Bella Ruse is a duo I've been digging over the past few months and really fell into during my first listen. Despite it's fronted by a former award winning opera singer and they initially started playing as a vocal jazz duet, they wonderfully exemplifies the so-called minimalist folk-pop. Without a doubt, the kazoo sound included in most of their tunes is what makes this band wholly different.
In the last two years they've proven to be a talented hardworking band, recording five EPs and releasing their first full length CD. Bolstered by their success, Bella Ruse is following in the footsteps of some artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Allison Weiss by shunning the record label model and taking part themselves in financial issues. Their full-length album was fan-funded indeed. So that they're always trying to involve their followers as much as possible around what they're doing. Just yesterday they sent us their first video before making it publicly available. They'd already made bedroom/live/awkward clips, but not a real music video until now, hehe.
In the last two years they've proven to be a talented hardworking band, recording five EPs and releasing their first full length CD. Bolstered by their success, Bella Ruse is following in the footsteps of some artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Allison Weiss by shunning the record label model and taking part themselves in financial issues. Their full-length album was fan-funded indeed. So that they're always trying to involve their followers as much as possible around what they're doing. Just yesterday they sent us their first video before making it publicly available. They'd already made bedroom/live/awkward clips, but not a real music video until now, hehe.
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Their first album, a short, self-titled EP, was the result of a competition where artists are encouraged to write and record an entire album within a given time period. Bella Ruse didn't achieve the required ten songs, even though they decided to launch this six-song record. Well done!
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This album have a couple of songs from the previous EP in their live forms, as well as their own jazz-folk renditions of couple jazz standards.
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In this first full length album, they serve up eleven well-crafted original songs of enormous imagination and wide-ranging diversity. The initial idea was to include a unique instrument in each track and name the track after that instrument, such as The Melodica Song, The Typewriter Song, The Thumb Piano Song, The Pots and Pans Song and so on. Nevertheless, in the end, the only one carried out was The Kazoo Song, which is actually my fav tune on the record.
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They're always trying to get them out of their box, creating some fresh sounds and giving their fans an album that's full of surprises. This is an acoustic version that was recorded live in public places around Minneapolis, their hometown. And yes, that's an espresso machine in the background!
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This album contains three awsome covers songs of Gumption & Guts, a great fun and almost overwhelmingly infectious melody. Don't miss "the chipmunk track" cos it's wicked hilarious!
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Besides, they released a couple of Xmas albums but I think it's a bit early (or late) to talk 'bout 'em!
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