PUBLISHED IN THE KW RECORD ON Wednesday, March 05, 1996
By Nick Krewen
For The Record
Baltimore band disappear fear may not yet be a household name, but BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN thinks the world of their producer.
ROY BITTAN, pianist extraordinaire of the E. STREET BAND and Boss associate since his Born To Run album, produced disappear fear's fifth and latest Philo/Rounder album seed in the sahara -- much to the delight of the band's Bay Area-based singer and songwriter SONIA RUTSTEIN.
"I was interviewing a lot of different producers when we were preparing to record the album," said Rutstein last night just before her band made its Canadian debut at Toronto's York University.
"I was totally excited when I was told he wanted to meet with us on the strength of our demoed songs. He's incredible. A musical genius."
During the eight days it took to record seed in the sahara, Rutstein said Bittan -- who won a Grammy last week for his production work on CELINE DION's Falling Into You -- used his expertise to bring a fresh perspective to her songs, best illustrated by the mid-tempo shuffle "Millions Of Rope".
"`Millions Of Rope' was initially a Latin song, and Roy asked our drummer to try playing it with a hip-hop rhythm," she says. "He worked with MARC (LAWRENCE) in terms of moving things around, and I just found we agreed on a whole lot of things. We ended up being able to zero in on something within three takes, and we recorded two songs a day."
In listening to seed in the sahara, it's easy to see what appealed to Bittan's sensibility. Nine-year-old disappear fear seems naturally encoded with a musical DNA that allows the fusion of ska and zydeco in a song such as "Why" or the insidious blending of joyous funk and rootsy pop that sculpts "Skin" to flourish unfeigned.
There's a hint of SUZANNE VEGA both in Rutstein's malleable vocals and her intellectual, heartfelt poetry, notable for its economical efficiency as revealed by this short sample from "Today Is Better":
"She was last seen in a creamy 1964 convertible/With the top down and her spirits high."
Even the lesbianism she defends in "Laws Of Nature" is done tastefully and tactfully. It's a chemistry that has made disappear fear favorites in their local Baltimore-Washington musical community, as well as coveted performers for Pride Festivals being organized across the U.S.
"For me, the significance of it is that I can be real," says Rutstein, who is gay. "That's important to me. Love is love, and how that manifests itself between people is their concern. I'm not a Pollyanna about it, but my vision of the planet is a peaceful one. I just want to feel good and hope my music can inspire people."
Although disappear fear recorded seed in the sahara as a quartet, Rutstein recently pared back the line-up to a trio. Keyboards, used freely on the album, aren't part of the live equation for this introductory road trip to Canada, and seed in the sahara drummer Marc Lawrence has been replaced by JOHN THOMAKOS.
Of course, if a certain someone decides to join them at the last minute jam, Rutstein says a piano is on standby.
"If Roy walks through the door, he's more than welcome to sit in," she laughs.
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DISCOGRAPHY
Deep Soul Diver
Live at the Bottom Line
disappear fear
seed in the sahara
THANKS: Philip Bast
© 1996, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink.