Track Listing
1. Black Acres
2. Bayonne
3. Bend Your Mind
4. Tides of the Moon
5. Hearts Are Open Graves
6. Rope of Weeds
7. Dream Within a Dream
8. Barely Recognize You
9. Fright Night
10. Queen of the Meadow
11. Cities Will Fall
12. (Untitiled) - (Hidden Track)
| Details | | Producer: | Elysian Fields, Good & Evil | | Distributor: | Ryko Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Elysian Fields: Oren Bloedow (vocals, guitar, Wurlitzer piano, bass); Jennifer Charles (vocals).
Additional personnel includes: Jamie Saft (guitar, accordion, piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, Farfisa organ,); James Genus (bass); Ben Perowsky (drums).
Recorded at goodandevil.net, Brooklyn, New York in July 2000.
This is the second album from Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow, also known as Elysian Fields. Its shadowy, terse, pop melodies and soundtrack qualities follow the same vein as the first album, BLEED YOUR CEDAR. After attracting rave reviews--and the attentions and collaborations of Jeff Buckley and Firewater--Elysian Fields' music began began popping up on both an episode of the TV series CHARMED and the independent film EMPORTE MOI. QUEEN OF THE MEADOW fits hauntingly well in the realm of poetically romantic lounge and piano bar vignettes. Drawing from influences such as Serge Gainsbourg and Kurt Weill, guitarist Bloedow arranges subtle numbers around Charles' modern torch singer voice.
Violin lines weave in and out while piano tinklings bend to the whims of Charles' breathy Mazzy Star-like voice. "Bend Your Mind" lets pop dynamics modernize the romantic balladry with keyboard vibes and thigh tapping beats. Another song of note is the title track, where Bloedow showcases his pipes. Acoustic yet engaging, its Latin-meets-gypsy tinge embraces a lusty but vaguely innocent male voice. QUEEN OF THE MEADOW is an elastic tribute to cabaret, smoky bars and sexy soundtracks.
Editorial Reviews
...dark and highly dramatic...operating comfortably in the tricky, jazzy cabaret game...
CMJ (12/01/2000)
...Jennifer Charles possesses a voice that is insistently sultry....guitarist Oren Bloedow knows what kind of musical setting befits this dusky jewel: occasional doses of the lounge stuff...and lots of quiet rumble a la Morphine and Low...
Magnet (01/01/2001)
3 stars out of 5 - ...Muted and mellow....It's an entrancing experience: Edgar Allen Poe-faced goth-tasting pastoral but pissed-off folky flavours, languid yet unsettling. A pretty poison...
Uncut (11/01/2001)
...the subdued, rather creepy sounds that might emanate from a Kurt Weill-style jazz cellar....plinks sparse piano or summons up edgy strings...Down deep and dirty and dark-humoured all at the same time...
Mojo (01/01/2002)
3 stars out of 5 - ...[This] falls on the right side of goth - haunting - without the wing-flapping. There 'is' a familiar Cave/Harvey moodistry, but the meadow is overgrown with wild beauty.
Q (09/01/2001)
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