10 Tracks with Mieka Pauley

Mieka Pauley, for just about 8 or so years now, has been a long standing fixture of the Boston area indie club scene, she's also toured the country and opened for Edwin McCain if I recall correctly as well, she's one of those acts you hear and you wonder why when artists who are like her, people like Sarah McLaughlin and Jewel and others of that type, though deserving in their own rights, are out there selling out theaters and concerts the world over, why isn't Mieka doing the same? This idea comes through my head alot when listening to her music infact, but then I remember, sometimes, for an artist, staying low key and not making it to the headline spot, sometimes is more rewarding.... so with that said, I give you my 10 songs to let you make up your mind about this beautiful and talented young singer...

1. Blunt: Blunt in Mieka's words, is an angry song about playing shitty clubs for shitty and drunk people all over the country, she tends to tell a really funny story about how she came to write it, however this version doesn't have that, I went with the better quality recording instead this time. Blunt is basically her answering every crap line she's been given in a very sarcastic manor, the title "Blunt" in in reference to the chorus where in she sings about hitting people with her guitar. "If this guitar wasn't so expensive, and I didn't need it night and day, it would make a pretty good blunt object, to make you back away..", I give it a 10 for style and content, as well as style for the obscure Quickdraw McGraw/El Kabong reference it brings to mind.

2. Devil's Got My Secret: This is one of those songs where Mieka's fragile side comes through more then most would find comfortable, this, like many of her songs, is her lamenting over her secret love for someone whom she either never spoke too or has lost for some reason yet still loves. Its a deep emotional song that cuts deep for more people then you would think, "The Devil's got my secret, he promised not to tell, I left it for safe keeping, I'll pick it up in hell" as the chorus says, her voice mixed with the lyrics and downplayed background music makes this a work of art.

3. Fate Day By Day: This is one of the first songs of Mieka's I'd heard, and still one of my favorites, its her singing about her outlook on life and the things you take and the things you miss as well, "I will not wait, I will not wait, for what the world may not create" she sings, and I find this to be so true about so many things, this was also the only track off her demo to make it on her first album (2000's Mieka Pauley), though I went with the version done on a college radio show in Boston from I believe 2003 or there abouts because i like her voice on it better then the studio recording.

4. Fields of Gold: This is a live "cover of Eva Cassidy covering Sting" as Mieka claims, I think if anything this lovely cover, shows how much like the great Eva this young girl really is, its not just a statement about how well she can do the song, its a statement of who's place in the music industry she could rightly fill of she so wished. Its truely beautiful.


5. I wanna see the City: this is one of those great songs that I've only been able to find one version of her singing, this was taken from the same radio show Fate Day By Day was taken from, and is a song of her looking out over a large city and wondering what is really out there, not just what is put out for the tourists to see, but the real city, the real heart and soul of it, wondering just what there really is out there or if its all just facade and there isn't anything else to see.

6. Left To God: this song is a very introverted look at herself and those around her, and to an extent the world around her as well, she challenges herself and her ideas of life and religion and what life is really like for everyone, the unfairness and the luck some have, as well as the power and weak of the world. "I have heard thunder loud as god is great, where everyone ran inside weather or not it rained, I knew a devil he was white as any saint, he fell right through the ground where Lucifer remains..." she sings in the third verse, I find the deepness of these lines abit scary at times.

7. Spirit: This song is about life, death and being alone, some could even argue it could be seen as a suicide song if they wanted, it speaks of her travels and how she's gone this distance in life alone, and how at the very end, when she feel like giving up given how weak her spirit seems, she still has the willpower to try and carry on. I've never been sure if she is singing about life after death, or just carrying on with very little willpower or depression in general, either way, this is and will always be a beautiful song that will strike a chord with most.

8. Daydream: Daydream is maybe my all time favorite of hers, its a song of a love she never had, and as anyone can tell you, the love you daydream of but never say anything of because of fear and depression believing they don't feel the same as you, "have you ever spent your nights dreaming of someone you could not call your own? I close my eyes in a little daydream, and I pretend that you can love me, and I pretend that you are mine" she sings, this is truly one of the greatest love songs ever written I believe.

9. Companion to a King: this is one of the best tracks off her demo, why its never gone past that I'll never know, its excellent, the best way to describe it, think a song as masterfully written as "Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish (you know, before they got lame) but told by a woman instead of a man, its the story of a woman who just can't leave a man who ignores her most of the time and hardly speaks to her, its a very sad tale but also a very well written one as well. Her guitar strumming even brings the emotional frustration of the lyrics through, simply great.

10. Run: Run is a song off her demo that saw play on a NEMO (New England Music Organization) compilation put out by Starbucks of all places afew years back, and where the title to her soon to be released second album "Elijah Drop Your Gun" came from, I like to call it a "Bluesy Stalker Song" because I see a scene in like, a cop movie playing out in my head as the song folds out, like the scene where the cops are chasing this guy through back alleys and stuff, its a nice mellow delta bluesy sort of feel to it.

11. When I'm in Chicago: Ok the bonus 11th song on this is because I just couldn't let this one not be put on here, this is a song looking back at a former love, she mentions various other places and who she's thinking of at that point in time, and it sort of has a feel of someone thinking back wile drinking abit, infact she jokes at the end "when i'm in Kenya i simply forget ya, when i'm in russia i'm not thinking of ya, when I'm not sober I think of your mother" to sort of hint its ment to be a sort of drunken looking back wile in the city of Chicago. Its a lovely little song and a lovely little highnote end to this set...



i hope you all enjoy, I do believe that anyone who hears Mieka will grow to like her, if not love her music, it just has this sort of sound that strikes everyone to it, its hard to explain really, but you just have to hear her and hear what she's saying, her voice and her lyrics truly are a gift for all to share.


10 Tracks with Mieka Pauley

Artist: Mieka Pauley
Genre: Indie,acoustic,singer/songwriter,female vocalist,folk,blues


by: Just A Simple Poet

Apple Bay by Irene

I really wasn't that sure of what to make of the musical collective of fun and sun loving swedes called Irene, at first I noticed the lead on most tracks sounds like a mix of Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits mixed with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and solo fame and enough Roy Orbison to keep the old school happy, then I noticed that they are singing songs that seem like a fusion of 1960s pop, British Invasion and Beach Boys style Surf Rock, and then I noticed that though the album actualy flow by rather fast time wise, I was actuall enjoying myself. Now I know these things all don't add up on paper, but for some strange reason, in audio form, they blend together so well that I really feel like I've been taken back in time, apparently the swedes have discovered the secret to time travel first, I blame Nobel, but thats a whole other thing (and just put in as a joke.)

I am not sure if the band set out to intentional bring back the fun free summer feel of the mid 1960s or not but they did, and they do it so well, like, I'm sitting here in my office looking at the rain wishing I could toss this in the cd player in my convertable and head for the coast for the day. Its kind of like that whole cover old songs thing Smashmouth tried to do afew years ago, but this time, it doesn't suck or reak of failure and dead famous people. This is actually very enjoyable to listen too, even though some people might be offended by some of the more adult lyrics "you push me away and say I'm out of luck, then pull me close when you want us to fuck" from the song "Only You" for instance or one of the woman making a referance to a guy's hand rubbing her crotch in "Cold Feet", though admittedly there are only two of three times the sexual referancing is obvious enough for it not to get overlooked by the non-serious music fan, and even those songs you hear it is they're not forced, they do fit naturally into the song. Even if its abit strange to hear a song that sounds like a Beach Boys tune with naughtyness in it.

They do rely abit more heavy then I would like on that whole "bada bup badadada" type sing along chorus/song filler type thing abit more then I would have liked personally, but its not enough of a problem to ruin the album in the slightest. I will say that I have the same problem with this ablum that I have with alot of the ones I've reviewed this past week or so, it suffers from lack of time, most songs are between 2 minutes and 40 seconds to about 3 minutes and 10 seconds or so, and though they fit the genre they preform in and are all very well done, I still would rather a longer song, and a longer album for the cost of CDs these days, thats just a personal preferance though, because right around the time I'm getting full swing into a disc, I hate when it stops or starts to wind down in some way. Thats what happend here, I'm really getting into it right around "Baby I Love Your Way" and two tracks later the album is done and leaving me waiting for their next release. I understand the theroy of leaving them wanting more, but god damnit, toss a guy some scraps or a B-Side or accoustic reprise ya know?

Will people like Irene and their latest outing Apple Bay? I think if they forgive them for the seeming misplaced 1920s sounding folkish guitar intro that I don't seem to actually get or see why its there cuz it doesn't fit at all, and listen to the rest of the ablum then yes, they will like it, it grows on you as the album progresses like, even if you dismiss it as something you'll give a listen to just to be fair like I did, by the end you want more and you find yourself singing along by the middle of it and such. Its just hard to not have fun with this album, its a definate stealth album if I ever heard one, so give it a shot, see if it will surpirse you like it did me.


Artist: Irene
Album: Apple Bay
Genre: Retro Pop, Singer/Songwriter, BritPop, Swedish Pop


Apple Bay By Irene


By: BC

Woke Myself Up by Julie Doiron

I first heard about Julie Doiron as a featured musican on an album by one of my favorite bands, The Tragically Hip. I liked her and thought I would like to hear more from her, so just to give her a try, I picked up her latest album, "Woke Myself Up". And though I can't say this is my favorite album, I can tell you that it is infact, a good listen and something that in time does grow on you. I'm not sure if its Julie's bubblegum like delivery over well played "chick with guitar" style backings, or that she seems to be having fun wile doing her songs, or that she seems to write songs that seem realistic and down to earth and fuse them with a great many styles. I will say though, before I get into this, my only real complaint is that the album seems to have many short songs and the album itself suffers of short disc syndrome because of this. (Short disc syndrome is a term I coined for an album thats under 40 or so minutes total and is said to be a "full album")

Julie does blend styles well, each of her songs is done in a different genre all driven by a masterfully played guitar base. She crosses genres from bubblegum pop to blues, to rock, to a 1800s style traveling gypsy fire side dance anthem, to an accoustic adult contemperary song, to just about everywhere else one can go with a guitar. She really does a good job mixing all of these as she does and not sticking to any one genre for more then a song or sometimes two. "I left town" also has her cats meowing in the background at some points like an odd yet lovely idea for a chorus. Truely well done.

"No More" is actually about as close to "radio friendly pop" this album gets though, I will admit this, but then again, we're not really about radio friendly or mainstream around here, so that makes it ok. The track itself is great though, its got a beat that will keep the people that just have it on for background sound from getting bored with it, and the harmonics and lyrics will keep everyone else going as well. "Don't Wanna Be Liked By You" is second for radio friendliness, which I think is kind of why I think they were placed back to back, the beat sounds like a mix of "secret agent man" and "walking on the sun", very infectious and very easy to drive over the speed limit too.

The other tracks on the disc are just this great audio journey though the world of guitar based canadian infused music. As I said earlyer though, the only downside really is that its short, the songs average about 3 minutes or so, and there aren't very many of them, only about 10 or so, but still, by no means does this make the album suffer as a whole. I enjoyed it and intend to attain the rest of her collection whenever I can see possable to do so. I highly recommend this disc.


Artist: Julie Doiron
Album: Woke Myself Up
Genre: Slowcore, Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Female Vocalist

Woke Myself Up by Julie Doiron

By: BC

Knives Don't Have Your Back by Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton

Its hard to really pin down Emily Haines into one genre, thats not uncommon in the out of the mainstream music market honestly, and though it would be easy to dismiss her and her band the Soft Skeleton as another good group lost in the shuffle of your average college radio station, I would like, if you would, to stop and take a look, and I hope you won't be disappointed. Emily Haines started out as a member of a band called metric, and eventually went on to great The Soft Skeleton, I've tired to find her old band's work, but its rather hard and seemed like alot of work just to write three lines or so about the differences, so with that said, onto the focus at hand.

I find that Knives Don't Have Your Back is strange, it sounds almost like something made in a high school music class but in its simple and low-fi feel, its just so beautiful, its melodic, lyrically complex and raw enough to hit deep down inside now and then. Its great that way. Emily's voice sounds like an uneasy, nervious teenager thats trying as best as she can to not crack under the pressure of being on stage at some high school talent show. Its that down to earth open and flawed voice that really makes you love her by the end of this.

"Our Hell" is an interesting lead off track that is rather misleading, its a song about her life and those around her and how really, their life isn't that bad. "Doctor Blind" is my favorite track on this disc, its so sweeping and majestic, I get the idea of playing in a field with someone special and just relaxing, truely beautiful. "Crowd Surf off a Cliff" is a great piano track with a spooky echo effect that haunts you as you listen, its great that way. "Detactive Daughter" is a song about nicely made track with a lovely mix of guitar, piano and rythums, its sort of a bluesish song with a very strange meaning, "The Lottery" is a very sexually changed song about a one night stand "sexual suicide" she calls it, a very strange track, but yet, addictive. "The Maid needs a Maid" is of all things, a song about a lesbian attraction to a singer, its full of innocent yet sexually charged innuendo, its abit odd, but for the oddness of it, I love it. "Mostly Waving" is a strange song that seems to make me think at one time someone tried to get Emily to conform and put being pretty for the frat boys over her music and her self respect, not my favorite lyrically but I love the mid/late 70s feel to the music of it. "Reading in Bed" is a very sad song that looks as if Emily is giving a deep look inside herself and her life asking "why are your songs so sad?" to herself, the backing music in this is amazing. "Nothing and Nowhere" is a very depressing look at big city life and how sad it can seem for those that just live day to day. "The Last Page" is a very sad song looking back at a past love, its really a haunting track in its beauty. "Winning" is a track about opening up and the prosess back to some form of normality, you can almost hear Emily crying on this one, its really kind of cool in that tearfull finale to the album type of way.

I find myself at the end of the album wanting more, like, waiting for a second disc to start up and continue this trip inside Emily's mind, and by proxy inside myself, it really makes me want to go out and buy more, I just wish I could find her old band because i'm gonna need something like that to keep my fix till she makes something else. Its a true find.

Knives Don't Have Your Back by Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton

Artist: Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton
Album: Knives Don't Have Your Back
Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop, Female Vocalist, Harmonics


By: BC

Kate Klim: A First Look

In my line of work I meet alot of up and coming artists, its actually the better part of my job I think, keeps me alittle ahead of the wave and keeps me real. One of those artist I've gotten to meet was a woman by the name of Kate Klim, and if I may, I would like to talk about her for just afew minutes. Plus she fits in well with my weakness for female vocalists and female singer/songwriters... but thats a whole other thing.

I met Kate after a show she did in her current hometown of Boston Massachusettes just about 2 years ago, and is a joy to talk too, very funny, very open to people speaking of her music, and very easy on the eyes if you ask me. I only spoke to her for afew minutes but i could tell she had that something that was going to make her a star someday, a very Tori Amos/Vanessa Carlton/Amy Lee girl with a piano and a voice so frail and vulnerable, as well as eligant and beautiful. I've compiled 7 songs of hers i've been able to track down through various internet sources to show you just what I mean.

"breath me in" is a very lovingly crafted and sad song about a lover and looking back at their trubulent and unstable relationship, of how everytime she wants to leave and end things, with a touch, she returns to where they were.

"Give Me a Sign" is beautifully made song of longing for more from someone who has her entrauled with the very idea of them, but she is waiting for some sort of a sign that they feel the same for her, some of Kate's greatest bridges in this one, "give me a sign, give a fighting change, I want this way to bad to change my mind, and this is our song, and i've waited all night to dance, but darlin I'm running out of borrowed time."

"I Choose Me" is an upbeat guitar laced song that makes you tap your feet even if you don't realise you are, its about looking back at childhood and thinking how things have changed and how instead of a young love, she choses to be herself and to live her life. This is one of Kate's more upbeat and uplifting tracks, and one of her few non-piano driven ones, a very nice stand out.

"Heaven Help Me" is a very open song of love and how she is trying not to fall for someone because she knows deep down just how bad it will be for her, she goes on about trying to fight it inside but she just can't. This is the very first song that Kate played infront of a crowd at a professional singer its said.

"Jacob" is about Kate looking back at the first boy she's ever loved, how they grew up together and how she would follow him where ever he would go and her looking back and wondering what he's up to now that they're older and have drifted appart because of his moving away. Its a happy and somewhat bittersweet song about how innocent love is when we are young and how meaningfull it can be when you look back at it years alter.

"Nothing" is a small song that is a sad song about sitting alone and missing someone she loves with all that she has inside of her, this is where the best line she has ever writen in it "anyone can say I love you, only I can say I miss you.", though its very short, its a very deep and meaningfully tocuhing song, your heart literally breaks as you listen to it.

"Something" seems to be a continuation of "Nothing" just with the line "something" and afew other lines added, i'm not really sure what the deal is with that, but it still has that same heartbreaking feel as "Nothing" I think maybe she ment to put them out as two different versions of the same song, but I can't seem to find any actual backing up of this to be sure.

I find that though most would lable Kate as depressing or emo, she isn't, she is reaching out through her saddness and other feelings and trying to touch on places that many are scared to admit we have for various reasons, that part of ourselves that is flair and scared and vulernable, those places we try to protect from others, Kate puts them out for display and shows us all that its ok to do so and to feel these things.

I'd highly recommend her to anyone thats up for something soulsearching, deep and will hit just abit close to home.

Artist: Kate Klim
Album: N/A
Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop, Female Vocalist

Kate Klim: A FIrst Look


by: BC