Ballads Of Living And Dying, by Marissa Nadler (CD on Beautiful Happiness)

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marissa Nadler (5 April 1981 – ) is an American dream-folk musician and fine artist born in Washington D.C. Growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, she came from a creative family—"My mother is an abstract painter and very eccentric. She is a clairvoyant, I'm not sure how much I believe in that kind of thing but there was always voodoo spells going on in the house. My brother is a guitarist and a novelist, so I had a kind of renaissance family, everybody was creative"—Nadler studied illustration and painting at Rhode Island School of Design, where she became interested in music more seriously, while exploring old artistic techniques such as woodcarving and encaustic painting.

Nadler is often categorised as a member of the "New Weird America" movement, which may or may not be an appropriate grouping for her strange, yet classic, melancholy songs. Her voice (often bathed in a wash of reverb or space echo) has been compared to artists as varying as Marlene Dietchrich (pitchforkmedia.com), Hope Sandoval, Sandy Denny, Vashti Bunyan, Neko Case, and Kate Bush. People have recently compared her unique guitar playing style to the intricacies of John Fahey and Basho. She is also often classed as a part of the recent folk revival, yet many critics note a more traditional, ancient influence. "My music comes much more from an Americana traditions. I really like gritty old blues singers and Country & Western. I like the British stuff, but it was never an influence of mine." So, it appears that she grew up on more of a diet of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline than the British Isles singers.

More accurate would be to describe Nadler as a balladeer with American Gothic leanings; her songs often take place in an imagined, idealistic time with a cast of characters of her own creation. Her links to American Gothic are reinforced by "Annabelle Lee", the last song on her debut album, Ballads of Living and Dying, which puts the poem of the same title by Edgar Allan Poe to a musical backing. Singing in a haunting mezzo-soprano, the foundation of her songs are her delicate 12-string acoustic guitar, often accompanied by variety of instruments, ranging from banjo to tin whistle. "The biggest of my influences are Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, in terms of song writing," says Nadler. "Sonically, I was into Pink Floyd, The Poppy Family, and a lot of space folk and space rock."

Marissa Nadler released her first album, Ballads of Living and Dying, on Eclipse Records in 2004; her follow-up, The Saga of Mayflower May, was released in July 2005. Both records were distributed in the US by Eclipse Records, and by the UK label Beautiful Happiness in Europe. Eclipse Records' Ed Hardy is said to have "discovered" Marissa Nadler, and also bringing her into the underground music family. A Welsh Label, My Kung Fu records, released a 7" Diamond Heart / Leather Made Shoes in 2006 - two versions of tracks off of her upcoming full length record. Marissa Nadler has recently signed to Peacefrog Records (Nouvelle Vague, Jose Gonzales) which will release her third official full length record, Songs III: Bird on the Water, on February 12th, 2007. Marissa Nadler is continuously thought of as a prolific and thoughtful musician, and it seems that a neverending flow of beautiful songs pours from her fingers and voice. Her brand new full length record, Songs III: Bird on the Water, was produced by Greg Weeks, of the Philadelphia band the Espers. The record is rumored to combine the gorgeous melancholy of her previous records with a more sonically layered approach, including heavily distorted electric guitars, cello, and percussion.