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LP
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FTR 221LP
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"When Jersey teen Marianne Nowottny arrived on the scene in the late '90s, she had the looks of a typical NJ gum-snapper but possessed a voice that was way beyond what you'd expect to find hanging out in the parking lot of White Castle trying to bum cigarettes. Her vocals had the rich, smoky maturity of Marianne Faithfull's late-'70s work, hauled into an off-center bedroom pop universe that was almost impossible to decode. Her subsequent studio recordings have investigated magnificent nooks of post-naïf construction, but it was in live performance that she created some of her most staggering sonic edifices. We are very pleased to finally present two sides of her explosive and surprising avant-lounge meditations. The first side was recorded at the Knitting Factory in '99, with an improvisational trio composed of Mark Dagley (The Girls, Hi Sheriffs of Blue, etc.); Mark's visual arts pal, the late Steven Parrino (whose work with Jutta Koether in Electrophilia was unbelievably savage); and Scott Jarvis (Workdogs, Th' Cigaretz, ½ Japanese, etc.). The fully toasted coil of Marianne's keys and voice blends into the sound-sheets rustled up by her collusionists like an unholy meeting between one of Sun Ra's small ensembles and Robin Crutchfield's Dark Day. Messy, smudged, long-format song distention with amazing shifts in tonal center and a truly crazed heft. The flip, recorded with just Dagley in '02, is even more extreme. Built around a pummel that sounds like the L train blasting straight through Union Square station, Marianne channels broken Simone-tones and broadcasts them into the maw of chaos. Even in those instances when she chooses to use her her völk-voice the results are dastardly, with a feeling so deeply drugged it'll make yr head heavy. If you've never sampled the Nowottny sound, this is a pretty amazing place to start. Don't be afraid. She was just a kid" --Byron Coley, 2015. Limited edition of 300.
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CD
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ABA 026CD
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"Ms. Nowottny came to the attention of New York avant garde music and art circles in 1998, at the age of sixteen, with the release of Afraid of Me, described as 'one of the most astonishing debuts ever' by New York Press. She has since released CDs on Camera Obscura, Foxy Digitalis, Barl Fire and Celestial Jars. With the desire to record an album that was, in her own words, 'as much Fleetwood Mac as Lil' Kim,' Nowottny set out to construct a homemade R&B/pop CD. The resulting What Is She Doing? is packed with primitive electro beats, low budget keyboards, spacey electronics and Nowottny's own inimitable voice. This long overdue update serves as a travelog of exotic themes, musical styles and textures adapted by the artist during her now decade-long career. What Is She Doing? was engineered by Mark Dagley (Pothole Skinny, Hi Sheriffs of Blue, Girls) and features Ben Miller (X-Destroy All Monsters, Third Border) on saxophone."
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