Artist: Bic Runga
Title of Album: Birds
Date of Release: December 5, 2005
Genre: Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Web: http://www.bicrunga.com/main.htm
Total Time: 44:44
Total Size: 103 Mb
Bitrate/Quality: MP3 CBR / Lame / 320 kb/s / 44.1 Khz / Stereo
When the native New Zealander says "I do my own thing," she means it - in every way. Bic Runga penned every song on her debut DRIVE (1997), played an assortment of instruments and produced it as well. Although she comes from a family of musicians (her mother sang in Malaysian night clubs and both of her older sisters play in bands), Bic is the first to point out how unusual her position is: "People find it hard to believe and I understand why. I'm 21 and just starting and there aren't many 21 year-olds who write, play and produce their own debut albums, but I like to take control and feel like it's all mine."
The result is an album of beguiling and unique songs: the charming jangle of "Sway," the earily appealing "Swim," the thunder-in-a-jar percussion of "Sorry." The quiet intimacy and less-is-more nature of the album as a whole portray Bic as a special, yet accessible, artist... human but with a somewhat otherworldly edge. At the age of 18, Bic left her hometown of Christchurch in New Zealand's sparsely populated South Island, for Auckland in the North. Center of New Zealand's music scene, Auckland is known to indie pop aficionados around the world as the base of Flying Nun Records, purveyors of the clean yet quirky distinctly New Zealand sound (the Clean, the Chills, Garageland, et. al.). "Flying Nun does invade your consciousness," says Bic. "It's been an indirect influence on me. My album is not as polished as most big budget productions, it's got a certain rawness a lot of New Zealand bands have."
Remarkable? Even more so is the fact that said single - since re-recorded as the delicately powered title track of DRIVE - was written just minutes before her first solo performance in Auckland. "I didn't have enough songs to make up a 40 minute set," she recalls. "I feel the best songs write themselves, in a sort of stream of consciousness way - they aren't labored over."
Not that Bic doesn't have a serious work ethic. After getting her record deal, she released two more successful singles, headlined shows, opened for the likes of Crowded House's Neil and Tim Finn, then threw herself into DRIVE. She gladly accepted guidance from legendary producer/manager Peter Asher, whom she had met at a music conference. "He knew I wanted to produce the record myself and so offered support without stepping on my toes," says Bic. She hand-picked a few musicians from the Auckland scene and went about the business of making her art in her own way. "Recording studios can be quite antiseptic places, so I recreated a home environment with lamps and rugs and things," she says. "Also, most of the vocals were recorded in my home. I just took the gear from the studio home with me."
Having completed recording, Bic hooked up with Matt Wallace (Faith No More, John Hiatt) and went to Los Angeles, where Wallace mixed the album. Bic then returned to New Zealand and delivered DRIVE to Sony. The album entered the New Zealand charts at #1, where it remained for a month, and by the end of 1997, DRIVE had been a fixture in the Top 10 for 20 consecutive weeks. Bic has ensured the album's success by touring, fronting the band she assembled to interpret her music in an acclaimed live setting; Bic's live performances with her band are intense and mesmerising.
One of the album's hallmarks is its uncluttered, spacious quality. "If you've got a good song, you're halfway there," Bic reasons. "you don't need to crowd it with much else." On DRIVE, restraint yields radiance, simplicity equals style and Bic Runga redefines the term DIY. "Whether people like the album or not doesn't worry me because I've made myself happy with it," she says. "It's actually reassuring to know that it's all on my head."
On her head, via her soul, from her heart, DRIVE is going places and Bic Runga is at the wheel...
URL:
Bic Runga - Birds - 2005.part1
Bic Runga - Birds - 2005.part2
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