ROOTS

Latest CD releases reviewed

NINA NASTASIA
Dogs  TouchandGo Records
****

One thing this world is not short of is singer-songwriters. So it takes a supreme effort or a novel scam to stand out. Nina Nastasia is a bit of both. Living in New York, there are echoes of that city's bohemian tunesmith Suzanne Vega, especially on the delightfully idiosyncratic title track. The songs - melodies, arrangements, themes - all come from odd angles. In less assured hands it would be merely flakey. But Nastasia creates a world of her own, sometimes haunting and disturbing and frequently beautiful. This is helped by the arrangements, such as the setting of cello and violin against acoustic guitar, which, allied to Nastasia's sweet voice, create a dramatic tension.

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