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Americana UK: Review of "Muses and Bones"
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It’s dark inside, but that’s okay. It's supposed to be...
So where to begin? Words that come to m...It’s dark inside, but that’s okay. It's supposed to be...
So where to begin? Words that come to mind listening to this are, (deep breath..) carnivals, mariachi, Kate Bush, musicals, Tim Burton, Goldfrapp, burlesque, Calexico, Eastern Europe gypsies, Gogol Bordello, Jazz, Devotchka, old timey, cabaret, fables, dark fairy tales and a hundred others, really. I could go on. It is a very intriguing record indeed and almost impossible to categorise, but hopefully you’ve got an idea of what this may sounds like.
Lyrically dark but strong and diverse, the voice that sings them wonderful; it soars, especially on 'Adungu', it admonishes on opener 'Especially Your Mother' and on 'Toy Hammer', well, you could swear you‘ve seen the film it’s from, could even swear it was animated and had skeletons in it. It’s a record for freaks and thinkers, healers and hippies, the cool and the curious and for people who just want a little more, or just want something, even if they don‘t know what it is exactly.
The playing is majestic, the atmospheres convincing and compelling and the overall sound is simply marvellous. At times dark, at times playful, its mysterious and beguiling and one can only assume Tim Burton hasn’t heard her yet, or she would already be known, at least to fans of his. A splendid release. It's hard to believe she's unsigned. I wish her all the luck in the world.
by Scott Baxter, Americana UK (April 2012)
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Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands on BBC Radio
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"Crystal Bright is all about theater and art, and that makes her music slightly less easy to pigeonh..."Crystal Bright is all about theater and art, and that makes her music slightly less easy to pigeonhole and more esoteric in its nature. Here she is with "Drowned Out," - a pleasant kind of bonkers."
-Fiona Talkington, BBC Radio 3 (June 2012)
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Greensboro News & Record feature: "Conjuring up a Big Spectacle"
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“I find the beautiful in the macabre,” Greensboro songstress Crystal Bright says.
Much of Bright’...“I find the beautiful in the macabre,” Greensboro songstress Crystal Bright says.
Much of Bright’s music deals with mythology, folk tales and dark, foreboding topics written in minor keys. But there is also a whimsical element to her work. It’s one of the things that drew Sydney Vigotov to Bright’s music.
Vigotov, creator of the Castaway Cabaret , a vaudeville performance troupe, saw it as the perfect centerpiece and backdrop for her upcoming project, “All Hallows’ Evening.”
Premiering Friday at the Blind Tiger, the Cirque du Soleil-type event will feature acrobatics, fire-spinning, aerialists, burlesque, LED hooping, vaudeville and more, with live music by Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands.
“We are going to illuminate Crystal’s music in a way that’s never been done before,” Vigotov said. “In fact, this is a show that’s never been done before in this area — that I know of. Essentially, we are pioneering this type of multi-media, interdisciplinary, lavishly costumed show set to live music for the Triad.”
The idea surfaced in January when Bright staged her dark, provocative musical “Illuminating and Transcending the Shadow” as part of the Greensboro Fringe Festival. One of her cast members was Vigotov, a UNCG senior double majoring in dance performance/choreography and communication, who played dual roles as the ballerina and evil stepsister.
Vigotov had just created Castaway Cabaret one month earlier and was looking to incorporate live music into some of its shows. Bright was the answer.
Brainstorming led to a concept involving music, dance, avant garde and a Halloween theme.
“I don’t think we could do this particular show any other time but Halloween,” Vigotov said. “Sure, we could tweak it for any time of year, but something of this magnitude needs to be premiered around something specific. And Crystal’s music lends itself so well to the All Hallows theme. This just seemed perfect.”
Vigotov handpicked the performers, primarily from the Triad, but with a couple of burlesque acts from the Triangle.
“Crystal’s music speaks to different people in different ways, and these artists — all highly skilled professionals — were the embodiment of that,” Vigotov said. “ Crystal and I determined the order, so that you will see two sides of each performer during the two-act show.”
One of the featured performers will be Greensboro aerialist Katrina Blose, who helped with the search for a venue that could accommodate aerial acts.
“The rigging is critical, as we’re basically doing something that’s never been done before here,” said Blose, a classically trained ballerina who apprenticed with the Joffrey Ballet.
“I think we all see this as a call to arms, a way to inspire not only the audience but other performers, to let them know that this type of extravagant spectacle can be staged here in Greensboro.”
-Greensboro News & Record (Oct 2012)
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Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands on NPR's The State of Things
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"On the album "Muse and Bones," Crystal Bright's voice is clear and theatrical. She plays accordion,..."On the album "Muse and Bones," Crystal Bright's voice is clear and theatrical. She plays accordion, saw, keyboards, adungu, concertina, and bombo. Reviewers have a hard time describing her music, so they try to evoke a sense of mood instead, comparing her sound to "dark fairy tales" and a "Coney Island sideshow." Bright and her band, The Silver Hands, join host Frank Stasio to play live and discuss what influences their music."
WUNC's The State of Thing with Frank Stasio (May 2012)
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Independent Weekly: Show featured as Indie Pick
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"Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands toe a fascinating line, making for either an uncommonly dignifi..."Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands toe a fascinating line, making for either an uncommonly dignified circus sideshow or a melodramatic, gorgeous Eastern European street performance. Think Tori Amos with Tom Waits' sense of humor, or maybe a Tim Burton film with the steampunk quotient maxed. Their recent Muses and Bones is immersive and beguiling, alternating between reckless klezmer and enormous gothic ballads."
by Corbie Hill, Independent Weekly (July 2012)
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Pop Matters: Review of "Muses and Bones"
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On her debut, Crystal Bright takes music history and her own impressive technique on various of inst...On her debut, Crystal Bright takes music history and her own impressive technique on various of instruments and creates a dream-like (sometimes nightmarish) world that conjures and contorts the past more than it continues it. It’s got an old-time swing, elements of different strains of European folk, but it also has its own rollicking spectacle, and in the middle of it is the narcotic, dramatic air of Bright’s vocals. At here best—over the heartbreaking piano of “Killing Table” or the tumbling strings of “Adungu”—Bright renders real emotion, equal parts isolation, disappointment, and budding hope, out of sounds that seem mystical, even otherworldly. She often lilts through these swaying songs, but she can bite, as when she bitterly snaps “Shame on you for being so kind to everyone, especially your mother” on the opening track. These moments prove highlights on Muses & Bones, though the entire record is an impressive display of musical acumen, striking melodies, and impressive performance. Performance is the word, because Bright is a performer in the truest sense of the word. These songs have a theatricality to them that makes them exciting, but can also make them emotionally distant. The best parts cut through that with human feeling, but even when that doesn’t happen, the spectacle isn’t one you’re likely to turn away from.
by Matthew Fiander, Pop Matters (March 2012)
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Shuffle Magazine feature on "Muses & Bones"
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The one-sheet bona fides for Crystal Bright include lots of travel, dancing with Spain’s Romani, res...The one-sheet bona fides for Crystal Bright include lots of travel, dancing with Spain’s Romani, residing in an anarchist collective, working in Yellowstone, and an educational background in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology. Not surprising, then, that her past experiences playing and singing various styles – Mariachi, Chinese, Balinese Gamelan, Ugandan, Samba – would inform her music, including her March 27 sophomore release, Muses & Bones. (Though, as is increasingly the norm, the album is already available online, via Bandcamp.)
The 13 tracks are also influenced by the likes of P.J. Harvey, Bjork, Yann Tiersen and the Gotan Project, and bolstered by the Silver Hands, the Greensboro-based Bright’s backing band of Diego Diaz (guitar), Sandy Blocker (percussion) and Jeremy Denman from the hip-hop group Urban Sophisticates on trumpet.
But the music here doesn’t rely on local geography – or, to be more accurate, any one geography. Swirling carnival waltzes and blaring border canciónes inhabit the same folk-lore turf as Bright’s noir-ish forest-friendly narratives, which lean toward topics surrounding the pagan and mystical side of feminine power.
Bright plays a host of instruments, from the exotic adungu (a Ugandan harp) and bombo (an Argentine drum) to piano, accordion, concertina and musical saw. She’s also armed with an operatic voice – a bit like Kate Bush – well-suited to the occasionally melodramatic fare. Muses & Bones is a lush voyage brought to life by Bright and her band, and a departure from more typical Carolinas’ genres.
by JG Mellor, Shuffle Magazine (Feb 2012)
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Consequence of Sound: Review of "Muses and Bones"
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Pigeonholing Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands‘ new disc, Muses and Bones, is tough. Bright’s thea...Pigeonholing Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands‘ new disc, Muses and Bones, is tough. Bright’s theatrical voice and reedy accordion lead the way for a bizarre mélange of styles including polka, gypsy folk, old French parlor songs, cabaret, and even a touch of Latin flair. The entire album is fueled by the reedy sound of accordions from another era. It’s easy to imagine Bright at the turn of the twentieth century, in a smoky cabaret full of deviants, or entertaining the crowds on a Coney Island sideshow.
The music here is incredibly theatrical: Bright’s voice is heavily influenced by musical theater in her clear enunciation and melodramatic delivery. It can become difficult not to hear her as a novelty. She might have a certain niche appeal, and her ethereal, intense vocal quality is enough to carry the album for any listener. Her old-time storytelling vibe is similar to the weirder songs of The Decemberists, yet that famous group manages to walk the delicate line between performance art and pop/rock, while Bright falls squarely on the former side.
For what it is, though, it’s incredibly good. On the slow ballad “Today”, Bright infuses her voice with musical theater drama, floating it alongside trumpeter Jeremy Denman’s Latin jazz lines. “In December” begins slowly, but then opens up into a frenzy of drums with Bright soaring along in her highest register.
Opening track “Especially Your Mother” is an accordion-driven foot-stomper, with a heavy bass and drum beat, while the changing tempos of “Drowned Out” are like a crazed polka/circus sideshow lovechild. The vocal lines all have a non-specific exotic flavor, with lots of minor Eastern European or Latin American melodies, which isn’t surprising since Bright studied ethnomusicology in college. Or maybe it’s just those accordions and trumpets.
by Jake Cohen, Consequence of Sound (April 2012)
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Performer Magazine: Review of "Muses and Bones"
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With her travels and her anthropology and ethnomusicology background, Crystal Bright is a social sci...With her travels and her anthropology and ethnomusicology background, Crystal Bright is a social scientist in music of all cultures and regions. She and her musical partner Diego Diaz, along with the occasional variety of other folk musicians, make up Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands, a Greensboro carnival folk ensemble that incorporates musical elements from all across the globe—from a small Ugandan village, a garish Mexican bodega, to the shores of The Balkans. With their first self-titled album, the group gathered together tracks of dark folktales, tragic mariachi tunes and heel-stomping songs about lollipops.
Muses and Bones is a polished step forward for the Silver Hands. Keeping with the same spherical theme and style in their songs, this record’s production and musical arrangements have sprouted a bouquet of haunting, inventive sounds, wrapped tightly with Bright’s magical lyricism. Accordion is prevalent in this album, but it deftly fits so it does not become too grating. “Especially Your Mother” is a fun accordion folk song, accompanied by the tantalizing shrill of Bright’s saw instrument. “The Misplaced Zygote: Down the Wrong Chimney” is so mind-persisting and possesses great lines: “Feeding me worms when I’m meant to eat lilies, violets, chickweed and hay/I can no longer be this way, if I ever want to live again.” Muses and Bones, as the title suggests, also includes favorites from the first album, such as “Toy Hammer” and “Little Match Girl.” Whatever the “muses” may be, they have helped Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands to shape a brilliant, breathtaking record.
by Christina Dore, Performer Magazine (Feb 2012)
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Mountain Times: Review of "Muses & Bones"
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"Intricate and musically challenging, “Muses and Bones” is elaborate and haunting, with the vocals o..."Intricate and musically challenging, “Muses and Bones” is elaborate and haunting, with the vocals of Ms. Bright taking the listener on a macabre but beautiful trip through her imagination. Utilizing accordions, muted trumpets, organs, musical saws and other unusual instruments, Bright and her musical cohorts create a world that is dark and dreamy, timeless and otherworldly..."
by Jeff Eason, Mountain Times (April 2012)
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Trebuchet Magazine (UK): Review of "Muses and Bones"
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Yes Crystal Bright displays her broadway boards, but she doesn't hide the splinters either, and marr...Yes Crystal Bright displays her broadway boards, but she doesn't hide the splinters either, and marrying the sexless yearning of a Disney heroine with Steampunk rave rations one wonders who else can own this space. The melange of knowing musicality, folk fayre acoustic, dinner theatre, and eyeliner ambient works for CB and the Silver Hands and perhaps for them alone.
Today is a compositional tour de force, sawing from the heart strings an earnest monolithic build of Live (remember the 90s band) that lifts and lifts. It's clear Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands are very talented musicians and arrangers and in this particular track the wacky smiles give way to something deeper and fantastically satisfying. As the horns build during the pre-chorus and the indie beat quickens, Crystal's mercurial and girlish whimsy solidifies into Jarboe's angry womanhood. Underpinned by dark ambient acoustic drones and gritty reverbs the tone of Today is a revelation and worth the album price alone.
Muses and Bones is possibly the most musically accomplished album by an unsigned group that this reviewer has ever heard. The album descends in tone from a whimsical peak of twee musicalism into a gorgeously dark arena of sweeping chords, building motifs and consummate musicianship throughout.
Recommended.
by Sean Keenan, Trebuchet Magazine (Feb 2012)
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NPR's Triad Arts Up Close feature on "Illuminating & Transcending the Shadow"
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Singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Bright's music defies easy categorization. It's i...Singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Bright's music defies easy categorization. It's influenced heavily by her studies in both cultural anthropology and ethnomusicology and it's good--really good. Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands has a new CD, Muses and Bones and a unique CD release show is in the works. It's a dark, whimsical, multi-media performance and art production titled "Illuminating and Transcending the Shadow". Crystal talks life, music and the meaning behind that provocative title with TAUC host David Ford. (Jan 2012)
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The Mad Mackerel (UK): Preview of "Muses & Bones"
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CRYSTAL BRIGHT AND THE SILVER HANDS PREP "MUSES & BONES"
Just over a year ago we posted about the “...CRYSTAL BRIGHT AND THE SILVER HANDS PREP "MUSES & BONES"
Just over a year ago we posted about the “twisted carnival folk” of Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands and so now, 13 months on, we are pleased to bring news of the release of second album Muses & Bones. It will be released on March 27th.
Taster track is the startling Especially Your Mother, vocals swoop and whisper while the melody gallops along on the back of a crazed Eastern European burlesque show vibe. Taking inspiration like a magpie steals silver, you will hear echoes of PJ Harvey and Bjork alongside Cirque de Soleil and ancient tales of folklore told in the light of campfires – you know the ones we mean, where stuff doesn’t end happily ever after.
You’ve been warned.
-The Mad Mackerel (Feb 2012)
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O.Henry Magazine feature on Crystal Bright
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Why the Cage Bird Sings: Crystal Bright's Dark Brilliance
A cloaked figure stands center stage with...Why the Cage Bird Sings: Crystal Bright's Dark Brilliance
A cloaked figure stands center stage with an open book. Aside from a single spotlight: total darkness. A disembodied voice booms from above. “These stories are but seeds. And you are meant to be the
soil...” says the mysterious creature, who appears to be reading from a book of fables. “They are tales of the trials and tribulations that all women must undergo in some form or another. Hers may be different from yours. But the lessons are the same... You are her, she is you, you are me and I am you. Together we will emerge from the depths of the mind.” That voice must belong to Crystal Bright, a local musician whose band, Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands, is releasing their new album in a performance that combines live music and interpretive movement theater — Illuminating & Transcending the Shadow, written by Bright — which kicks off Greensboro’s 10th annual Fringe Festival at the City Arts Studio Theater.
Dark, whimsical scenes accompanied by the band’s campy, carnival-like music create dream-like tableau. A little girl in a white gown plays a sequence of shrill notes over and over on a toy piano —even after a beating from her angry father. An older girl is locked away in a golden birdcage. In the background of several scenes, she never sings. "Feeding me worms when I’m meant to eat lilies,
Violets, chickweed, and hay. I can no longer be this way, if I ever want to live again.."
Bright’s operatic voice teems with ethereal beauty. And then there’s the music — the eerie whistling of the saw, the slow and raspy breaths of an accordion, the eclectic sounds of a gypsy punk-rock cabaret. The shadow of oppression is ever-present — a lanky figure in a black overcoat, brimmed hat and bird-like beak mask. He slowly creeps around the stage, ultimately making his way to the gallery where he lurks from row to row and stares, at least it seems, into each spectator’s soul. The barrier between fiction and reality is broken. You are her, she is you, you are me and I am you. Is this a dream? I’d like to wake up now, please.
-O.Henry Magazine (April 2012)
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Performer Magazine feature on Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands
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Colorful Ensemble Flaunts International Flair
"Imagine entering a burlesque show but instead of dir...Colorful Ensemble Flaunts International Flair
"Imagine entering a burlesque show but instead of dirty, whimsical jokes, folktales are narrated, and instead of the audience crying out for Crystal Bright’s lingerie, it cries for the saw, one of Bright’s instruments that imitates a windy, melancholy whistle. The sound is a transcontinental brothel of folk cabaret fables, filled with circus loners and angry gypsies that finger nylon strings and bang fire buckets with rusty spoons..."
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Introducing....Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands
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"While hard to categorise, the lyrics and melodies on the debut album portray the world as a dark an..."While hard to categorise, the lyrics and melodies on the debut album portray the world as a dark and strange (and often funny) place deeply connected to fables and imagination. So we could say twisted carnival folk anyone? Experimental, creepy vaudeville perhaps?
However, you choose to describe it, download the second track off the album Little Match Girl, a gorgeous track that emphasizes lead singer Crystal Bright’s angelic voice."
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My Interview with Crystal bright
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands are from Greensboro, NC and really making a major impact in the ...Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands are from Greensboro, NC and really making a major impact in the music scene. Crystal’s newly released video for “Drowned Out”, has already been nominated for the HearNC Music Video Festival Awards. The official release date of her new album “Muses and Bones” will be January 25, 2012.
Crystal’s background in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology is strongly incorporated into her songs. She plays all types of music from Mariachi to Ugandan folk songs. She is proficient on many instruments; she plays an accordian, adungu (Ugandan harp), concertina, bombo (Argentinian drum), a saw (yes, you read it right), and the piano.
I showed up to the venue early to catch Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands before their set. I walked into the bar and Crystal’s face was the first thing I saw. Her eyes twinkled and she got up warmly from the table.
“Great to see you,” she smiled and gave me a hug. I felt instantly at ease and slightly enamored. She is genuinely beautiful and has this great aura. My mind flashed to that scene in Dogma with Alanis Morissette, where everyone that looks into her eyes feels peace and love. I took a deep breath, looked into her eyes and this is what I asked her…
RK- “How did you get into music originally?”
CB-(chuckles) “A piano teacher moved down the street when I was seven. I remember riding my bike to my lesson with all my books in the basket. I took some guitar lessons in middle school, then I started listening to Tori Amos and wanted to write my own songs.”
RK- “What prompted you to use a saw as a musical instrument?”
CB- “I saw a french movie called “Delicatessen”. There’s a character that plays a saw with a cello player. I had a roommate that had a saw in the garage. I watched youtube videos and learned how to play.”
RK- “What did you want to be when you grew up?”
CB-(laughs) “I wanted to be a veterinarian, then a marine biologist. I loved anything to do with orcas and dolphins. By the time I was in high school, I wanted to act. I ended up spending enough time in the acting department to realize they were all crazy and it wasn’t a healthy place for me.”
RK- “What is on your ipod right now?”
CB- “I actually don’t listen to much music. I feel it interferes with writing. I have gone through some phases where I’ve listened to Tom Waits, Yann Tiersen (he wrote the Amelie Soundtrack), and Lhasa.”
RK- “Do you have any pre-show rituals?”
CB- “I usually just do a vocal warm-up in the car.”
RK- “Why did you choose to name your band the Silver Hands?”
CB- “It is modeled after a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm called “The Girl Without Hands”. A girl loses her hands after her father makes a deal with the devil. She escapes home, only to be found eating fruit out of the King’s garden. The King falls in love with her and they marry. He makes her these beautiful silver hands. Right after the King goes to battle, the Queen bears a son. The devil tricks the Queen into thinking the King wants her killed, and the Queen flees into the woods with her son.
The Queen is met by an angel, with a house in the woods, that cares for them. During that time, the Queen’s hands grow back. The King, meanwhile, comes back from battle and is devastated to learn the Queen is gone. He searches for her for seven years and comes across the angel’s little house. He is given respite there and finds his wife, whom he denies, since she doesn’t have her silver hands anymore. The Queen gets her silver hands to show him and then he knows for sure it’s her.
What I took away from the Girl With the Silver Hands, is that when she needed help, she was given a set of silver hands. I see them as an extra pair of musical hands. I had come to a point where I had written all these songs and I needed help in creating a band and taking my music to the next level. The Silver Hands help me create something bigger than my own hands could.”
It was time for Crystal to take the stage. Her voice is ethereal and eerily haunting. Her music is a cacophony of influences that ranges from dark and broody to carnivalesque. It’s hard to pigeon-hole such a unique sound, and from the front row, I can tell you that Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands are a breath of fresh air.
This Coolgrrrl is officially enraptured, and as I reflect upon that magical night, I can’t help thinking that Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands might just have the Midas touch.
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands Muses and Bones
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Crystal Bright has wandered just about everywhere, it seems, and she likes to cram all of her travel...Crystal Bright has wandered just about everywhere, it seems, and she likes to cram all of her travels into her songs. This album uses the loping rhythms of the Roma as her base, grafting all manner of ideas to that fluid and engaging style.
Over the top? Yeah, just a bit. Bright pretty much insists on your full attention from the first minute. I didn't mind, though. These songs are immediately arresting, even if the sense of drama within them might feel a bit contrived now and again.
That's okay by me. Bright enlists so many "Silver Hands" to flesh out her ideas that the album resembles the carnival that its musical underpinnings suggest. If that last sentence didn't quite make sense, well, I'm under the influence. Of Bright, that is.
Lovely, stirring and generally enthralling. Bright's breadth of sound is almost unbelievable, and this album moves along with power, grace and style. Must remember to breathe. In a moment.
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Meet an Artist
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Forming her band Crystal Bright & the Sliver Hands
Well, the beginning of Crystal Bright & the Silv...Forming her band Crystal Bright & the Sliver Hands
Well, the beginning of Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands was two years ago. It was at a point in my life where I had a lot more free time. I had the time to work on my own songs instead of playing piano or singing backup in someone else’s band.
I just started flushing out some new songs. I have had several people playing with me along the way. Diego Diaz has been the guitar player from the beginning, but the members change a lot as far as the people playing bass, percussion, hurdy gurdy, trumpet. As far as this group goes, I want to take it to another level and really do it full-time because I love singing and collaborating with other artists and photographers and dancers. Collaborations are a really important part of the work for me.
I have a theater background. I wanted to be an actress for a long time, but then I realized it wasn’t for me as far as the energy and competition goes.
The instruments she plays
Piano is my first instrument, and the guitar was my second instrument. I started playing the accordion in a mariachi band in grad school about six years ago. I want to learn to play the cigar box guitar. I have a vihuela too, which is a Mexican guitar.
Her new album 'Muses and Bones’
It’s a compilation of songs about things that have happened to me, and the “bones” represent the structure parts of me. There are a couple of tunes from the first album (the self-titled 'Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands’) that were strong, so we wanted to include those on this album, too. There are a lot of songs inspired by folktales like “The Little Match Girl” and an Inuit tale called “Skeleton Woman.” “The Ugly Duckling” inspired one of my songs, “The Misplaced Zygote.” Some of the songs were inspired by environmental destruction and relationships.
I usually don’t write about relationships because it’s not what moves me the most. Ever since high school — and I have been writing lyrics — they have always been about society and culture because I have always had an interest in anthropology and societal issues. Those are more fascinating to me. Everyone writes about relationships and love. I am just kind of over it.
Defining her unique sound
It’s up for interpretation. I’m saying right now, dark, whimsical nongenre. It’s a mixture of my influences — Eastern European, French, Spanish. It’s kind of carnivally, Tim Burtony. Also people have said Tom Waits and Kate Bush and The Dresden Dolls. I can see it with the musical style.
Don’t put her in a box
I like what I like, and I am not trying to be something specific. I don’t like labels and genres. Everyone is always trying to put people in a box so they can understand them, I guess. I am not really interested in doing that; it’s not authentic to me. You can always get stuck in a box. I write from the heart, and I write what I like. It is what it is.
Influenced by other cultures
When I was at Florida State, they had a lot of different ensembles. They had a Chinese ensemble, where I learned to play the zheng , which is a zither. They had a Ugandan ensemble where I learned to play the Ugandan harp. I played in a mariachi band and in a Balinese gamelan, which is a huge orchestra of a bunch of different instruments.
When I was trying to figure out what to write my thesis on, I traveled to Europe. I went to Spain, and I was really interested in flamenco dancing and singing. While I was there, I searched for a flamenco teacher on the Internet and I went to stay with a guy and his family. They had these two children that were really young and so cute. I started teaching the little girl piano. I traveled with him around the area, and I went to the shows, and I was learning the dancing. It was so fun.
Making her own way in the world
I definitely have a strong independent thing going on. I grew up in the country. I had friends, but I didn’t really fit in with one group. I liked so many different groups and bringing people together. I’ve always been drawn to people in different cultures who are oppressed or are underdogs because I felt that way growing up. I felt that way because of family stuff. My dad was pretty harsh.
They are totally supportive now, but it was very hard growing up. I was the oldest of the two. When you are growing up, your parents are very strict, and they don’t give you any reasons. From a young age, it’s hard.
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Local Talent Shines at North Carolina Symphony’s New Year’s Eve Celebration
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Crystal Bright, lead singer of the Greensboro-based experimental folk rock band Crystal Bright and t...Crystal Bright, lead singer of the Greensboro-based experimental folk rock band Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands. She will sing and play the musical saw in a special orchestral arrangement of the title single from her new CD release "Toy Hammer."
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Best of: The Music Endorsements
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Singer
Crystal Bright, Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands
The closest approximation to Crystal Brig...Singer
Crystal Bright, Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands
The closest approximation to Crystal Bright’s haunted incantations is that of another North Carolina native: Tori Amos. As audacious of a comparison as that might seem, it’s not only her vocal ability that approaches that of Amos, but the raw emotion with which she delivers it.
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Sessions at Studio B with Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands
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“Vaudeville, circus music, minstrel … it’s tough to pin down exactly what Greensboro’s Crystal Brigh...“Vaudeville, circus music, minstrel … it’s tough to pin down exactly what Greensboro’s Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands is, but it’s easy to see Bright’s eclectic musical background is at the forefront of the band’s truly unique tunes. “It’s kind of a cross between Winger and The Kinks,” multi-instrumentalist Taylor Bays joked. But Bays isn’t far off. In fact, Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands shares some similarities with The Kinks’ notoriously theatrical Preservation albums...”
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Local Talent - Crystal Bright
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Musician, health counselor, writer and director
It’s been years since Crystal Bright seriously pu...Musician, health counselor, writer and director
It’s been years since Crystal Bright seriously pursued her interest in theater, instead focusing on music and holistic health counseling. In addition to independently offering piano, voice and accordion lessons, she plays with Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands. As part of this year’s Fringe Festival, Bright wrote and directed Illuminating and Transcending the Shadow, a play about overcoming self-doubt and self-oppression. She will be performing live with a band alongside the play, using an array of instruments including a Ugandan harp, and the second show will also be a release party for her band’s album Muses and Bones. “Other people have described the music as Eastern-European, carnival-y, Tim Burton-y and vaudeville,” Bright said, whose experiences studying flamenco in Spain and playing with international ensembles also influence the sound. The play will be performed Jan. 26 at 6 p.m., Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. as part of the Fringe Festival. Contact her at brightcrystaldawn@gmail.com, visit crystalbrightandthesilverhands.com, or, for her holistic health work, crystaldawnbright.com
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Crystal Bright, Recent Winner Of The Triangle Talent Search, To Perform With The NC Symphony On New Year's Eve
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Crystal Bright of Greensboro, NC and recent winner of the Triangle Talent Search announces she will ...Crystal Bright of Greensboro, NC and recent winner of the Triangle Talent Search announces she will be performing with the NC Symphony on Friday, December 31, 2010 at 7:30pm at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, NC...
Crystal Bright was invited to this extraordinary New Year's Eve concert at Meymandi Concert Hall after being selected as one of the four winners of the Triangle Talent Search.
For their New Year's Eve celebration, The NC Symphony has chosen to collaborate on an arrangement of Crystal Bright's song "Toy Hammer" off Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands' self-recorded and self-titled debut album.
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands (Motorco Garage Bar, Durham, 1/13/12)
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Crystal started by teaching the crowd, then asking us to join in singing, a simple, falling, melody....Crystal started by teaching the crowd, then asking us to join in singing, a simple, falling, melody. It was the opening melody for "Especially Your Mother" (from the upcoming release, "Muses and Bones"), which the band promptly kicked into as everyone sang. So we were literally made a part of the performance from the very beginning. What a wonderful way to engage the audience! This instantly set the tone for a friendly, comfortable, fun night.
Her bio rattled off a plethora of instruments to be expected -- accordion, musical saw, a Ugandan harp called an adungu, piano, various percussive instruments -- with the concomitant international influences. But what was unexpected was her main instrument: her voice. And WHAT a voice!
After the show, she told me she was just finding, or had only recently found, her voice. Are you kidding me? Despite all of the interesting, complex, novel things going on with this band, Crystal's voice was clearly the focus. Think Kate Bush with an earthier, less artsy, and more worldly bent. Like Bush, she has range and demonstrates it. Also like Bush (but unlike many female vocalists with range), she uses it creatively in ways that don't sound like she's just showing off. Crystal's voice is captivating and mysterious.
Meanwhile, she was usually cranking on the accordion, or bowing the saw, to danceable Eastern European, cabaret, or Spanish-flavored melodies, or to dark fairy/folk tales. Also meanwhile, the "Silver Hands" were being just that. Diego Diaz playsed electric slide and an excellent guitar, notably on the long Spanish traditional song, "Malagueña Salerosa". On other songs, such as "Toy Hammer" (see video below, tuba player from DBRS sitting in), he played the slide like a theremin, and its eerie sound harmonized with Crystal's vocals, adding to the effect. The standup bass and percussion were great as well. I've seldom heard a bass make so many different sounds, from high "electric" tinklings to tuba-lows.
Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands' show was a warm, welcoming, circus-like atmosphere, with a bit of a dark edge.
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Clip: Drowned Out (Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands)
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Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands é uma nova banda liderada por Crystal Bright, uma super mulher com...Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands é uma nova banda liderada por Crystal Bright, uma super mulher com uma vasta formação musical, que passa pela sua formação base em Antropologia, alcança a Etnomusicologia e passa por várias experiências musicais numa especie de world-fusion, que variam desde uma banda estilo Mariachi onde já tocou, aos sons mais étnicos provenientes do Uganda, China, Indonésia e Argentina, sem mencionar todo o seu conhecimento de acordeão, concertina, adungu (uma harpa do Uganda), bombo, entre outros.
Com todo este conhecimento, Crystal Bright decidiu enveredar-se por áreas menos exclusivas, misturando de tudo um pouco. O resultado à vista apresenta-se por uma nova canção, "Drowned Out", cujo clip oficial pode ser visto mais abaixo, numa espécie de casamento entre Kate Bush e os The Dresden Dolls e cujos padrinhos poderiam ser os Dead Can Dance ou os This Mortal Coil.
Vale a pena conferir toda esta fusão. Uma música maravilhosa, cuja criativade supera toda a estranheza que lhe poderá estar associada à primeira escuta. Muito bom. :)
O novo álbum, 'Muses and Bones' está previsto sair em Jan '12.
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands-Toy Hammer
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Hmmm…so this is what it would sound like if Kate Bush were to genetically fuse with Danny Elfman and...Hmmm…so this is what it would sound like if Kate Bush were to genetically fuse with Danny Elfman and Dresden Dolls in some strange biological experiment. The song features a Theremin and an off-center, Nightmare Before Christmas piano accompanying a singer whose voice soars and sinks while singing well-written words making the comparison easy. “Toy Hammer” is a slightly off-center, creepy (“Ghosts in the parlor”) but sexy (“Warm cherry pie dripping down my thighs”) track from their upcoming self-recorded debut. It’s a song that will appeal to both the Goths and the Freaks and apparently points in between as the North Carolina Symphony is collaborating with Crystal Bright to arrange “Toy Hammer,” for the Symphony’s New Year’s Eve program at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, NC. Not bad for a debut.
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands
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"When I listen to CB&TSH I’m thinking a number of descriptors: operatic, carnival, vaudeville, war-o..."When I listen to CB&TSH I’m thinking a number of descriptors: operatic, carnival, vaudeville, war-of-the-worlds and freak-show. I truly mean that in the best of all possible worlds! There are so many elements to this music that it’s truly hard to pigeon-hole. CB&TSH has sounds that are straight out of a sci-fi epic and a carnival thriller. This is a soundtrack for those who follow a free-spirited muse and are quite ready to pick up stakes and travel to the next venue for escape and fresh opportunity. The music and vocals take you on a wild adventure where your closest confidant just might be the donkey-boy or the sharp-tongued sword-swallower. Cast your lot with the clowns and the closely adjoined sisters and you will soon discover that these cast-offs are now your only family and true home. Yes, you are home, finally. "
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Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands
"We sit down with Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands..."
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Future looks Bright
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“Well, I’m 29 and an Aries.” A slight chuckle comes through the line as Crystal Bright begins to tel...“Well, I’m 29 and an Aries.” A slight chuckle comes through the line as Crystal Bright begins to tell about herself. “Just kidding.”
But in all seriousness, according to the stars, 2010 should be a great year for the Greensboro musician, originally from Mount Pleasant.
Her horoscope says Bright’s April birthday is supposed to make things very constructive, and whether or not you believe in that sort of thing, a busy and productive year is exactly what Bright is having.
The ex-Albina Savoy member’s latest project began about a year ago, a phoenix of sorts, rising out of the ashes of what was a bleak time for Bright. Like the mythological creature whose cry is supposed to be like a beautiful song, the end became the beginning for Bright.
“Last June I got laid off from the Montessori school where I was teaching music and dance,” Bright explained. “I lost my job, my boyfriend and my band — the three main things in my life — in one month. … I thought that I might as well do the things I wanted to do and build my life back up and do what makes me happy.”
The result of that resolve is Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands. Bright, who uses a wide range of instruments, from the accordion to bowing a saw (which she taught herself by watching YouTube videos) to an adungu (a Ugandan harp), has joined with Diego Diaz, Taylor Bays, Charles Kurtz and Pete Lewis to create a whimsical and eclectic sound that ranges from playful to haunting.
Bright has been playing music since she was 6 and was heavily influenced in high school by Bjork, PJ Harvey and Tori Amos. It was in her graduate studies at Florida State University that she was able to hone her musical prowess and learn from other cultures. She played in a Chinese ensemble and a Mariachi band and learned from Mexican and Brazilian musical cultures, among others. These influences are overwhelmingly obvious in the music of Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands and lend themselves to Bright’s diverse instrumentation.
“It just depends on what the song needs. I try not to stick to just one instrument,” Bright explained. “It seems like if you play the guitar, a song is going to be really different structurally and sound-wise than if you play accordion or piano.
“I like a lot of music that doesn’t necessarily go along with traditional structures of songs. I was really influenced by Mr. Bungle in grad school, John Cage. … Now I listen to a lot of Tom Waits. I get really bored with music that has very similar structure that’s not pushing anything.”
Apart from Bright’s assorted music, she has her own assorted life.
With a background and interests in drama and anthropology, Bright has also started her own holistic health counseling service.
“I’m doing what I love finally, instead of holding myself back. I really just want to help other people do that, too,” Bright explained. “I like to make a light switch come on in someone to realize their potential.”
As for Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands, their latest work will soon be taking them on a brief tour to New York. Additionally, their work and creative partnership with Greensboro photographer Rusty McDonald is working its way towards October performances at the Broach Theatre in Greensboro, part of the band’s vision to create more of a performance than your typical rock show.
“(Rusty) has been capturing our sound and creative angle in photography. His artistic vision fits well with our sound, so the marriage of the two is creating our 'look’ (for the Broach performances),” Bright explained.
The Broach shows, currently scheduled for Oct. 7 and 8, will include “live actors and the whole nine yards,” according to Bright. She hopes that the partnership with McDonald, one where he is helping to create the plot and overall look of the performance, will impart more of a musical dialogue and bring the characters in her songs to life.
“Basically, what my vision is for (Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands) is I’m really inspired by
archetypical things, folk talks, myths,” Bright explained about her idea to do an album full of stories that represent different phases of a woman’s life. “I was going through a really hard time and thinking, 'Wow, I’m not going to hold myself back anymore.’ I started believing in myself.”
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Megan Jean and the KFB w/ Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands
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Bandleader Crystal Bright handles vocals, accordion, keys, and various exotic instruments on stage w...Bandleader Crystal Bright handles vocals, accordion, keys, and various exotic instruments on stage with her backing combo. The Silver Hands include guitarist Diego Diaz, percussionist Sandy Blocker, bassist Robbie Link, and guests. The group recently released an eerie and beautiful studio album called Muses and Bones. It’s an ethereal collection with a chilly sparseness and an unusual mix of styles, from gypsy folk and carnivalesque blues to the kind of gothy pop both Siouxsie Sioux and Adele Adkins might dig.
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Show blends music, performance art
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GREENSBORO — Fans of Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands know and love the band’s blend of experimen...GREENSBORO — Fans of Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands know and love the band’s blend of experimental, multicultural music. But its next show promises to give concert-goers something far beyond the norm.
Bright and bandmates Diego Diaz, Taylor Bays, Charles Kurtz and Pete Lewis will present “Illuminating and Transcending the Shadow,” a melding of music and performance art, Friday and Saturday at The Broach
Theatre in downtown Greensboro. Local photographer Rusty McDonald (DividingMe Photography) is assisting the Greensboro band with the look of the show, and dozens of friends and friends of friends are helping create a memorable experience for fans.
Bright was inspired to create this show after reading the book “Women Who Run With Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype,” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
“It’s full of folk tales and myths from all over the world, and how they can help women in various places of their lives,” she said.
Bright already had written several songs based on stories from the book. Earlier this summer, she decided to expand that approach into a full-fledged performance.
Bright said the inspiration for the show came from working with McDonald on some photos.
“He was interested in performance art as well, and we said, 'Hey, we should do a show together,’ ” she said. “And we just did. We gathered all of our friends together with many different talents, and we are pulling it together. I wanted it to be big and worth doing.”
“Illuminating and Transcending the Shadow” features the same character at three stages of her life (played by different actresses). She enters a dream world, where she meets fantastic characters, one of whom acts as her guide. Bright said the journey is more about internal discovery and overcoming self-imposed oppression than it is defeating any external obstacles.
“A lot of my songs are based on folk tales and myths,” Bright said. “I really wanted to see them and not just hear them.”
The show will feature 16 costumed actors, who will share the stage with the band. It also features little dialogue — save from an occasional statement by a narrator — but the actors perform the stories while the band plays music (both with lyrics and instrumental) appropriate to the moment. The whole theater will be in play — audience members shouldn’t be surprised if costumed actors come out into the crowd.
Putting this show together has been no small task. In addition to the normal sound checks and rehearsals that go into being a performing musician, Bright and company also have had to recruit actors, collect costumes and props, and create the lighting and stage set needed for such a visually intensive show.
Bright says the look of the performance might remind some of a Tim Burton film. Bright isn’t a stranger to the stage. She studied drama at UNCG before switching to anthropology and “in high school, I was in a lot of musicals,” she said. But this is her first attempt at organizing and staging something on this scale.
Plus, it isn’t as if Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands have exactly been sitting around these past couple of months. They went on a two-week tour of the New York area, performed at a number of regional events (including the Carnivale fundraiser at Elsewhere in downtown Greensboro) and even released their first self-titled album. But Bright said the hectic schedule and hard work have been worth it to see this unique show come together.
“It’s going to be cool to see this interpreted on stage,” she said. “It’s a lot more interesting to see than just seeing a band over and over.”
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Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands - Toy Hammer
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On the eve of Hallowe’en we bring you some dark humour from North Carolina
North Carolina’s own C...On the eve of Hallowe’en we bring you some dark humour from North Carolina
North Carolina’s own Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands are gearing up to release their first full length album, which was self-recorded in its entirety by the band, which features former members of Citified and Albina Savoy. The release has already gotten attention from the North Carolina Symphony, who asked permission to collaborate with Crystal Bright to arrange the album’s first single, “Toy Hammer,” for the Symphony’s New Year’s Eve program at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, NC.
The lyrics and melodies on the debut album portray the world as a dark and strange (and often funny) place deeply connected to fables and imagination. “Toy Hammer” is a fitting match for Halloween weekend. Take a listen and you’ll immediately know why that is.
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CD Review
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"Crystal Bright has an amazingly rich voice, haunting and melodic. She draws you in and makes you wa..."Crystal Bright has an amazingly rich voice, haunting and melodic. She draws you in and makes you want more even when the music is eerie and chills run up and down your spine. The genre of music defies description, you either love them or hate them. Partly dark carnivale, partly quirky carnvial with use of items Ive never seen before. Definately try to see them live because though the recorded versions are good, NOTHING compares to watching them perform and hearing how brilliant they are."
- Liza Castro, Amazon.com (Mar 11, 2011)
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Top Shows
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What might quickly sound like the go-to house band for a Tim Burton film is an accomplished mix of c...What might quickly sound like the go-to house band for a Tim Burton film is an accomplished mix of carnival atmosphere, jazz, world flavors, and a chanteuse that sings part old time swing music with pop sensibilities. The music is a wide variety of instruments, accordion and adungu to name a few.
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Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands Review
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From its rollicking, almost ska basslines, to the accordion accompaniment and Ms Bright's dramatic, ...From its rollicking, almost ska basslines, to the accordion accompaniment and Ms Bright's dramatic, showy vocals, Muses & Bones makes a noise that's nigh-on impossible to pin down. One minute it's sashaying down by the Seine, the next it's in a Brixton blues club, then a Weimar cabaret or playing footsie with Leigh Bowery while watching the Cockettes deconstruct 60s politics in a 'Frisco dive.
And that's just in the opening trio of Especially Your Mother, Drowned Out and The Misplaced Zygote: Down the Wrong Chimney, which cries out to the imagined union of Scott Walker and Kate Bush.
Expect to find Crystal trying to get her Silver Hands on you in the darker reaches of some sprawling festival long after the headline acts have been packed off back to their comfy hotels. This is art cabaret rather than raucous rabble rousing, all tinged with the minor chord changes and hints of vocal melancholy that allowed Bowie to break out of his crooner-as-clown cul-de-sac of the late-60s and carve himself a slice of the moonage daydream.
At its best - the tethered opening of In December, the ballad Today and the wavering ethno-clash of Adungu - the record oozes the kind of exotic plurality memorably harnessed by mainstream acts like Madness and Damon Albarn in recent years.
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Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands – “Especially Your Mother”
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"Crystal Bright is a siren with an accordion, a delight for music lovers and a godsend for those who..."Crystal Bright is a siren with an accordion, a delight for music lovers and a godsend for those who miss the Dresden Dolls sound. Wonderfully quirky."
supersonic
