Search - Rose Melberg :: Cast Away the Clouds

Rose Melberg
Cast Away the Clouds
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. Take Some Time
2. The Orchard
3. Cold Sea
4. Cast Away the Clouds
5. Irene
6. Spin
7. Little Bird
8. Something Else
9. Four Walls
10. Constant And True
11. Your Tears
12. Each New Day

"File Under: simply beautiful indie-pop. Rose Melberg is best known as half of The Softies, an understated, sparkling acoustic two-guitar and two-voice group whose albums bring to mind rose petals, rosy blushes, rock ro... more »ses and summer afternoons on a crushed-out best friend's roof, watching the roseate sun as it sets without you. If you're already in love with Melberg's voice, or with her simply moving lyrics, all you need to know is that this exists." - CMJ "With the gauzy innocence and childlike simplicity of Moe Tucker's moment in the Velvets' spotlight...Melberg's voice has the proud yet vulnerable quality of a spurned teenager in love." - BOSTON PHOENIX "Even in light of the uniform brilliance of Rose Melberg's past work with Tiger Trap and The Softies, her solo debut is still revelatory - never before has her voice been so disarmingly honest and vulnerable...a small miracle." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE Straight out of a Sacramento high school, Rose Melberg entered the indie-pop 7" scene in 1992 with the first of her many successful bands, Tiger Trap, and the all-girl foursome quickly became the stars of a burgeoning indie-pop/punk movement centered in Olympia, WA and labels like K Records and Kill Rock Stars. Too good to last, Tiger Trap split after their second U.S. tour, leaving one classic album and an EP on K Records. Melberg quickly teamed with Jen Sbragia to form The Softies, possibly her best-known project. With just guitars and angelic voices, The Softies debuted with a 7" and mini-LP on Slumberland Records, toured the U.S. five times (once with Elliott Smith) and released three amazing albums and singles, also on K Records, from 1994-2001. At the same time, Melberg managed to front Go Sailor, who collected their sought-after pop singles on Lookout Records and had two songs featured in the campy film But I'm a Cheerleader. Melberg also recorded various duets and solo tracks while on tour, compiled on Portola and released by Double Agent Records in 1998. After giving us an avalanche of mellifluous albums to treasure, Melberg kept quiet for five years while she started a family in a small Canadian town. Now, she is back with her solo masterpiece, and her maturity is immediate - long after graduating from Indiepop University, she emerges as a developed singer/songwriter akin to Nick Drake, Tracey Thorn, Elliott Smith and Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian).

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CD Details

All Artists: Rose Melberg
Title: Cast Away the Clouds
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Double Agent Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 4/25/2006
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Style: Indie & Lo-Fi
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 656605886220

Synopsis

Album Description

"File Under: simply beautiful indie-pop. Rose Melberg is best known as half of The Softies, an understated, sparkling acoustic two-guitar and two-voice group whose albums bring to mind rose petals, rosy blushes, rock roses and summer afternoons on a crushed-out best friend's roof, watching the roseate sun as it sets without you. If you're already in love with Melberg's voice, or with her simply moving lyrics, all you need to know is that this exists." - CMJ "With the gauzy innocence and childlike simplicity of Moe Tucker's moment in the Velvets' spotlight...Melberg's voice has the proud yet vulnerable quality of a spurned teenager in love." - BOSTON PHOENIX "Even in light of the uniform brilliance of Rose Melberg's past work with Tiger Trap and The Softies, her solo debut is still revelatory - never before has her voice been so disarmingly honest and vulnerable...a small miracle." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE Straight out of a Sacramento high school, Rose Melberg entered the indie-pop 7" scene in 1992 with the first of her many successful bands, Tiger Trap, and the all-girl foursome quickly became the stars of a burgeoning indie-pop/punk movement centered in Olympia, WA and labels like K Records and Kill Rock Stars. Too good to last, Tiger Trap split after their second U.S. tour, leaving one classic album and an EP on K Records. Melberg quickly teamed with Jen Sbragia to form The Softies, possibly her best-known project. With just guitars and angelic voices, The Softies debuted with a 7" and mini-LP on Slumberland Records, toured the U.S. five times (once with Elliott Smith) and released three amazing albums and singles, also on K Records, from 1994-2001. At the same time, Melberg managed to front Go Sailor, who collected their sought-after pop singles on Lookout Records and had two songs featured in the campy film But I'm a Cheerleader. Melberg also recorded various duets and solo tracks while on tour, compiled on Portola and released by Double Agent Records in 1998. After giving us an avalanche of mellifluous albums to treasure, Melberg kept quiet for five years while she started a family in a small Canadian town. Now, she is back with her solo masterpiece, and her maturity is immediate - long after graduating from Indiepop University, she emerges as a developed singer/songwriter akin to Nick Drake, Tracey Thorn, Elliott Smith and Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian).

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CD Reviews

A delicate masterpiece

Hugues Orsetti | MANOSQUE France | 07/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The way Rose Melberg writes and records her songs must be a deep, slow, delicate process. On almost every song of this second solo album (Rose took part of previous bands such as Tiger Trap and The Softies during the 90's), she does a little miracle, being endlessly delicate without falling into cutesy (that she didn't always avoid in the past with the Softies). Her songs appear to be very simple, but they're never flat. Rose found her way here, in these clear vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar chords, with at times some touches of violin, flutes or piano. Her melodies are always reaching something fine, but never sugary, to the contrary, her minor chords are almost acid, at times. It's a secret, peaceful record, close to a dreamy garden. Actually, Rose lives in a small town near a Canadian lake. You can feel the beauty of her inspiration as if it was melt in snow time. This is one of the most beautiful records of the year, and I'd recommend it to the lucky fans of Homeless House, a similar masterpiece recorded in 1998 by the English singer songwriter John Cunningham."

I may give it 5 stars, given time...

JRL | MI USA | 05/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, yes! This is indeed something special to behold. I'm not sure if Rose Melberg is the kinda thing you'd play to ALL music lovers, they might not get it. But it certainly couldn't hurt to try. The music feels painstakingly crafted to be beatiful. Each little number on this reaches aching tranquility, while ghostly nuances appear within eerie chord changes or piano, flute, and violin elements. "Cast Away the Clouds" has leanings towards folk (Judee Sill) and girly indie pop (early Liz Phair) but is executed in a unique way all it's own; with dashes of French-inflected chords and understated angelic harmonies. I bought the vinyl of this after only hearing a couple full songs. Now with repeated listenings, I'm even more convinced it was the right way to go."