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My Fair, My Dark | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | August 5, 2008 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, Indie folk, Baroque pop, Acoustic, Dream pop | |||
Length | 23:56 | |||
Label | Polyvinyl Records | |||
Producer | Warren Defever | |||
Ida chronology | ||||
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My Fair, My Dark is Ida's second EP, released in 2008 on Polyvinyl Records. It features two original songs, a live version of "Late Blues" (from Heart Like a River ), and four covers. Guest musicians include The Band's Levon Helm, Peter Schickele, Michael Hurley, and Tara Jane O'Neil. My Fair, My Dark's eponymous lead song was first issued on the CD accompanying the 2005 music issue of The Believer magazine. [1]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Crawdaddy! | (favorable) [3] [4] |
JamBase | (favorable) [5] |
Reviewers highlighted the new song "Still Life" and the two on which Levon Helm participated, Dolly Parton's "The Pain of Loving You" [6] and the live version of Ida's own "Late Blues" from one of Helm's Midnight Ramble concerts. "My Fair, My Dark" was included on a list of "150 of the saddest songs in the world" published in the Los Angeles Times' music blog. [7]
All songs written by Ida, except as noted.
The vinyl release contains an additional cover, of Warren Defever's "Darkness Night". [8]
The Band was a Canadian-American rock group formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. Originally the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins and later Bob Dylan, the group released its debut album, Music from Big Pink, in 1968 to critical acclaim. Described by music critic Bruce Eder as "one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics ... as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones". The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing subsequent musicians such as the Eagles, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, the Flaming Lips, and Wilco.
His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan, United States. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warren Defever has been the only constant member, with a variety of musicians and singers contributing over the years.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 39th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
"The Weight" is an original song by the Canadian-American group The Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the Sixties, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song in Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."
Louis William Marini Jr., known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brothers.
Larry Campbell is an American multi-instrumentalist, who plays many stringed instruments in genres including country, folk, blues, and rock. He is perhaps most widely known for his time as part of Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour band from 1997 to 2004.
Ida is an indie rock band from New York City. They are known for their three-part harmonies; sparse, minimal, often quiet arrangements; and their three singer-songwriters. Their music shows strong folk, pop, punk, world, R&B, and American roots music influences, but there are also avant garde and experimental aspects to their sound.
Elizabeth Mitchell is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She began her career performing with Lisa Loeb as the duo Liz and Lisa, then founded the indie rock band Ida in 1991, of which she continues to be a member. As a solo artist, she has been recording and performing music for children since 1998.
Tara Jane O'Neil is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio recording engineer, and visual artist based out of Los Angeles, California, United States.
The Neighborhood is the fifth album by the rock band Los Lobos. It was released in 1990 and includes contributions from, among others, Levon Helm and John Hiatt.
Brian Mitchell is well known in music industry circles and beyond for working with some of music's most respected artists including Levon Helm & The Midnight Ramble Band, Bob Dylan, BB King, Al Green, Dolly Parton, Buster Poindexter, and Allen Toussaint as well as recording and performing his own original music. He has appeared on 5 Grammy Award-winning recordings, 3 with Levon Helm, and one each with BB King and with Les Paul. In 2015 Brian was inducted into the New York Blues Hall Of Fame. His versatility on piano, Hammond B-3 organ, accordion, various vintage keyboards and harmonica plus his distinct vocal stylings have firmly established him as one of New York City's most sought after musicians.
Ollabelle is a New York-based folk music group named after the influential Appalachian songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.
River of Time is a Jorma Kaukonen studio album released in 2009 and his 2nd on Red House Records. The album reached #21 on the Billboard "Top Heatseekers" chart, and has received generally favorable reviews. All new recordings make up the album with a combination of songs that had been previously recorded by Hot Tuna, covers, and new compositions. The album was recorded at Levon Helm's studio, and Helm plays drums on some of the tracks. The title song "River of Time" won the Folk Song of the Year Award.
Will You Find Me is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Ida, released in 2000 on Tiger Style Records.
Lovers Prayers is the seventh and most recent studio album by American indie rock band Ida, released in 2008 on Tiger Style Records. It has been reviewed by Allmusic, Pitchfork, Magnet Magazine, and PopMatters. Band members Mitchell and Littleton performed songs from the album on the NPR newsmagazine show The Bryant Park Project.
Heart Like a River is the 6th studio album by American indie rock duo Ida, released in 2005 on Polyvinyl Records.
Stanley Martin Szelest was an American musician from Buffalo, New York, known for founding an influential blues band in the 1950s and 1960s, Stan and the Ravens, and later as a keyboardist with Ronnie Hawkins and, briefly, with The Band.
Todd David Cerney was an American songwriter and musician.