My Brightest Diamond
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My Brightest Diamond |
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My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. The band has released two studio albums, 2006's Bring Me the Workhorse and 2008's A Thousand Shark's Teeth, along with a remix album Tear It Down and a download-only release through iTunes. Worden has also performed with Sufjan Stevens as a member of the Illinoismakers and appeared on the Jedi Mind Tricks album "Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell".[1]
Career
My Brightest Diamond mixes elements of opera, cabaret, chamber music, and rock. While living in New York City, Worden began writing her own material, which had one foot in her classical training and the other in the avant rock she was discovering. She became as involved in the world of underground rock as she was in the realms of classical music, becoming inspired by the likes of Antony and the Johnsons and Nina Nastasia and their intimate performances at venues such as Tonic, the Living Room, and the Knitting Factory.[1]
She began performing and recording while a student at the University of North Texas in Denton. She released an album entitled Word in 1998 under the name "Shara. " Following the completion of her BM in Classical Vocal Performance, she moved to Moscow where she documented several newly written songs and released them on CD-Rs with hand-made artwork as an EP entitled Session I. In 1999, she moved to Brooklyn, New York and began performing and recording as AwRY, gathering a supporting group of musicians playing everything from wine glasses to wind chimes, and eventually added a string quartet after studying and collaborating with Australian composer Padma Newsome. She released an eponymous album, which was largely a reworking of songs from Word and is often referred to as "The Orange Album, " and Quiet B-Sides in 2001, and a remix album in 2003. Shara Worden contributed xylophone, keyboard and backing vocals to the CD Recession Special of Bogs Visionary Orchestra in 2003. After meeting fellow transplanted Michigander Sufjan Stevens, she became one of his Illinoisemakers and took a hiatus from her own work to perform on his Illinois tour as cheerleading captain.[1] When the tour was over, Worden renamed her project My Brightest Diamond and set to work on two albums: A Thousand Shark's Teeth, a collection of songs performed with a string quartet, and Bring Me the Workhorse, a more rock-oriented set that was released on Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty in summer 2006. My Brightest Diamond toured with Stevens that fall in support of the album. In 2006 she did a Take-Away Show video session with Vincent Moon. In early 2007, My Brightest Diamond toured in support of the popular indie band, The Decemberists, as part of their "Twilight in the Fearful Forest" Tour. A Thousand Shark's Teeth was released worldwide on Asthmatic Kitty on June 2 2008, with a US release following on June 17.
My Brightest Diamond contributed a cover of Radiohead's "Lucky" for the 2007 Stereogum tribute album OKX. They recorded a cover of Gloria Jones'/Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" for Engine Room Recordings' compilation album Guilt by Association Vol. 2, which was released in November of 2008 [2]. They've also contributed a cover of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse song "Feeling Good" to the Red Hot Organization's compilation, Dark Was the Night, released in 2009.
She featured on the David Byrne and Fatboy Slim 2010 album Here Lies Love. [3]
Discography
Albums
- Bring Me the Workhorse (2006)
- Tear It Down (2007) - remix album
- A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (2008)
Singles
- Inside a Boy
- From The Top Of The World (September 23, 2008)
Compilations
- "Lucky" from the OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer compilation (2007)
- "Tainted Love" from the Guilt by Association Vol. 2 compilation (2008)
- "Feeling Good" from the Dark Was the Night collection (2009)
Notes
- ^ a b c "My Brightest Diamond". Asthmatic Kitty Records. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ Matthew Solarski (19 November 2008). "My Brightest Diamond, Frightened Rabbit Do Covers". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ Evan Weiss (2009-11-27). "The Arts Section: My Brightest Diamond Feature". The Arts Section. Retrieved 2009-11-27.