My Sweetest Downfall

Until a few weeks ago I had never even heard of Regina Spektor, a singer/songwriter who hails from the "anti-folk" movement (I have no idea what that means). But after reading glowing reviews of her work in The Portland Mercury and Willamette Week - and hearing that her recent Portland show sold out - I decided to find out what all the fuss was about. Regina, who was born in Moscow but now lives in New York, has several CDs to her name, including Soviet Kitsch. I opted to download her latest release, Begin to Hope, and I gotta say that I'm becoming a Spektor addict even though some of her lyrics are terrible and she occasionally channels that whiney sexy girl hormonal sound that has made Tori Amos increasingly annoying over the years. The first six tracks are especially strong, my favorite being #2 ("Better"). And no matter how hard I try I can't resist the ultra-catchy opening number "Fidelity." Here's the link to the video for "Fidelity," courtesy of You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NBArHgZntE