50999 628205 23
S-Curve Records
soul/Acoustic/pop
http://dianebirch.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dianebirch
New York, New York
美國
01 - Fire Escape 04:01
02 - Valentino 02:49
03 - Fools 03:55
04 - Nothing But A Miracle 04:24
05 - Rewind 06:10
06 - Rise Up 04:32
07 - Photograph 05:22
08 - Don't Wait Up 03:01
09 - Mirror Mirror 04:48
10 - Ariel 03:56
11 - Choo Choo 03:44
12 - Forgiveness 05:09
13 - Magic View 03:10
all vocals, all keys, all songs written by Diane Birch
The daughter of a preacher, living between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia, before her parents finally settled in Portland, Oregon, Diane Birch absorbed a unique and very cosmopolitan perspective on life and rapidly cultivated a very 獨特的individual style that 無法分類 defies categorization.
The buzz is building as Music Week announced, "Diane has a voice and songwriting ability that will connect with truly global audiences."
Singer-songwriter Diane Birch took half her lifetime, and traveled across the globe, to get to America, where she literally found her voice and made her remarkable debut, Bible Belt. Though only in her mid-twenties, Birch likes to think of herself as an “old soul,” and indeed there is a startling maturity in her singing and a veteran’s self-assurance in her writing. Hook-driven songs like “Fools” and “Valentino” offer more than just instant gratification: they’re like your new best friends – you’ll want to get together with them as frequently as possible. Birch mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going soul, and she can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune. Her work bears hints of Laura Nyro (when she was hanging out with LaBelle) and early 70’s Karen Carpenter (when she was ruling the charts), while effortlessly incorporating New Orleans second-line rhythms, gospel fervor, doo-wop harmonies, country-blues guitar and classic AM radio-style melodies. Bible Belt was recorded in New York City and New Orleans with a formidable team of Grammy-winning producers: S-Curve Records founder Steve Greenberg, soul legend Betty Wright and Mike Mangini. Among the players accompanying Birch are guitarist Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group, bassists Adam Blackstone from The Roots, and George Porter of
The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic and Cindy Blackman of Lenny Kravitz fame, saxophonist-about-town Lenny Pickett, and trombonist Tom “Bones” Malone, along with veteran singer Eugene Pitt, lead vocalist of fabled Brooklyn vocal group, the Jive Five.
Birch was born in Michigan, but at a very young age she moved to Zimbabwe with her South African-born parents. Her dad was a conservative pastor who moved his family from continent to continent. So the young Birch migrated with her folks from Zimbabwe to South Africa to Australia, following her father’s mission. Throughout her journeys, Birch longed to be back in America, and finally got her wish when her family relocated to Portland, Oregon, when she was 10.
Compared to the average American teenager, Birch was truly exotic, both in terms of where she had resided and in how she had lived – within the confines of a strict religious community that had little interaction with its secular neighbors. She had to be resilient and adaptable, which at times meant seeking refuge in a rich fantasy life, imagining herself as someone living in say, the eighteenth century, conjuring up imaginary friends/muses like Valentino, the subject of one of her songs, an Amadeus like-figure, somewhat more dashing in proportion than the real Mozart. Until she arrived in the States, she’d had scant exposure to the radio or television and little knowledge of popular culture; she’d only listened to classical music, opera and, of course, church hymns.
Birch initially cycled through a serious Goth phase, perfect for an “old soul” trying to define itself. She embraced Goth both musically and sartorially, as musical inspiration and teenage rebellion - listening to the Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, the Cure, even Christian Death; arriving at her father’s church in a floor-length black cape and waiting until the rest of the congregation was seated before swanning up the aisle. Her musical education didn’t stop there, though: she fell for songs from the twenties, jazz, the Beatles, psychedelic music, and Fleetwood Mac.
Since she was seven, Birch had been studying piano via the learn-by-ear Suzuki Method and had cultivated the ability to replicate a melody upon hearing it. As she explains, “Ever since I was a kid, I have been incredibly fortunate in that I could hear something and then just play it.”
When she was old enough to live on her own, Birch moved to L.A., with the notion of becoming a film composer: To make ends meet, she quickly learned a standards repertoire and pursued work as pianist-for-hire, eventually landing regular gigs at the Beverly Hills Hotel and L’Orangerie. Prince once saw her play and invited her out to jam with him and his band at his home – an invitation she duly accepted. Up until this point, Birch had always seen herself as a pianist and hadn’t tried to sing until a friend cajoled her into taking a class. In order to have something to perform there, Birch wrote an original song, which her new classmates immediately loved. So she wrote another for the next class, then another after that; thus she became a genuine singer-songwriter.
Thanks to material she began to post on her MySpace page, Birch heard from a manager based in London and before long was able to relocate there, where she soon had both regular gigs and a major publishing deal. It wasn’t long before Birch was on the move again, however, this time to ink a record deal with Steve Greenberg’s S Curve Records in New York, where she currently resides.
As for the album title, “The idea of Bible Belt has a layered kind of meaning for me,” explains Diane. “Because my dad was a preacher, the very religious upbringing I had made a huge impact on my life, in a very restraining and constricting way. I’m constantly talking about heaven, angels, and forgiveness. I’m hugely inspired by church hymns -- their chord structures, their colors. It was a form of constraint for me as a child but now I see that it has fueled my creative fire.”
Over the course of Bible Belt’s thirteen songs Diane Birch has served up her own portrait of American music in all its breadth and majesty, touching down on Beale Street, Bourbon Street, Tin Pan Alley, Laurel Canyon, South Philly, Brooklyn street corners and many points in between. Hers is a tour-de-force debut album.
◎ 重現1970年代美國都會流行樂風采的創作才女
◎ 特別推薦旋律浪漫動人的電影【情人節快樂Valentine's Day】開場主題曲〈Valentino〉
◎ 滾石雜誌：「她的歌聲優異動人，旋律深植腦海，音樂品味出眾。」
◎ Q雜誌：「創作型歌手黛安柏奇首度出輯就擊出大滿貫全壘打。」
在你被「黛安柏奇Diane Birch」的首張專輯《福至心靈Bible Belt》中那份有點近似Carole King經典專輯《Tapestry》中、那種略帶靈魂樂唱法的流行樂神韻所吸引的同時，其實你已經不知不覺的墜入了她採擷了紐奧良藍調旋律、福音音樂曲式、節奏藍調重唱和聲、鄉村民謠風采等元素所編織而成的奇妙音樂網絡之中，自然而然地、隨著她的歌曲一起快樂搖擺，或是感受傷心的情緒，是的，《Bible Belt》就是一張具體展現了流行樂該有的美妙聽覺與動人情韻這兩大特質的作品。
Diane Birch，1983年一月24號出生於美國密西根州，父母親來自南非，由於父親是基督復臨安息日會的教堂牧師，因此，在Diane Birch的童年就在辛巴威、南非、澳大利亞等地住過，直到她十歲大，全家才定居在奧勒岡州的波特蘭。Diane Birch的成長過程與一般美國青少年不太一樣，她在宗教社區長大，幾乎沒有跟非宗教的家庭有過接觸，她在適應嚴謹的生活之餘，偶而也會讓自己的想像力奔馳一下，幻想自己身處在不遠的古代世界。當Diane Birch回到美國定居後，她只能聽古典樂、歌劇與聖樂，沒有太多的時間去聽收音機、看電視、或是接觸流行文化。Diane Birch每天跟著父親到教堂主持宗教集會活動，不過，她也在青少年叛逆情緒的刺激下，聽了Sisters Of Mercy、Joy Division、The Cure等樂團的音樂，接著也迷上了1920年代的音樂，爵士樂，披頭四The Beatles，迷幻音樂以及Fleetwood Mac樂團。
從七歲開始，Diane Birch透過鈴木教學法（Suzuki Method，一種藉由與音樂的接觸激發學習潛能的音樂教學方式）學習鋼琴，漸漸地學會一聽完音樂、就能馬上彈出旋律的能力，當她到了可以離家自主的年紀，她搬到洛杉磯，隨後成為長駐比佛利山莊飯店的鋼琴演奏家，音樂鬼才Prince無意間聽到她的鋼琴演奏，邀請她與他的樂團一起演出，Diane Birch原以為自己只是個不錯的鋼琴家，直到她的朋友慫恿她去上歌曲演唱課程，她才發現了自己的其它才華。話說由於她堅持在課程中演唱自己寫的歌，這樣的堅持，意外地激發了她寫歌才華，她開始把歌曲上傳到MySpace網頁，她在網頁上的唱作，引起一位倫敦經紀人的注意，為自己贏得了一紙歌曲創作合約。過沒多久，Diane Birch前往紐約，與當年挖掘Joss Stone的S Curve唱片公司老闆Steve Greenberg簽下唱片合約。
首張專輯《Bible Belt》在紐約與紐奧良兩地進行錄製，由曾經攜手打造Joss Stone歷年暢銷專輯的製作鐵三角—Steve Greenberg、Betty Wright、Mike Mangini掌舵製作大任，負責擔任歌曲伴奏的樂手包括了曾經參與Suzanne Vega出道首兩張專輯製作、出身自龐克搖滾團The Patti Smith Group的著名吉他手Lenny Kaye，來自復古派嘻哈樂團The Roots的貝斯手Adam Blackstone，來自放克樂團The Meters的貝斯手George Porter，來自紐奧良放克／爵士樂團Galactic的鼓手Stanton Moore，與Lenny Kravitz合作過的鼓手Cindy Blackman，與David Bowie合作過的薩克斯風手Lenny Pickett，長期擔任脫口秀節目「Late Show With David Letterman」樂團成員之一的長號手Tom 'Bones' Malone。Diane Birch以精湛的鋼琴彈奏技巧搭配舒緩柔和的流行靈魂樂唱腔，帶來輕快奔放的〈Valentino〉，都會感十足的流行靈魂樂作品〈Fools〉，描述遠距離愛情的鋼琴小品〈Ariel〉，純熟動人的靈魂樂佳作〈Nothing But A Miracle〉…等。
一路聽著Diane Birch的歌曲，樂迷將會發現她把紐約、布魯克林、費城、舊金山、曼菲斯、紐奧良這些音樂重鎮的旋律特色全都融入了專輯之中，為樂迷進行了一趟美國當代音樂之旅。
