A few weeks ago I read a lengthy essay by Will Sheff of Okkervil River on the complexity of file sharing and what it means for independent/struggling musicians. He went beyond the regular ‘helps the artist’/'hurts the artist’ arguments, and talks about the way having an endless supply of mp3s leads to the music itself being disposable. It was an important and often overlooked point, that as listeners we should be conscious of the way in which they consume music, because if the stuff just goes in one ear and out the other we miss a lot of its quality.
This brings me to DeVotchKa, a band that I am late on, and I think its a result of the sort of mentality that Will is getting at. The first time I heard of DeVotchKa in 2004 around the time that How It Ends was released. I didn’t really pay attention, probably because the Russian word isn’t really that alluring to me outside of A Clockwork Orange. I finally gave them a chance on the KEXP podcast from CMJ last year, mostly because they were piggybacked with Rogue Wave. Again, it didn’t really catch and I again passed on them. But somewhere between them playing “How It Ends” during that live set and the song’s use in the trailer to Everything Is Illuminated, it started to creep into my subconscious. When, Wednesday night, I heard the song featured in Little Miss Sunshine, I finally gave it its proper due and my full attention.
Their sound is sort of in the realm of folk/rock and it reminds me of latter day David Byrne coupled with Calexico. The music seems very soundtrack friendly, which is not all that surprising considering on the same album they have a reworking of a Yann Tiersen song (“The Fabulous Destiny Of Charlotte Mittnacht”). Lead singer, Nick Urata’s voice is fantastic and daring, in a sort of Win Butler way, and the orchestration creates an incredibly powerful backdrop for his emotive delivery. I’m glad, despite the trappings of the disposable/digital music, the music had the persistence to finally find me. But then again, forever’s not so long.
Little Miss Sunshine is movie of the year, by the way.
: DeVotchKa – How It Ends :
: DeVotchKa – How It Ends (live on KEXP) :
i can only say, that i called it first:
“Best Movie of the Year”
I had been looking for the name of this song for so long. I first heard it on the “Everything is Illuminated” trailer and fell in love with it. I bought the soundtrack for the love of other songs, but it was nowhere to be found. I’m glad that you put this up. Thanks!