Nina Nastasia - Outlaster

what a wonderful album! never really listened to her before. this, apparently, in my golden years, is my kind of thing. loving the latest Watson Twins album and that Living Sisters album was only the start. all three albums are the kind of albums that i just keep playing over and over in the store like a lunatic. (perfect store music, really. it's an art form, you know.)

This sounded good the first time I played it! Or at least, better than I expected; honestly didn't expect to make it through the whole thing. Need to play it more. (I never listened to her before either -- press release gave me the idea her earlier ones were more subdued?)

there are some serious WOW moments. actual musical AND vocal surprises. i like surprises.

i have The Blackened Air. i really like it and saw her live on the strength of it a couple of years ago (good show). but yeah it's definitely subdued, led by her own acoustic guitar with occasional and sparse accompaniment from a few other instruments. Steve Albini produced it also. so does this one rock out or...?

DUDES WHEN IS THIS OUT??

nina is a genius and i love her soooooo much all her albums are great

this one has orchestral stuff right????

i'm really curious how that is going to turn out.

she actually got more sparse after blackened air and dogs....on leaving is probably the most sparse.

the last one was "sparse" in theory because it was just guitar and drums, but jim white as a drummer kinda makes things seem all crazy either way

i'm guessing if you are a fan you won't be disappointed. it would be a really strong album by anyone.

is this one really like ornate type arrangements? that's what i had read

there are strings and things on the new one, but never too much. they are just right. kinda always hated the "chamber pop" tag for some reason. i like the folkiness of a lot of it.

the strings add depth. and color. the whole package is great. sound, production, arrangements, songs, her voice.

One of the best artists of the last 10 years, and for all the strumming, doesn't fit with the whole new weird pastoral thing at all. At least, I don't think so, 'cause I can't get into that stuff. Mr Narrator, this is goth to me. Road to Ruin is my fav, but I love them all.

such an amazing live performer as well, hope she tours.

One of my favourite performances by any artist was seeing her perform in a small venue in front of a handful of people in Vancouver. Haven't heard this new one, but it's encouraging that such noted ILMers are repping for it. Agreed that it's not in that weird pastoral realm -- more like the still eye of some as-yet unnoticed hurricane. I agree with "goth", as long as it stands for Southern Gothic. The Blackened Air is one of the more astounding records of the last decade.

Agreed. I love her dearly, and The Blackened Air is just outstanding. I'm very, very keen to hear this one.

I gotta check it out. I loved Blackened Air too.

it kinda bugs me that laura marling is already getting so much attention than nina tbh

I'm still waiting to find a copy "You Follow Me." I'm still excited to have found a copy of "Dogs" on Socialist Records for a dollar last summer! Can't wait to hear this one too.

I'm still excited to have found a copy of "Dogs" on Socialist Records for a dollar last summer!

DAMN! score.

The problem I have with her is that most of her songs are too short. They sound like sketches, as though something fuller is just round the corner, but it never arrives. Plus, when I saw her live solo a couple of years ago it was a throwaway, indifferent performance.

i like the shortness and sketchiness. i like how she always seems like she's not saying more than she's saying. the new album is a little more stretched out, only two songs under 3 minutes. it sounds good to me on first listen, but i really don't think she's made a bad album. she's one of my favorite people of the last 10 years, i just really dig her particular angle. i like her voice, i like her melodies, i like her allusive lyrics, i think she's pretty great.

This is really good. "This Familiar" is amazing.

wow this is a gorgeous and beautiful and dark record

fuckkk why did no one tell me she's playing just up the road from me next month

Predictably, I'm digging this. Starts off a bit dull but picks up.

Now, let's talk about how awesome the cover is:
http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/packshots/325/319_586.jpg

The strings on "What's Out There" are so fabulous and dynamic. I love how they go from beautiful, unfettered ascension to pizzicato creepiness accompanied by what sounds like an orchestra of haunted typewriters.

O WINDOW WINDOW

Truly stunning artist. Haven't heard this release yet, though the description of it as sparse makes me nervous. The Blackened Air was glorious, and Run to Ruin was maybe even better, but the record she put out after that (I can't even remember the name) was incredibly forgettable; it lacked not just the ambition of its predecessors, but also the songwriting spark. That being said, the Jim White/You Follow Me album after that was fantastic, so she's still batting about .800.

do you mean "on leaving"? that is prob. the most sparse

this one is less sparse than that...i guess on the "scale" i would put it around run to ruin level of sparse vs. arrangement...but then again some of the strings on this are some of the elaborate stuff she's ever done...but not too much so...just a great balance overall

wow. really nice record.

i'm a big nina nastasia fan but must admit i'm surprised...
+ i thought On Leaving was boring as heck
+ unlike turangalia i haaaate the Outlaster album cover
+ she did strings before (esp on blackened air) and i was really scared of her using them in a "sweeter" way.

but the strings are generally not too sweet; they are almost ambivalent, kind of Haydn-like, not saccharine (unlike, say, those on Ys). and though it's just first listen - the songs are really good.

Strings on Ys are not saccharine. ktxhbai

Though yes, they are used in a completely different way here.

jeez

this is epic. even from someone who does think she's a genuis - and is kind of used to being surprised by her - there are a lot of wows here.

jesus christ i just got to "One Way Out". this record is amazing.

Still not convinced w/ the first half of this album tbh.

I don't know why she mixed tired old songs like Take your Time and Cry, Cry Baby in with this newer stuff.

But anyway, it becomes a really cool song cycle right when 'This Familiar Way' starts.

i like this new one a lot after further listening, and nobody should worry about sparseness -- it's her densest record yet i think, in terms of arrangements and the twists and turns the songs take. it reminds me of some of shannon wright's stuff, but i think nina's a much more accomplished songwriter.

but i'll speak up for on leaving, which is actually one of my favorite records of hers. i like the stripped-down songs and singing, and it's full of interesting melodies. some of the songs on it -- "brad haunts a party," "counting up your bones" -- would make my nina POX for sure.

you follow me is still my fave, tho. she and jim white work so well together.

"What's Out There" SOUNDS absolutely incredible.

when "brad haunts a party" comes on i'm all like daaaaamn girl that's my jam

wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_VNaThCRJc

lovely.

(house of love did one in a similar style way back when. set in the studio though)

wow great video

I'm still wondering why the label chickened out on using the lush, more adventurous tracks as promos.

the way her voice goes up on "yoooouuuu-rrree-myyyy-OOOOOOWWWWN-TRUUUUEEE-love" on "cry cry baby" makes me swoon

i have a couple of those moments in wakes: woah-ah-woah-wo-ah-wo-ah, & the bit where she says she has too much 'left in me'. the second side of this record smokes.

I'm going to see her this week, I'm hoping they'll be selling the vinyl at the gigs.

Saw her in Dalston last night. Lovely, intimate setting and she's really engaging. Wakes was incredible.

I did embarass myself a bit by yelling for a song she couldn't remember how to play, though. Ah well.

What's the live setup like?

was she solo?

by the way this short uk tour tour (which may be solo, it's certainly low-key) is just a prelude to a full tour with this new band w/ the string section etc.

I was at last night's gig. There was her and an amazing violinist (don't know his name sorry). She was on great form. Played 'the hits'. Try and catch her on this tour if you can - it's one of the best times I've ever seen her. Certainly makes up for the insane mismatch of the Jim White shows I saw.

I wish I'd missed the stand up 'comic' who was supporting however whose risible set included a cover version of Dire Straits' 'Brothers In Arms'. Saw a fellow ILXor there who afterward commented on her nervousness on talking with the audience. I found it quite charming really.

Bought Dogs on vinyl from her feller after the show. He looks like a big mad monk and is a puppeteer apparently.

Has she got the new one for sale on vinyl at the gigs Doran?

Just back from seeing her at Oto, she seemed kinda nervous and the cooling off of the room combined with the colder air blowing in from the back was playing havoc with her guitar tuning. So she was on the back foot most of the gig and was forgetting lyrics and changes, but she was still pretty awesome to watch, she chatted a lot with the audience and was really charming.

Pupp, the new one hasn't been pressed up yet on vinyl apparently.

was at the same gig as doran, oto was an oven on sun night but it really suited the music. i think i may have been the one who commented on her nervousness actually! not so much nerves as just...awkwardness. like she'd tell these stories because she felt she should, but not very well and no one laughed. and it was endearing, because it was such a contrast to how confident and poised she was when singing. really enjoyed the gig. feel like i should probably investigate her past albums (i think i heard one, can't remember which, and it didn't really sink in). also curious as to her background - nastasia seems a kind of improbable surname, but it seems it's her real one. russian heritage?

yeah that was part of the problem when I saw her live - she told these stories but they were really stupid and inconsquential. plus she kept taking requests which I found kind of annoying. one is fine but beyond that I kind of expect an artist to draw up their own goddam setlist

I just presumed you were a fan Lex. I was going to stay and ask your opinion on the gig but was up to a crucial stage of Battlestar Galactica viewing and had to shoot off. My own favourites are Dogs, Run To Ruin and The Blackened Air but the new one is growing on me. Yeah, she's Russian American. An interesting interview if you ever get the chance. She used to work behind the till on the door of some low rent strip club and carried a knife in her bra for fear of getting mugged on the way home.

Thinking about it, her man looks exactly like the John Cusack character in Being John Malkovich but after a massive amount of real ale and pies, so I'm wondering if this is what all American puppeteers look like. Perhaps we can be told.

XP: Yeah, the new album is going to look amazing on vinyl.

i would say Dogs, Run To Ruin, and Blackened Air are def the most popular and what i would pick to get someone into Nina...

You Follow Me might be my favorite though...and I love On Leaving...and the new one.

basically i love everything she does

I've got no problems with being populist but I wouldn't actually say that Dogs is particularly popular. It was about two years before I could actually get a copy on CD. I had to wait for Touch & Go to reissue it... I'd say I'm a fan of the more tuneful stuff she does...

i guess i meant "dogs" is one i hear ppl saying is their fav (or one of them) most often when i said "popular"

i think in terms of record sales, i don't think any of her records have sold much at all

am a big fan of her various peel sessions, but the albums i've heard have lacked that certain something.

(whether that certain something is tuvan throat singers or peel's telephone ringing halfway through a chorus i wouldn't want to say...)

all i can say is that i'd only previously heard and loved one track by her (This Is What It Is), but Outlaster is shaping up to amongst my top 5 of 2010. Shame I keep missing her live shows when I could have so easily seen her at least thrice over the last ten years.

I saw her do a show with Tuvan/Hungarian fellows at the Royal Festival Hall once. That was amazing.

Talking of which, once when I was at ATP in a hellish stupor I watched a film about a blues guy from America (he may have been blind) going to do Tuvan throat singing in some village in Eastern Europe/Russia somewhere. Does anyone know what that is?

http://www.dvdnear.com/images/Genghis-Blues-B00004YKS7-L.jpg

Ah, cheers... great stuff.

I don't really know anything about her other than what's on this thread but this record is SUBLIME. Just, like, wow, in places. Her voice does actually remind me of Laura Marling, in its lower register at least, the same air of quiet authority, but it's when she really opens up that this album takes off.

Also the arrangements are perfect - the strings never feel like pointless colouring in and whoever arranged it always knows exactly what to go for the right emotional moment. You don't her bass clarinet and cor anglais on too many records like this.

i listen to this album almost every day. maybe someday i will tire of it, but that day is a long time from now.

did you ever get any other nina albums skot?

no, not yet. i should though.

The Blackened Air is really, really excellent.

Run to Ruin!

Blackened Air in a heartbeat. I have never understood the love of Run To Ruin. I remember doing a cd comp of Nina for a friend when there were only the three albums out, and the breakdown of tracks was something like Dogs (5) Blackened Air (8) Run To Ruin (1). Run To Ruin just doesn't have songs as good as Dogs and Blackened Air IMHO, and as great as Outlaster is, I remain of the opinion that The Blackened Air is her masterpiece.

Yep, I'd venture to say The Blackened Air is one of the best albums of the '00s falling under the vague "solo singer/songwriter" umbrella.

i's say that it's her least-good record but i still like it.

i'm not trying to be the least bit contrary btw, i just love the others more.

everyone is different!

i will be on the lookout for her stuff. i don't tend to look in the cd sections of stores, but sometimes i make an exception.

it's all love!

We all love Nina.

I just want to give her violin player some props; when I saw her a few weeks ago he was brilliant- adding such colour and texture to the songs so that what was in theory a "stripped down" show was bursting with detail and tension.

agree with that, they were both amazing. an extremely intense show.

If we can tend the fire could burn forever -
Can't we?

For me there is one way and no denying -
one way out.

Miss me.
Mourn Me.

who else could write a song like that?!

Some of her lyrics remind me of Will Oldham/Palace Brothers.

had to write a review of outlaster, which prompted relistens to everything nina and made me think that she's really one of my favorite people making music right now. there aren't many people who i'd say have made six good albums in a row, and i love that each one is really distinct -- even though obviously there's a lot of commonality, you can tell almost immediately which album a song is from just from how it sounds.

(relistens also confirmed for me that you follow me is my favorite of favorites, and will easily be on the shortlist in whatever best-of-'00s poll ilm gets around to.)

It's nominated here (and voting ends today!):

ILM Top 100 2005-2009: VOTING THREAD (Ends when June 29, 2010 is over in every timezone in the world.)

picked this up today cuz lots of people i respect seem to be going nuts over it in this thread. totally blind, no prior exposure to NN. not sure what to think so far, halfway through side 2, but it seems to be picking up dramatically after a somewhat tepid 3-4 song intro. there are things i don't like (the mannered vocals and general singerishness, overstated alt folk & country desolation), but it's a strange and surprising album, and that makes it easy to ride out the rough spots. not sure what i'll think in the long run, but i'm looking forward to finding out. and the cover is fucking spectacular, esp at 12 x 12.

http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/packshots/325/319_595.jpg

Am I alone in the thinking that What's Out There sounds like a Radiohead song? String arrangement notwithstanding...

also someone who can actually sing on vox

(It's the melody really, the "mirror mirror, I have to smash you out" bit in the chorus is totally something I could imagine T Yorke singing)

plus the most immediately striking song on the album. find myself wishing it pushed further into walker/drift territory. expect that i will adjust to the relative restraint in time...

The string arrangement is so ridiculously great, like strings used as percussion, being in a creepy house in the dark and hearing terrifying creaks and knocks all around you.

This is probably my favourite album of the year so far - only One Way Out really fails to engage me.

I am going to buy this later today, Fopp stocklevels permitting.

I've spun this a couple times, picked it up last week. It doesn't immediately engage me like, say, The Blackened Air does. But I am willing to give it some time. Production and arrangements are, at first listen, really impressive.

It doesn't immediately engage me like, say, The Blackened Air does. But I am willing to give it some time.

do any more experienced NN listeners think that this might be sort of a fan's record, i.e., a less than ideal intro to the artist? i ask because while it's very impressive on a number of fronts, it's not jammed with instantly memorable or even accessible pop songs. scott s. seems to have dug it right off the bat with no prior exposure to the artist, but i find myself more clinically & carefully interested than helplessly in love. at least on initial spins...

that said, i'd no longer say that outlaster builds in strength from a weak start. the opening act is at least as strong as anything that follows. love "holy man". suppose i should refrain from liveblogging albums, as my initial impressions are invariably foolish, or at least incomplete.

and, yeah, string arrangements throughout are ridiculously great, as matt DC says. especially like that they're willing to sweeten where appropriate ("you can take your time") but never sink into anything too syrupy trite.

yeah it's hard to say what's a "fan record" for an artist that has such a small, devoted following...

but i definitely think that "Dogs" and "Blackened Air" are the most conventional folkish pop records she's done....I personally think she's gotten better and better, "You Follow Me" is probably harder to get into than this one and that's my favorite (this one actually feels like the most approachable one she's done in awhile)....

I even like On Leaving A LOT, which even some super fans don't like for some reason...

but i tend to like her a little more on the sparse and abstract side of things...

this album, to me, feels like a great reapproachment of her earlier, more arranged records but it also takes into account the changes she's gone through...

One Way Out is my favourite thing on the record, it's like a knife through the heart.

i'd never got into any previous nastasia i'd heard, but i love this.

I even like On Leaving A LOT

Cosign -- this one's incredible.

I still haven't heard the Jim White collaborative thing from last year or whenever.

On Leaving has truly amazing songs on it but doesn't have a totally cohesive feel. i think this one suffers slightly from that between tracks 2-4 which sound much less intense than the rest.

on leaving was really my introduction to her, except for a few tracks i'd heard off dogs, and i loved it pretty much from the get-go. run to ruin was harder for me to get into, maybe for the same reason (in reverse) that on leaving was disappointing to people who loved that one. i really like run to ruin now, but i don't go back to it as much as the rest because it's something for really particular times and moods. i think the blackened air and dogs are maybe the two best intro-to-nastasia records, because between them they prefigure most of the directions she's gone since. and like i said, i think the jim white album is just really great. it works at a collaborative level that i think great jazz records work, and in a way that not many non-jazz albums do. there aren't many singer-songwriter types who i think would be as open to that kind of thing, or whose music could withstand it.

yeah that's great actually, the jim white record is a great example of using jazz influences in terms of how the music is played and approached as opposed to just using "jazz" musical signifiers or "jazz" instruments

someone brought in all this fat cat stuff and you follow me was one of the things i got. so, playing that now. i dig it. i think it'll grow on me too.

listening to this for the first time in a few months, still sounds great. the songs all grew on me more than i realized.

she does that doesn't she? the songs creep up on you.

i mean some instantly knock you out too. i haven't heard anything more breathtaking than "one way out" for.... well, a long time.

i still haven't been able to get with the new one. i've never heard her older records; i miss the intimacy and interplay of 'on leaving' and 'you follow me'. ('there is no train' is still my favorite song of hers.) obviously white brought out a lot in her, like he does with others, but her songs seemed so conversational (but specifically so, not nina-nastasia-reveals-her-thoughts-to-the-world, more like nina-nastasia-has-it-out-in-a-very-matter-of-fact-way-with-others-who-you-are-left-to-imagine-and-are-conveniently-addressed-as-'you') that it was probably just a very felicitous pairing. i can't put my finger on what i don't like about the new one; maybe that it seems too singer-songwritery: songs based on strummy guitars, meaningful strings, portentous dramatics.

on tour for 'you follow me' with white she seemed just like she seems on record: clear, poised, self-possessed, forthright.