Amazon Trail
Liana
LCDM Entertainment Productions
1999
6 tracks
The music of Liana is not likely to be everyone's cup of tea. It's big and brash and more than a little edgy. Rather than tea, it might better be compared to something from a bottle, well aged and potent. As a songwriter and performer, Liana Di Marco is clearly not afraid to put herself out there. The result is interesting, evocative work that's hard to pin down or to imprison in a genre.
What will first strike a listener is Liana's voice and especially her vocal style. This is big voice, a powerful storytelling voice that brings to mind not so much opera as Ethel Merman. This is not a voice to be ignored but one that grabs you by the throat and drags you into the song. As in real life, either the experience will scare you off or else you'll love it and keep coming back for more.
To me, this music has the feel of European popular music, not the music of the contemporary European Community but the dramatic musical productions that came out of a far less homogenous Europe during the first half of the last century, especially the Forties and Fifties. It's boldly theatrical and it's all about telling the story.
With her almost overwhelming vocals and well-constructed music, Liana's songs run to the serious end of the scale. Her lyrics tend as well to touch on serious aspects of love and life in our modern world and throughout time. To some degree, this is an illusion. Liana's lyrics betray an interesting if somewhat quirky sense of humour that brings fun and even a sort of revelry to her performance.
If you want to see what's happening away from the folksy, middle of the road, soft-rock centre of Canadian music, out at the tattered edges, then the larger than life music of Liana Di Marco may be just the tonic you've been seeking.
(As a quick aside, I've had the good fortune to also see Liana perform live, and her performance is just as big, bold and vivacious in person as the music on this release suggests. Liana in person is really something to see.)
Liana has serious talent as both a songwriter and a performer, but it's unlikely she'll ever hit the morning drive time on popular radio. She's just too far off the beaten track. On the other hand, there should be a place for her on college radio and other niche or less conservative venues.
Look for more information about the music of Liana, as well as the many other facets of Liana Di Marco at Liana's Page. Hear clips of "Scoobydoobydoo," "Time," and "Amazon Trail" online at Liana's CD Baby page.
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Review written: March 1, 2005
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