Some Diurnal Aural Awe on Spiral

It feels entirely fitting, as Allison Crowe and bandmates ready for recording sessions, the first non-solo tracks for Crowe since her album “Spiral”, a lovely review of that 2010 song collection appears now in “Some Diurnal Aural Awe”: http://somediurnalauralawe.blogspot.ca/2015/09/allison-crowe-spiral-album-review.html

 

“Honest and Heartfelt, Both of Them” subtitles Some Awe - a writer, poet, and retired English teacher whose deep love and appreciation of music is woven into blog form.



And here’s the music from “Spiral” – produced wonderfully by Kayla Schmah: http://music.allisoncrowe.com/album/spiral-2

Spiral

“Discs and Nudes Descending a Staircase” represents a cinematic vision of Marcel Duchamp. The French painter, Cubist, Dadaist, artist and anti-artist collaborated on the fourth dream sequence in Hans Richter’s 1947 surrealistic film “Dreams That Money Can Buy”.

Spiral from Allison Crowe on Vimeo.

This excerpt joins “Spiral” from Allison Crowe (voice, piano, composer, engineer), Dave Baird (bass), Laurent Boucher (percussion), Larry Anschell (guitar, engineer), and Kayla Schmah (producer).

“To all appearances”, said Duchamp (1887 – 1968), “the artist acts like a mediumistic being who, from the labyrinth beyond time and space, seeks (their) way out to a clearing.”

#9 of 16 Songs

Free! Music! Contest Salutes Creativity and Evolution

This weekend, Canada Day, “north of the 49th”, and Independence Day in America, marks the international launch of “Free! Music! Contest 2011”. Organizer Musikpiraten e.V., explains this year’s focus is on “free” as in “freedom” rather than in “free beer”. Considering the strong European flavour to the community involved, though, it’s win-win however you brew it.

"FreeMixter" is the motto of this event and, as that suggests, emphasis is on enabling remixes – via ccMixter, the remix portal where many artists, including such high-profile creators as the Beastie Boys, Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park), and DJ Vadim, release tracks that others can use to make new music.

Allison Crowe’s posted the vocal and piano tracks for "Spiral" to ccMixter, saying:

"Creative Commons is, in my opinion, the best way to license your music!

You can choose what you're most comfortable with, without someone choosing it for you - in a sense rendering it the most personalized, realistic and human way to do things - sharing art, and joining artists, all together from all around the world. That's what it's all about!

All the best with this year's Free! Music! Contest :) Can't wait to hear what happens!"

Allison Crowe is delighted and honoured to be designated Musical Patron for this year’s celebration of creativity – following previous F!M!C Patron, author, journalist and Boing Boing blogger Cory Doctorow, a prominent advocate of Creative Commons licensing, an increasingly welcome alternative to traditional copyright.

Artists, academics, everyone, in today’s evolving environment, can tune in, and turn on to the greater flexibility and compatibility with digital realities afforded by Creative Commons aka CC licensing.

Here’s to “The Power of Open”. Prost!

silence (82 seconds of) + Throw Your Arms Around Me v2

BBC Radio's 'Desert Island Discs' speaks with Maurice Hopper, of Exeter, UK. As a peace observer, he carried eight pieces of music to the Middle East. Transferring music from CD to computer some spaces in between got lost. "It emphasized the huge importance of silence in musical performances," he says. This track is a "silence" break before encore, "producer's cut", versions on "Spiral".



+

On this, a second version of the Hunters & Collectors' anthem Throw Your Arms Around Me on Allison Crowe's "Spiral" album, producer Kayla Schmah's mix enriches the encore - bringing Allison's vocals to the fore - after they'd been immersed in the pub-style-group-sing-along that wraps the first. Building up to one more, final, gorgeous, song production...

Spiral

Allison Crowe and the same musical team that came together for the gentle "Oceans" dive into rocky territory with the album title song, "Spiral". The character of Allison’s 100+ year-old upright grand piano is also a key element.

Double-Edged Swords

Allison Crowe switches up with "Double-Edged Swords" - riding the rails geographically and emotionally. On board with Allison, the band, and producer Kayla Schmah is long-time musical partner, Turtle Studio's Larry Anschell, engineering the instrumental tracks. There's no 'sleeper' on this trip...

Dearly

"Spiral" is Allison Crowe's newest album - w. gorgeous cover paintings by Netherlands-based Tara Thelen + graphic design by Florida's Alix Whitmire. Billie Woods contributes photographs & acoustic guitar, alongside a rhythm section of Dave Baird and Laurent Boucher. Arranging, orchestrating and producing in full cinematic splendour is Kayla Schmah, of L.A. by-way-of-Salt Spring Island.

Curtains rise on "Dearly"...

Canadian Crowe's Annual Musical Migration Underway

Musician Allison Crowe, who calls Nanaimo, BC and Corner Brook, NL, home, is set for her annual European migration confirms European road manager, Camille Schmah.

The bicoastal Canadian tours Europe at least once or twice each year and her "Spiral" Europa Tournee 2010 takes flight this month - with concert visits to Frankfurt, Nijmegen, Aachen, Gentilly - Paris, Vienna, Florence, Berlin and Quedlinburg.

From a land that's brought forth such legendary singer-songwriters as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, this "old world" is witnessing a singular talent of a new generation.

With the release of her newest album, "Spiral", UK music blog "We Write Lists" declares her "Canada's finest songwriter" - building on acclaim from MOJO, TimeOut, the BBC and other UK media. Swedish reviewer Anna Maria Stjärnell says that on "Spiral", Allison Crowe "sings her heart out. She's made yet another album to treasure." Underscoring one of her unique characteristics, this week, "Paris Voice" labels Crowe "one of the best interpreters to come along since Joe Cocker".

Embodying songwriting, as well as interpretive, artistry of the highest order is rare enough. To these, Allison Crowe brings intense energy and honesty in performance - undoing any stereotypes of the modern singer-songwriter as purveyor of flaccid folk, plastic pop, or regurgitated rock tropes.

Longtime Canadian radio and television personality, Rick Dennis, (now creator/host of CICV's "Rick's Country Classics and Folk Favorites"), told his radio audience, after Crowe's appearance at "Special Woodstock", this Summer: "You really have to see Allison Crowe live. The way she splits those notes, it's like light through a prism - all the colours of a song."

For select concerts on her upcoming Euro tour, Allison Crowe is joined by guest artists: Holland's Leontine Snoeren; France's Emily B. Green; and Canadian-Brazilian Billie Rocha-Woods. Details can be found @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com/tour.html

23.09 Jazzlokal Mampf - Frankfurt, Germany
25.09 De Lindenberg - Nijmegen, Netherlands
30.09 Aula Carolina - Aachen, Germany
02.10 Auditorium du Conservatoire - Gentilly / Paris, France
08.10 Tunnel Vienna Live - Vienna, Austria
12.10 Teatro del Sale - Florence, Italy
15.10 Osterkirche - Berlin-Wedding, Germany
16.10 Blasiikirche - Quedlinburg, Germany

The essence, articulated by operators of Teatro del Sale in Firenze, home to famed Chef Fabio Picchi and Artist Maria Cassi, is "la ricerca della qualità della vita"!

Spiral Europa Tournee set for launch

"In the flicker of an eyelash - and a nap, I’m off to Germany..."


Word on Allison Crowe's upcoming "Spiral" European concert series is coming this week. For the moment, here's a look at a concert poster - with original artwork by Tara Thelen - whose painting "Look at Me" is the album/CD cover of "Spiral".

Celebrate... everything!

There's been fireworks both sides of the Canada/US border in recent days. And, likely, soccer fans from Spain and the Netherlands are sparking up their own celebrations before the world cup final. Maybe you have a birthday, an anniversary, something special to mark - simply, even, another day being alive.

To add to the fun... Robert Courtemanche attended Canada Day celebrations in the nation's capital, Ottawa, with friends. He's put together this video of a fireworks display - with musical accompaniment from Allison's newest album, "Spiral" ~ the song "Going Home Tonight".

Salut!

Upward Spiral for Allison Crowe - in Spirit and Flesh

“Canada’s finest songwriter”, Crowe reigns as instrument of faith and sex and God...

Allison Crowe, one of the great voices in music, this week gives a candid interview to UK writer Stephen Thomas. Published on culture blog ‘We Write Lists’, the chat highlights the twinned strands of spirituality and sexuality – a double-helix of musical vitality that makes Crowe such a singular force.

For the musician, described by Thomas as “Canada's finest songwriter”, performance is an act of communication that can reach emotionally and physically ecstatic heights for artist and audience.

Edith Piaf, Mahalia Jackson, and Oum Kalthoum moved people profoundly with their voices in earlier generations. Combining the joyful exuberance of Louis Armstrong, with the manic energy of rock and rollers from Little Richard in the 1950s to Bruce Springsteen of the 1970s, and the intensity of Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam of the ‘90s), Crowe tells ‘We Write Lists’ a concert set is akin to “some seriously good sex”. And, she notes: “To me, music is spirituality.”

Allison Crowe has just released her seventh CD. Titled “Spiral”, the album’s collection of original songs span country, roots, rock, pop and folk, alongside interpretations of classics from Annie Lennox (Why), Leonard Cohen (Chelsea Hotel No. 2), and Hunters and Collectors (Throw Your Arms Around Me).

"I Found You" - inside-album art by Tara Thelen from Allison Crowe's newest release, "Spiral"

Crowe’s own voice, piano and guitar is joined on this outing by Billie Rocha-Woods (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Dave Baird (bass, backing vocals), Brendan Millbank (cello), Larry Anschell (electric guitar), and Laurent Boucher (percussion). Anschell also has a hand in engineering (as do B.R.N. and John MacMillan). String arrangement, orchestration and production is by Hollywood film-scoring phenom Kayla Schmah. Drawing raves, too, is the album art, with paintings by Bergen, NL-based Tara Thelen, graphics by Florida’s Alix Whitmire, and photography by Rocha-Woods and Dan Goldwasser.

Next month, the Spiral concert tour launches with dates on Canada’s Pacific Coast – then moves to continental Europe for shows in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and, still-to-be-confirmed, Italy.

Hands Across the Water

Spiral, Allison Crowe's newest album of music is starting to reach the world.



As Spiraling joy ensues, it's an especially fun time to reflect on how we got here, and what it all means.

Drawing from the well-spring, this week a pair of UK web-based features:

Straight-outta-Nottingham, soon-to-be-in-London-town, Swiftian culture-blogger and novel-writer, Stephen Thomas invites Allison to guest-post for the next six weeks.

We Write Lists Presents: Six Albums with Allison Crowe

Thomas explains to his audience:

"Over the past four years or so I have spoken a great deal of Allison Crowe, whether it be on blogs, to friends, to family members or anyone else stupid enough to tune into my opinions. So, in many ways, the posts that will appear every Saturday for the next six weeks are a real coup here at WWL. A few months back I was fortunate enough to have Franz Nicolay, formerly of The Hold Steady, to write up a guest post on his favourite six albums. Recently I asked the same of Allison Crowe and she kindly obliged. Now, as the result either of her (obvious) passion for music or her recently freed-up schedule (Thanks, Eyjafjallajöjull!) Allison has written us enough of her insightful takes on the music that inspired her to secure a spot as a regular contributor for the next six weeks, during which we'll share her written offerings one album at a time! So, over to Allison:"


http://wewritelists.blogspot.com/2010/04/we-write-lists-presents-six-albums-with.html

Allison, whose musical roots first planted in classical and jazz, took the challenge. For the next six weeks, she talks about those albums that formed the soundtrack to a pivotal period in her life ~ when, she says, "my personality and life’s choices were truly being forged and molded - beyond childhood but not yet adult - with plenty of naïvety and an equal amount of life experience."

Tune in to this We Write Lists serial special. (Not to be confused with a special cereal - that would be something like Cap'n Crunch - with decoder ring in the box. Though, these things may not be so far apart...)

From Inverness, the Scottish Highlands, and now back home in Edinburgh is musician, photo-journalist and more, Shona McMillan.

Editing together old cine films shot by her family in the 1960s, McMillan has created this lovely, evocative reflection and meditation:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF40lnbwOYk

For the soundtrack to her "Home Reflections", Shona has chosen Allison's recording of, too-soon-gone-from-this-world, singer-songwriter Phil Ochs' "When I'm Gone".

On her YouTube channel, she recounts the film's story, and notes:

"In 2007, I met the singer of the song - Allison Crowe when we both performed in Durness at the John Lennon festival. Later, when she did another gig in Edinburgh, Allison sang this song and absolutely blew me away with her performance and the intensity of the lyrics. Having just lost my mum to cancer, less than 12 months before, I said to Allison that her singing had captured for me the incredible need I felt to do things 'NOW'. She gave me her CD as a gift "Allison Crowe Little Light" and amongst the many other beautiful songs on it - this remains for me the most special. A song which has often helped to motivate me in my uphill personal challenge to produce my own People and Songs of the Sea multi-media heritage project (recording fisher folk from Edinburgh to Eyemouth in thousands of photos, audio and most recently film). The lyrics of the song here - they so greatly inspire me and yes they can be sad but also, they encourage true reflection and appreciation of the value of time. All of us have just 24hrs in each day, it can seem a lot at the time but, when we look back on a life lived and now gone - we see how very precious time was and is. We see that a Life is made up, shaped and built by all the little choices we make over the hours, days, weeks and years that we live. The ways in which we choose to spend our time are surely the most important, on-going decisions we make throughout the days of our lives."

Shona McMillan wraps up: "How very precious time is. Indeed, I recall my mum's favourite saying which was the philosophy by which she tried to live her life:

'I pass this way but once, any good that I can do - Let Me - for I may not pass this way again'."

Volcanic talents erupt with Spiral: Allison Crowe’s rock and roll providence

The road less-travelled is proving, both, essential and fruitful for the music and audience of Allison Crowe. Steering clear of the corporate and indie mainstream frees the Canadian-born musician to earn a singular place as one of today’s most exciting songwriters and performers. All over the world, Crowe’s success is founded on emotional resonance - not promotional dollars and cents.

Dutch culture blog “File Under” notes: “Music is a necessity according to Allison Crowe and this is clearly apparent in the intensity of the way she sings and plays piano. To ensure artistic freedom and following one of her inspirations Ani DiFranco, she started her own label Rubenesque Records in 2003 on which she’s already released two EP's and six albums.”

http://www.fileunder.nl/archives/2010/04/allison_crowe_spiral.php

April 17 has musical lineage as birth-date of The Buzzcock’s Pete Shelley, and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan. The Band (formerly The Hawks) performed their first concert on April 17, 1969. Exactly one year later, Paul McCartney's debut solo album, "McCartney", was released. This April 17, coinciding with Record Store Day, Allison Crowe’s “Spiral” album was released on CD.

“I hear so much music these days, too much for one person really. I’m inundated with such a flood of sounds both good and bad that I sometimes forget what it feels like when a song literally produces chills on your arms,” says Muruch, a blog with roots in America and branches across the world of arts and entertainment.

”Then I hear Allison Crowe sing, and I remember the effect music is supposed to have on you. That awe-inspired rush, that indescribable feeling of communion between artist and audience. The gratitude that someone gifted has expressed through their art an emotion you personally lack the talent to articulate. To quote Allison: ‘Why music? Why breathing?’ ’’

http://www.muruch.com/2010/04/allison-crowe-spiral.html


"I Found You" - one of two original oil-paintings by Tara Thelen, Bergen, NL-based artist, featured on Allison Crowe's "Spiral" CD cover


“1 Heck of a Guy” author, Allan Showalter, (also U.S.-based and international in cultural scope), reports being: “Joyfully Caught In Allison Crowe's ‘Spiral’."

“Having spent most of the past two days playing and replaying the Allison Crowe ‘Spiral’ CD, I’ve come to certain conclusions:

1. ‘Spiral’ is an outstanding album. That’s hardly a surprise. The album features a great voice, great song selections, and great arrangements. What’s not to like?

2. Listening to the CD renders an already obvious point unavoidable:
newcomers to Allison Crowe should be granted access to her music only on the condition that their first experience is listening to an entire album. Don’t get me wrong – there are several tracks that would, in the era of 45 rpm records, have qualified as hit singles. But, listening to a song or two from ‘Spiral’ is impressive; listening to the entire album in one sitting is overwhelming – in a good way.

3. The ‘Spiral’ CD not only sounds right, it looks right and feels right. Having owned too many of the same albums in too many conformations, including vinyl records, cassettes, 8-tracks, reel-to-reel recordings, CDs, and downloaded files with any number of suffixes (MP3, WAV, AIFF, AU, FLAC, AAC, MPEG-4, WMA, …), I am rarely swayed by format nostalgia, but in this case, the physical CD itself seems a better fit to the album than invisible computer files. It is especially gratifying to discover that the art and the gatefold design evokes the sense of those albums I bought in the 1960s and 1970s when examining the graphics, reading the liner notes, and considering their implications vis-à-vis the music inside was an essential element in listening to that new record (see graphic below; click on image for best viewing).

The concern shown in this quality of design reflects parallel concerns and respect for the music and for the buyer’s experience.”

http://1heckofaguy.com/2010/04/15/joyfully-caught-in-allison-crowes-spiral

“Spiral”, Allison Crowe’s seventh CD release, is now available in record stores from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, Canada (incl. Nanaimo, B.C’s Fascinating Rhythm and Lobelia's Lair; on Salt Spring Island at Acoustic Planet Music and Salt Spring Sound; in Victoria, B.C. come to Lyle's Place; in Vancouver, visit Zulu Records; in Newfoundland drop by Fred's Records in St. John's), and online at allisoncrowe.com, eBay, CD Baby, MapleMusic, Amazon.com, iTunes, eMusic, Fishpond and many more fine sites.

Due to the lively nature of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which has sent a cloud of ash over Europe, (one that has now reached the east coast of Newfoundland, Canada), concert dates of Allison Crowe for this month in Aachen, Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin are being rescheduled to combine with shows in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and other locations for a grand European tour this Fall.

Spiral's "work of art" greets Record Store Day - April 17, 2010

Allison Crowe's newest album, "Spiral", gets physical, physical, this month - with its CD release on April 17. The album was released digitally on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.

There was an abundance of gold, silver and bronze in February, when Canada hosted the Olympics. Since then, printers have been sourcing a supply of the special metallic dyes needed for the album cover art of "Spiral".

This process happily enables Crowe's newest CD release to coincide with international Record Store Day. "Spiral" is now available at Fascinating Rhythm, in Nanaimo, B.C. - one of the five favourite record stores 'cross Canada for Stuart McLean, raconteur extraordinaire, host of CBC Radio's "The Vinyl Cafe." "Spiral" will soon be in Lobelia's Lair in Nanaimo, Lyle's Place in Victoria, Zulu Records in Vancouver, BC, and, on Canada's Atlantic coast, fred's records on Duckworth Street in St. John's, Newfoundland - and more.

" 'Spiral' is a true work of art," writes Jeff Taylor, video-game programmer and multi-blogger from Canada. "The album is amazing, and will certainly be a top contender for album of the year."

"Spiral" is the seventh album/CD release from Allison Crowe. "This is an astonishingly gifted artist working in a class by herself," says Tom Mureika, writer for All Music Guide and other North American-based culture sites. ParisVoice, English language journal for folks who call home the city of Piaf and Charles Aznavour, says: "expressing emotion is where Allison Crowe excels. Whether covering other artists... or performing her own songs... each track becomes alive and palpable."

On April 17th, Spiral greets Record Store Day. That same day Allison Crowe flies to Europe to launch a series of concerts in Aachen, Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin.

the upward Spiral

...or further up the Spiral, as it were.

(can I tag Trent Reznor in this note?!)
(turns out - no)

Finally, my 7th album is complete. Wait a minute - did i say SEVENTH?! WTF?! The reality of time and age starts to set in when I count albums. I feel old lately. (blame the event of last year's 10 year high-school reunion - which I was unable to attend)

Let's just say "new" album - ahhh. That's better.

So, my NEW album, Spiral, is finally out (digitally - the hard copy of same is not to be completed til the end of this week) and I am SO freaking excited about this one.

All of those little ideas I've always had, the little sonic bits and pieces that I've wanted, the arrangements and orchestrations, the instruments, were brought to life by some of my best friends. Have I ever rapped away to you the virtues of being independent? Well if I haven't, I'm sure I will. One of the greatest parts of doing whatever I want (besides THAT fact in and of itself) is that I get to work with people that I actually LIKE.- nay, LOVE.

I was certain at the outset of this that the next album had to be different - I just wasn't sure how. I wanted big production sound but as always have wee production budget (meaning everything ends up being mostly homemade - current technology lends itself to this beautifully)

I had the wonderfully talented musicians, and friends, on my side. Billie Woods, Dave Baird, and Laurent Boucher. Check. We played together, even went on tour. Remember that whole thing with the UK. welll, the stuff after that was awesome. Check.

What's this? A cellist? Brendan Millbank. Boo ya. Just happens to be my neighbour in Nanaimo. Done.

Moving along...

Next question - how to capture?

I've been engineering my own albums for a while now, learning as I've been going along - so I was sure I'd be able to do a good deal of it - though the perfection of, and gear for, some certain sonic elements still elude me. Enter the mix between myself and Larry Anschell - Turtle Studios super dude. (has done mobile recording for Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains - as well as countless successful studio recordings - his studio has an arcade!!!! SRSLY)

The combination of things was decided. I did a lot at home, some already existed, I travelled to some homes, some was live, some was Larry - perfect for all the little bits we needed. You know, Adrian himself caught pieces of Dave's background vocals and all of Brendan's cello.

And what about all those other strings I want to hear in my brains? How the…?

After hitting wall after wall of limitations, both financially and idea-wise, finally, a breakthrough in the form of Kayla Schmah - the ridiculously talented string arranger and producer who I have known for, oh... let's see... at LEAST 10 years. 11? 12? Do i really want to go there? Wasn't I feeling old already? Let's just say we used to sing Indigo Girls and Vonda Shepard songs together on Salt Spring Island at Summer Stock in some year that was still the 90's.

I was lucky enough to have Kayla offer to shape the album in to something beautiful and different altogether. She's sensitive to all the sounds, and knew just what to do - things I never would have even been able to imagine - landscapes of sound I didn't even know existed other than in Lord of the Rings (sorry for the uber-nerdy comparison, it's just that I REALLY REALLY love Lord of the Rings) She made it so I didn't have to listen to tiny little bits of things and adjust their relative volumes. She's also a new mom. I love her endlessly.

Finally, it was coming together.

What about art? Something different... something new... something not my face... (which is always beautifully photographed and made to look really pretty by Billie Woods - she's f**king awesome) (pardonnez-moi...)

Enter Tara Thelen - the painter of the paintings used for this album's artwork. Seriously? I can use these? Are you kidding? I am so freaking lucky it's ridiculous. lol After a lovely telephone conversation with Tara and a bit of time deciding on which of her many amazing paintings to use for this album, we decided on "Look at Me" and "I Found You". Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

Ok so what about layout?

Alix Whitmire - web-designer and cover art designer for a great number of my albums and all around amazing lady who is also an incredibly talented knitter and lover of fibres... She just always knows what looks awesome, including Billy Argel's font, Ginga. Seriously. I love the font. And Alix knows just what to do with it- I can't wait to see it in hardcopy, what with the metallic foils and things with the mixes of colours... YAYYYYY!!!!

I can't forget, too, Condor and John MacMillan - who recorded tracks live way back in the day that have found themselves years in the future on this particular piece - and soundboard operators the world over.

Add in everybody - add in everything - and finally, the culmination, aurally, of what I've imagined and wanted since I used to listen to Counting Crows' August and Everything After until I wore out copies and copies of it from when I was a pre-teen and well after...

I've got it. It's done. I'm pumped. I hope you like it. Thank you to everyone who helped me do this - and to Adrian du Plessis for listening carefully again and again more times than I ever could before my brain would bleed.

Thank you.

Allison :)

next up, the euro-tour in April... stay tuned...

"...the music of what happens" ~ Finn mac Cumaill

Spiral is now on Allison's music pages @



+ on CD Baby and iTunes and these sounds will soon be everywhere ( :

Here's a special video album of Spiral:




Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

"Spiral" - song/track listing

Spiral - song/track listing:

Dearly (Allison Crowe) 4:09
Double-Edged Swords (Allison Crowe) 2:32
Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (Leonard Cohen, Ron Cornelius) 4:29
Wake Up (live) (Allison Crowe) 5:35
Oceans (Allison Crowe) 3:14
I Don't Know (Allison Crowe) 4:49
Spiral (Allison Crowe) 3:45
Throw Your Arms Around Me
(John Archer, Geoffrey Crosby, Douglas Falconer, John Howard,
Robert Miles, Mark Seymour, Michael Waters ~ Mushroom Music) * 4:24
Why (Annie Lennox) * 4:39
Going Home Tonight (Allison Crowe) 4:42
No Matter the Battle (Allison Crowe) 4:10

+ reprise/encore

* Throw Your Arms Around Me (v2) 4:24
* Why (v2) 4:42

Charmed St. Patrick's Day release for "Spiral

Allison Crowe's newest album, Spiral, is released this March 17, St. Patrick's Day, as digital downloads and a series of 14 videos posted on Allison’s site, Facebook, and YouTube. The physical album/CD is scheduled to start shipping the same day. Spiral comprises 11 songs plus a two song reprise/encore.

Follow the yellow-brick road of song, cinematic in scope, visceral in nature, thinking, feeling, courageous and fun - rock, pop, folk, soul, roots.

Allison Crowe’s music is that feast where, says the poet Rimbaud, “all hearts open and all wines flow.”

Over a decade of reviews, the word most often used to describe the voice of Allison Crowe is “gorgeous”. The word that testifies more than any other to her musical performance is “amazing”. This month, the much-loved and acclaimed singer-songwriter releases “Spiral”, her seventh album/CD. It is both of these things. And plenty more.

U.S.-based entertainment blog ‘Muruch’ earlier this year named it as an album most highly anticipated, and, now, UK music blog ‘We Write Lists’ includes "Spiral" as one of "The Twelve Most Exciting Albums of 2010", remarking: "Crowe's speciality is startlingly beautiful piano-based songs that sort of make you wonder why you bother with anything else."

(Joining Crowe on the list are new recordings from: Fleet Foxes, Fyfe Dangerfield, Girls Aloud, Goldfrapp, Gorillaz, Joanna Newsom, Marina and the Diamonds, Massive Attack, MGMT, Music Go Music and She and Him.)

For Allison Crowe, a peerless live performer, and a singer-songwriter of the thrilling calibre known in the 1960s, Spiral is the seventh release from her label, Rubenesque Records, in as many years. Musical production wrapped on Valentine's Day.

Spiral contains eight of Crowe’s original songs, ranging from the tender and playful country/roots of “Dearly”, to the upbeat pop of “Double-Edged Swords”, ’cross the loving “Oceans”, and darker terrain of “I Don’t Know” and the hard rocking title track. Raw, natural, emotion is embraced passionately with elegiac beauty and melody in these, and such joy-filled tunes as “Going Home Tonight” and “No Matter the Battle”. With the live track, “Wake Up”, Crowe, again, renders the personal universal, and the global, human.

Uniquely known not just as one of the most exciting songwriters of a new generation, Crowe is also one of our finest interpreters of popular song. Spiral’s mix of light and shadow includes a trio of fresh covers – revisiting music of Annie Lennox (“Why”), Leonard Cohen (“Chelsea Hotel No. 2”), and Hunters and Collectors’ Antipodean anthem, “Throw Your Arms Around Me”.

On this new song collection, the bi-coastal Canadian, (she calls Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Nanaimo, British Columbia, home), is joined by ideally-skilled and sympathetic west-coast musicians Billie Rocha-Woods (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Dave Baird (bass, backing vocals), Laurent Boucher (percussion), Brendan Millbank (cello) and Larry Anschell (electric guitar, and, also, Engineer/Producer at Turtle Studios in White Rock, B.C.)

Kayla Schmah, Los Angeles-based, Canadian-born, composer and film scorer, orchestrates and produces the album with, yes, "gorgeous" musical textures, and cinematic ideas artfully brought to life. Concert capturings by Engineers B.R.N. (aka Condor) and John MacMillan complete this diverse mix of music made in Corner Brook, Nanaimo, as well as Chilliwack, White Rock, Denman Island and Salt Spring Island, Canada, Vienna, Austria, and Hollywood, USA.

The visual art of Spiral matches its aural beauty - with cover paintings by Netherlands-based Tara Thelen, photographs by Canada's Billie Rocha-Woods, and California's Dan Goldwasser, fontage from Brazil’s Billy Argel and graphic design by Florida's Alix Whitmire.

Allison Crowe's trans-national and international concert dates for 2010 follow the release of Spiral.

Cover Art - Spiral

Here's the "Spiral" album cover as it almost will look in print - there's some gold and silver foil stamping that will happen, which only exists in the physical form (not in a file), and, so, we'll see that when it's created next week!

The original painting is by artist Tara Thelen. The album art design is by Alix Whitmire. Ginga font is a creation of Billy Argel.

One Heck of a Writer

Folks seeking the joys of illuminating, (often, hilarious, and, equally, poignant), commentary on Leonard Cohen's music and all manner of related and unrelated happenings, know to visit the site of 1 Heck of a Guy

That's home to psychiatrist Allan Showalter's "pastiche of posts, featuring song, dance, snappy chatter plus notes on prose, poesy, love, lust, life, and beyond."

We are delighted that the erudite, mysterious, DrHGuy has discovered Allison Crowe, and, as well as penning "essays on broomcorn and proposals for a county seal featuring Dick Tracy" he shares his appreciation of her art and artistry with the online community.

Earlier writings have focused on Allison's songs, including "Wedding Song" and covers of "Darling Be Home Soon" as well as "Me and Bobby McGee".

Last year, when her much-loved version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was favored by Hollywood director Zack Snyder to feature in a much-discussed love-scene in The Watchmen movie, Showalter's blog posts on the subject became web blockbusters.

The good doctor's current, and coming, attraction chronicles the course of Allison's newest album, the musical creation of which completed this past weekend, when producer, orchestrator and arranger Kayla Schmah delivered the final mixes.

It is, he notes, "the true story of the making of Spiral, featuring Allison Crowe, her best friend, her best friend’s wedding, her business manager, a baby, a deal, and music, all of which appear to have not only survived a plot premised on coincidence but to have thrived as a result."

A regular dose of 1 Heck of a Guy is as therapeutic a prescription as Goodhart, Hoffman & Sigler noting that Everything Stops for Tea (and oranges...).