Soviet Kitsch
Untitled | |
---|---|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 72/100[1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
The A.V. Club | (favorable)[3] |
Blender | [4] |
Pitchfork Media | (6.8/10)[5] |
PopMatters | (7/10)[6] |
Prefix Magazine | (7/10)[7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Stylus | B−[9] |
Soviet Kitsch is the major label debut and third album by American singer/songwriter Regina Spektor. The title is drawn from Milan Kundera's expression for the vacuous aesthetics of Stalinist-style communism, a theme in his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being. One version of the album was released with a bonus DVD, which included a short promotional film titled The Survival Guide to Soviet Kitsch and the music video for the song "Us".
Track listing
All songs written by Regina Spektor.[10]
- "Ode to Divorce" – 3:42
- "Poor Little Rich Boy" – 2:27
- "Carbon Monoxide" – 4:59
- "The Flowers" – 3:54
- "Us" – 4:52
- "Sailor Song" – 3:15
- "***" – 0:44
- "Your Honor" – 2:10
- "Ghost of Corporate Future" – 3:21
- "Chemo Limo" – 6:04
- "Somedays" – 3:21
- Deluxe Version bonus track
- "Scarecrow and Fungus" – 2:29
- Standard Vinyl Release
- "Scarecrow and Fungus" – 2:29
- "December" - 2:10
Track 7 is titled "Whisper" on digital versions of the album. It is a brief spoken word piece in which Spektor and her brother, Barry "Bear" Spektor, discuss the following song ("Your Honor").
Personnel
Regina Spektor: piano, voice, rhodes, drumstick, percussion, producer, songwriter
Alan Bezozi: producer, drums, percussion, heartbeat
Oren Bloedow: guitar
Graham Maby: bass
Gordon Raphael: percussion
Bear Spektor: whispers ("***")
The 4x4 String Quartet: strings ("Us" and "Somedays")
Kill Kenada: backing punk band ("Your Honor")
Eric Biondo: songwriter (one lyric and melody sampled in "Somedays")
Reception
In 2009, the album was included in NME's list of 100 greatest albums of the decade.[11]
Releases
Year | Label | Format | Catalog no. | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Sire | CD | 48833 | US |
2004 | Sire | CD/DVD | 48890 | US |
2004 | Shoplifter | CD | 005 | UK |
2005 | Sire | LP | 48953 | US |
2007 | WEA | CD | 9362493522 | UK |
References
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/soviet-kitsch/regina-spektor
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ The A.V. Club review
- ^ Blender review
- ^ Pitchfork review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ Prefix Magazine review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Stylus review
- ^ Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch
- ^ "The Top 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade". NME. Retrieved July 21, 2012.