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There are many ways to identify that you're dealing with a performer of genius level turn. One is that you'll go see them anywhere they play, clearing your schedule and making whatever arrangements necessary to get there. You may do that for a lot of performers but the great ones not only match your high expectations, they exceed them. Every time I hear Zoe Boekbinder my heart still skips a beat... straight into my throat. I loved her previous EP and was eager for her first, full-length, solo outing.
"Artichoke Perfume" does not disappoint, it exceeds.
The foundation on these eleven songs remains Zoe's vocal work. A style that is founded in early jazz/homespun blues/tinpan alley excursions. The key is that this is a foundation, not all that there is to hear in her singing. She may have early influences but she never sounds dated, you never feel like this is just a retro-retread. Her voice is vibrant, vital and now.
She's collaborated with the Lisps' César Alvarez and a variety of musicians help them create the strange pre-modern/post-modern pop on this collection. What makes this album really work is that the musicians accompany Zoe, they *accent* her. She remains upfront at all times but the arrangements give her strength, despite the skittery rhythms Zoe sounds even more driven with a band behind her.
Musically the band sounds like a New Orleans brass band, but a very minimal, stripped-down one that isn't afraid to taken on whatever is thrown at it. Add to that the bohemian and dynamic, but never overpowering, drumming of Eric Farber and the end result is a mutant Basement Jazz. It works wonderfully.
Zoe and the band are up for the numerous challenges posed by the material.
The whimsical "Wooden Spoon" finds them performing minimal saloon music, the super-hooky "Inexorably" is geeky jazz-pop with the spelling chant that will get stuck in your head for days. "Skeletons" sounds like a Nouvelle Vague song, a piece of 80s music filtered through french cabaret music... except it's not.
Similarly "Chocolate Chips" may evoke an early era, but you can never quite put your finger on which one. It moves too much, shimmering and shifting with a pop bounce that makes you realize that playing "what's this sound like?" games are silly and counter productive.
Lyrically these are eleven love/relationship songs. As it seems unlikely that humans will ever stop having relationships interpersonal relationships will always remain topical. Zoe has the same doubts, hopes, concerns, desires and secret wishes we all have and she generally approaches them with a playfulness and joy.
"Paralyzing" opens the album and is about her being stunned by the talent of another performer. Not too stunned to write a wonderful song of appreciation that her audience is sure to sing back with Zoe in mind (not unlike the Descendents' "Thank You"). "Funeral" is a song about love and its limits (or lack of) that sounds like a response or sequel to Agent Ribbons' "Obituary". And "Adventures of Turtle & Seahorse" is almost too sweet for words (though there is a downer ending).
Not every song relies on tempering the challenges of love with a keen sense of humor. "December" is an amazing song that understands the frustrating and confusing brevity of many relationships that leads you alone wondering "What just happened?". The crucial element to this song is the fact that it's brief, that it seems to be building and then simply ends. "December" leaves you slightly startled and wanting more *just like many relationships*. A great, great song.
The last two songs on the album ("Going Home" and "Mean") find Zoe returning to her basic sound of vocal and guitar. "Going Home" is wonderful piece that seems like it was taken from Michelle Shocked's "Short Sharp Shocked". Here's the only minor caveat I have about this collection: "Going Home" and "Mean" should be switched. "Going Home" is too perfect of a song not to end this incredible collection on.
Highly Recommended
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Zoe Boekbinder~
http://www.zoeboekbinder.com/
http://www.myspace.com/zoeboekbinder
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