Rykarda Parasol: vocals, piano, guitar, and charms... Some of the performers who have appeared recently with her are: Greg Benitz (guitar/keys), Brian Gregory (bass & vocals), Robert Marzio (drums), Jacob Fury (violin), Anne Sullivan (violin), and Rachel Hoiem (piano/keyboard) to name a few.
Influences
william faulkner, federico garcia lorca, the bad seeds, erik satie, langston hughes, the gun club, ann radcliff, tennesse williams, pulp, velvet underground, samuel richards, david lynch, jeffrey eugenides, william auden, the doors, alexander pope, loretta lynn, edith piaf, ingmar bergman, edna saint millay, anton newcombe, screaming jay hawkins, nico, Jacqueline Taieb, everett millet, william hogarth, claude debussy, iggy pop, serge gainsbourg, moliere, edgar allen poe, moll flanders, spiritualized, zorn, june carter cash, afghan whigs, dostoevsky, odd nerdrum, generación del '27, christina rossetti, zou zou.
Sounds Like
Like
Duende! Like a real woman amidst smoke and whiskey. Like Edith Piaf meets the Animals. Like
Nico meets Nick Cave. Like Serge Gainsbourg's cigarette in Deitrich's mouth. Never in sunlight
and not without pain and wit. From the feet and not the throat.
PRESS
& REVIEWS:
"The Lady to Watch": .And while her name might make you think of an umbrella, her music will inspire slightly more complex imagery. Rykarda Parasol plays what sounds like gothic jazz - dark and smooth, with a touch of whimsical Americana and chamber pop. Her voice draws an easy comparison to Nico in the days of the Velvet Underground or PJ Harvey circa anytime, but with a lighter edge and range of sound. In a way, Rycarda Parasol blends Tom Waits' noir tendencies with Nick Cave's stinging rock, but maintains uniqueness with the fact that she's, you know, female." - The Deli Magazine
"In the lazy, hazy tradition of fellow salvation shucksters Nick Cave and
Siouxie Sioux, singer Rykarda Parasol leads this fourpiece from Frisco, delivering
a smoky, gin-tinged salve to soothe the souls of the wicked, like Opal, OP8,
and opium combined." - Austin Chronicle, SXSW Picks.
"A genuine musical force in her own right with a Harvey-laced smokiness
to her voice, Parasol weaves gothic, bluesy tales of desire and strength, compassion
and solitude. She's just what I need." - San Francisco Bay Guardian.
“Setting the scene and building up a mood is Rykarda Parasol’s specialty. Her voice will wrap around you like a blanket of shadows and give you goose bumps as you proceed further into the depths of the album. So turn off the lights, turn up the volume, and get ready for a complete cinematic experience." - Delusions of Adequacy
Highly Recommended: “A sexy woman with an exotic name. Rykarda Parasol could've stopped right there and I would've been sold. But nooo, she had to throw in her amazing voice too. The sound of Rykarda Parasol can be compared to Johnny Cash, Igmar Bergman and contemporaries like Cat Power and Bat For Lashes. It's Southern Gothic meets Southern Baptist with a stinging shot of Nick Cave for good measure. Perfect music for the approaching winter. Buy the full-length album, and wrap yourself in your Rykarda's warm voice, like a blanket. Oh so good." - The Walrus
Rolling Stone, Jan. 2008, Germany, 3.5 stars
5 stars. Undisputed Album of the Year! ***** Westzeit, Germany
"With Jim Jarmusch-esque musical imagery: Reverb-dripping whammy-bar leads anchor saloon-piano vignettes, all cemented by Parasol's sinister vocals. Her rustic croon (the female counterpoint to a broodier Nick Cave) sounds as if it could crumble under the weight of its own vulnerability; it's less the focal point for lyrical profundity as it is the lead instrument in her catalog. When live with the potent Tower Ravens, Rykarda Parasol employs only as much enthusiasm as it would take to roust a crew of zombies at a cemetery set—gravely gothic and extremely good." - The Portland Mercury, Portland Oregon.
"En parfaite disciple de Nick Cave, elle nous envoie en pleine figure ce "How Does a Woman Fall?". Les percussions sont d'une sobriété sans pareille, un peu d'accordéon et de Theremin assure l'ambiance. "En Route" permet au piano de se remettre en valeur soutenant le chant habité de notre vedette. "Lonesome Place" sera plus léger avec un côté Velvet Underground bien marqué. La chanson est basée sur un poème de Langston Hughes." - Music in Belgium, Belgium.
"I love this
album. Really, I don't even want to write anymore than that - just
leave you all hanging, so that you would always wonder and then make yourself
go and listen to it. Rykarda Parasol is the
throaty singer-songwriter at the front of this folk/goth act... The stories
that these songs tell take you into places and situations that you don't
want to be in, or would be uncomfortable in. Dark, brooding, haunting, ambient and intelligent - that's how I want to sum up this one." - Two Way
Monologue.
“If Nick Cave had a uterus and was impregnated by Johnny Cash, Rykarda Parasol would be their talented daughter with the low voice." - Crawdaddy
"There’s an icy Nordic grandeur in Parasol’s look, a sense of desolation and windswept tundra that’s led more than one reviewer to envision her as a reincarnation of a 1920s nightclub act. But Parasol’s voice is more gritty than sultry, more Nick Cave than Helen Kane. Parasol’s mother was a moody ex-patriot Swede and her father a Holocaust survivor, so her affinity for darker music sometimes seems almost genetic." - Synthesis, Chico, CA.
The characteristically smoky voice and dark delivery of Rykarda Parasol conjures cinematic descriptions of bad deeds and betrayed love. Not unlike a female Nick Cave or Greg Dulli, Parasol is a dweller of dark prose and imagery that reminds us of William Faulkner, David Lynch, or Ingmar Bergman.
A new record is well under way, which will be a 12-14 song album. Expect a release sometime in 2009.
That looks very inviting. I should definitely come over to SF in summer 2010. And what an appealing motto! I thought about the length of being dead yesterday, too. But more with the feeling of: "Oh, that'll be so nice and quiet and peaceful and with nowhere to run to, no appointments and nothing to worry about." This time is a crazy mix of ups and downs.
hi rykarda just dropping by to tell you that I am still in love with your music! and by the way, I finally uploaded the full 10 songs, so there is plenty of new material... yours Tom
it's been forever since i've seen you. i need another show like a fix. please play soon. (oh, and if you're at all interested, or even if you'd like to humor me, will you please marry me? i'm tired of all these stupid girls. you're the only for me. heehee. no, but really? will you marry me? :) )
"Hannah Leah"
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