I went to my local indie store the other day and got to talking to the owner. Which tends to happen fairly frequently. So we have a good idea of what each other is looking for. Well, he recommended I check out this artist called The Tiny, who has a cd titled Starring Someone Like You. And it knocked me off my feet.

The female vocalist could be compared to CoCo Rosie, Joanna Newsom, Over The Rhine, or The Innocence Mission. She simply has a great, versatile voice... but it never reached a point (for me, anyhow) where I feel like she is trying to be anyone other than herself.

The highlight of the album is the song "Know Your Demons," which makes my spine tingle every time.

Oh, and somehow they got Gillian Welch and David Rawlings to guest on a song, which is pretty cool.

the album is getting quite a bit of hype, actually. weird too, of all the awesome swedish acts they are getting mentions in the bigger publications, it seems, wheras the traditional online hip places don't really care. the record is alright. i mean, not bad, but didn't really do a lot for me. i got rid of it, but it's not like i hate it, just won't care about it.

They've actually been around a few years. I've only ever heard "Closer" and "No Money" -- both of which I really liked.

The lead singer of The Tiny and Ane Brun started an independent record label which you can read about here:

http://www.anebrun.com/determine-records

is Ane Brun worth checking out? I remember seeing the name around, but heard some mediocre things (albeit from the type of people who I don't trust with music opinions.)