Run to Ruin

One genre of music I have frequently encountered in my writings so far is folk.  Folk music (using the commercial meaning, not the traditional one) continues to be a vibrant, vagrant style even with roots that stretch for years and years.  Woody Guthrie may be the pioneer, Bob Dylan its primary beacon, but folk music has had a wide number of artists come and go.  We all probably have our own definition of “folk music”.  When I think of it, I tend to think “political song” or “themes of the common man”, but in reality you could just as easily have songs of love or hymns.  Folk is all over the place.

So far, I have heard folk or folk-related (folk rock, indie folk, etc) albums from Bob Dylan (three, in fact), Devendra Banhart, Fleet Foxes,  Bon Iver, Joanna Newsom, Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, and Songs: Ohia.  Adding to this growing list is Nina Nastasia’s Run to Ruin.  As a little background on her, Nina Nastasia was born in Hollywood, CA, but now resides in New York City.  She moved to NYC on a whim, hoping to grow her career as a folk artist.  She lived and worked in New York for nine years before finally releasing her first album, Dogs, in 1999.  Run to Ruin, released in 2003, is her third release and the subject of this posting.

# 194 – Nina Nastasia, Run to Ruin (Metascore = 85)

Dogs was released on a tiny independent label, Socialist Records, when it was released, and initially the label only pressed 1,500 copies.  It was produced by world-renowned producer/engineer Steve Albini, who has worked with the likes of Nirvana, Helmet, Robert Plant, and Joanna Newsom (to name but a few) and who has produced all of Nastasia’s solo records.  Albini has always been a champion for Nastasia, even commenting that Dogs is one of the few albums he has heard many times over yet never tired of.  Even though Socialist Records wasn’t able to release anymore of Dogs due to costs, the album did reach many people, including legendary DJ John Peel of the BBC, whose praise (along with that of many others) helped land Nastasia a record deal with Touch and Go Records.

Dogs and its follow-up, The Blackened Air, feature Nastasia’s quiet yet beautiful vocals backed usually by her acoustic guitar and a few stringed instruments.  Occasionally you’ll hear a bass guitar and drums and even an electric guitar, but for the most part she keeps things simple.  Dogs is the more typical-sounding folk album, with its gentle flowing songs and third person lyrics.  In this case, Nastasia uses a “dog” or “dogs” to symbolize different relationships, heartbreaks, and dramas that she has encountered/experienced.  I liked it for the most part, particularly tracks like “Oblivion”, “Judy’s in the Sandbox”, and “Stormy Weather”, but sometimes I just grew weary from it.  The Blackened Air adds an element of country folk music to her already soft, haunting songs (giving it a sort-of Decemberists’ The King is Dead feel).  Some of my favorites from it include the somewhat off-kilter “This Is What It Is” and “In the Graveyard”.  Dogs has twelve songs that are typically under 3 minutes long; The Blackened Air has sixteen tracks, many of which are also under 3 minutes long.

Run to Ruin is far shorter in terms of number of songs (8) and length (just over 31 minutes long, whereas the other two run about 43 minutes each).  Unlike the other two, though, Run to Ruin feels more concise and takes the best elements from the earlier two records.  Nastasia turns inward, as well, avoiding the symbols and metaphors present throughout Dogs and The Blackened Air and becomes the subject herself.  The topics never really change, but inserting herself and her emotions into the stories gives each song a more intimate feel.  Some of my favorites just for this reason are “We Never Talk”, “Regrets”, and “You Her and Me”.

Another strength of this record is the music.  Like the other records, the music feels appropriate for the song, as if she knew going in exactly what would play when and knew how to draw the emotions she was pouring into the songs out of the musicians that helped craft this record.  I especially like the support she receives in “On Teasing”, “I Say That I Will Go”, and “You Her and Me”.  I also like the sparsely populated songs (my way of saying her voice, her acoustic, and maybe another instrument) like “Regrets” and “Superstar”.

All in all Run to Ruin is a good record.  Each listen I gain a little more from it and a better appreciation for Nastasia’s voice.  If I were to make any kind of comparison in terms of music, I would say the Cowboy Junkies would be close, so if you like them, chances are you’ll like Nina Nastasia.  While some of the songs did grow tiring after several listens, I ultimately do like the record.