By Grouch Rating 3 Scowls NIVE
NIVE
Tuesday, 05 May 2009 07:37 | 
Author: The Grouch | 
A week or two ago I received an email from Nive Nielsen telling me that she was Nive, from Nuuk (Greenland) -yup a real eskimo :)
She went on to write that she is scared of ghosts. And bugs. And ghost bugs as well. And that she plays music, mostly on her little red ukulele with some help from her friends.
The cynical part of the Grouch thought "hmmm I don't usually care for Folk and the only people I knew who played a ukulele were George Harrison (I do NOT like most stuff I've heard by Harrison aside from While My Guitar Gently Weeps., Clapton rips it up on that one) and Do Ho "Hawaii's Ambassador of Aloha" who had his own sucky television show on ABC from 1976 - 1977.
So I went to her My Space page where I was pleasantly surprised. She has six tracks and a video from her debut EP. So what exactly is Alternative Indie Inuk Greenland Folk music? It is melodic music that has touches of Jazz and Blues at times showing a nod to old 50s Crooner rock. All topped off with a really good voice - I actually found her music to be hypnotic (in a good way).
I enjoy this album.
Of the six tracks track 1 Room is my favorite. It grooves in such a mellow way while at the same time she weaves a story with her distinctive voice. I like the video as well. Whoever did the animation really put a lot of work and creativity into it. I felt like I was watching a follow up to SGT. Pepper's (I mean that in a good way - despite my less than exuberant enthusiasm for the Beatles, that is a killer album particularly when you think McCartney did it on a four track machine.)
Track 2 The Coffee Boy Song makes me laugh. Its all about how Nive and her boyfriend Cowboy Jan argue over Nive's aversion to making coffee in the morning. She tells us that she says she'll make the coffee, but she never does because she is asleep on the couch. Throughout the song its nice to listen to her vocals - she just sounds so good.
The last track, number 6 is Vacuum Cleaner Killer you can't hear anything for the first 15 seconds of the song, then her voice comes in. She is singing something about killing vacuum cleaners and the music gradually builds to a cacophony. Then she talks about more vacuum cleaner carnage while the music fades away and her voice gets softer and softer until all is left is a wasteland of dead household appliances.
All in all I like Nive. I was pleasantly surprised by her music.
Grouch rating 3 and 1/2 scowls.
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Last Updated (Tuesday, 05 May 2009 08:57)