Annie Lin
Kicking Stars
© 2001 Ariadne Records (format: CD-R)
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Literate songwriting, percussive guitarwork and off-kilter charm from a songwriter who brings pop sensibility and rock n' roll ferocity to the rareified genre of folk.
tracks
- 1 Susannah
- 2 Kicking Stars
- 3 Photographic Memories
- 4 This Year
- 5 Assassins Week
- 6 City Limit
- 7 Ariadne's Anger
- 8 One Candle
- 9 B.S. #1
- 10 Fifty
- 11 Odysseus
- 12 Not Quite Friday
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"A bare bones approach to fast folk ... nice"
-Village Voice
"Savvy and academically rooted, her music is not the usual pop-folk fare ... Earthy, accessible and fun, Lin is definitely here to stay."
-Houston Press
"[A]lthough we've all heard a slew of similar albums that can be summed up with the handful of phrases typically attached to coffeehouse-friendly female vocalists, Kicking Stars is anything but tired. If you've ever gone to hear a band you love play at a tiny venue and then realized you were more intrigued by the pared-down opening act, you'll know what I mean -- Lin is that opening act, and she deserves to be the headliner."
-SplendidEZine.com
"With a voice that trembles, glides, and leaps from one bar to the next, and a guitar that cushions every fall, it appears as if Annie has everything a solo performer could wish for."
-YellOhGirls.com
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Percussive guitarwork, literate songwriting and off-kilter charm set Annie apart from other acoustic singer-songwriters. Annie has been touring nationally for the past two years and has won over an enthusiastic following on the East and West coasts and in Texas. Often compared to such artists as Lisa Loeb, Victoria Williams and Ani DiFranco, she brings pop sensibility and rock n' roll ferocity to the rareified genre of folk.
Drumming and strumming go hand-in-hand for Annie--she approaches the role of rhythm guitarist with uncommon ferocity. Her ability to, as one fan put it, "strum the hell out of that thing," often surprises audiences who don't know what to expect from a 5'4, guitar-toting Asian-American in heels. Onstage, she's an offbeat storyteller and an energetic performer who would stagedive if it were allowed at folk clubs. As for Annie's delivery, YellOhGirls editor and music reviewer Vickie Nam puts it this way: "With a voice that trembles, glides, and leaps from one bar to the next, and a guitar that cushions every fall, it appears as if Annie has everything a solo performer could wish for."
Influenced by alt-rock, indie folk and the occasional Dave Matthews bootleg, Annie writes songs that might be classified as FM-friendly pop-folk. With honesty and passion, her lyrics record the tiny quirks, joys and tragedies of day-to-day living. In "Kicking Stars," the title track of her new album, Annie sings about "throwing paper airplanes at the passing cars" as a way of acknowledging the fact that "time passes / and it's leaving you behind."
She explains, "I grew up in Southern California, where people and things and situations tend to move and change rapidly, so I wanted this album to be about the paradoxical motion and stillness of living."
Annie is no stranger to changing quickly and living fast. Even as a full-time college student at Rice University, she played nearly a hundred shows each year, both headlining shows and sharing stages with such artists such as Sarah Harmer, Edie Carey, Emm Gryner, Terri Hendrix, Jennifer Marks and Kevin So. On the strength of only a sold-out and now re-printed live-recorded demo CD, she first garnered attention from artists like Lisa Loeb, and then later on, praise from critics at The Houston Press, Orange County Register, The Village Voice, The Boston Phoenix and Launch.com. In 2001, Annie embarked on an extensive East Coast tour to celebrate the release of her debut studio recording, "Kicking Stars" (Ariadne Records), closing off the tour with a standing-room only show at New York's legendary Bitter End.
Annie has packed shows at clubs (The Bitter End in New York, The Kendall Cafe in Boston, McGonigel's Mucky Duck in Houston); participated in singer-songwriter showcases with Borders Books & Music and Texas Songwriters Live; and performed at the 6th Annual Houston Women's Festival as well as the 2001 Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival in Houston. She has also performed at Houston's top clubs and made live appearances on radio stations in Los Angeles (KYSR 98.7 FM, KLAS 95.7 FM) and Houston (KTRU 91.7 FM).
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