Mary Ann meets the Gravediggers .. and other Short Stories by Regina Spektor

I was already familiar with Regina's music but this album was new to me. It includes tracks from her first three albums 11:11, Songs and Soviet Kitsch .. a kind of 'best of' album from someone who, at that point, probably had only had one commercial hit! (the glorious 'Us').

Regina was born in Moscow in 1980, but her parents emigrated to New York in 1989 (settling in The Bronx). She is a classically trained pianist and sings, mostly in English (often with a pronounced New York accent) but also in Russian, French and other languages. She taps out rhythms on the piano top and uses her voice as you would a musical instrument resulting in some weird, wonderful and totally unconventional sounds.

She has a wonderful ability to blend tragedy with comedy in her songs. One of the absolute highlights of this album is the sublime 'Chemo Limo', a song that is heartbreakingly sad but also manages to make you smile too, the chorus, despite it's tragic words, is so catchily sung.

'No thank you, no thank you, no thank you, no thank you, I don't have to pay for this sh*t.

I can afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo, and on any given day I'd rather ride a limousine

No thank you, no thank you, no thank you, no thank you, I ain't about to to die like this,

I can afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo, and besides this sh*t is making me tired, it's making me tired, it's making me tired.

You know I plan to retire some day, but mama gonna go out in style, go out in style

This sh*t it's making me tired, it's making me tired, it's making me tired, but mama's gonna go out in style, go out in style'

Other stand out tracks are 'Pavlov's Daughter' a song with lyrics pertaining to Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning experiments ...

Pavlov's daughter woke up in the morning

Heard the bell ring

And something deep inside of her, made her want to salivate

So she lay there drooling on her pillow

So she lay there,

the sun skimming her skin,

And, and...drooling on her pillow

Also 'Love Affair', 'Mary Ann', 'Consequence of Sound', 'Lacrimosa' and 'Oedipus', a song about how to overcome, being 32nd in line for the throne.

Her vocals are so varied, she can be quite jazzy and guttural, quite bluesy and folksy, but also soaringly pure. There have been comparisons to Tori Amos and Bjork, and it's probably true to say that if you don't like either of them, then you probably won't like Regina, but she has her own originality and quirks that are quite different to theirs.

This CD comes with a bonus DVD that showcases just how quirky and creative she is, with a couple of music video's and a promo.

Good starting points for anyone unfamiliar with her music would be the newer and more commercial tracks 'Fidelity' and 'Laughing With', but though these are great, I like the older, stranger stuff better.