With all of her elaborate lyrics, it wasn’t uncommon for one to think that Regina Spektor was living in a fairy tale land. Well, now she’s actually got the opportunity. Spektor is joining playwright and director Tina Landau and lyricist Michael Korie to create a Broadway musical that will be titled, Beauty.

The Broadway version of Beauty will be an expanded version of Landau’s 2002 one-act play. If you haven’t guessed it already, Beauty will be jump-started by the 1812 version of Grimm’s fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. This will be one huge collaborative effort where Landau will write the book and direct the play, Spektor will be in charge of music, Korie will cover lyrics, and it will be produced by Elephant Eye Theatrical, all working together for this Broadway piece to hit the stage by the 2011-2012 season.

In addition to Broadway, Spektor recently paired up with Grammy award-winning violinist, Joshua Bell, to collaborate on the track “The Left Hand Song” for his latest classical album At Home With Friends:

If you want to see Regina Spektor live in concert, then you can check out any of the dates below. If you like to enjoy your entertainment from the comfort of your own home, then you can catch Spektor on Saturday Night Live on October 10th.

10.12.09 Northampton, MA @ The Calvin Theatre
10.14.09 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
10.26.09 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
10.28.09 Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
10.30.09 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
11.01.09 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
11.03.09 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
11.06.09 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
11.07.09 Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
11.10.09 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
11.11.09 Austin, TX @ Stubbs BBQ
11.12.09 Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theatre
11.14.09 Kirksville, MO @ Truman State University
11.16.09 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
11.17.09 Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
11.19.09 Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace Theatre
11.30.09 Birmingham @ O2 Academy
12.01.09 Glasgow @ Academy
12.03.09 Manchester @ Apollo
12.04.09 London @ HMV Hammersmith Apollo
12.07.09 Stockholm @ Circus
12.08.09 Stockholm @ Circus
12.10.09 Oslo @ Rockefeller
12.11.09 Gothenburg @ Lisebergshallen
12.13.09 Malmo @ KB
12.14.09 Berlin @ Huxleys Neue Welt
12.16.09 Vienna @ Gasometer
12.17.09 Zurich @ Kaufleuten

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For more information on Regina Spektor, visit reginaspektor.com.

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 06.23.09
by Joshua Krage

I’m gonna go generic this week, on account of I never do. Here’s a list of music artists with new albums being released on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009. The artists in color with links are of particular merit and quality. Generic enough for ya? ON we go:

Alexisonfire

Amazing Baby, Rewild – hyper-blogged groove unit from (of course) Brooklyn who’s nary over a year old, sewing up the psychedelic reverb, retro-colored synth waves, and spare mirror-ball strings to take the MGMT route to buzzworthy status. It’s classic Bowie in the disco age for these guys, and it makes for some rather danceable fare. Currently touring with Phoenix, just to give you the further flavor.

Bibio
Bjork – live

Jay Brannan, In Living Cover – organic, unpretentious NY independent singer-songwriter who claims to sound like “The Little Mermaid on crack,” but in actuality sounds quite melancholy mellow. This is a decent, low-key covers album (bookended by two originals), mostly just acoustic piano or guitar and Brannan’s unadorned, Jose Gonzalez-style tenor. Great for a mellow interlude to your week.

Tom Brosseau, Posthumous Success – a subtle, subdued folk artist with some avant-garde tendencies and a style that’s a peculiar shade of teal, but turned up with a more full-band sound on this LP, out on FatCat Records.

Chali 2na
Richard Cheese – live (Viva la Vodka!)
Shawn Colvin – live
The Dear Hunter
Marie Digby
Dinosaur Jr.
Dream Theater

Foreign Born, Person to Person – solid, sunny and slightly psychedelic pop/rock out of sunny California, as told through the lens of a wobbly Brit-influenced yowling tenor courtesy of frontman Matt Popieluch. Uplifting through and through, with a few shades of dream thrown in for atmosphere.

Future of the Left

God Help the Girl, God Help the Girl – side project from Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, which is really an album played by B&S and sung by some fine female vocalists.

He Is Legend
The Higher
Patterson Hood – lead Drive-By Trucker goes on another solo outing
Jets Overhead
Lemonheads
Lil’ Wayne – will the long-awaited “Weezy-Rock” album finally see the light of day? Will tha Carter play all the licks live? Will there be any tracks NOT featuring Auto-Tune now that Jay-Z officially killed it?
Love is All
Bob Marley – “B is for Bob” best-of
The Mars Volta
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

Eugene McGuinness, Eugene McGuinness – quite a spunky slice of Brit punk/pop with a nice combo of mod style and rocker reverb and a healthy infusion of Kinks sensibility.

Tift Merritt – live
Alexi Murdoch – Away We Go OST
Andy Narell
OST – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
R.E.M. – Reckoning Deluxe Edition, with the “Deluxe” being a live disc containing a barn-burning 1984 concert from Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom
Royal City.

Regina Spektor, Far – wide-eyed ivory-tinkling songstress showcases her sober songwriting side on this third LP, coming across much more serious but still playful when possible, and rolling her work around to encompass an enviable list of producers like Jeff Lynne, Mike Elizondo and Jacknife Lee. The music’s great and a great step forward and all, but what really grabs me is that album cover – so simple and innocent!

Spinnerette – solo project from The Distillers’ Brody Dalle

Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer – more distilled genius from Canadian indie-rock superman Spencer Krug’s horizon-spanning side-project (assuming that Wolf Parade is his main band, and not the 3 others he jockeys in his “spare” time). Persistently ambitious high-concept rock and roll with enough production flourishes to color a post-rock album, Krug runs on all cylinders and turns in some of his best and most high-octane songs for this LP, which is not to be missed by anyone wishing to retain their hipster cred.

Tortoise, Beacons of Ancestorship – still gloriously alive after their many years of instrumentally-lush, mainstream-avoidant post-rock instrumental grandeur. Their genre is a pretty narrow niche, but for disciples of musically adventurous and educated composition, there is no better band currently recording, and these elite musical scientists retain their crown easily.

Walter Trout
Voivod
Pete Yorn

That’s a healthy slice of musique nouveau for you. Stay tuned next week, though — we’ll have another solid contender for album of the year when the light of day finds… Wilco (The Album)! [cue dramatic interlude music]. Until then, stay frosty, and this means you Californians.

P.S. Were any of you watching The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien last Tuesday, June 16th? If so you may have noticed my 15 seconds of fame. Somebody get me a Scooby Snack — ZOINKS!

P.P.S. Enjoy a sampling from this week’s new songs on my MySpace page. It’s updated pretty much weekly now…

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To view past reviews, visit our archives.

The release date for Regina Spektor’s new album is creeping up on us. With June 23rd getting closer and closer, what better way to generate buzz for an album than to let your fans hear it first? Regina Spektor’s, Far, is currently streaming on her MySpace page for your listening pleasure.

A good place to start listening would be with her two latest singles, “Eet” and “Laughing With.” If you’re looking for a few different tracks to love, but don’t know where to start, then here is a list of Audioholic Media’s picks:

01. Genius Next Door
02. Human Of The Year
03. Man Of A Thousand Faces
04. Dance Anthem Of The 80′s
05. Machine

If you’re interested in ordering a special edition of Far, then you can do so at Regina Spektor’s online store. This special edition comes with two bonus tracks, a DVD which includes four videos, and a limited edition lithograph.

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For more information on Regina Spektor, visit myspace.com/reginaspektor.

As you can see in this video, Regina is hammering away at a musical typewriter. See? She just can’t quit working.

There has been some discussion here at Audioholic Media about “Eet.” Not the video, but the definition of the word.

Here is what we came up with:

1. The Dutch translation of the English term: Eat
2. An acronym for Eastern European Time
3. The current-day “MMMBop”

Regardless of what direction Spektor was going in, “Eet” is an easy listen. Something to sooth your ears and rock you to sleep. Spektor’s new album, Far, will be released on June 23rd.

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For more information, visit Regina Spektor on MySpace at myspace.com/reginaspektor.

Here is the 30 second clip of “Laughing With” that Spektor released on MySpace:

If you want to download the entire video or pre-order Far with an exclusive bonus track, then head over to iTunes.

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For more information, visit Regina Spektor on MySpace at myspace.com/reginaspektor.