Thursday, February 10, 2011


Paula Frazer- A Place Where I Know: 4-Track Songs 1992-2002 (2003) MP3 & FLAC


"By some strange design I feign to believe that this image was mine."

While Paula Frazer's otherworldly Patsy Cline croon has gained her some attention over the years, her songwriting skills have long been overlooked. Part of this is due to the slightly heavy-handed production on Tarnation's two studio albums (this is even more the case on her solo albums), which tended to push her subtle melodies and evocative lyrics down in the mix. A Place Where I Know: 4-Track Songs 1992-2002 offers the chance to hear some of Frazer's best songs shorn of all the dusty bottom-of-a-well reverb of the studio recordings. What becomes evident after hearing many of these demos is that Frazer's voice and lyrical ability are more than up to the task of conveying a sense of tragic desolation on their own. While the recording quality of these demos varies a bit, this never gets in the way of the music, and in some cases, the tape hiss actually adds to the ethereal creepiness of the recordings.

A Place Where I Know: 4-Track Songs 1992-2002
 1. The Only One  (3:31)
 2. Halfway to Madness  (3:57)
 3. An Awful Shade of Blue  (2:28)
 4. Idly  (2:48)
 5. Long Ago  (3:37)
 6. The Hand  (3:18)
 7. A Place Where I Know  (2:03)
 8. Taken  (2:52)
 9. Like a Ghost  (3:12)
10. We Met by the Love-Lies-Bleeding  (2:42)
11. This Is a Song  (2:11)
12. Deep Was the Night  (3:36)



6 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot for these demos !

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  2. She's new to me - thanks for the chance to listen to another artist in this genre.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jamie, you're welcome. She was the singer in a band called Tarnation. I posted some of their work too

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you so much for your Tarnation/P. Frazer -posts.

    For anyone who like me are trying to track down all the non-album-tracks, here is a list of what's out there...

    His Middle Name 2:14
    (v/a: Aint This Bliss, With You & This, 2x7")
    (v/a: Yeah, But..., Promo 7")

    Do You Fancy Me (re-recorded) 3:50
    (v/a: Soil X Samples 22, Promo 7")

    Leave The Sad Things Behind
    Land That Time Lost
    (Your Thoughts And Mine, CDM / 2x7")

    I Didn't Mean It 6:06
    Last Dance *
    (I Didn't Mean It, Promo CDS *)
    (There's Someone, 7")

    My Heart Down The Well
    Untitled Piece For Accordion And Voice
    (Mirador - US bonustracks, CD)

    Funnel Of Love 3:01
    Blue Angel 2:51
    (v/a: Chartbusters: 20-I-Toppar, Promo CD)

    Leaving On A Jet Plane (w/Joe Gore) 4:53
    (v/a: Take Me Home: A Tribute To John Denver, CD)

    ReplyDelete

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