Bestowing The Crown #1: Regina Spektor

Hey there,

It’s Amanda here and I’m writing a new post called “Bestowing the Crown”. Basically, I think that female artists don’t get enough attention in the music world. It seems like in all genres, rock, country, hip-hop, female artists often get overshadowed by male counterparts. So I’d like to use this post to call attention to some girl talent, past and present. I’ll give some spotlight to both well-know and up-and-coming female musicians, thereby bestowing the crown on those who deserve to wear it.

This week I’d like to talk about one of my favorite singers, Regina Spektor. Her newest album Far came out a little while ago, and you may have heard her single Laughing With on the radio. She is a pianist, singer and songwriter, producing words and melodies that can pull at anyone’s heartstrings. More so, Spektor is one of the most hard-core artists around. How so? Well, as a kid she listened to rock and roll cassettes of the Beatles and Queen. Cassettes that her father traded illegally. Cassettes that her father traded illegally in Soviet Russia. Yeah, it’s not like Regina’s family would have been sent to the gulags anytime soon for that, but I still think it’s pretty bad-a**.

As Jews in Russia, Spektor and her family endured religious persecution, and left when Regina was nine. They immigrated to New York, where the young musician would study classical piano. She’d soon branch out into other genres, and found her creative niche in songwriting. She also figured out how to play piano while simultaneously swigging a flask of vodka.  Okay just kidding about the vodka. I’ll stop with the Russian jokes.

Regina is unlike any other artist in the music industry. She’s pretty much a human synthesizer of hip-hop, punk, classical, folk, and jazz music. She has an incredibly broad vocal range which works marvelously in both sweet melodies and kitschy tunes. Spektor’s songs are stories in their own right. She’s simply unafraid to express what she wants to express, following her own path. She has this amazing ability to convey everything from heartache to sarcasm with a single line.

If you’d like to explore more of Regina Spektor, my favorite tracks include “Fidelity”, “Sampson” and “The Music Box”. She’s certainly worthy of praise, and that’s why she’s the receiver of this week’s crown.

“On the Radio”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q4tDkCPzgw