Search - Niobe :: Blackbird's Echo

Blackbird's Echo is the title of the fifth full length album by Cologne, Germany based Niobe. Yvonne Cornelius, the composer behind Niobe prepared many of the pieces on this album in 2007 in her home studio in Cologne. With the help of Tom Steinle (Tomlab) the production and recordings were realised in the reknown Studio G by Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, Home & Garden) in Brooklyn, New York. The finishing touches were given in Cologne, once Yvonne was fully installed again in her home studio - contributing once more all those little tweaks so many Niobe albums have carried before and that make a big part of the underlying magic of her work. The difference of these new recordings, all of them impregnated once more with Yvonne's breathtaking and singular vocals, lies within the fact that Blackbird's Echo adds a new element to the exotic, strangely artificial Niobe character we know from previous albums: now large instrumental parts are balancing out the electronic sound design with its many tricks and enchantments. Aki Onda who was involved as a guest producer has brought together 2 handful of the best New York musicians to contribute elements to Blackbird's Echo that spring from a variety of musical backgrounds but that all share the mastery and the passion of Niobe's music. Trevor Dunn on contrabass, Shelley Burgeon on the harp, Clifton Hyde at the guitar and Ches Smith on the drums, New York's most reknown basstuba-player TubaJoe, der amazing bass player Shahzad Ismaily, Doug Wieselman on bass clarinet, and last not least Eyvind Kang who contributed a wonderful string arrangement, and DJ Olive who is wideley known for his own work. For the song "Time is Kindling", a song about the telepathy between lovers, David Grubbs contributed lyrics, vocal harmonies and was playing organ.