Sarah Kirkland Snider - Penelope
I produced, engineered, and mixed this record for Sarah, for a 2010 release on New Amsterdam Records. I also played some percussion. We recorded in Clinton Recording's Studio A and my studio (Studio C), and we mixed in my studio. Ed Rak and I engineered. Ed did such an amazing job recording the ensemble!
Press:
• "[Penelope] is a gorgeous piece of music, but it is more-- it is also a hauntingly vivid psychological portrait, one that explores a dark scenario with a light, almost quizzical touch, finding poetic resonances everywhere." - Pitchfork, January 5, 2011
•"To my recollection, the song cycle Penelope is the most vivid, mesmerizing psychological nightmare set to music I’ve heard" - Huffington Post, Top 10 Alternitive-Art Songs of 2001-2010, December 28, 2010
• "A potent melding of classical poise and alt-pop punch, this dreamy song cycle was the year’s most affecting creation. Accompanied by new-music dream team Signal, vocalist Shara Worden mesmerized." - Time Out New York, Best of 2010 Classical and Opera, December 17, 2010
• "...[Penelope] deals with big ideas -- memory, identity, "home" -- but it's also an intimate portrait of a woman who, like Homer's Penelope, is confronted with finally getting what she's wished for." - NPR, Top 5 Genre-Defying Albums of 2010, December 8, 2010
• "With an onslaught of indie bands attempting to combine intellect and musicianship along with a pop sensibility, few have the ability to harness all three in the way Snider has on [Penelope]. She courageously tackles a dramatic story arc in the vein of a Puccini opera while never losing track of her audience. Dramatic music may still be popular in many different genres but is rarely done with such care and precision." - Death and Taxes Magazine, October 25, 2010
• eMusic, "Best Albums of 2010"
• Indie Rock Magazine [France], "Top 10 Albums of 2010"
• Seth Colter Walls, "Top 50 Albums of 2010"
• WNYC, "John Schaefer's Top 10 of 2010", January 5, 2011
• textura Magazine, No. 3 Album of 2010, December 2010
• The Indie Handbook, "Best of 2010", December 30, 2010
• Chicago Independent Radio Project, "Best of the Year", December 29, 2010
• 17 Dots, "Best of 2010", December 21, 2010
• A Fool In The Forest, "Favorite Albums of 2010", December 15, 2010
• Post-Post Rock, October 25, 2010
Artist Links:
• Sarah Kirkland Snider Official Website
• Penelope
This Is What You're Like
Nausicaa
The Lotus Eaters
All information © 2012 Lawson White.