Separated By Birth

Vermillion Lies: “Separated by Birth”
Reviewed by Rebecca Sacks; rebecca.sacks@gmail.com
Modern cabaret/circus pop. This sisterly duo has vocals that sound like Regina Spektor, Martha Wainwright, and Tegan and Sara had a love child. They then mix this in with some amazing acoustic accompaniments that utilize untraditional instruments including (but not limited to) Javanese gamelan, amplified typewriters, toy piano, clock gears, and flour sifters. The album is divided into two acts, the second being a bit more lively and experimental than the first. First listen-through it became my very favorite album in a very long time. Really. Amazing. A+.
FCC Clean
Recommended Tracks: 5, 7, 10, 13, 15 &16 (together), 17
1. (3:02) Slow, driving melody. The guitar introduction reminds me of sterotypical Italian music, but the vocals sound a lot like Dido. Gains in intensity as the song progresses.
2. (3:40) Most folk-influenced of the album. Cheery melody utilizing toy piano and mandolin. Very sweet almost to the point of being cavity-inducing with a chorus of “I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you. I do.” It also has the most hilarious moment of the album when this sweet, saccharin voice sings “I'll get you drunk and take advantage of you.”
3. (4:45) A sad heartbreak love song. Slow acoustic guitar, a very warm and not at all cliché string section (loving the upright bass sound) and creative use of the Javanese gender. Fragile vocals. Beautiful enough that you can ignore the lack of creativity in the lyrics.
4. (2:36)Amplified typewriter opens disolving into guitar and horn melody with the typewriter remaining in the background to set rhythm. Reminds me of a Michel Gondry movie.
**5. (3:34) Heartbreaking song with guitar, piano, accordian, and strings. Warm, fragile, very easy to listen to vocals. It feels like remembering the best relationship you ever had two months after it ends. Slow-tempoed, seems to just push through with a struggle to the end. 7 sec silence at end.
6. (2:47) Sweet little love song with toy piano and picture-frame percussion. There's something a little off in the harmonies in the chorus that bugs me, but in general a good song, and probably won't annoy most listeners. 3 sec silence at end.
**7. (2:35)Wonderful little upbeat number self-described as “a song for the tea party at the end of the world.” A great folky piece using really greatly innovative percussion including bicycle, washboard, and broken pipes. Great bass vocals in the chorus. Light hearted and simple.
8. (1:49) Fast-paced country song with pot-and-pan percussion. Feels like square dancing. It's about courtship and marriage in the traditional way, and they sound bitter about it.
9. (0:56) Weird instrumental tribute to Ennio Morricone and that says a lot. Think haunted house music.

**10. (2:55)Circus-cabaret music with a morbid twist. Utilizes piano and accordian in some very discordant ways. The vocals blend so well on this track about a circus of the dead. Twisting, twirling melodies that just progress so well. Dissolves into crazy maniacal laughter before a breathy jazz ending.
11. (2:36) Another circus melody. Seductive metaphors about fish. Best lyric: “You are just like my garden trowel/ I don't know what to rhyme with trowel.” Great horn parts and fake French accents.
12. (3:19)Typical folk guitar over weird sounds provided by clock gears and a barbeque grill. Sweet and floating background vocals add great character to the song. Bitter love song.
**13. (2:01) Dark waltz duet between toy piano and piano backed by violin and upright bass. Starts slow and speeds up to a medium tempo. Haunting and beautiful.
14. (2:58) A piano driven mid-tempo ballad. Sounds remarkably like Regina Spektor. Very heartbreaking and nostalgic.
*15. (1:40) #16 backmasked. It actually sounds really interesting and could almost pass for something like sigur ros. If you play, it, play it with 16 though.
*16. (3:59) Haunting melody of toy piano, guitar and flour sifters. Great trickling vocals. The chorus has a backup vocal track that was sung backwards and then reversed. 1:08 of silence at end.
**17. (1:51) Upbeat guitar rock song. It's a song from the point of view of a housecat. “Oh pet me, feed me, go away!” Great danceable, silly song with a driving drumbeat and some fabulous onomatopoeia.