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Casey Dienel
There's bartender at the Bowery Ballroom, a weary, broken-down musician himself, who asks expressionlessly, "Haven't we run out of bands yet?" Similarly I fear that we'll never get rid of these girls with pianos; or, rather, it's my terribly-selfish inclination to group all of them together, painting with broad strokes: the throaty Fiona Apple, the large-mouthed Regina Spektor, the flighty Tori Amos, or the cabaret-ish Nellie McKay.
But Casey Dienel, while on the surface, sounds just like another girl with a piano, her most important distinguishing factor stems from a love of Pavement. Yes. Pavement. Just close your eyes, listen to the music, slow down the tempo just a little, and then imagine smart-aleck Stephen Malkmus singing instead, backed by Pavement's guitars. Dienel's rambling sentences and playful delivery make her sound like a female Malkmus. Or make Malkmus sound like a female version of Dienel. It's creepy, isn't it, especially for a young songwriter whose background is in classical music (she dropped out of conservatory school).
In any case, the precocious and demure Dienel's fertile imagination serves up a song like "Dr. Monroe" about a crazy, old homeless man who she encountered on the street one day, and for whom she conjured up a wily back-story. Her jazz-inflected playing is full of style, without unnecessary frills, trills, or ostentation. The songs are catchy and memorable, and Dienel's easygoing, unpretentious personality shines through the entire time.
Casey Dienel - Everything
Casey Dienel - Doctor Monroe
Casey Dienel's official site. Buy Wind-Up Canary from Amazon or iTunes.
Posted by Queen of the Front Row at 03.02.07 at 9:12 AM
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