Nancy Bryan: Neon Angel
(Analogue Productions Originals APO 2013
CD*/45rpm 2 LP set. Chad Kassem, Nancy Bryan, prods.; David Baker, eng. AAD*/AAA.TT:
58:55*/40:22.)
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 This is an amazing recording. If
you want to skip all the preliminaries and get the conclusion out of the way, just run out
and buy it immediately.
Nancy Bryan is a singer/songwriter with extraordinary
gifts. She possesses a strong bell-like voice that she has honed to a fare-thee-well. She
alternates between a penetrating head-voice and a powerful chest-voice in a way that is
reminiscent, at times, of Kate Bush -- that is to say, she has all of the drama of Ms.
Bush without a shred of her artifice.
She also has a poet's feel for language. That's not some
kind of cute code word for "sensitive": I mean that she strips away language
until what is left could not be said more simply, more honestly. And it is that honesty, I
feel, that separates her from the pack of other "chick singers."
There, I said it. Try as I might, I still fall prey to
certain prejudices -- and the sincere, heartfelt, poet-with-a-guitar female singer is one
of my blind spots. Especially the "confessional" sub-genre. Joni Mitchell had to
practically smoke her vocal chords to shreds before I found her interesting and fahgeddabouddit
when it comes the her legions of imitators.
So no one could possibly be more surprised than I am by how
deeply this record gets to me. Nancy Bryan's not like all those others, I want to say.
Except, how the hell would I know? I've spent the last thirty years avoiding all those
others.
One thing I like is that she doesn't have any great truths
to teach us unenlightened souls. She sings about things she's experienced. Loneliness,
hope, doubt … and these are things I've experienced too. And she anchors them in the
specific -- she's not singing about capital "L" loneliness or capital
"H" hope, she's singing about her loneliness and hope.
"I want to get to the heart of you / I want you to let
me through / I've been going crazy / I'm silly as a baby / When it comes to loving
you."
I also love the simple musical settings she's given her
songs. Most of the time, it's just her voice and husband John's guitar, but on Neon
Angel, they're joined by Bob DiChiro on bass, "eukalele" and hand drum. The
three are abetted by Jimmy D. Lane on dobro, Don Wagner on violin, and Bill Garrison on
harmonica on a handful of songs. None of the arrangements are complex, which is a good
call, since Bryan's voice sounds so good simply set. She makes use of the space she's
given with daring melodic leaps and filigrees.
And then there's the sound. The names David Baker and Blue
Heaven Studios ought to tell you a lot about what you're going to hear -- the audio verité
sense of unaugmented acoustic instruments and voice. And Baker makes it seem so artless,
so natural. This is the highest sort of sonic art. It's only when you stop and think about
how few recordings sound like this that you realize how special this one is. It sounds as
natural as breathing.
A good bit of that is Blue Heaven's lovely acoustic. The
former church has a warmth and reverberant signature that are awfully sympathetic to
vocals, but it takes a master like Baker to extract precisely the amount of warmth and
reinforcement we hear on Neon Angel, without any acoustic overhang or blur.
And best of all, you can choose your format, CD or 45rpm on
two 12-inch discs. I don't want to get bogged down in a "which is better"
discussion here -- it's pretty pointless, IMHO. The CD sounds fantastic and has almost 20
minutes of extra music on it, so if that's your preferred format, enjoy!
The two-record set is pretty special, though. If you're
into records and you've been feeling bored with reissues you already own in two different
pressings, this one's for you. And, if you're holding back because it's a 45, suck it up
and take the plunge. These 45s sound remarkable -- warm and detailed with lots of bloom.
As an LP-12/Armageddon owner, I had to find my 45 pulley and install it, which is a pain
in the butt, but Neon Angel is worth a little effort.
Best of all, Neon Angel comes from Analogue
Productions Originals, not one of the mega corporations bent on bringing the world the
next bland boy band or girl group of pop tarts. APO is one of us and that, no
doubt, explains why it expended so much energy on this adult, intelligent album filled
with real thoughts and real feelings. They just can't help themselves.
So do yourself a favor. Buy Neon Angel and get to
know Nancy Bryan. You'll be ever so glad you did.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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