Far (album)

Far
Studio album by Regina Spektor
Released June 23, 2009
Genre Anti-folk, indie rock
Length 47:39
Label Sire
Producer Mike Elizondo, Jacknife Lee, Jeff Lynne, David Kahne, Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor chronology
Live in California 2006 EP
(2007)		 Far
(2009)		 Live in London
(2010)
Singles from Far
  1. "Laughing With"
    Released: May 18, 2009
  2. "Eet"
    Released: October 2009

Far is the fifth album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, released in Europe through Sire Records on June 22, 2009 and North America on June 23, 2009[1] The album's first single, "Laughing With", was uploaded to Spektor's MySpace page on May 8 and was released as a digital download on May 18 in the United States and parts of Europe, along with the b-side "Blue Lips". Two viral videos for "Dance Anthem of the 80s" and "Eet" were also released on Spektor's MySpace account.[2] The official music video for "Laughing With" was released on iTunes on May 26, 2009. A special edition of the album was released with two bonus tracks and a DVD, which included four music videos.

Spektor decided to work with multiple producers on the album. She has compared composing an album to taking a class, and as such, she wanted to have "multiple professors".[3] She also felt the multiple producers would allow them not to worry what the single or big hit would be. The most notable producers include David Kahne, who produced her last album Begin to Hope, and Jeff Lynne, former member of Electric Light Orchestra and The Traveling Wilburys. Although Lynne has an expansive musical background, Spektor did not know of his work when she originally met him.[4]

Contents

Track listing

No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "The Calculation"   Mike Elizondo 3:11
2. "Eet"   Mike Elizondo 3:52
3. "Blue Lips"   Jeff Lynne 3:34
4. "Folding Chair"   Jeff Lynne 3:35
5. "Machine"   Mike Elizondo 3:55
6. "Laughing With"   Jacknife Lee 3:17
7. "Human of the Year"   David Kahne 4:07
8. "Two Birds"   Jacknife Lee 3:18
9. "Dance Anthem of the 80's"   Jacknife Lee 3:43
10. "Genius Next Door"   Jeff Lynne 5:06
11. "Wallet"   Jeff Lynne 2:28
12. "One More Time with Feeling"   David Kahne 3:59
13. "Man of a Thousand Faces"   Mike Elizondo 3:11
Deluxe Edition
No. Title Producer(s) Length
14. "Time Is All Around"   Mike Elizondo 3:06
15. "The Sword & the Pen"   Jeff Lynne 3:48
iTunes bonus track version
No. Title Producer(s) Length
14. "Time Is All Around"   Mike Elizondo 3:06
15. "The Sword & the Pen"   Jeff Lynne 3:48
16. "Riot Gear"   David Kahne 2:06
17. "The Flowers (Live, Begin to Hope Tour)[Pre-order only]"      

Reception

Regina Spektor
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74%[5]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [6]
American Music Channel [7]
The A.V. Club (B+)[8]
Drowned in Sound (8/10)[9]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[10]
The Guardian [11]
Los Angeles Times [12]
NME (6/10)[13]
Paste (49/100)[14]
Pitchfork Media (4.8/10)[15]
PopMatters (7/10)[16]
Rolling Stone [17]
Slant Magazine [18]
Spin [19]
Robert Christgau (A-

Bevan of Spin writes that Spektor, in "The Calculation", "...purrs a scenario of love and hurt that plays out in the breakfast nook..."[20] Powers of the LA Times states of "Eet" : "It's not just cute."[21] Maerz of EW states of "Folding Chair" that she "literally sings like a dolphin..." and that "Wallet" is the "best song ever inspired by a Blockbuster card."[22] Dolan of Rolling Stone opines that "Laughing With" is a song that "...ends collapsing in an existential freakout over a soft beat and weeping cello."[23] MacKay of NME believes that "Human of the Year" has "a typically Spektorian conceit" and her "remarkable, gutsy voice vaults to the rafters of heartbreak."[24] Skinner of Insounds calls "Genius Next Door" "the only song on here to exceed the five-minute mark..." and a "spiralling Gothic narrative that comes on with all the otherworldly beauty of a Haruki Murakami story...". The album does not aim "at ideas above its station" nor does it "flounder in search of unity."[25] Regarding "Man of a Thousand Faces", Neibaur of Frequency feels that the "pathos of the lyrics is still strong enough to make the Incredible Hulk tear up a bit".[26]

Blacklow of Access Hollywood calls the album a "wonderful soothing summer sound".[27] Lewis of the Cord Weekly writes that "Spektor delivers gloomy tales of turmoil, complemented by slow, haunting piano notes that could just as easily accompany a horror film.".[28] Overall, Snyder of the New Haven Advocate considers that she's "redirected some of that freaky stuff, tweaked and perfected it, to a new place where it fits better" and that the songs are "sometimes kind of serious."[29] Neibaur of Frequency states that "Far pleases every auditory appetite."[26]

At the metacritical level, Far has achieved a 74 quotient, which signifies "generally favorable reviews".[30]

According to Neibaur, "The stark contradictions of critics relating to Spektor exemplify a larger problem in modern music criticism—very few writers truly analyze music from an artistic perspective any longer."[26] In a June 24, 2009 interview, Spektor remarked that: "I mean, in this book, it's music criticism from the 19th century, and they're ripping Tchaikovsky a new asshole, but the thing that really gets me is that it's written so beautifully. It's nasty reviews in beautiful language, and that's what I want," she says. "My dad will forward me some of the stuff people write about me, and I think it's all bullshit. It's all, 'Oh, this sucks, that sucks, blah.' I don't want that. I want you to write poetically about how bad I suck." [31]

Music videos

Thus far, four music videos have been released and can be viewed on her MySpace. These videos, all directed by Tom Petty's daughter Adria Petty, are also available on a bonus DVD included with the deluxe version of the album.

Chart performance

Far entered the official UK Albums Chart at number 30[36] It also sold 50,000 copies in its first week, entering the US Billboard 200 number three. In the Canadian Albums Chart, Far debuted at number 16. The album has spent nineteen weeks on the Billboard 200.[37]

Chart Peak
position
Australian ARIA Album Chart[38] 10
Austrian Album Chart[39] 41
Belgium Album Chart (Flanders)[40] 37
Canadian Albums Chart[41] 16
European Top 100[42] 82
French Album Chart[43] 99
Irish Album Chart[44] 24
New Zealand Album Chart[45] 38
Swedish Album Chart 8
Swiss Album Chart[46] 53
Billboard 200[47] 3
Billboard Top Digital Albums 5
Billboard Top Internet Albums 3
Billboard Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums 24
Billboard Top Rock Albums 36
UK Albums Chart[48] 30

References

  1. ^ "Regina Spektor Announces New Album, Far". April 13, 2009. http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20090413005453/en. 
  2. ^ "Dance Anthem of the 80s Video on MySpace". May 8, 2009. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=57693597. 
  3. ^ "Performance Wrap-Up: Regina Spektor Live At WERS". September 24, 2009. http://www.wers.org/events/wrapup/Regina_Spektor_WERS.cfm. 
  4. ^ "Pitchfork: Regina Spektor Spills About New Album". March 16, 2009. http://pitchfork.com/news/34833-regina-spektor-reveals-new-album-ifari/. 
  5. ^ "Far". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/spektorregina/far?q=far. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 
  6. ^ Phares, Heather (2009-06-23). "((( Far > Overview )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1567185. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  7. ^ Ramey, Emily. "American Music Channel review". American Music Channel. http://americanmusicchannel.com/features/reviews/6-27-2009/far. Retrieved 9 June 2011. 
  8. ^ Phipps, Keith. "Regina Spektor: Far | Music | Review". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/regina-spektor,29790/. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  9. ^ Skinner, James (2009-06-23). "Regina Spektor - Far / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14470/reviews/4137191. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  10. ^ Reviewed by Melissa Maerz (2009-06-17). "Far | Music". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20285490,00.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  11. ^ Caroline Sullivan (2009-06-19). "Review: Regina Spektor, Far | Music". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jun/19/regina-spektor-far. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  12. ^ "Album review: Regina Spektor's 'Far' | Pop & Hiss | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. 2009-06-22. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/06/album-review-regina-spektors-far.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
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  18. ^ "Regina Spektor: Far | Music Review". Slant Magazine. 2009-06-21. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/regina-spektor-far/1772. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  19. ^ Login or Register to post comments. "Regina Spektor, 'Far' (Sire) | Spin Magazine Online". Spin.com. http://www.spin.com/reviews/regina-spektor-far-sire. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  20. ^ Login or Register to post comments. "''Retrieved 18-07-2009''". Spin.com. http://www.spin.com/reviews/regina-spektor-far-sire. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
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  28. ^ Retrieved 18-07-2009
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  48. ^ "UK Music Charts | The Official UK Top 75 Albums: Week of Mon 05 Oct - Yahoo! Music UK". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/c/uk/album_charts.html. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 

External links

Regina Spektor
Studio albums
11:11 (2001) · Songs (2002) · Soviet Kitsch (2004) · Begin to Hope (2006) · Far (2009)  · What We Saw from the Cheap Seats (2012)
Live albums
Compilation albums
Songs
"Carbon Monoxide" · "Us" · "On the Radio" · "Fidelity" · "Better" · "Edit" · "Laughing With" · "Eet" · "No Surprises"
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