Maria Taylor

Well, Maria Taylor is undoubtedly my favorite artist of the moment and she has sustained this place of high honor for quite some time now, which leads me to believe that she's going to join the Pantheon of greats. She will take her rightful place at the right hand of Tanya Donelly/Belly as one of the all-time greats. No pressure. I discovered her through her efforts with Azure Ray, a band that she, Orenda Frink, and Eric Bachmann formed in 2001. They released three albums: Azure Ray, Burn and Shiver and Hold On Love. I'll speak more of them in another post.

Maria makes beautiful music. Her voice, the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of the arrangements, and the lyrics (yes I pay attention to her lyrics) all combine to form music, the sum of which is much more than its wonderful parts. Her debut solo album 11:11 hit the streets in 2005 thanks to the Saddle Creek Label. I didn't happen upon it until 2007, but I was well versed in her craft thanks to Azure Ray and very quickly processed the album. I honestly cannot say that I have a favorite song on the album because (I know this sounds corny) whichever song I'm listening to is my favorite. Her songs are so powerful and gripping. However, I feel that I'm supposed to single out a couple of songs. Song Beneath the Song, which I believe features Connor Oberst, has received some attention and has been on some TV shows. I'll mention One For the Shareholder because it has a different feel than the majority of her songs. Check it out. I'm just flipping through the songs as I write this and they're all amazing.

Her second album Lynn Teeter Flower has something on it that I didn't think was possible. It has a song I don't like. I don't like the title track. It's one of the those minute-long throw away songs and I don't care for it. I guess she's human. The rest of the album approaches genius. A Good Start opens the album and it's a bit of a departure from her previous work in that it has a more, I don't know, produced feel, but that's relative. It's a great song and I think it has also received some TV time. The Ballad of Sean Foley tells a great story and I don't even really know what it's about, but every time I listen to it I feel like I'm listening to a great story. Does that make sense?

Her third album Time Lapse Lifeline is supposed to be released at the end of March. I'm very excited. Maybe she'll go on tour and I'll finally get to see her. Up next ... Tilly and the Wall