Seven Worthies...Of The Bamboo Grove

	"...one of our most talented, singer/songwriters that has hit the scene..." - Laney Goodman, Women In Music

The self-produced debut from this Californian singer/songwriter/producer is an astonishingly assured piece of work. Steeped in her own individual take on things mystical and romantic, the songs are intensely personal and inhabit a pleasing middle ground between lyrical opacity and outright revelation, pulling the twin satellites of earthly love and spiritual awakening into the same orbit. In the Bamboo Grove, love is god, but the reverse is not necessarily so.

From the first track, 'Desperate To Fall', the strengths of this work become immediately apparent - fine guitar work, a gift for melody and warm, involving vocals. Kicking off with a lone guitar, riffing and arpeggio-ing (imagine an acoustic Keith Richards busking in aid of the local Cathedral roof) this track is a great opener and showcases the band's talents to the full. Ms. diGregorio's voice drops in shortly, almost as if caught mid-conversation, and engages the listener with its tone and range, investing lines like "making love by the fire" with a wistful joy in remembered intimacy rather than pride of conquest or a smirk of satisfaction. Special mention must be made here of the guitar work of John Wedemeyer - a fine instrumentalist obviously in sympathy with the spirit and word of the work he embellishes here with playing that hits incendiary in the close without scorching or bleaching the song surrounding it.

There is a strident edge to the second track, 'Secrets', which jousts with the personal tragedy of the lyric to create a picture of woman aware of her troubles, but not yet fully overcome by them - "Here on my own", which reads almost as straight pathos on the page comes over as resigned near-acceptance in the performance.

If there's a sweeter song about disintegrating relationships than 'When You Get Home' then this reviewer certainly hasn't heard it. The stately guitar figure underpinning the song put me in mind of the 'olde-tyme' dance music of a lost land, the tinkle of a bejewelled music box playing in a vast mirrored ballroom as two people dance, each step taking them further and further apart.

The Eastern oddessy of 'Inside The Dream', infused with spices and adorned with minarets, marks the first of three contributions from Dave Gregory of XTC (doing himself a great favour here) who again shows great empathy with the material, making marks that add detail without obscuring the art already present. On 'Godbox', the next track, Gregory switches everything to eleven and gets his slipper up on the monitor to help pour a little fire and brimstone on those who would set themselves up to speak for God. The guitar and keyboard work of Gregory was engineered and 'knob-twiddled' by Andy Partridge, also of XTC.

There's a sassy strut to the next two tracks, 'On The Edges Now' and 'Among Us', that on the first listen might obscure the deep sense of loss, emotional and actual, that permeates both songs. Not to worry though, repeated plays, as you will be impelled to give this CD, won't let you escape involvement for long, especially in the light of the next track, 'One In Ten', which again shimmers in the haze of an Eastern sunset. Expansive and open, this song is from the heart and, if you drift with it a while, it gets its claws right into your spine.

All stops are out for some serious rock action with a frenzied take on the album's only cover, Todd Rundgren's 'Open My Eyes', the studio chatter and laughter that bookend the track expanding on the fun and release obvious in the playing of it.

The album closes with the faintly epic (the longest track at 6:24) 'The Days Of Our Ascent', the chronicle of personal journey in the physical, spiritual and emotional dimensions.

Musical comparisons are odious and can often to serve diminish both the artist and the reviewer, but when words fall short and the world needs to know from what threads the work is woven compromise must be made in the quest to inform.

The closest I can comfortably get to allying this CD with anything else I have heard is to say that it shares elements of a colour scheme with Bob Mould's classic "Workbook" album, but paints and populates a very different landscape.

The downside? With nine such strong originals included, the cover version, while finely executed and entertaining in its own right, seems - to me - to be taking a place that could have been filled more than adequately by the artist's own work.

		Becki's Biography
		Simon Interviews Becki
		Just Who Were The Seven?
		Featuring XTC's Dave Gregory and Andy Partridge
		Reviewed at Bay Scene Magazine
		More Reviews...
		Autographed Sleeve Art
		Becki at ViceVersa
		Becki at Lumière