Take a creative Canuck cutie keyboardist and put her in the Los Angeles area and what do you get? You get a musical take on California that is both extremely familiar and yet still new and original. Biagini is a singer-songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, whose current cuts are obviously influenced by artists such as early Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys, The Mamas and the Papas, The Beatles, The Byrds and Jan & Dean.
Biagini’s interest in music goes back to when she was a child. She has been playing the piano since she was 5 and has had a decade of classical piano training. Oddly enough, she would not compose any of her own music until a few years ago. One afternoon in the summer of 2006 while “commuting home from work” the lyrics and music just came to her. Before she knew it, she had written her first song.
It would take her another two years before she would release her 2008 debut disc Ridin’ the Wave. Ridin’ the Wave is a 16-track melodious, sunshine pop album with noteworthy vocal harmonies. It includes the title track “Ridin’ The Wave”, The apt “A Face In the Crowd” and “Everybody’s Goin’ Surfin’ All Over the World” and the bonus track “Bambuzled”.
Ridin’ the Wave took the number 45 slot on David Bash’s Top 125 albums of 2008. (Bash is the founder and CEO of The International Pop Overthrow Music Festival.) It also scored the 86th position in the top 100 albums of 2009 on the Powerpop Station in Brazil. Finally, Biagini was even named “artist of the month” on Twirl Radio for both June and July 2009.
Her music has received extensive airplay on commercial, syndicated, community and college and internet radio shows. All in all, her tunes have been played on over 100 stations around the world. Biagini’s talents have also been heard on the CDs International Pop Overthrow Volumes 11, 12, and13, as well as on Encomium in Memorium Vol. 1 – Jan Berry of Jan & Dean.
She also contributed to the Christmas compilation Rockin’ the Mistletoe and added a cut to A Very Vancouver Christmas 5 a locally produced compilation to benefit the SPCA. Biagini is no stranger to performing live, of course, either. Highlights of her numerous live gigs include playing at the International Pop Overthrow Festival in San Francisco, CA, Vancouver, B.C., and Liverpool, UK with a special performance in Rome, Italy.
More important, however, is her 2010 sophomore CD A Far-Out Place. Named CD of the Week and “one of the 10 Best CDs of 2010” The Province, this indie album includes 14 of Biagini’s original powerpop pieces. It was also one of the most played albums on Hawaii’s The Time Machine Radio show and on Sacramento’s Twirl Radio. The opener is “Intro - Settin’ the Scene”. This all too brief instrumental is a blatant tip of the hat to the works of Brian Wilson—perhaps more specifically to his memorable work on Smile.
The second selection is “A Far-Out Place”. This tight title track evokes mental images of an old 1960s beach party. It just has that kinda feel to it. “A Beautiful Dream” follows here. As in most of her material on this disc, Biagini creates “a beautiful dream” in which her music provides an escape from the world today as opposed to following the more common current trend of mirroring it.
The feel good tune “Another Old Lazy Lyin’ On the Beach Afternoon” and “Crazy People on the Internet” are both noteworthy numbers. “Critic’s Choice”, however, goes to “Crazy People on the Internet” because it simply touches homes when it comes to many of us who work and/or play online. In Biagini’s words the song is also “a slice of the big part of our lives that has brought together lovers of good music”. Its current and it works . . . whatever one takes away from it.
“Happiness Looks Good on You” is a song with a simple message. Biagini is simply trying to remind us that not everything is dark and dreary and while many of us are quick to look at the glass as half empty perhaps we need to remember that there are still some things in life about which to be happy. This is definitely the kind of music that predates the whole cynical, Seattle grunge movement.
“Leave Me Alone” is said by some critics to be everything Biagini does so well. It’s a catchy rocker that is highlighted by a drifting, swirling blend of vocal harmonies, drums and guitar. She quickly slows things down though with “Sweet Dream Symphony”. This is a nice, slower track reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s more thoughtful material.
“Not What It Seems” and “Gonna Do It My Way” are two tracks that a few critics don’t consider worth much consideration. They claim the tunes digress from what Biagini does best. While they might indeed appear to stray from certain themes in truth these are simply examples of Biagini’s other moods expressed in music. These, too, are part of her musical journey whether they seem to fit in or not they still remain true life experiences while in “a far-out place”.
“Not the Only Pretty Fish in his Sea” is yet another catchy number that gets the work back seaside and brings the album back on to its thematic track. “Make Up Your Mind” is the next number. There is something about this one that is very familiar. Perhaps it’s just your rockin’ reviewer but this one smacks of both Beatles and Beach Boys.
“Rockin’ My World Like You Only Know How” begs for attention here in the way that a Carpenters song used to, at any rate. (It surely makes your nosey note-taker want to inquire about it in an interview.) This one is (among other things yet to be determined) a fan favorite and considered praiseworthy by more than one critic.
“I’ll Be Back Again” also has very obviously inspired elements within it. This one is highlighted with a Beatle-esque albeit less famous intro. More importantly, it is highly appropriate as a closing cut in that it foreshadows Biagini’s new, forthcoming disc tentatively titled A Go-Go Girl in a Modern World.
A Far-Out Place, rated at number 15 on bash’s top 100 albums of 2010, contains clear piano lines and such elements as harpsichord, surf-rock guitar riffs, be-bop beats and layered doo-wop harmonies. Combined with Biagini’s point of view and personal twists, the music here is both reminiscent of classic rock and yet still “not what it seems” as Biagini proves that she is more than just one of those “crazy people on the internet”.
My name is Phoenix and . . . that’s the bottom line.
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