"Trust in the Unexpected"
"Tell as a Marksman - Were Forgotten"
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From Other Music:
Chanteuse Josephine Foster has always been a talented chameleon, bounding from one sound and style to the next, confidently tackling blistering psych rock, German lieder, and pure acid folk in her own inimitable style. Graphic as a Star, her latest and first for the Fire label, is every bit as high concept as her other works, yet it finds her taking an almost simplistic approach, matching twenty-six Emily Dickinson poems to exceedingly spare and oft-gorgeous arrangements.On 04/21/04, Foster's group Born Heller played with Picastro and Dear Families. She played a solo show on 11/02/06 and on 05/30/06, she shared a bill with Prairies (Jessica Pavone/Mary Halvorson Duo), Arizona Drains and Robbie Lee.
Foster displays a unique mastery with this record, subtly complementing the variety of moods Dickinson channeled so that a track like "She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms" sounds as slyly playful in musical form, accompanied by strums and the occasional burst of harmonica, as the poet's original piece about a sunset did. "In Falling Timbers Buried" is even better, imbued with a graceful power that shifts the songs tone from pleasantly conversational to quietly mourning within a matter of seconds.
Foster's voice has a unique and forceful presence all its own throughout the album, and yet when left unaccompanied on Graphic as a Star, it beautifully complements nonpareil originality of Dickinson's meters, playful rhymes, and inspired phrasing. Often extremely brief, tracks like "Exultation Is the Going" and "Beauty Crowds Me Till I Die" add nothing but faint birdsong in the background to the voice, each a cappella rendition a spotlight on Foster's keen understanding of Dickinson's words. An extremely pleasant surprise, Foster's latest continues to see her develop as an artist, while performing the not-so-simple task of successfully adapting the work of a poet who hardly needs embellishment.
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