Alixandra and the Tailor Sea
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
Farmer Boy Download
Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel claims she didn’t always intend to become a musician, but her percussive, expressive voice and clever songwriting are more than well suited to the profession. The California-born songstress recently recorded her first LP of cheery folk and mellow harmonies under the name Alixandra and the Tailor Sea.
A naïve friend of mine once complained that “all folk songs sounds the same,” but Alixandra achieves distinctive results because of her collaborative approach. She explains that the Tailor Sea “is not a specific group of people but rather an eclectic combination of friends and musicians” with whom she has performed and recorded. Therefore, every track is a shaped by a unique set of individuals; the single constant is Alixandra herself.
A kitchen sink of instruments (cello, xylophone, mandolin, and harmonica, among others) provide the score for the album’s diverse subject matter, which includes a love-struck farmer boy, a black crow who abhors the sun, and learning how to trust oneself. Alixandra’s lyrics balance ambiguity and concrete ideas in a ratio that invites diverse interpretations without being overtly cryptic. So although Alixandra and the Tailor Sea echo the traditional idioms of folk music, the band’s instrumental variety and lyrical inventiveness sets them apart brilliantly from the status quo, and are musical tidings not to be missed.
