St. Vincent

Country of origin:

U.S.

Type of music generally:

Eclectic, experimental alternative pop

Status:

Debut release, Marry Me (2007)

See also:

St. Vincent's site

St. Vincent's MySpace page

Comparisons:

Meg Lunney, Mimi

Receives comparisons to Regina Spektor, Joan as Police Woman, and Feist. Annie Clark has played with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, but those are meant as reference points more than comparisons. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Covers/own material:

Own, occasional cover and co-written

General comments:

It's one of those "bands" that's a solo act at its core. Annie Clark was a guitarist for Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. (timjy@sbcglobal.net)

Recommended first album:

Marry Me

Recordings:

Marry Me (2007)

Marry Me

Release info:

2007—Beggars Banquet —BBQCD 254

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Annie Clark—voices, guitars, bass, piano, organ, moog, synthesizers, clavieta, xylophone, vibraphone, dulcimer, drum programming, triangle, percussion

Guest artists:

Daniel Hart—violin
Rick Nelson—violin, viola, cello, upright bass
Nathan Blaz—cello
Heather MacIntosh—cello
Lauren Ross—flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn
Louis Schwadron—French horn
Mike Garson—grand piano
Merrilee Challis—choir
Jessica Grant—choir
Andrea Paschal—choir
Lester Nuby—vibraphone
Daniel Farris—choir, synthesizer, percussion
Mark Pirro—"Now, Now" bass
Al Carlson—"Landmines" sound design
Aynsley Power—"Landmines" drum programming
Brian Teasley—all drums, percussion

Produced by:

Annie Clark with Brian Teasley and Daniel Farris

Comments:

St. Vincent's Marry Me is ridiculously compelling and delightfully eccentric. One of the most captivating things I've heard in a really, really long time. I was surprised, though, that "Now, Now" is the specific song getting airplay, since it's such a risky and strange production—the movement from that children's chorus backing her (I think) and the little wash of electric guitar or electronic sound or whatever that is, into the finger-picked acoustic guitar part, then the eerie repetition of "you don't mean that, say you're sorry..." and then all of the sudden, the whole thing gets thrown into an entirely different space with that one dissonant note...
     I'm kind of obsessed. (timjy@sbcglobal.net)

St. Vincent's Marry Me is quirky and fun, and something new to enjoy. There are strange echoes of other artists (the first song, "Now Now", sounds eerily like the obscure and wonderful Meg Lunney though none of the other songs do) and the second track sounded really like Mimi. But after that...not so easy to pin down and definitely an interesting range so it adds up to her own thing. In any case, it's catchy and individual in a rather musically quiet year. One of my favourite albums of 2007. (Neile)

warped and wonderful. (meth@smoe.org)

Odd and original. At times theatrical, at times childlike. Her use of choruses reminds me of Sufjan Stevens. She takes freely from so many genres and styles that it's really hard to describe the sound of the album or even of individual songs. After many listens, I find it utterly delightful, and I'm still never sure where she's going to go next, and I love that. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.