geek. Music's like hooking up my heart to a microphone. It's by far the easiest way for me to communicate."
"Rachel has that crucial faculty of self-criticality that amplifies her talent and makes her material shine", says producer Bonnie Hayes. "In my experience, that's what separates the great ones from everybody else."
Rachel is currently breaking on the "new songwriter" circuit with songs from her recent EP "Buena Vista Park", and an untitled work in progress. On the day of this writing, for example, her songs occupy the top seven places out of nearly seven thousand entries in the prestigious "Sirius Fan Choice Award" original music competition sponsored by Sirius Satellite Radio in association with Pop Montreal: http://popmontreal.com/en/popthumbs/
What does she think of this first blush of success? "I enjoy the process of working with innovative types, pushing out music in a very limited context and playing live. My concept of success is all wrapped up in that stuff. So the fact that it's a contest based on people listening to the songs and voting for what they like is really exciting. It means I'm connecting with them through this music, and that feels great." The conversation turns to labels and agents and publicity, and soon Rachel holds up her hands. "The business part of it can make my ears buzz, is that a bad sign?" She waves her arms around her head and laughs, "Swarm of bees! Swarm of bees!"
A product of the University of Texas and the Ecole Normale Superieur de Musique in Paris (the one not in Texas), Rachel works as a tech writer and a dog walker, and is currently in in graduate school in the Bay Area. "More and more, I just want to sing my songs live. Sometimes when the band's locked in, I feel almost like crying, but great at the same time. I haven't had that feeling doing anything else professionally, and I doubt I ever will."
There is a tangible element of sadness and longing to the work that is evocative of love gone wrong. Is it true to life? "Well, basically, I am pretty cynical about love at the moment, but that doesn't mean I'll stay that way. I guess maybe right now it's more fun to write about love with perspective. It's like a tightrope act. It's only interesting if it's way off the ground and there isn't a net."
Music for acrobats.
- poopedia.com
www.sonicbids.com/rachelmargaret
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author: Earbuzz.com
With a sweetness and maturity frosted over production perfection, female vocalist, Rachel Margaret, releases her 6-gem record, "Buena Vista Park". She combines modern noisy overdriven staticy patches with clean and penetrating grooves and lyrics. Her verses are nearly art-rock ala Bush with the intimate subject matter of Vega. Her choruses are another animal altogether - they reflect deft understanding of hook as every track, including the toxic-landscape above your soul's "Landfill" (you're thinking you're sitting high on a hill, but you're sitting on a landfill), veers into radio-ready land of sugar-tinged harmonies and melodic journeys. "Snowglobe" begins with a vibe and hollow metallic percussive sound that penetrates anew. The metaphorical imagery here is obvious but delightful - life in a snowglobe. .'is this a life or just a 2-bit souvenir?' The guitar arpeggiated work paints a circular quality that adds to the merry-go-round nowhere life it describes nicely. Lighters in the air give us a Sarah M feel in the title track, "Buena Vista Park" with another beautiful lyric and performance. "Fade" starts with a right-panned mono acoustic piano that modulates into a slow-jazz groove. Margaret sings, 'faded hope and promises with wings, well love means different things. .you fade to black again'. We hear influences, surprisingly, from Beck - and the mix is compelling. One of the more commercial tracks is 'Solitude' - the techno sense in the verses moves into a gorgeous chorus that blends Maragret's voice with harmonies that are lush. Overall, the record is a perfect taste of what we hope is a sign of much more to come. Influences can be heard, however the singular voice is clearly emerging in the overall approach to her music. Expect good things from this artist who has made a professionally excellent sampling of a half-dozen treats.
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..as honest and impressive as anything released by Fiona Apple and her ilk... Ra
author: Neufutur.com
"Landfill" is one of the focal points on "Buena Vista Park", and while the instrumentation is softly-stated and meanders around the vocals, Margaret here comes correct and creates a brand of modern pop-rock that is just as honest and impressive as anything released by Fiona Apple or others of her ilk. "Someday Soon" is a slightly faster song than "Landfill", and brings Margaret into the space created by Annie Lennox and Enya, albeit with a more marketable sound. This more radio friendly sound is what links this track to "Landfill", and ensures that listeners will keep focused in to "Buena Vista Park". The title track for this EP uses more of the wide-open compositions that presented themselves on "Someday Soon". "Buena Vista Park" is interesting due to the trend during the track for the instrumentation to rival the vocals in regards to the emotional content in each.
It takes a rare brand of musician to be able to create such a high level of emotional content on a track, but this trend is present throughout all of "Buena Vista Park". "Solitude" may have a more inorganic sound to the instrumentation on the track, but this does not mean that the compositions on the track are sterile. Actually, the electronic, cold sound of the track feels to me to be a second set of vocals, the negative to the weary positive that Margaret puts forth on this track. "Buena Vista Group" may only be an EP, but individuals will understand quite well where Margaret is coming from by the time that this album spins to an end.
During the entirety of "Buena Vista Group", Margaret handles eirself quite well. This gives me hope that the successes achieved here could easily be transferred to an album that is twice or thrice the time of "Buena Vista Park". There is significant variation to the tracks on this EP, while still crafting a common thread of current pop-rock that runs through the songs here. Given the success of "Buena Vista Park", it would not be a surprise to see Margaret receive rotation on contemporary and pop/rock format radio stations. All that she needs is a video, and this could easily make it to the Good Life network or VH1 (if VH1 still plays videos, that is). Simply put, Rachel Margaret is an artist whose stock can only go up from here. Pick this EP up.
Top Track: Someday Soon
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