Annaliese Szota (28/10/10)

Tonight, having arrived in Sydney after a reasonably long plane-flight, then a good ol'trek from the airport out to Moore Theological College in Newtown, my buddy Alan and I were able to gig it up at a club.

Perhaps not a club - more like a theatre restaurant dedicated to live music. One of my mates, Andy from Wollongong, was performing there with one of his friends, Annaliese Szota. Andy sings background vocals and plays the violin (electric on this particular occasion) an I was very excited to see him performing live (though not unplugged, thankfully) for the first time.

Left to Right: Andy, Annaliese Szota, Ben Szota

It was a very enjoyable concert, and for those who have never heard of Annaliese Szota, she is a relatively new artist with a bubbly stage presence, whose music is a mix of the bouncy and somewhat melancholic. Many have compared her to Regina Spektor, and others I don't recognise. Some compare her to Kasey Chambers, though I disagree and I prefer not to think about that. I find listening to Chambers similar to listening to a giant nose, whose voice has as much 'nasal twang' as the guitar she plays.

Some of Szota's lyrics are quite poetic, where others are abstract. Others are delightfully queer, such as those in one of my favourite songs, Deck of Octopi (which is now my ringtone). Alan commented that many of her songs contain vague acknowledgment of confusion and randomness in the world, asking or implying many questions though seeming to answer none. I would agree with this statement to some extent, though I haven't studied them in any particular depth to comment further.

Anyway, you can check out Szota on her Myspace. Listen to the clip from Deck of Octopi, and Blanket Meteor. It's worth it.

As for Andy, he used to be part of a Christian Band called Blind. I love his voice, but I was unable to link to any audio clips for your listening enjoyment. I'll update if I find anything. Andy, if you're reading this, point me in the right direction! SG