2009-05-31
Out of Portland, duo-used-to-be, Viva Voce is now a quartet for its second album on Barsuk Records. Combining guy-girl harmonies with dreamy guitar and dark lyrics, Viva Voce offers and ambient shoegaze-pop sound. This album was written, arranged and recorded within a month for an immediate sound. Best songs are the country-noir "Red Letter Day" and "Die A Little" with its cool "oooh, oooh, oooh" refrain. Nothing here beats "Devotion", though, the album's opener. Rebecca Ruth
SONS & DAUGHTERS
This Gift
BEN HARPER AND THE RELENTLESS SEVEN
Live From the Montreal International Jazz Festival
MELISSA RUTH & THE LIKELY STORIES
Ain't No Whiskey
THE SOUL OF JOHN BLACK
The Good Girl Blues
LISA LOEB
No Fairy Tale
DESMOND AND THE TUTUS
Tuckshop
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