March 8th, 2007

Devotchka - Minus the Ultra Violence

» Posted in Music Reviews at 6:17 am

While Devotchka - which means female in A Clockwork Orange Ebonics - might hail from Denver, their sounds range from South American to Eastern European. (A reference here to the similarity of Beirut might be appropriate.)
I guess Devotchka flip lots of covers, but the songs below are originals - I think. The two I posted here show how diverse a sound Devotchka offers.

“The winner Is” is an optimistic consideration of life. But it’s not dogmatic in its light heartedness and is honest enough to consider the fact that things are not all that great. The instrumentation, which cycles through an impressive selection of instruments I can’t always identify, seems to be a tale of learning from past experiences. It starts off with plucky strings and high piano keys (and maybe a triangle) over an accordion. After a point, a lower key piano melody with a sad violin are introduced. Once this if finished, the intro theme is recycled, although a bit less sunny than before, inflected with the previous melody’s somberness. But once again, the sad melody is brought back - this time brighter, absorbing some of the mood of the previous melody. And on it goes until it is decided: “Everything is gonna be alright.” As optimists generally do, it opts for an ultimately triumphant, although sober, mood at its climax. “Winner” provides the music for the opening montage of the funny ass movie Little Miss Sunshine. It’s an instrumental version of the song “How it Ends,” replacing those lyrics with added instrumentation to bump up its complexity.
“The Winner Is”	“Enemy Guns”
Its high noon in front of the CBGB’s saloon. That’s my take on this cut, with its guns blazing electric guitar loops, kick drums, and eerie calm before the storm whistled melodies. “Guns” also has a sprinkling of some moody fiddles and exotic drums throughout it, as well as some love damaged vocals presented for us in a variety of languages.

“The winner Is” is an optimistic consideration of life. But it’s not dogmatic in its light heartedness and is honest enough to consider the fact that things are not all that great. The instrumentation, which cycles through an impressive selection of instruments I can’t always identify, seems to be a tale of learning from past experiences. It starts off with plucky strings and high piano keys (and maybe a triangle) over an accordion. After a point, a lower key piano melody with a sad violin are introduced. Once this if finished, the intro theme is recycled, although a bit less sunny than before, inflected with the previous melody’s somberness. But once again, the sad melody is brought back - this time brighter, absorbing some of the mood of the previous melody. And on it goes until it is decided: “Everything is gonna be alright.” As optimists generally do, it opts for an ultimately triumphant, although sober, mood at its climax. “Winner” provides the music for the opening montage of the funny ass movie Little Miss Sunshine. It’s an instrumental version of the song “How it Ends,” replacing those lyrics with added instrumentation to bump up its complexity.

“The Winner Is”

“Enemy Guns”

Its high noon in front of the CBGB’s saloon. That’s my take on this cut, with its guns blazing electric guitar loops, kick drums, and eerie calm before the storm whistled melodies. “Guns” also has a sprinkling of some moody fiddles and exotic drums throughout it, as well as some love damaged vocals presented for us in a variety of languages.

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