Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“Jasmine Star reveals a whispery Hope Sandoval-like voice, accompanied by bare-bones slide guitar, piano, and most distinctively, the buzzing drone of an Indian classical tanpura. An Internet search reveals a pair of intense, high-traffic fan sites for this Jandek-like local enigma, one in particular being full of lurid stories of mental illness and psychedelic drugs. Vague pieces of info and conjecture surrounding this group credits a singer by the name of ‘Z,’ who was apparently an active local performance artist and musician in the late Eighties before falling into severe drug addiction and psychosis. The group draws its name from the star jasmine plant, which contains the therapeutic psychoactive compound ibogaine, which Z apparently had some sort of transcendent experience with. The singer may still reside in a local mental institution, this album reportedly recorded in secret within the walls of the institution itself. No telling if these stories are true or contrived, but what rings painfully true is this intimate recording, filled with the sad, haunted beauty of Z's voice and tortured lyrics, her pain anesthetized by the soothing drone that surrounds this shadowy, sympathetic figure. The gaps in the music, and the story, are fertile ground for the active imagination.” Michael Chamy
- Austin Chronicle
“Jasmine Star seems to be a or not to be an artist with a little controversy. First, the music is a cross between Leonard Cohen and Mazzy Star. Both the music and lyrics (subjects include heroin use, self mutilation, and depression) are frighteningly melancholic and honest. Supposedly, Jasmine Star, has been institutionalized with drug and depression problems… the music is beautiful. I am a sucker for the droney and slide guitar.” - mysteryandmisery.com
“Junkie Cowboy Junkies” anon.
"Delicate, fragile and unearthly - the Jasmine Star album is a testament to sadness and longing. Illegally composed and recorded within the walls of a Texas mental hospital where singer/songwriter z is involuntarily confined. There is no other album out there (save a Nico LP) that can break your heart before you even get as far as listening to a track." GirlMedia, (06/02):
“Reminds me of Opal, but more sincere and intimate.” Scott Mou, Other Records, NYC
Fantastic album with a beautiful whispering voice and hypnotizing melodies. One of the finest Lo-Fi-Melancholic-Dream-Pop-CDs I've ever heard.” Cdbaby.com
“Creepy. Affecting. Tender.” Cdbaby.com
“Whether or not the record was recorded in a treatment room of a mental hospital is not the point-- it sounds as if it was-- that much we know. This is a tight and impressive record from an (apparently) deeply troubled artist…” Amazon.com
“Z & Jasmine Star have produced an enigmatic, ethereal journey with this CD. Songs that tug at the soul. Perfect music for driving along a desert highway at 2 am. Forget the Mazzy Star comparisons-- this is unique and amazing music.” Cdbaby.com
“The word ‘mournful’ describes the album. Mournful. Plaintive. Beautiful… The songs on the album suggest life lived through the veil of heroin addiction… The songs blend and wash into each other, variations on a sad tune… the institutionalized, nameless z singing from the reverb halls of a cold tiled place she doesn't want to be in.” Amazon.com
- GirlMedia, Other Records, Amazon.com, CDBaby.com...
Discography
Jasmine Star: Radio On
Jasmine Star: Jasmine Star
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
REVIEWS:
“Junkie Cowboy Junkies” anon.
"Delicate, fragile and unearthly - the Jasmine Star album is a testament to sadness and longing. Illegally composed and recorded within the walls of a Texas mental hospital where singer/songwriter z is involuntarily confined. There is no other album out there (save a Nico LP) that can break your heart before you even get as far as listening to a track." GirlMedia, (06/02):
“Reminds me of Opal, but more sincere and intimate.” Scott Mou, Other Records, NYC
“Jasmine Star seems to be a or not to be an artist with a little controversy. First, the music is a cross between Leonard Cohen and Mazzy Star. Both the music and lyrics (subjects include heroin use, self mutilation, and depression) are frighteningly melancholic and honest. Supposedly, Jasmine Star, has been institutionalized with drug and depression problems… the music is beautiful. I am a sucker for the droney and slide guitar.” mysteryandmisery.com
Fantastic album with a beautiful whispering voice and hypnotizing melodies. One of the finest Lo-Fi-Melancholic-Dream-Pop-CDs I've ever heard.” Cdbaby.com
“Jasmine Star reveals a whispery Hope Sandoval-like voice, accompanied by bare-bones slide guitar, piano, and most distinctively, the buzzing drone of an Indian classical tanpura. An Internet search reveals a pair of intense, high-traffic fan sites for this Jandek-like local enigma, one in particular being full of lurid stories of mental illness and psychedelic drugs. Vague pieces of info and conjecture surrounding this group credits a singer by the name of ‘Z,’ who was apparently an active local performance artist and musician in the late Eighties before falling into severe drug addiction and psychosis. The group draws its name from the star jasmine plant, which contains the therapeutic psychoactive compound ibogaine, which Z apparently had some sort of transcendent experience with. The singer may still reside in a local mental institution, this album reportedly recorded in secret within the walls of the institution itself. No telling if these stories are true or contrived, but what rings painfully true is this intimate recording, filled with the sad, haunted beauty of Z's voice and tortured lyrics, her pain anesthetized by the soothing drone that surrounds this shadowy, sympathetic figure. The gaps in the music, and the story, are fertile ground for the active imagination.” Michael Chamy, Austin Chronicle
“Creepy. Affecting. Tender.” Cdbaby.com
“Whether or not the record was recorded in a treatment room of a mental hospital is not the point-- it sounds as if it was-- that much we know. This is a tight and impressive record from an (apparently) deeply troubled artist…” Amazon.com
“Z & Jasmine Star have produced an enigmatic, ethereal journey with this CD. Songs that tug at the soul. Perfect music for driving along a desert highway at 2 am. Forget the Mazzy Star comparisons-- this is unique and amazing music.” Cdbaby.com
“The word ‘mournful’ describes the album. Mournful. Plaintive. Beautiful… The songs on the album suggest life lived through the veil of heroin addiction… The songs blend and wash into each other, variations on a sad tune… the institutionalized, nameless z singing from the reverb halls of a cold tiled place she doesn't want to be in.” Amazon.com
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