mp3: Sharon Van Etten covers Morrissey

"You're Wasting Your Time"
(photo by sarahana)
Yesterday Pitchfork bestowed a glowing 7.7 on Sharon Van Etten's goose-bump inducing Because I Was In Love. Not surprised in the least that P4K honored Ms. Van Etten, although a little surprised it took so long, it is a well-deserved victory for the NJ-born, Bushwick-based heartbreaker, who has the uncanny ability of silencing any place she plays, no matter how drunk and loud the crowd is. While Sharon has a remarkable amount of well-worn, tear-tested material, I can't recall ever hearing her play a cover live. (Frankly, this may be me having a few too many, or simply being in such awe that I can't remember. Both are quite possible.) Regardless, Sharon contributed a cover of Morrissey's "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" to The Music Slut's "TMS Hearts Moz" compilation. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not the biggest Smiths fan, and I could honestly give two-shits about Morrissey's solo career, but this song, stripped of anything-and-everything but pain and a longing to be understood, plays like a water-logged love note long since lost at sea. It's ragged and torn and can barely be read, but if, when, someone finds it, all sentiment will be understood. Clarity, if one ever needed it.

Sharon Van Etten- The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

"For You"

live: Sharon Van Etten @ Zebulon

"The Truth is I Have No Idea"
Bushwick-based chanteuse Sharon Van Etten brought heart-wrenching, "sad prairie folk" to Zebulon last night, which is a second home of sorts for Ms. Van Etten. Coincidentally, the show marked the celebration of Sharon's 28th year in the world, and family and friends were strewn about the audience. The show started with cuts from Ms. Van Etten's debut EP, including "I Wish I Knew", "For You" and "Consolation Prize." Before long Sharon invited friends from Motel Motel and She Keeps Bees to join her in, giving her often sparse balladry a more fleshed out sound. While the guest vocalist from She Keeps Bees didn't seem to remember her lyrics, her downtrodden hum, along with finger-picking accompaniment, wrapped Sharon's downtrodden folk in a warm haze of muddy atmospherics and gentle ooohs. Being that her EP couldn't get much more lo-fi, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that her forthcoming debut LP will (hopefully) feature the "fuller" sound we were treated to last night.

I should also mention Melanie Moser and the Eleventh Hour Band who helped open the show and brought a sort of VU/Nico-meets-Jefferson Airplane by way of Mazzy Star vibe. This band, which included a horn section and a guy playing a "zaga" (or maybe zaza? not really sure), which is some crazy cross between a banjo, a sitar and a zhonghu, would be an ideal soundtrack for a post-millenial acid test. Definitely a band to watch.

If you missed Sharon's show last night, don't worry, as she'll be playing the Arthur Magazine benefit at the Market Hotel on Saturday, and another show at Glasslands on Sunday.

Sharon Van Etten- Have You Seen
Sharon Van Etten- Consolation Prize

we saw: Sharon Van Etten

"I Was Dreaming Inside"
(Photo by arincrumley)

A cold, rainy night in Brooklyn couldn't have been better for taking in the lonesome, urban folk of Sharon Van Etten. Ms. Van Etten, whose voice is as haunting as it is lush, is quickly becoming a favorite in the live music scene in New York. (If you've checked out NYC Taper anytime in the last 3-4 months you probably already knew this.) Fans of Karen Dalton and Susan Christie will find solace in Sharon's painfully honest, utterly gorgeous hymns, which ring out like bells for the broken hearted. Honest and true to form, last nights show at Zebulon was a hushed affair full of absolutely enthralled onlookers. When I re-emerged into the Williamsburg night, I was somehow shocked to be surrounded by rusty motorcycles, as I was pretty sure I'd been transported to the depths of Germany's Black Forest. A compliment of the highest regard for an artist who is quickly becoming one of the strongest acts in Brooklyn.

NYC Taper has a few live recordings of Sharon, including a recent show at Pianos.

Vote for Sharon on Deli Magazine's favorite NYC based Artist of 2008 poll here. (She's currently whooping ass.)

(ED Note: Hunter and Sharon work together.)

in rotation: Forest Fire

"I Don't Like What I've Become"

I have no idea how I found out about Forest Fire, but two days ago their infectious "I Make Windows" came on shuffle. After a little sleuthing, I found out that Forest Fire are a, surprise surprise, Brooklyn band, by way of Portland, specializing in atmospheric, bourbon soaked, tin-shack country folk. Sure, they fall into the extremely broad "Indie" category, but the songs off their record Survival feel more like urban twang or industrial hymns written in an abandoned warehouse in Bushwick than freak folk or goth folk or whatever the sweet folk the kids are digging this week is. Survival, released this summer, is an understated, overlooked gem that feels more like a stepping stone to something bigger than a master statement. Their bio notes that "Survival was recorded over an eight month period in two locations - Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon. “Not all the members of Forest Fire live on the same coastline,” Mark Thresher explains, “So when certain friends roll through town, things happen pretty quickly.” Many of the tracks were recorded live in less than five takes, then maniacally overdubbed by a variety of players. Sometimes there was only one microphone for the entire band. Sometimes they pulled out a few more." If that's not enticing enough, NYC Taper favorite Sharon Van Etten and Nick Deiffs of the Shaky Hands lend their vocals on a few tracks. Oh yeah, and the album is available for free on archive.org, so what are you waiting for? Snatch Survival here, then go buy Cotton Jones Basket Ride's The Archery EP and chew on the wonders of the new East Coast atmospheric folk scene.

Forest Fire doesn't have any dates scheduled, but you can catch The Shaky Hands at the Mercury Lounge Saturday and Sharon Van Etten at Zebulon on Sunday. Both are Bobk-approved and highly recommended.