Comments on: Alela Diane – To Be Still, an Album Review

By: Discover. Portland. Music. » Blog Archive » In 2009 These Were the Portland Artists I Enjoyed The Most

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:54:18 +0000

[...] year Alela Diane delivered, To Be Still, a wonderfully elegiac follow up to her album, The Rifle. I reviewed it at the time. Although she moves to and fro between Portland and Northern California, we should claim her as our [...]

By: Music from Portland That I Enjoyed in 2009 | pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four's Music and Media Blog

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:11:47 +0000

By: TRMW

TRMW — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:53:14 +0000

Really great review, Dave. Spidey, having been there for some of the recording process on this album, I can tell you that all of the decisions regarding the production and instrumentation were made by Alela herself. I mention this just so you don’t think anyone was forcing her to move in this full band direction. Personally I enjoy it, but hey, different strokes!

By: Spidey Johnson

Spidey Johnson — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 11:42:40 +0000

I was very much looking forward to this, having heard many of the songs in person at Holocene, and having listened to The Pirate’s Gospel about a million times. I really wanted to like it and her voice is amazing as usual and Michael Hurley is a welcome addition, but there are so many distractions and irritations. Don’t get me wrong … these are great songs, but that is overshadowed by the execution in the studio. First of all the arrangements slow down her usual pace to the point where she is embellishing the vocals to fill in the extra space. Her natural rhythm is completely thrown off. The songs are so much better when she does them solo. I hate the sound of the snare and the drumming in the middle of “White As Diamonds” is way too busy and ruins what is otherwise a 5-star perfect song (awesome video too). I’m also not crazy about some of the instrumentation such as the steel guitar. The musicians are talented but it’s like a movie with a great script but inappropriate casting. Alela’s first record was intimate but in this one her music is being forced into a mold that just doesn’t work. It’s like ordering a pizza where the cheese is perfectly melted but the crust got burnt. I’m sorry but Alela spoiled me with her immaculate live shows so I hold her to a higher standard and must send this pie back to the kitchen. She deserves all the success in the world and normally I follow traditional advice “if you can’t say something nice don’t speak at all” but in this case I’m hoping what I say will have an influence on future attempts so she can fulfill her potential, which is HUGE. Sometimes things just don’t work out but it’s nobody’s fault in particular. I don’t think it’s a bad idea for future records to be attempted with a band again but for now I would love to hear a second set of these songs all done solo! Anybody got a bootleg off Holocene’s mixer?

By: First Friday at Nemo Design & Alela Diane Review | Portland News and Events

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:53:03 +0000

[...] Also, Pampelmoose has a review and free download of the new Alela Daine album here [...]

By: Larry Crane

Larry Crane — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:57:13 +0000

Her “Dry Grass & Shadows” is a free single on iTunes right now. Go grab it, quite good. Mixed by my pal Thom Monahan at The Hangar studio in Sacramento, owned by John from Tape Op.