mirah

Country of origin:

U.S.

Type of music generally:

Stripped-down indie pop

Status:

Most recent release, Joyride: Remixes (2006); most recent release of all-new material, C'mon Miracle (2004)

See also:

K Punk's Mirah site

Comparisons:

Cat Power, Blake Hazard, Mary Lou Lord, Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh

Covers/own material:

Own

General comments:

Very good stuff, definitely of ecto interest. In the Tanya Donnelly/Kristin Hersh vein. (eacole@ups.edu)

Mirah has a stripped-down indie pop sound. Her vocals are high and childlike and often whispered, her lyrics sometimes boppy charming, sometimes simple and dark, sometimes obscure. Her simplicity is a two-edged sword: often the songs become ripe with possibilities, but other times their deliberate naïveté keeps them from breaking out into the wider world. (Neile)

Thanks to whoever it was recently who recommended Mirah (aka Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn). Sort of low-fi acoustic folk/punk, occasionally verging into jazz territory (e.g. "Words Cannot Describe" from the debut You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This), with child-freaked vocals that call to mind, say, Alison Shaw of Cranes. I was so taken with the four tracks I'd downloaded from krecs.com/mirah that I sprang for both of her albums plus the single for "Cold Cold Water." (burka@jeffrey.net)

Recommended first album:

Advisory Committee

Recordings:

• Storageland
• You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This (2000)
• Advisory Committee (2002)
• C'mon Miracle (2004)
• Joyride: Remixes (2006)

You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This

Release info:

2000—K Records—klp112

Availability:

Wide in U.S.

Ecto priority:

Recommended for fans of indie pop

Group members:

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn—all songs and most instrument playing

Guest artists:

Jason and Mark—extra guitars on "Sweeptakes Prize"
Jenn Kliese—archipelago violin on "Sweeptakes Prize"
Ariana, Amber, Khaela, Elsbeth, David, Forrest, Arrington, Sara, Nomy, Jenn, Phil—chorus on "Person Person"
Paul West on "Words Cannot Describe"
Lee Phelps—bass on "Words Cannot Describe"
Arrington de Dionyso—flute on "Words Cannot Describe"

Produced by:

"Recorded by Mirah and Phil"

Comments:

Deliberately naïve but not cloying and frequently charming. The songs are brief so they don't wear out their welcome. The collection ends with jazz tune, which shows that Mirah can sing in a totally different style, keeping the charm but sounding a lot more mature. My favourite song on this one is "Pollen"—it's delightful. (Neile)

Advisory Committee

Release info:

2002—K Records—klp 135 cd

Availability:

Wide in U.S.

Ecto priority:

Recommended for fans of indie pop

Group members:

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn—vocals, guitars, percussion, organ, drums, machine, pump organ, bass pedals, steel drums, bells, xylophones, piano

Guest artists:

Phil—guitars, ideas, organ, bass, drums, piano, "Karl Blau", other machines, percussion, melodica
Bryce Panic—vocals, percussion, bass pedals, drums
Nore Danielson, Mona Tougas, Hillary Deutsch—strings on "cold cold water"
B Burg—percussion loop on "Body Below"
Khaela and Jason—extra guitars on "Advisory Committee"
Chris Adolph—xylophone, bass pedals, medloica, moog, saw on "Special Death"
Kory Ross—drums on "Special Death"
Aaron Hartman string bass on "Light the Match"
Nora Danielson—violin on "Light the Match
Amber, Anna, Ariana, Arrington, Jenn, Khaela, Phil—chorus on "Apples in the Trees"

Produced by:

"Recorded and mixed by Phil Elvrum and Mirah"

Comments:

"Cold Cold Water" is such a knock-out song—it's an epic western love song, dramatically over-the-top and wonderfully put together. The problem is that it's a moment of such stark brightness in contrast to the rest of the album. (Neile)

As Neile has already said, "Cold Cold Water" is outstanding. The album cut is a bombastic, overproduced masterpiece that verges on progrock but without the synthesizers and electric guitars. Instead, it fuses acoustic guitar with strings and massive percussion (tympani! when was the last time you heard tympani with an acoustic guitar?). If the album were a little more consistent, it probably would have made my list of the top albums of the year. "Cold, Cold Water" is one of my very favorite tracks of the year, but overall I'm not sure I like this album quite as much as its precursor, You Think It's Like This, But Really It's Like This. Still, Mirah got a fair amount of plays with me this year. (burka@jeffrey.net)

As Jeff said, it lacks consistency, but when it's good, it's really, really good. (mcurry@io.com)

Further info:

Mirah also did an album with Ginger Brooks Takahashi called Songs From the Black Mountain Music Project.