Search - Nikka Costa :: Like a Feather

I admit it - I'm a total, hopeless fanboy.

Kevin Rienecker | Portland, OR USA | 03/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, never, never did I think I'd actually ever blow my hard-earned cash and buy a CD single.



Well.



Never say never.



I picked up Nikka Costa's first major studio album Everybody Got Their Something (coming after 1996's long-out-of-print Butterfly Rocket) on a whim. Promptly fell in love with Costa's growly-waily voice and her smokin' blend of funk-rock. Bought her follow-up, Can'tneverdidnothin', literally minutes later, dropped the disc in in my car's deck, it's been there ever since.



Wowwowowwow



I'm hooked. It's been a long time since this jaded ex-record store employee got this excited about new music. It's been a long time for there to be new music to get excited about.



Anyway. Getting on to reviewing the single. Convictions be damned - I bought it - on yet another whim. Heck, the blang thing was only a couple bucks. That's justifiable, right? Besides, I just hadda have that one, lonely song that didn't make it onto an album, Heaven Sinner - why? Listen to the sample - then you tell me...



First, Like a Feather, the main track from the first album - funk city. Love the hand claps. The live track, Hope it Felt Good, actually doesn't sound half bad, for a live recording (although Nikka's voice gets a wee-bit screechy, especially when she hits those high notes --- often sounding a little something along the lines of Janis Joplin's sex-kitten grand-daughter. Watch out for ear bleeds...)



And then there's Heaven Sinner. Whooo-boy.



Let me put it this way... tonight at work, I cranked this tune up so loud on my iPod that the folks two cubicles away could hear it through my headphones, and my libido shot through the roof.



So. My advice? If you miss the vibe of a real band, especially one playing old school, 70's style funk layered through with crunchy wah-wah guitar riffs, sweet melodies and more than a generous dollop of brassy vocals, you'll dig Nikka Costa. And the Like a Feather CD single? Buy it, or download it, just for Heaven Sinner. Seriously - You won't be sorry.



Nikka rocks."

Hidden jewel

Bruce A. Dunn | Aurora, CO | 09/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this for the extra track (I've already got the album, which was great). Heaven Sinner is smolderingly hot and I think it should have been on the album. Luckily I found it and if you like her works then you should definitely get this."