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Rachel Taylor Brown: Susan Storm's Ugly Sister
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File under: not pop.
On Susan Storm's Ugly Sister and other Saints and Superheroes, Rachel Taylor Brown has a style that can best be described as spare. A lot of the album is a showcase for Brown's vocals and keyboards and nothing else.
The album begins with the title track, which features Brown singing and playing piano with some haunting strings in the background. "You're dead to rights while slurp your tea. I could kill you and you wouldn't notice me," she sings. Heavy duty. And that is only the beginning.
"Lonely Galactus, World Eater" is probably the best example of a minimalist song on a very minimalist album. This song is just Rachel Taylor Brown and a piano. No drum machine, or anything else. When you think about it, that's a lot of pressure on an artist. To have a track that musically simple and pull it off as well as she does really says something about her.
"Zoe of Rome" features the sound of tapdancing in the background. Frankly, that is not something you find on every album..
One thing I can say for sure is that you probably don't have anything like this album in your collection. This album is not your run-of-the-mill anything. It doesn't seem to fit neatly into any category, although I will say that there is a cinematic quality about this album. It's easy to imagine a short film (not a music video) going with each song. Probably a grainy black and white film. If someone were forcing me to say who Rachel Taylor Brown reminds me of, I would have to say Tori Amos. Although the similarity doesn't seem very extensive. She is offbeat and has arrangements that are not tremendously dense. If you are looking for a pop album, this is probably not for you. If you want something that is away from standard music industry fare, you'll probably find your reward in this album of melancholy songs about saints and superheroes.
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