Music Reviews
Kristeen Young

Kristeen Young

The Orphans

Test Tube Baby

You want to talk about an adventurous band? Kristeen Young are a guitar-less duo featuring a heavy pounding drummer (“Baby” Jeff White) and a keyboard beating banshee (Young) with the voice and presence that can only be compared to the queens of the wild and weird: Tori Amos and Bjork. No guitar, no bass, no traditional sounds anywhere on the band’s Tony Visconti-produced album, The Orphans. What you’re served here is a remarkably bold piece of work that will challenge your conceptions of popular music.

Young’s voice sounds classically trained, maybe even operatic, but instead of being confined inside the tight-lipped world of classical music, she’s channeled her skills into the wide open space of rock ‘n’ roll. An opera house could not contain the wild energy that grows inside of that diaphragm. It’s only on the fields of the secular sounds that her impossibly powerful vocal chords can stretch and experiment.

In the midst of her voice, the keyboard and drum parts crawl overtop of one another; so complete are the combined three instruments (keys, drums, voice) that I don’t miss the guitar. It’s unnecessary, with songs so perfect as “Kill the Father” and “9.”

If you need further convincing that this is an album to be ingested properly, she’s already found fans (and collaborators) in Morrissey, David Bowie and Brian Molko (Placebo).

Kristeen Young: http://www.kristeenyoung.com/


Recently on Ink 19...

News Feed for Saturday, June  3

News Feed for Saturday, June 3

News Feed

In the news today: Foo Fighters, Weird Nightmare, Ramones, The Lonely Together, Jason Heeter, Moldy Peaches, Creeper, Slam Dunk Festival, Turnstile, I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson, Boston Manor, Slam Dunk Festival, Cynthia Weil, The Mysterines, Ronnie James Dio, LGBTQIA Rock Icons

Greg Chako

Greg Chako

Interviews

Greg Chako may be from Ohio, but the jazz guitarist explains his personal connection to Japan and the experience of recording music in Tokyo in discussion with Ink 19’s Stacey Zering.

Garage Sale Vinyl: REO Speedwagon

Garage Sale Vinyl: REO Speedwagon

Garage Sale Vinyl

This week, Christopher Long learns that he doesn’t always have to go to other people’s garages to discover vinyl treasure, as he locates a long-lost, musty LP copy of REO, the oft-overlooked 1976 gem from REO Speedwagon, right under his nose.

News Feed for Wednesday, May 31

News Feed for Wednesday, May 31

News Feed

In the news today: Unearth, The Natvral, George Harrison, Lagwagon, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Allyson McCabe, Sinéad O’Connor, Paul Simon, The Cadillac Three, Caroline Polachek, Radio City, Ethel Cain, True Blue, Portola Fest 2023, The Natvral, Be Your Own Pet, I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson, Marie Dahlstrom, Sipprell, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, TMNT movie, MESS, Kristin Hersch, Kruder & Dorfmeister, tour news, Seattle Freakout Fest, Foo Fighters

Ben Model

Ben Model

Interviews

Phil Bailey talks with Ben Model, the Renaissance Man smashing silent film stereotypes through his boutique label, Undercrank Productions.

News Feed for Tuesday, May 30

News Feed for Tuesday, May 30

News Feed

In the news today: Blonde Redhead, Christine and the Queens, Paramore, Hayley Williams, Ron DeSantis, Tina Turner, Beyoncé, The Good Place, Architects, Succession, Tour News, Pulp, Taylor Swift, Steve Albini, Nirvana, Mae Muller, Succession, Roy Boys, Summer Playlist, Gogol Bordello, Ukraine, Jello Biafra, Tre Cool, Joe Lally, Agnostic Front, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jeff Rosenstock

%d bloggers like this: