Angela Sheik
One By One
Reviewed by Brittany Rotondo
Angela Sheik is a self proclaimed “acoustic disc jockey” from Buffalo, NY who turns heads just as fast as she does beats. Classically trained on flute, piano and voice, Sheik is a serious force to be reckoned with as evident by holding the title of 2011/2012 Boss US National Loop Champion. With cited influences as Radiohead and Regina Spektor, Angela Sheik fuses together a world of exotic echoes and haunting harmonies. The multi-instrumentalist during live shows is accompanied by no one but her carefully chosen machinery which include autoharp, theremin and flute, along with many others.
She’s no stranger to stages local and foreign, having traveled to Europe and back playing and promoting her past, now four, records. Latest addition is One By One, a delve of drones and daydreams. Opening tune “Red Dress” is a cinematic score that cracks the vaults of vixens and vultures just waiting to pounce. Recorded in two different states and three different studios, “One By One” matches the eclectic on-goings that Sheik certainly has to offer. With local producers Ritchie Rubini and Scot Sax behind the board, it only adds to the arsenal of ammo that are Sheik’s songs. Further throughout the album, what strikes instantly is “Love U Right”, a silkscreen hymnal with lyrics like, “We’ve walked the skyline so many times, that the blue has stained the soles of our feet”. A Perfect poetic puncture is “Rumblin'”, a sordid narrative on the imaginary problems that plague us. Can’t you feel it?
Having opened for national acts such as Neon Trees, Sharon Little and the legendary Meshell Ndegeocello, Angela Sheik has paid her dues as an artist to keep a serious eye on. Sheik has recently traveled across the US in support of The Red Dress Tour, with a portion of proceeds going to BombayTeenChallenge.Org.
The Gemininan groundwork Angela Sheik has laid is nothing short of a goldmine. A dark, soulful and sometimes gritty, goldmine of grace.
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