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What They're SayingArtist Page |
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Caron Vikre, acclaimed underground favorite of the west coast music scene, is poised for a breakthrough to wider acceptance with the release of her fourth CD, the post/ modem pop jewel, "In the Niche of Non-Senses".
Caron's hypnotic live performances, alluring vocals and incredible band have long captivated audiences in California...the loyalty of her fans is legendary.
Her 3 previous CD's have won numerous awards and received radio airplay across the United States, and internationally in Scandinavia, Japan and Australia.
Now, with "In the Niche of Non-Senses" it all comes together...an aggressive pop musical attack and a passionate lyrical message for a world on it's way to the millennium... if you don't know Caron Vikre yet... it's time.
(Top of Listing)
Caron Vikre has something of an identity crises:
The Sacramento singer songwriter doesn't really know who her fans are.
Our audience is a different type of audience, Vikre says, It's a quiet inconspicuous following.
Because of her almost invisible fan base. Vikre was actually worried when she announced recently that she’d be celebrating the release of her new alhum. "In the Niche of Non-Senses " with a performance at the Delta King Theatre on Saturday.
She was, it seems, afraid nobody would come to the show. l'm always so pessimistic, Vikre says, I was looking at the place (the Delta King Theatre) and I was thinking, Oh. God, were never going to fill this place. And we sold out the show three weeks in advance! Where are these people coming from?
Just when I think there's nobody out there -- like when I have a new CD out -- they’ll come out of the woodwork and they’ll know all ofthe words to the songs. The people who come to our shows and buy our CDs are generally people who sit very quietly at shows and just listen to music. They're there; it's just that I don't always get to meet them.
Vikre will follow her sold-out 8 p.m. show at the Deita King on Saturday with a second set, at 10 p.m.
She’ll focus largely on material from her moody new album -- her fourth as a solo artist.
At the lush,haunting,jazz tinged album's core are Vikre's poetic, nonlinear lyrics and husky, dramatic voice. If Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading and Leonard Cohen matched talents (and genes), the hybrid result might be Vikre.
Vikre recently sat down at a Popular East Sacramento restaurant to take the Pop Quiz.
Pop Life: Why do more People buy your albums than come to your shows?Vikre: 1 think anything that’s lyrically based---or anything where the emphasis is more on the lyrics -- tends to be more introspective. And in a live situation, no matter how good the sound is, you can't really appreciate that part of it quite as much as you can if you take it home.
Pop Life: Do you think your songs are lyrically based, though? The music adds this dynamic to it that sort of transfixes you.
Vikre: Well, I don't mean to say that I don't put any effort into the music. I really do, I think that’s important. But I really enjoy the physicality of singing. That`s why I've chosen music to do the other. The music part of it is quite important to me. But whenever 1 think of my self or my priorities, or whenever I took at a song by someone else, I always think, "How good are the lyrics? What are the lyrics saying to me? How are they making me feel?" It's not that the music isn't important; I didn’t mean to imply that all all. But I lean more to one side.
Pop Life: How do you write? You actually designate Monday as a writing day, don't you?
Vikre: Well, because I have another job, I have to be very regimented in how I do what I do. My days off are Sunday and Monday, and on Monday morning, I sit down, then work well into the night. Hopefully, I'11 come up with some sort of idea, some sort of skeleton of a song. Every night after work, if we're not practicing, or even as I'm out in the world, I'm still thinking about what I was working on on Monday. So I'm always working on songwriting.
Pop Life: Where'd the monks on the album come from? (The droning sound of chanting monks is heard on the opening song, 'Always.")
Vikre: The fellow who used to be our drummer, his name is Gordon Poe, and ...
Pop Life: He's a monk now!?
Vikre: (Laughter.) No, but he studied with the Dali Lama. He and I both share an interest in Buddhism. We had this song and the arrangement was done around a sort of circular theme, and it was his idea to put the monks on. We actually snagged them right off of a record, which I probably shouldn't be doing. But they weren't in the right key. And so we had to fiddle with them and slow them down to get them in the right key.
Pop Life: Well, I wouldn't worry about them suing you. It's not like monks are into worldly possessions.
Vikre: That's right!
Pop Life: Using the monks is quite an interesting way to open the album.
Vikre: Well, actually, before that (the chants), we've got a little bit of the ocean. Talk about literary ripoffs; I stole this from (James Joyce's) "Finnegan's Wake." The last line of"Finnegan's Wake" is actually the first line of the book. In our case, we were trying to create this circular theme on the record. The record ends with the ocean, and the last crash of the wave of the ocean at the end is actually the first crash of the wave at the beginning. The whole record is supposed to go around like that.
Pop Life: You're making me dizzy.
Vikre: I'm sorry. It's hypnosis.
Pop Life: What does the title ("In the Niche of Non-Senses") mean? Did you mean for it to be as confusing as it is?
Vikre: Yes. I always tend to go for things with as many different meanings as possible. I'm more intrigued by that. The way it's spelled, it means in the place not of the senses. My idea was that that's also a place of soul: Not of the senses or beyond the senses. But I'm too self-conscious to call the album 'Soul." I'd never do that. At the same time, I'm also on the fence about spirituality, anyway, so it's also nonsense. I get the best of both worlds in that. I can refer to soul as well as the absolute nonsensicalness of it. The “non-sense" part also represents the fact that you can't possibly concretize a soul. It is nonsense in a certain respect. You can really go on and on and on with where the title can take you. It's confusing, and that's what I love about it. I like everything to be confusing
News and Review (Rachel Orvino)
---"beautiful melody, eerie harmony and raw energy...a vocal powerhouse."
KVMR Radio 99.3 (Joseph Guida)
············· "Caron Vikre is an artist who does not compromise..this record reaches in and holds you.. if you don't like it....call me!"
State Hornet( Kim Callahan)
------------ "a walloping package of heart-felt singing and parallel backbeats...her vocals are addicting."
Sacramento Bee (J.Freedom du Lac)
············Lush and Lyrical...haunting vocals..".
(Top of Listing)
Sacramento singer/songwriter Caron Vikre (pronounced Ka-ron Vi-cree) has released her 4th recording on MacLennan Music. In the Niche of Non Senses contains 12 new songs from the artist who is in the pantheon of the Capitol City music scene. Dare I put her into a niche! I'll try not. The songs rock with electric guitar, bass and drums. The songs are often farther away from rock with organ and acoustic and electric guitars. The voice lifts and falls (breathy), dives and flies (breathlessly), goes left then right, around the corner, out of sight (breathe in): suddenly back. right in front of you (breathe out). Am I saying eccentric or Idiosyncratic? Who me?#^?
Some of my favorite tracks are: 'Always' (starts out with a Tibetan chant then segues into bass, drums and organ)-a very personal meditation on spirituality and love. 'Blink’ Is driven by the rhythm of an acoustic guitar and speaks of things '...seen, but not seen'.'Crash My Car’ is a strange late night drive under the light of the moon.'l Can't Swim' has happened to all of us; life is tricky sometimes.'Hear' is something we've all thought (“I want to cry our loud, but what good would it do"). 'Silent Treatment' starts slow, finishing with a kick. ‘The Bed Song' can be danced to.'Scar' reaches in and holds you. You'll be thinking about this song for a long time. The lyrics throughout are personal, at first hearing impenetrable. Listen again and they become clearer. The music is terrific. Caron has assembled a group of excellent players who complement her songs with hard work and ease.
Caron Vikre is an artist who does not compromise. If you're tired of the same ol' thing, and think you've heard it all... do yourself good by seeking In the Niche of Non Senses. If you don't like it call me.
(Top of Listing)
Vikre's music is described as a blend of folk, rock,blues, soul, and jazz. Her vocal sound has been compared to that of Natalie Merchant, Joan Armatrading, and even Leonard Cohen No matter who you compare her to, her vocals are addicting.
On her latest effort, Vikre combines all of these into a walloping package of heart-felt. singing and parallel back beats. She sounds more like a beefed up Kate Bush or mellowed Janis Joplin than Natalie Merchant. Much of the album has a jazzy bluesy feel to it, but with a definite pop appeal.
Songs such as "Speak," combine the backbone of a funky organ melody with a blues-rock feel. Others, such as "Crash My Car," start with simple instrumentation and soft soulful vocals, then turn into a radio-friendly pop tune. In this particular track, there is a long guitar solo, which sounds like it could be from an old Santana song, though not nearly as long.
Several songs have a moody, dark feeling about them, such as "Hear" and "Silent treatment," which has a harder edge, a good guitar solo; sounds like Vikre has a twinge of bitterness and regret mixed with wisdom.
One of the best songs on the record is called "Scratch and Claw." It is catchy, heavy, and a little funky. It has scratching guitar, groovy vocals, and a Pounding bass drum There are times in the song when it smoothes out and an acoustic guitar comes in with an organ, then it jumps back to grittiness only a few seconds later.
"I want to make my music a conversation. I want to talk directly with the audience," Vikre says of her music and live performances.
So be sure to bring your ears with you, and be prepared to listen. This will not be her first appearance at Sac State. She has done a previous Nooner, and even made her singing debut here some years ago. This week's Nooner will be the second outside Nooner of the semester, weather permitting, held on the South Lawn of the University Union.
---Kim Callahan (3/26/96)
(Top of Listing)
The two words that most frequently come to mind when describing long time Sacramento singer songwrite! Caron Vikre are 'hypnotic" and "lyrical" With her just released fourth CD, In the Niche of Non-Senses, Vikre adds hard-rocking to her list of attributes. The ethereal quality of past CD's--Sagguara (1992) and Alchemy Tattoo (1994)--is still there, but with an aggressive bite that's been lacking in a majority of Vikre's past material. Vikre manages to hold her place as one of Sacramento's vocal powerhouses year after year, maintaining a
delicate balance between beautiful melody, errie
harmony and raw energy. 'ln the Niche of Non-Senses' carries her one step further toward greatness.
---Rachel Orvino (3/7/96)
(Top of Listing)
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