Vienna Teng - Dreaming Through The Noise
Dreaming Through The Noise. The title sums up the sound of the album strangely well: the tone is often softened, almost dreamlike. But what makes this album special is the edge; the noise, which brings energy and excitement into the procession.Vienna Teng is another recruit to the ever-growing chamber-folk pianist solists, but you shouldn't think she is anything but original. Between her veteran folk leanings- she has had 3 albums slip under the radar so far, after all- with her classical piano training and even the occasional wavering of traditional Chinese music, she's developed into a totally uncopiable artist. And once you get past that, it gets a bit more special than that.
The opener, Blue Caravan is everything an album opener should be: all rising strings, dramatic, rolling piano loops, epic acoustic guitar riffs and casually cool but classy as heck vocals. It manages to set you off on the journey that the album will get you on- but it's so smooth that you'll find yourself going back to the start as soon as it's over to live it out again. And not just because it's enjoyable music: it's the catchiest tune ever freakin' made, alongside that! This is music that shouts "I'm just going out, and I may be some time" but ends up getting out of it all okay. This music is untouchable and invincible.
But then you move on and the next track is the complete opposite: the bouncy, simple singalong Whatever You Want sings of the simple life and dismisses any ideas of yet another Regina Spektor wannabee. And then, Love Turns 40 is another change in direction, turning into a Tori Amos-fest of emotional melodies and wailing choirs. In fact, despite the complete lack of any change of instuments (plus or minus a violin or 2), every track seems completely unique from each other.
The other major stickout track is Pontchartrain, the penultimate offering from Dreaming Through The Noise. There is a sudden change from everything else on the album, the piano suddenly jarring and hitting all the black keys dissonantly and mysteriously. Over it, Vienna sings eerily about the devastation and results of hurricane Katrina in a strangely Radiohead-esque twist. And then, before you think it's all, it builds, and grows, until the result is a massively unsettling but undeniably beautiful piece of music that takes you past the 6 minute mark, drifting over everything else in your mind. If Vienna is dreaming through the noise, then this is the nightmare. But it's one that you don't want to wake up from.
Wistful but powerful, Dreaming Through The Noise is an album full of classics that haven't been discovered yet. It's got the classy, smooth sensibilities but it's also got the epic scope and drama coming out the wazoo. All in all, Vienna Teng has created a new anti-folk benchmark with this album, and it's more than worthwhile adding to your collection.
Preview - Blue Caravan (Live)
Preview - Pontchartrain (Live)
(These previews are stripped down versions of the songs without guitars or strings)
Vienna Teng - Dreaming Through The Noise (Megaupload)
-Mike (=
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