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Music CD - Rachael Yamagata: EP
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Music CD: EP
Artist: Rachael Yamagata
List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $4.99
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 50% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: RCA Victor
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Collide
2. Known For Years
3. Worn Me Down
4. The Reason Why
5. Would You Please
6. These Girls (hidden track)
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0828765405829
Format: EP
Label: RCA Victor
Manufacturer: RCA Victor
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: RCA Victor
Release Date: 2003-10-07
Studio: RCA Victor
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Raw talent
Comment: Rachael Yamagata is an astonishing performer -- raw, vulnerable, powerful, and heartbreaking. You can see it when you see her sing live on a stage, and you can hear it in every song. Listening to the 6 songs on her 'EP' is like looking at the early paintings of the masters, the emotion and the talent are clearly in evidence, while the technique is still developing.
The production of all six songs is pretty minimal, without much of the refinement of her more recent songs. This lack of polish works in many ways though, as the lyrics lend themselves to this raw and simple presentation. 'Collide' and 'Known for Years', the first two tracks, are smoky and moody, featuring Rachael's voice in all its sultry, sexy glory.
The next two songs, 'Worn Me Down' and 'The Reason Why', also appear on her first full album release, 'Happenstance'. On 'EP', though, they are different, especially 'Worn Me Down'. These versions have their own dimensions to explore and their own perspectives to offer on the broken relationships they describe. It's almost as though Rachael is covering her own songs here, showing a different take on them.
'Would You Please' describes a letter in fragments, something written to a former lover about a breakup. It feels like something sung in a darkened bar and might be the hardest song to listen to on the whole album, harsh and rending in its honesty and the way it weaves back and forth over what the letter says.
Of all the six songs, 'These Girls' (a "hidden track") is my favorite. Slow and thick and warm, it flows like blood, steadily pulsing, sometimes surging, sometimes spilling out in a red rush. A 6-minute treatise on the intricacies of tortured love, played with a bluesy sensibility and unmatched passion...it really doesn't get much better.
This is the music I love Rachael Yamagata for, this intense and intimate look into the human heart in all its complexity. All 6 songs are unique, and all are a look at a raw, impassioned talent, well worth the price of admission.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The first three say "I love you"...
Comment: Good things come to those who skim through the bargain bins at indie stores. One example would be Rachael Yamagata's debut EP, which I snatched up for a few dollars, a few months before her debut album came out.
And it was worth a lot more than I paid. A smoky voice and lovelorn songs are the heart of this album, with a promising mix of vulnerable jazzy-pop with a hint of blues. Yamagata may be compared to established singers like Norah Jones or Fiona Apple, but the flavor of her songs is all its own.
Yamagata starts off on a strong note with the sad, cello-laden "Collide," before shifting to the catchier "Known For Years" and the fast-paced "Worn Me Down" ("Worn me down to my knees/I did anything to please/But you can't stop thinking about her"). Rounding it off is the melancholy "Reason Why" and slow-moving "Would You Please." (There's also a hidden track, the meditative "These Girls")
Love lost, love worn out or love that doesn't work seem to be the themes of "EP." Yamagata describes the feelings that lead to a breakup, being replaced in her lover's affections, and finally parting itself ("We can hang our heads down as we skip the goodbyes"). No angry-angsty-grrl stuff here, but a mature respect and reflection.
As well as unusual, Yamagata has a pretty eclectic style of music -- she seamlessly blends blues and pop, with a bit of good funk and a touch of classical. And the instrumentation is no less eclectic, with your basic quiet bass and drums being blended with keyboard and mellow sweeps of cello.
The plaintive lyrics stir your emotions without being whiny or self-pitying. Don't expect her to bash or blame -- instead she sings "Would you please let me slide a few words/under your door/the first three say 'I love you'/the last five 'but I can't no more.'" Her throaty, smoky voice is the centerpiece of the album, and she can carry the emotion as well as the notes.
Slow and meditative, "EP" explores the lingering emotions after love has gone -- and Yamagata does it with a truly exquisite style. Definitely a keeper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: PDA (Pretty D@mn Awful)
Comment: Only 1 good song. Rest were not worth it. Plus, only a few songs for the cost. Better off downloading or buying singles
Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Comment: I'm not sure what makes the other reviewers say good things about this album, making me buy it. This CD is terrible, boring, and depressing. Voice is ok, but the songs are not worth listening to. Check out Karla Bonoff instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great EP
Comment: This EP - unlike most EPs out therr - is actually worth buying. There is an extremelt intimate quality to this recording that really shows how captivating she is live. I've seen her a few times, and her seductive vocal qualities only get better as her career has progressed. Though there is a seriously sub-pop/jazz female vocal trend going around, Rachael definitely stands out. If you like her studio and live stuff, you should check out Gretchen Lieberum's new release "Siren Songs," who has the same kind of seductive voice with lyrics that are actually worth reading more into - just like Rachael's.
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Editorial Reviews:
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With her instinct for melody, lyrics and deep-sinking emotional hooks, and having already opened for the likes of David Gray and Ed Harcourt, Rachael Yamagata has started a ground swell of anticipation for her debut 'ep'. Produced by Malcolm Burn (of EmmyLou Harris, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith fame), the 'ep' reveals an emotional vulnerability that has drawn comparisons to the likes of Fiona Apple, Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan - yet Rachael Yamagata is truly an artist in her own right.
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