larissa dalle is
kickass. her music style on
mp3.com is described as "
indie/
folk/
country," but i consider "angry
goth femme" much more appropriate (even if she IS caught wearing a
cowboy hat in her latest promo pictures).
the story of how i found her music is actually quite strange. see, i used to hang out on the
nin.com bulletin board, being all
juvenile and
groupie-like, waiting for
trent reznor and his band to post messages i could
salivate over (what, you were there to actually talk to other
fans?
i don't believe you). anyhow, at that point trent was looking for a
female singer for a new project and was accepting
audition tapes. we had a discussion about who should be trent's new
chick. larissa posted a simple, very elegant, "i should," followed by a link to her website (aptly titled www.larissadalle.com).
i have been in love with her music ever since.
she is very elusive about her
history, but according to her website, she was born in
blue island,
illinois where she "lived the first year of her life in a
mortuary." she's still "
suffering mortuary flashbacks." she's been in
st. louis, missouri ever since she was five.
her musical history is just as vague. she cites influences like
scud mountain boys,
kitty wells, and
pj harvey. at some point in her career she met some dude named
timothy gregory at the st. louis opera theatre and ended up collaborating with him to form no less than two bands:
collaborateur, an "electronic duo" which lasted about eight years, and
crushed, along with members of
east ash. now she has gone solo again.
her latest album,
milking the tree, can now be ordered at mp3.com. you should buy it. it is not only beautiful, it contains a song written for
neil gaiman on his birthday.