West Coast avant-garde vocalist Pamela Zero has more than extended techniques and unusual vocalizes in here: she also has some moving songs. Living Backwards features Discord Aggregate's singer on her own, multi-tracking her voice to create rich a cappella tapestries. The ten tracks presented... [+] Expand

West Coast avant-garde vocalist Pamela Zero has more than extended techniques and unusual vocalizes in here: she also has some moving songs. Living Backwards features Discord Aggregate's singer on her own, multi-tracking her voice to create rich a cappella tapestries. The ten tracks presented here are genuine songs. If Zero occasionally uses unorthodox techniques (sobbing, breathing sounds, etc.), they are all subservient to the melodies. References to Kate Bush (for the topics of love, yearning, childhood) and Amy X Neuburg (for the multi-tracking) are definitely in order, but Zero has developed her own form of songwriting, drawing inspiration from sea shanties ("The Journey Home" is a genuine modern-day shanty) and Bulgarian polyphony ("Gallica"). Each song is a little gem of melodic invention, creative arranging, and vocal prowess. Zero explores different techniques, different settings, and different influences in each song, but these details appear only after a few listens. The listener's attention is first grabbed by the melodies and the lyrics. Songs like "Physics," Gallica," "Mercy" and "Present" provide highlights that will entice connoisseurs of the female voice. A lot of work and studio time obviously went into Living Backwards: the number of vocal tracks is staggering when you start to listen up-close, and kudos go to engineer Justin Weis for mixing them all down. Yet the music conveys a wonderful sense of simplicity and immediacy -- which is all the more surprising coming from a member of one of the most obscure avant-garde artists' collectives in America. Simply beautiful. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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