Regular Price: $16.98 Online Sale Price! $5.00
Mira The Space E.P. (vinyl 7")
Mira Mira
Makaras Pen Makaras Pen ~ SALE $5
Autumn's Grey Solace Eifelian ~ SALE $5
Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud (debut) ~~ $5
"The comparisons to The Cranberries are rather unmistakable at first listen and influences that range from Slowdive and The Cocteau Twins to early Cardigans (minus the kitsch) span the entire album. Savor the record and it brings on an insidious, poisonous falling into guitar-wound songs washed with vocalist Regina Sosinski's soaring-into-the-depths soprano. "Real" inches forward with Sosinki's ominous pondering and a poignant guitar melody before exploding into erratic, dark bursts of percussion-backed chorus."-Spin.com "A guitar-heavy shoegaze backdrop behind a beautiful female voice, hovering like a red angel and instilling both fear and devotion." -BIG TAKEOVER #44
"A guitar-heavy shoegaze backdrop behind a beautiful female voice, hovering like a red angel and instilling both fear and devotion." -BIG TAKEOVER #44
This CD is available in a hand-numbered limited editon of 300 which will not available in stores or at amazon.
Projekt’s Sam Rosenthal writes: In celebration of the 11th anniversary of Mira's 2000 debut, I asked guitarist Tom Parker to gather together this compilation of Mira songs. Back before the first album, the early "Mira demos" were constantly spinning in my CD player. Dramatic, passionate shoegazer with Regina's heartfelt vocals. When the band put together the debut, they re-recorded the tracks. And while they were cleaner and a bit catchier, there was always something I loved about the rawer, slower and darker side to the early versions of the material that later appeared on the debut. Also included are three live rehearsals for the apart tour.
Mira's Tom Parker adds: This record is a recollection of some of the lesser-heard moments of Mira's history. It starts with visiting the band's beginnings, with a remastered version of their first recordings, the Something Ventured EP. From there, it takes us through some early versions of album tracks and previously unreleased outtakes. Then, the record finishes with a few more rarities found on rehearsal tapes. These offer a glimpse of Mira's energetic live performance captured during the height of their touring days, as well as some rarities such as a Misfits cover, and a rehersal of a song that never made it onto the There I Go Daydreamer... record.
The first four, from the Something Ventured EP, are remastered versions of the original demos that ultimately got Mira signed to Projekt. "Truly," an early version of the album track from the debut record, was recorded just after the Something Ventured EP was done, and just before "Cayman" was recorded. "For Now," is Mira's oldest written song, and was an unfinished outtake from the debut. "It Happens Anyway" also was an outtake from the debut album, but appeared on the Dry EP; another one of Mira's homemade demo CDs. Turning to slighly more recent times, a live-rehersal version of "Space" from Apart, recovered from a rehearsal tape recorded in Mira's rehearsal space, around the time of their east coast tour suporting the Apart album. "London Dungeon," a cover of a Misfits song, was also recovered from those tapes, was performed live only once at a friend's wedding reception. A rough version of a never-finished song, survives here as "Untitled", and was originally intended as an intro to a There I Go Daydreamer... song, "Say When." It is a curiosity for any hard-core Mira fan, and provides a brief glimpse into our writing process. Finally, an early version of "In The End" from the debut album appears, to close things down once again.
Mira A Floridian light in the darkwave tunnel.
Listening to the melancholy songs of Mira, it's hard to believe the band reside in Tallahassee, Florida. Sun, fun and college parties don't usually encourage somber introspection, but away from the local clubs and bars featuring hard rock and ska bands, Mira's wounded lyrics and lush guitars have attracted quite a following. "I don't really know why people like our songs," says singer Regina Sosinski. "I think they identify with the emotion and the music, because we are definitely not a band people come and mosh to." The quartet's eponymous debut (on Projekt) sounds more like a Slowdive-inspired soundtrack for nights of quiet contemplation. The swirling guitars of Tom Parker and Mark Davidson and the downtempo percussion of Alan Donaldson provide the backdrop for Sosinski's yearning vocals. "I tend to be more withdrawn, and that's something I've been dealing with lately," says the singer. "Trying to open up and tear down internal boundaries I have and realize we are all the same inside." After exploring the mournful depths of the human soul, what direction will Mira take next? "Our songs are getting happier," Sosinski says. "I'm just not in a down period of my life now. The new stuff will be more about people and life." --- David Slatton
Listening to the melancholy songs of Mira, it's hard to believe the band reside in Tallahassee, Florida. Sun, fun and college parties don't usually encourage somber introspection, but away from the local clubs and bars featuring hard rock and ska bands, Mira's wounded lyrics and lush guitars have attracted quite a following.
"I don't really know why people like our songs," says singer Regina Sosinski. "I think they identify with the emotion and the music, because we are definitely not a band people come and mosh to."
The quartet's eponymous debut (on Projekt) sounds more like a Slowdive-inspired soundtrack for nights of quiet contemplation. The swirling guitars of Tom Parker and Mark Davidson and the downtempo percussion of Alan Donaldson provide the backdrop for Sosinski's yearning vocals.
"I tend to be more withdrawn, and that's something I've been dealing with lately," says the singer. "Trying to open up and tear down internal boundaries I have and realize we are all the same inside."
After exploring the mournful depths of the human soul, what direction will Mira take next? "Our songs are getting happier," Sosinski says. "I'm just not in a down period of my life now. The new stuff will be more about people and life." --- David Slatton
For me, most of this material is familiar as I was listening to these tracks on mp3.com all those years ago. Many of these were the versions posted there and most of all, for me it's great to finally have one of my all-time favorite tracks available on an officialy release "It Happens Anyway". This piece is amazing in it's simplicity, beautiful in it's simple grace and composition, mesmerizing and heart-breaking with it's lyrical content and stunning angelic vocals. If ever were to hear an angel's voice, it would be Regina's voice as it appears on this track. There's nothing glitzy, not a ton of computer processing, just simply great music, a nice percussion to keep the music moving along, simple guitars and soaring vocals. Even the band can't remember why they left it out, when I asked them on the night I interviewed them, they didn't really know, except it just didn't fit well with the rest of the material, but we're glad to have it now. Another unreleased track that appears is "For Now", not really something you would expect from this band, which is probably why the liner notes say "unfinished, unreleased outtake from the demo". It's still a decent track, a little fun, upbeat piece that is a nice extra, but understandably not included in the other albums.
Rewinding a bit, the first four tracks from the Something Ventured EP are a great collection of songs. They exhibit just a more raw version of the same tracks that appeared later on the debut album. These are for the most part fairly dark and brooding pieces, with a lot of soaring and layered guitars mixed with the haunting vocals, all over a steady beat. These pieces mixed with the early versions of "truly" and "in the end" really show why this band was so captivating and caught the attention of Projekt. For those of us that like a little bit more than alternate versions of tracks, we get a couple of little treats in some live rehearsals of "Space", another stellar favorite track, as well as a couple of unreleased pieces. The rehearsal of "Space" reminded me so much of their live performance that I remember like it was yesterday. That will always be such a vivid memory and favorite live show with a really great performance of great music, but this track in particular I remember best as a DJ because they segued so perfectly without losing a beat or any pause at all, they just took one track and segued right into "Space" perfectly. They throw in a live rehearsal of "London Dungeon" a Misfits I'm sure they a lot of fun doing. We also get a glimpse of a track that never got a name, and never really got any vocals or lyrics... just a raw instrumental with a few flaws and some nice insight into what goes on during that creative process.
Each album from this band is truly a pleasure, and though much of this seems like "old news", it's great to have it in such a raw and candid form. Of course we look forward to more great music from this band and this should tide the fans over for a little longer, reminding us they're around enough to put something like this together for us. Rating: 4.5/5
La band registrò in forma definitiva i brani per il debut, come spesso accade, rendendo i pezzi più accattivanti e limpidi, ma le versioni iniziali erano più istintive, a volte graffianti, e più oscure, ed ecco che questo disco ce le restituisce nella loro massima efficacia.
E’‘ così una piacevole scoperta trovare “Something Ventured” dal “Something Ventured Ep” come alcuni pezzi successivi, iniziare sospesa tra magnifiche chitarre dal suono pieno, dolce e ruvido insieme, che ci conducono in un mondo incantato, dolceamaro, tra fraseggi ricchi e complicati in una ragnatela sonora, memori di Cocteau Twins (epoca “Head Over Heels”, per esempio) e Slowdive. Segue “Real”, in cui la voce, qui più fredda e austera, subito dialoga con basso e chitarra piuttosto minacciosi, ritmata da una batteria sorda, spaziando in territori più tipicamente darkwave, mentre Regina libera il suo estro per un incubo di grande classe. “Even Now” ritorna alle atmosfere di sogno armoniose e languide, la dolcezza appena appannata dalla malinconia governa, con le sue microarmonie, questo altro affascinante viaggio.
La lunga “Creation” continua estatica il percorso intrapreso lentamente, trasportandoci in una dimensione lontana dal quotidiano, innalzandoci forse, verso arie angeliche e calde, consolatorie e avvolgenti, che ammaestrano a riscoprire lo stupore davanti alla vita stessa: un pezzo che sa d’‘innocenza, di rinnovamento e consapevolezza pervaso dalla poesia e dall’‘introspezione. Solo verso la fine del pezzo assistiamo ad un pieno chitarristico luminoso, intenso come una sorta di apoteosi.
La Early Version di “Truly” ci riporta a una dimensione più quotidiana, e in qualche modo più pop, meno sacrale del pezzo, le chitarre intonano una melodia accattivante che si fa quasi psichedelica verso la fine, con insolite soluzioni e variazioni vivaci. Segue “For Now”, outtake dal disco d’‘esordio, a cavallo tra movimentato pop-indie, e chitarre nervose. Altro outtake è “It Happens Anyway”, la voce di Regina è qui particolarmente chiara su melodie di nuovo lente e cadenzate, sempre con chitarre in primo piano.
Dal vivo “Space” mostra un lato particolarmente creativo ed energico dei Mira, tra chitarre distorte, un basso dalle linee particolarmente marcate che offre le coordinate a tutto il brano, per un pezzo segnato dalla consueta introspezione della band. Ancora live è la cadenzata e rude “London Dungeon”, una cover dai Misfits, forse una delle prove più rock della band, riletta però in chiave innovativa e personale.
Il provino di “Untitled”, pensata in origine come un intro a “There I Go, Daydreamer”, ci riporta con le sue chitarre riverberate nel regno del sogno e dell’‘indefinito, venato di ombre opalescenti e bagliori di perla. Per la chiusura, incomincia solenne e misteriosa “In The End” nella sua Early Version, come a illustrare realtà sfuggevoli e ancestrali, tra manti di malinconia e nostalgia: ecco Regina nuovamente intenta a scandagliare l’‘indicibile dei suoi abissi d’‘anima, tra chitarre che ora paiono attendere nell’‘ombra fino al climax finale, trepidante e vorticoso, che si dissolve come un’‘eco tra i flutti.
Quali segreti si celano nei cuori assorti nella penombra, anche in una città all’‘apparenza ridente e tutta volta all’‘esterno, quale Tallahassee in Florida...
Un disco di grande fascino, sia per chi è un amante della band fin dall’‘inizio, sia per chi li scoprisse ora, e una valida occasione per recuperare pezzi della discografia dei Mira che parevano scomparsi, aggiungendo un tassello in più alla nostra passione: in edizione limitata a 300 copie.