Friday, March 20, 2009
review by Christine Thrasher
In “Two Tongues At One Time,” Mariee Sioux, an American folk singer of indigenous descent, both comforts and haunts the listener with her acoustic guitar playing, accompanied by beautiful yet strange lyrics about being a child of the “wild plains.”
This song comes from her first studio album, “Faces in the Rocks,” following her self-released album “A Bundled Bundle of Bundles.” Though the song is simple, using nothing but voice and guitar, the songwriting is creative and unique, demonstrating her talent with the guitar and poetic lyrical voice.
Her style is mystical and spiritual, with a hint of the psychedelic grotesque. She writes about “faces in the rocks with medicine tongues” and “blankets. . . woven from the hair of the dead” as well as the ” thundering roll of ghost buffalo.” Her voice is fragile and wavering, reminding the listener of wind across the plains, and she takes you on a stream-of-consciousness journey through her meditation on history, natural environment, and the human experience.
I would recommend her to fans of Joanna Newsom, Alela Diane, and Joni Mitchell, but her work should appeal to anyone who appreciates poetry about the natural mystery of the universe.
Two Tongues At One Time (mp3)
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