Friday, November 11, 2011
Ok, yes, we did stop blogging over a year ago and we never ever do album reviews (because, really, you shouldn't care about what anybody else thinks about music.) But giving some for Victoria Noll is long overdue and actually this isn't really a "review" as much as it is an ode to the future Mother of our children so this is for the kids...
Victoria Noll played our Summer Soiree show awhile back ago after our usual yearlong courting ritual. The Mobile, Alabama native was wandering around Los Angeles playing all the typical singer-songwriter joints not really finding a place for her raw, ethereal song poems. We caught one show at the Knitting Factory and listened straight through her start-and-stops and not-so-technical guitar playing to discover one of the most affecting voices we've ever heard. She brought back fond memories of Sarabeth Tucek's early days quietly emptying her heart to empty Los Angeles bars. Or back in the 90s when L.A. first heard, but yet couldn't fully grasp at the time, the soothing tranquility of Mia Doi Todd. And if you're really old school Los Angeles, Aife Wells, who broke hearts the moment her voice hit the mic. Such is the sentiment we felt for Ms. Noll on that night.
While honing her sound in Los Angeles, she often traveled nomadically to and fro and now is apparently settled back in Austin where she went to college, but not before locally producing her new EP "PORTAL," out today. The four songs show surprising poise and restraint for a lady who changes her Facebook profile every other minute. Collaborator Tom Biller (Fiona Apple, Warpaint) gilds "What You Want" and the title track with near angelic vocal opulence while Josh Gordon does just what he did with so many great Trespassers William recordings on "Full Moon In Daylight," one of the more beautiful tracks we've heard all year. And a pretty version of Feist's "Intuition" is thrown in to probably show that, yeah, she can do that Feist thing you like too.The EP is just a taste of this lady's potential and we look forward to more music and more Summer Soirees in the near future. Until then, we'll hit repeat on this record and ponder just how much Los Angeles loves Victoria Noll.
"PORTAL" EP is available at Bandcamp.
