SONG OF THE DAY (#203)

'cheater's armoury,' by hanne hukkelberg

all the way from konsberg, norway comes hanne hukkelberg. she released a new album, 'rykestrasse 68' this year, the follow up to her great debut, 'little things.'

she's a tough one to peg, that hanne; but in her case it's totally fantastic. she's part cabaret singer, part torch singer, part jazz musician, part tin pan alley purveyor, part indie snow goddess. add it all up and you get a pretty unique and eclectic sound [take 'little girl,' for example. it sounds like a video game with a banjo accompaniment. as odd as it sounds, it works]. i can't really think of anyone off the top of my head that she sounds like, and in this day in age of recycled musical genres, copy-cat 'artists,' and generic songwriting, it's nothing short of spectacular. 'cheater's armoury,' aside from being a terrific song title, is a terrific little song that'll the charm the pants right off ya. or shirt. or socks. or whatever you happened to be wearing. there's a lot more going on in this song than is immediately apparent. i'm pretty sure there's a cowbell buried in there somewhere, which is, of course, awesome.

if you like the cardigans and regina spektor [that's about as close as i can come to comparisons, but they really aren't that valid], i'm pretty sure dig hanne, too. here are two samples from her newest album and one from her first. i dare you not to fall for her. double dog dare.

happy weekend, all...

→ hanne hukkelberg: cheater's armoury / video
→ hanne hukkelberg: the pirate
→ hanne hukkelberg: little girl