Obel, Agnes / Philharmonics
Album: Philharmonics   Collection:General
Artist:Obel, Agnes   Added:Mar 2011
Label:Pias Recordings  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2011-11-06 Pull Date: 2012-01-08
Week Ending: Dec 4
Airplays: 1

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 18, 2015: The Peninsula Report
Riverside
4. Sep 05, 2013: second meeting
Riverside
2. Feb 04, 2014: second meeting (sub)
Riverside
5. Nov 27, 2011: Everything.
Riverside
3. Sep 25, 2013: second meeting
Riverside

Album Review
tina hanae
Reviewed 2011-10-31
Agnes Obel is a Danish-born, Berlin singer-songwriter who uses simple melodious songs, that tend to be on the darker indie side of pop songs. It's like the end of autumn, or winter in an album. Influenced by Debussy and PJ Harvey. There is a delicacy to her music; think, a haunting Feist-like voice that manages to be elegant in a dreamy, rainy-day way. Bat For Lashes, but sweeter.

FCC Free
Try: 2, 3, 5, 4

1. Short Instrumental--piano piece, doily whirlpools of notes, beautiful minute-ish interval -- need to make an announcement? This piece is a great backup
***2. Such a PERFECT HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL SONG. Listen to this. Seriously. Piano plus vocals. Escalates in layers of lace like music.
**3. Lovely, rainy day in an old house song with guitar, piano, layered vocals, slow-midtempo
*4. Very early Joanna Newsom harp-type song, slow bounce of a song, thickens into a darker song when the layered vocals emerge
**5. Like an acoustic Little Boots, but imagine the tenori-on as a leaping harp, and then this thickens too into a deeper song, but still bright hopping threads through the whole thing, meanders; violin comes in, with choral, ethereal midtempo.
6. Instrumental, Carnival waltz bells, then piano
7. Vashti Bunyan, noir-esque wandering song, more jazzy
8. Piano and vocals: Haunting waltz, turns into a type of heavier song midway through the song but the buildup never fully happens
9. midtempo, Bright harp-like keys with dark vox, tick-tock rhythm--very Jesca Hoop. (Cover of John Cale's "I Keep a Close Watch"
10. Short instrumental -- Unnerving mystery-movie piano with cello
11. Downtempo, Very Feist vox, slow bounce of piano, accompanied by vox echoes, and sliding strings join in.
12. Mid-uptempo, think Elliot Smith "Baby Britain" -- dark vox with later strings, and repetitive piano.

--Tina Hanae

Track Listing
1. Falling, Catching   7. Avenue
2. Riverside   8. Philharmonics
3. Brother Sparrow   9. Close Watch
4. Just So   10. Wallflower
5. Beast   11. Over The Hill
6. Louretta   12. On Powdered Ground