The reaction to Tall Tall Shadow (Secret City), Basia Bulat’s third full-length, has been exceedingly positive, a happy circumstance for a performer who made her thus-far moderate fame on the folk singer/songwriter circuit and is now looking to switch things up. Bulat’s first two albums, adept enough affairs, traded mostly in the light arrangements and soft dynamics of contemporary folk music. If her talents extend beyond many of her peers (notably her staggering facility on a wide range of stringed instruments from the dulcimer to the charango), her aesthetic palette as presented on her first two albums was largely traditional. Tall Tall Shadow, by contrast, opens with the stomping, gradual crescendo of the title track, an immediate announcement of increasing speed and volume that sustains for the rest of the record. It’s a sonic gamble for Bulat, who for the first time finds herself pushing her aesthetics into more energetic territory. Still, the song structures and modes are of a piece with her previous releases, making Tall Tall Shadow a furtherance rather than a divergence from her previous work. Bulat will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on her.
Bulat: Szarlotka is the Polish word for apple pie, and it’s also the name of my favourite beverage. (Yes, I’m going to spell “favourite” the Canadian way.) The recipe is so simple that all you need are two (three if you count ice; does ice count as an ingredient?) ingredients, and then happiness is yours. Simply pour apple juice and Bison Grass vodka over ice, in the amount/ratio of your choosing. The Bison Grass gives the vodka a taste that by turns tastes like vanilla, almond and something a bit medicinal I can’t quite put my finger on, but I convince myself it means it might be good for me.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTFK1kuT4go
