Grows on you

(Morning Star, Saturday 28 January 2006)

ALBUM: Regina Spektor - Mary Ann Meets the Grave Diggers and Other Short Stories
(Transgressive)

THE idea of a experimental female pianist may make most gag and, trust me, there is a part of Regina Spektor's mythology which doesn't sit well.

That self-aware logo - so it looks like "respekt‚" do you see? - the associated cool from rock'n'roll pals like The Strokes, the gothic illustrative work on this album sleeve - all have the smell of trying a little too hard and ticks every one of my "irritating" boxes.

But then, there is the music. Hailing from New York via Russia, Spektor's self-awareness is probably less studied than it seems.

A genuinely talented pianist, she seems to have taken a Tori Amos fan club membership and made it into her own shtick.

This CD comprises all the highlights of Spektor's career so far and, truly, it is a thing of beauty.

Opener Oedipus has a charming naivety, both lyrically and vocally.

In Consequence of Sounds, Spektor showcases her humorous side with the lyric "the National Geographic was being too graphic/ When all she had wanted to know was the traffic." A clumsy couplet, sure, but one with more heart than Coldplay could ever hope to instil in their work, with their bland song-for-everyone template.

The standout track has to be the single Us, with its haunting strings and clearly defined characters - it is a truly career-defining piece for any artist, established or emerging and should guarantee this newcomer centre stage for class and majesty.

Regina Spektor is an acquired taste for certain, but delving into her dark little world is a bit like text sex with an ex - at first, it'll make you feel uncomfortable, but, once you throw yourself into it, you won't remember life without it.

Magic of water

(Morning Star, Tuesday 24 January 2006)

EXHIBITION: Elizabeth Ogilvie - Bodies of Water, Dundee Contemporary Arts

Having worked with water for over 10 years, Fife resident Elizabeth Ogilvie's show is a real coup for the DCA, an outstanding installation which exhibits strength and vulnerability in equal measure.

Gallery 2 is a gateway to the main event, showing Ogilvie's collaborative piece with renowned Taiko drummer Joji Hirota.

The piece features three screens, one showing off Hirota's rhythmic understanding of water and its movement and one displaying Ogilvie's reaction to the music as she excites the water with a rod.

The third and main screen displays the water itself changing from inanimate blank canvas to an intense, vibrant illustration of the collaboration.
The main attraction in Gallery 1 offers two large pools surrounded by a platform.

In the dim light, the first pool is mesmerising in its absolute stillness.

Acting as a reflective surface, the piece becomes more about that which can be seen in it, than what it is itself.

Over the pool, film is projected of the three main processes of the water cycle, a representation of the indefinable magic of water.

The second pool in the room is agitated, water being actively manipulated by way of pipes in the ceiling.

From them, precipitation falls in cycles, starting out as steady drizzle and eventually cascading down in a deluge.

Ogilvie's ongoing fascination with water seems never better placed than when in such close proximity to one of Scotland's grandest rivers, and Bodies of Water shows the lengths to which this natural resource can represent the fluidity of music and of human perception.

The artist's recent pledge to "promote a greater respect and understanding for water" is both brave and daunting, but through installations such as this, Ogilvie goes some way to persuading all that global bodies of water are ever-changing and our rapt attention is warranted.