  SD MusicMatters Mag :: Sept/Oct ad campaign!! Click for larger image CityBeat's Great Demo Review 08 “Amazingly sexy. On ‘Firefly,’ the combination of Lui’s sultry, candlelit vocals with simple guitar melodies and seductive, minor keys creates music that dreams of one day opening for Rufus Wainwright or Tori Amos. Singing alongside a piano, xylophone, harpsichord and sampled strings, Lui tells us stories using her breathy, porcelain voice that sound even better when accompanied with a glass of red wine in onee hand and a cigarette in the other.” North County Times :: Sept 2007 By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer "Barkentine" Jane Lui. Self-released Jane Lui's "Barkentine" is one of the most fully realized art-pop ventures to come out of San Diego's burgeoning music scene. Rich vocals, intricate songwriting, haunting arrangements ---- Lui distills influences ranging from Kate Bush to Rickie Lee Jones, John Lennon through Holly Cole to create her own intoxicating brew. Her second CD is an introspective, often dark affair anchored by her deep, husky singing and a collection of songs with enough complexity and variety to hold your attention. Equal parts jazz, folk and pop, Lui's songs are measured, restrained. Her arrangements never rush a song along, instead letting each note find its own space and time. This almost stately nature to her music is as effective as it is because Lui has an intensity to her singing that transcends lung power or tempo. In fact, it is on some of the slowest, quietest songs ---- "Widowmakers," for instance ---- that her singing is most powerful. At a whisper, she can convey more emotion than most singers can manage at top volume. online version San Diego Troubadour Review :: Aug 2007 by Chuck Schiele Jane Lui is in her own space. I don't know how to really classify this music. It has many elements, but I think it does disservice to offer my interpretation of what I think those things are. So I'm not gonna do it. I will tell you that it is an impressionistic collection of songs meandering more like sublime moderato dreamscapes as opposed to the usual and obvious strides in kitschy-catchy pop-craft. Lui is a thinker. She see's the world in a unique and beautiful way. As an artist. And I'd say she's more successful at sticking her neck out in the name of originality than most. My respect for that is in kind. One thing to note is the quiet essence of these tracks. The songs whisper more than they ever raise their voice but the work remains urgent somehow by way of its own freedom to go where it's going to go. The music and words are gorgeous. Her voice is flawless, naked, and real, which makes this a good time to switch to the production value of this work. Barkentine was recorded and produced for the most part by Aaron Bowen and Jane Lui. I dare say that Mr. Bowen's ear for production rivals the best around as this is a remarkable recording. It feels like a candid experience - as though she didn't know he was following her around in her own private thoughts that sound much like the whispers and creaks in an old house. And whether it was intentional or not, the primary concern is its own stride toward the idea of 'beauty.' It just sort of is what it is left to the confidence that it is beautiful as is. The effect is deeply moving. That said, there remains a matter of the production style, which is uniquely fresh in its super clean finish, the decisions for simplicity, and the knack for the not-so-obvious choices made in terms of its arrangements (centered around Lui and her piano or guitar for the most part.) You'll still find yourself turning your head now and then in wonderment about either some subtlely crazy sound or a violin that comes and goes like a Doppler-effected train off in the distance. It's more like an energy that moves through you, changes you somewhat, and keeps moving. More articles: Sept '06 :: San Diego Union Tribune May '06 :: MusicRightNow.com May '06 :: Asian Week Mar '06 :: Anime News Network Nov '05 :: SD Music Matters (Ad Campaign) Sept '05 :: PMX Newsletter sept '05 :: J!ent July '05 :: 944 magazine July '05 :: San Diego Troubadour July '05 :: SD Music Matters (Staff Pick of the month) Oct '05 :: SD Music Matters July '05 :: SD Troubadour June '05 :: Asia Jan '05 :: SD Reader Electronic Press Kit : www.sonicbids.com/janelui |
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