On the first day of every month, a little voice inside my head reminds me, "Hey buddy! Check the Orders Placed section of the library catalog!" For those of you who don't know, if you head over to the "Catalog" section of the library website, there is a wonderful button on the right side called, "Browse Our New Titles." One of its subsections is "Orders Placed," where I discover all the new books, movies, television shows, and music that are coming soon to our library (and stake a nice little spot near the front of the reserve line)! The ritual always leads to some great finds: for example, on June 1st, when I discovered that Regina Spektor had released a new album!
Titled What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, this is the sixth album from the Russian-American singer. I have so far only listened to the first single, the fantastic "All the Rowboats," a jaunty song describing the plight of works of art doomed to languish on museum walls for all eternity. Over a driving piano beat, Regina lists the torment of each specific treasure: "God, I pity the violins/In glass coffins they keep coughing/They've forgotten how to sing."
Regina Spektor is known by her mastery of two instruments: the piano and her own unique voice. Her skill on the ivory keys morphs her songs from soothing love ballads to frantic pieces about dirty dishes coming to life in a very Fantasia manner. And how can I describe what she does with her marvelous, unique voice? Regina is rarely content to sing in a "normal" fashion; rather, her voice soars, pops, growls, hums, swirls, and swoops (among many other colorful adjectives). This can be wonderful when she allows her words to fizzle and pop like a freshly carbonated soda. It can also be horrifying when she skips her voice like a broken record or wails like a banshee!
Any current fan of Regina Spektor or anyone interested in sampling the works of a talented female vocalist should join me on the cheap seats when the album arrives at the branches.
*In case you were wondering why I had a star in the title of this post, it's because when I first wrote "Sneak PEEK," I accidently made the typo of "Sneak PEAK." This reminded me of the hilarious Twitter account Stealth Mountain that alerts other users when they incorrectly type "Sneak Peek"!
-James
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