BROKEN + FALLEN BIRDS SPECIAL EDITION - Mark Steiner (Z Man Records)
The cover looks like it's more often than not a bad hair for globe-roaming lounge-noir musician Mark Steiner, but the music within is more the point. It's moody and dark, Gothic-tinged rock in the style of the early Bad Seeds and Hugo Race. Steiner's brooding and rich baritone voice is a stand-out.Book-ended by no less than three versions of "Torn" - a tremulous and haunting song that won't die - "Broken" is a dozen Steiner songs recorded with like-minded collaborators in Germany, Australia, Norway and the USA. The last two are current and former home base for Steiner but the flavour is all European.
This is the soundtrack to rounds of desert wines in cobblestone cafes in dank Berlin back alleys, with a little wrist-slitting thrown in. Don't expect to hear "Broken" during the Seventh Innings Stretch at the ballpark.
Susan Mitchell and Sofy Perez bring their vocals to the party/wake on a few of these ("Divine Whore", "Beatiful Thief", "Peculiar Girl") and they work best for me. "Sea of Disappointment" might be the centrepiece, a churning opus where Melbournites Rosie Westbrook (bass) and Cam Butler (guitar) feature backing a stunning Steiner vocal.
If you're a fan of "The Good Son" Seeds before they got all gospel on us, "This World" fairly equals most of St Nick's torch songs. With the exception of "Divine Whore", it sounds more languorous than overtly rocking, but there's enough intensity to sustain interest. The songs are excellent and the accompaniment from people like Lillith Lane, Dimi Dero and Peter Luscombe adds a variety of textures to bear out the hypothesis that having multiple cast members is a help, not a hindrance.
Sofy Perez lays down a vocal to melt an iceberg on "Beautiful Thief" where strings and piano build in a masterful arrangement. "Man In a Bar" betrays the involvement of Tex Napalm and Dimi Dero, echoing the feel of their "Sticky Singers" LP. Sofy Perez and Mark swap lines behind Lisa Barel's adroit bar-room piano and the mood is persuasively seedy and cool.
The bonus is an expanded version of the "Birds" EP, issued in 2008 on European imprint Stagger. Three extra songs (re-workings of "Cigarettes" and "Sea of Disappointment", plus the skeletal "Beijos") push it out to 42 minutes. You can't complain about that.- The Barman
1/2
Scroll down to comment
FALLEN BIRDS - Mark Steiner (Stagger Records)
Bits and pieces about American-Norwegian singer-songwriter Mark Steiner started filtering through a few months ago and this proves that it's all justified. Steiner draws a dark, bluesy veil over this six-track EP on French label Stagger with his rich vocal, expansive arrangements and intimate production.It's arrived, in CD form, in time for his inaugural Australian tour on which he'll be joined by a who's who of the local lounge-noir musical underground.
"Fallen Birds" is a wonderful, sometimes quirky, melodramatic and always engaging blend of late-night swamp-lounge. Steiner assembles a sympathetic - and empathetic - crew of French, Norwegian, German and American players. Sax, violin and female vocals mix it with the more predictable rock band elements, but on the whole the band(s) goes for understatement and feel.
Steiner himself played with Kundera and Piker Ryan in Manhattan before re-locating to Norway. French (and Australian) scanners of CD credits might recognise Dimi Dero of Dimi Dero Inc on drums (he also issued this on his own imprint.) There are no less than 13 collaborators on board on this EP. Steiner maintains bands in three continents.
In Australia, Steiner will be joined by Lilith Lane (Black Pony Express), bassist Rosie Westbrook (Mick Harvey), Cam Butler (Silver Ray), Pete Luscombe (drums) and Stevie Hesketh of Jet (!) so that gives you an idea of where the music's coming from. Wider reference points would be Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds or Hugo Race.
On half the tracks Steiner works closely with pianist Lisa Barel, whose glistening work and powerful voice elevate things to a higher plane. Viola ("Wallspotting") and sax ("Drunk") are employed There's no bad track here; flashes of the Velvets shine through "Wallspotting" with its rolling piano, while spidery guitar sets off "Unbearable" with Steiner and Barrel swapping verses. The Bukowski blues strut of "Drunk" turns things up-tempo, while the closing croon of "Cigarettes" brings down the curtain at 5am in a bleary-eyed bar.
If you can't wait till the gigs or don't think you'll cross paths with Mark Steiner and one of his bands, you can grab a copy at CDBaby. - The Barman
HOW DID WE DO?
ADD YOUR OWN COMMENT OR RATE THIS MUSIC
