Lotte Kestner — Covers (January 19, 2017)
? Ethereal folk covers with a blend of acoustic and electric elements. Lotte Kestner is the solo project of Anna~Lynne Williams of Trespassers William.
? China Mountain, Stolen, and Until are available from Saint~Loup Records
? The newest full length album, The Bluebird of Happiness, was released on Saint Marie Records in 2013
? “It’s like the Little Match Girl instead sold all of her matches and bought a guitar.” — {Sic} Magazine
Ξ⁄Ξ Version Wrestler yet most. We shall see. I love this extremely intimate situation, your songs are a phenomenon, a living organism.
Location: Seattle, Washington
Album release: January 19th, 2017
Record Label: Saint Loup, Nettwek, Bella Union, Gizeh
Duration: 70:38
Tracks:
01 Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 3:44
02 I Get Along Without You Very Well (Chet Baker) 3:55
03 Don’t Dream It’s Over (Crowded House) 3:55
04 Lost Cause (Beck) 5:02
05 How To Disappear Completely (Radiohead) 5:31
06 Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) 2:17
07 Rikk Agnew (Lisa Will Insult You, Darling) 2:40
08 Where I’m Headed (The One AM Radio) 6:01
09 I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Kings Of Convenience) 5:01
10 Van Occupanther (Midlake) 4:49
11 Imagine (John Lennon) 3:51
12 Fade Into You (Mazzy Star) 4:56
13 Not A Job (Elbow) 4:00
14 Alison (Slowdive) 3:06
15 Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode) 4:11
16 Do You Realize (The Flaming Lips) 4:59
17 I’m Going To Go Back There Someday (Gonzo) 2:40
© Anna~Lynne Williams (Lotte Kestner). Photo credit: Abby Williamson
Review
Kevin Krein, 9th October 2015
Ξ⁄Ξ There’s this old emo song by The Early November called “I Want to Hear You Sad,” and in listening to the collection of 17 covers by Anna~Lynne Williams, that’s the only expression that comes to mind; however, that is one of the songs she’s covered.
Ξ⁄Ξ Williams, performing under her Lotte Kestner moniker, is the former frontwoman of the folk/shoegaze outfit Trespassers William. As Kestner, she’s built up a reputation for her ability to cover a song, and make it as heartbreaking as humanly possible — check what she did with Beyonce’s “Halo” if you don’t believe me.
Ξ⁄Ξ Building on the momentum of her officially released covers album, as well as additional covers she’s put out via her Bandcamp page, this collection serves as a “best of” of songs she covered as part of a massive Kickstarter campaign from a few years ago, where she ended up covering 60 songs as fan requests for people who donated towards her effort.
Ξ⁄Ξ She recently wrapped up all 60 covers, it takes a long time, I guess, when you have other responsibilities and also sometimes tendonitis. Ranging from the very well known, all the way down to the obscure, Williams is here to break your heart and devastate you with her fragile, somber take on every song she sings.
Ξ⁄Ξ I mean, some of them lend themselves to being sad already, like the reflective “Don’t Dream (It’s Over)” by Crowded House [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqCPrDRXm4]. While in the hands of Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, who recently covered the song, who maintains its 80s sensibility and novelty while humanizing it; here, Williams just strips it down to a bare bones version with her and a plaintively plucked acoustic guitar. “Hey now, hey now, don’t dream, it’s over,” she sings, beautifully and delicately, and most importantly, sadly. It’s so sad you guys. You don’t even understand.
Ξ⁄Ξ Don’t even get me started on her moody, sullen cover of Radiohead’s masterful “How to Disappear Completely.”
Ξ⁄Ξ So, to be honest, 17 tracks of this is kind of a lot to deal with. And by “a lot to deal with,” I mean, it’s a lot of super sad sounding covers — it’s obviously the kind of collection that you have to be in the “right” frame of mind to listen to, and it’s best to enjoy at night, specifically if you are alone, in your home, and feeling terrible about something.
Ξ⁄Ξ Structurally, also, 17 tracks is a lot of weight for this collection. It never really buckles under, but it’s front loaded with marquee name covers (Beck, Radiohead, Nick Drake) before getting into the more random and obscure in the middle — before closing with a cover of a song by Gonzo (yes, the Muppet.) Believe me, Williams knows what she’s doing when she covers The Muppets. She totally slayed a version of “The Rainbow Connection” a few years ago.
Ξ⁄Ξ Covers can be a dangerous business. I can remember when Mark Kozelek did his all Modest Mouse covers album, P4k gave it a shitty rating and said that covering Modest Mouse was like “trying to wrestle a bear” or something. With this collection, there is no serious misstep, and nothing that will make you cringe, thankfully. But they are also very reserved and introspective, so there are no dramatic reimagining. She is just able to magnify just how somber some of these songs, or can be, given the right minimal arrangements.
Ξ⁄Ξ Playing sadness like an instrument, Williams creates a soundtrack for your life if every moment of your life was filled with an unbearable sense of sorrow. So yes, this is kind of the soundtrack for my life.
Ξ⁄Ξ http://anhedonicheadphones.blogspot.com/2015/10/album-review-lotte-kestner-best-of.html
Saint Loup Records: http://saintlouprecords.bigcartel.com/product/lotte-kestner-stolen-cd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lottekestner/
CD Baby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lottekestner9
Website: http://lottekestner.com/
Linus: http://www.linusrecords.jp/
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? China Mountain, Stolen, and Until are available from Saint~Loup Records
? The newest full length album, The Bluebird of Happiness, was released on Saint Marie Records in 2013
? “It’s like the Little Match Girl instead sold all of her matches and bought a guitar.” — {Sic} Magazine
Ξ⁄Ξ Version Wrestler yet most. We shall see. I love this extremely intimate situation, your songs are a phenomenon, a living organism.
Location: Seattle, Washington
Album release: January 19th, 2017
Record Label: Saint Loup, Nettwek, Bella Union, Gizeh
Duration: 70:38
Tracks:
01 Pink Moon (Nick Drake) 3:44
02 I Get Along Without You Very Well (Chet Baker) 3:55
03 Don’t Dream It’s Over (Crowded House) 3:55
04 Lost Cause (Beck) 5:02
05 How To Disappear Completely (Radiohead) 5:31
06 Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) 2:17
07 Rikk Agnew (Lisa Will Insult You, Darling) 2:40
08 Where I’m Headed (The One AM Radio) 6:01
09 I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Kings Of Convenience) 5:01
10 Van Occupanther (Midlake) 4:49
11 Imagine (John Lennon) 3:51
12 Fade Into You (Mazzy Star) 4:56
13 Not A Job (Elbow) 4:00
14 Alison (Slowdive) 3:06
15 Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode) 4:11
16 Do You Realize (The Flaming Lips) 4:59
17 I’m Going To Go Back There Someday (Gonzo) 2:40
Review
Kevin Krein, 9th October 2015
Ξ⁄Ξ There’s this old emo song by The Early November called “I Want to Hear You Sad,” and in listening to the collection of 17 covers by Anna~Lynne Williams, that’s the only expression that comes to mind; however, that is one of the songs she’s covered.
Ξ⁄Ξ Williams, performing under her Lotte Kestner moniker, is the former frontwoman of the folk/shoegaze outfit Trespassers William. As Kestner, she’s built up a reputation for her ability to cover a song, and make it as heartbreaking as humanly possible — check what she did with Beyonce’s “Halo” if you don’t believe me.
Ξ⁄Ξ Building on the momentum of her officially released covers album, as well as additional covers she’s put out via her Bandcamp page, this collection serves as a “best of” of songs she covered as part of a massive Kickstarter campaign from a few years ago, where she ended up covering 60 songs as fan requests for people who donated towards her effort.
Ξ⁄Ξ She recently wrapped up all 60 covers, it takes a long time, I guess, when you have other responsibilities and also sometimes tendonitis. Ranging from the very well known, all the way down to the obscure, Williams is here to break your heart and devastate you with her fragile, somber take on every song she sings.
Ξ⁄Ξ I mean, some of them lend themselves to being sad already, like the reflective “Don’t Dream (It’s Over)” by Crowded House [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqCPrDRXm4]. While in the hands of Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, who recently covered the song, who maintains its 80s sensibility and novelty while humanizing it; here, Williams just strips it down to a bare bones version with her and a plaintively plucked acoustic guitar. “Hey now, hey now, don’t dream, it’s over,” she sings, beautifully and delicately, and most importantly, sadly. It’s so sad you guys. You don’t even understand.
Ξ⁄Ξ Don’t even get me started on her moody, sullen cover of Radiohead’s masterful “How to Disappear Completely.”
Ξ⁄Ξ So, to be honest, 17 tracks of this is kind of a lot to deal with. And by “a lot to deal with,” I mean, it’s a lot of super sad sounding covers — it’s obviously the kind of collection that you have to be in the “right” frame of mind to listen to, and it’s best to enjoy at night, specifically if you are alone, in your home, and feeling terrible about something.
Ξ⁄Ξ Structurally, also, 17 tracks is a lot of weight for this collection. It never really buckles under, but it’s front loaded with marquee name covers (Beck, Radiohead, Nick Drake) before getting into the more random and obscure in the middle — before closing with a cover of a song by Gonzo (yes, the Muppet.) Believe me, Williams knows what she’s doing when she covers The Muppets. She totally slayed a version of “The Rainbow Connection” a few years ago.
Ξ⁄Ξ Covers can be a dangerous business. I can remember when Mark Kozelek did his all Modest Mouse covers album, P4k gave it a shitty rating and said that covering Modest Mouse was like “trying to wrestle a bear” or something. With this collection, there is no serious misstep, and nothing that will make you cringe, thankfully. But they are also very reserved and introspective, so there are no dramatic reimagining. She is just able to magnify just how somber some of these songs, or can be, given the right minimal arrangements.
Ξ⁄Ξ Playing sadness like an instrument, Williams creates a soundtrack for your life if every moment of your life was filled with an unbearable sense of sorrow. So yes, this is kind of the soundtrack for my life.
Ξ⁄Ξ http://anhedonicheadphones.blogspot.com/2015/10/album-review-lotte-kestner-best-of.html
Saint Loup Records: http://saintlouprecords.bigcartel.com/product/lotte-kestner-stolen-cd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lottekestner/
CD Baby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lottekestner9
Website: http://lottekestner.com/
Linus: http://www.linusrecords.jp/
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