December 06, 2007
If reports of a "folk music revival" are correct, Mia Doi Todd represents some of the movement's more-interesting tendencies, drawing from the less-remembered, least-hackneyed elements of the '60s folk boom. Underlying her gently thrumming melodies is a hypnotic drone hinting at Hindu sacred music. Her becalmed voice cuts along on the elastic rhythms like a swimmer on a rolling river. The instrumentation is primarily Todd's voice and acoustic guitar, accompanied by hand-slapped percussion and the unobtrusive suggestion of bass, brass and woodwind. Gea is a gorgeous, dreamy song cycle.
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