Concert Pirates: My Brightest Diamond @ Troubadour

It’s no secret that I have an enormous crush on Shara Worden, the heart and soul behind the hauntingly beautiful songs of My Brightest Diamond. At first I thought that it was just an aural thing, a result of her gorgeous melodies and vocal power. But as she played through her set at her recent Troubadour show, the partially handicapped Shara, a result of a “rock jump” at the band’s previous Las Vegas gig, made it impossible to not fall in love with her. Her adorability (?) and comedic banter made me wish that she wasn’t actually happily married and that some angel of a woman actually existed for me. But besides the heart skipping from time to time, My Brightest Diamond introduced three new songs with a hand full of chosen covers that hinted at something of a progtastic new album of hard rock meets folk flavored goodness. We can’t wait.

[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Intro/Banter/Knee Injury
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Golden Star (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – The Robin’s Jar (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Feeling Good (Live Nina Simone Cover)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – We Were Sparkling (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Disappear (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Youkali (Live Kurt Weill Cover)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Dragonfly (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Something Of An End (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Gone Away (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Apples (Live) NEW SONG
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Fading Away (Live) NEW SONG
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Shooting Star (Live) NEW SONG
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Workhorse (Live)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – No Quarter (Live Led Zeppelin Cover)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Freak Out (Live)

| Official Site | Myspace | More mp3s | Buy My Brightest Diamond |

Tear Down The Workhorse

I fell in love with Shara Worden long after I had learned she was the voice sneaking up behind Sufjan to fill in the nooks and crannies. This past year, emerging as My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden powerfully cast her spells singing chants with the ability to freeze time momentarily. The end results were dark and gorgeous, reminiscent of the beauty similar to those final lilting notes during Jeff Buckley’s “Lilac Wine” and “Corpus Christi Carol.” But with My Brightest Diamond’s new remix album, Tear It Down, being released next week, a very different result is achieved. On this effort, Shara employed some close friends and new finds via Myspace to have their go at redefining the controlled efforts that she had released on last year’s Bring Me The Workhorse.

For me personally, demo versions, live recordings, and remixes are all special experiences for the listener. It is nearly impossible to take part in the journey of song crafting but with these outlets it is possible to further understand the art that has affected us so greatly. Tear It Down is an opportunity to see Workhorse in a new light and under the influence of interpreters that can only help us in our own examination of these songs.

Enjoy the album and be sure to catch My Brightest Diamond at the Troubadour come this April. Tear It Down looks something like this:

1. Alias - "Golden Star"

2. Lusine - "Workhorse"

3. Gold Chains - "Freak Out (Panique mix)"

4. Stakka - "Disappear"

5. Murcof - "Dragonfly"

6. Alfred Brown - "Magic Rabbit"

7. DJ Kenny Mitchell [ft. Nimnomadic] - "Freak Out (REWIND 93 REMIX)"

8. Haruki - "We Were Sparkling"

9. David Keith - "Something of an End"

10. David Michael Stith - "Gone Away"

11. Siamese Sisters - "The Good and the Bad Guy"

12. Strings of Consciousness - "Gone Away"

13. Cedar AV - "Disappear (Wheat to Whiskey mix)"

[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Golden Star (Alias Remix)
[mp3] My Brightest Diamond – Freak Out (Gold Chains Remix)
[www] Stream Tear It Down here

4/30/07 – Troubadour (w/ Pedestrian) (tix on sale TODAY)

| Offical Site | Myspace | More mp3s | Buy My Brightest Diamond |