Outlaster
Recording once more with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Nina engaged Los Angeles instrumentalist and arranger Paul Bryan to adapt her songs into a score for a small orchestra. Featuring drummer Jay Bellerose and Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Outlaster is aided by, all in all, a dream band. This album is a work of lush sophistication that, with no loss of distinction or economy, transcends the reach of Nastasia's famed sparseness. The orchestra takes a more formal approach with Paul Bryan's powerfully affecting score – hearkening back to the likes of Gil Evans and the late Phil Ochs – burnishing the record with lustrous horns and reeds and a dynamic string ensemble.
The singer-songwriter embellishes her sparse, haunted folk sound with strings and woodwinds to superb effect.
Of all the female singer-songwriters around today, [a]Nina Nastasia[/a] is perhaps the most deceptive.
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Despite being blessed with a name that sounds like a major label’s riposte to Christina Aguilera, Nina Nastasia is much vaunted in indieland.
Cutting through the dark cloaks donned by Nina Nastasia on her records ends up revealing little except that some fabrics are enigmatic enough to raise even more questions after they’re sliced.