Hayley Taylor
Waking
© 2006 HayleyTaylor (634479223204)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
Acoustic folk rock for fans of Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Feist
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This limited edition EP is the first available music from fast emerging, young singer-songwriter Hayley Taylor...
The Ep "Waking" was produced by Taylor and AJ Mogis (Saddlecreek Records). Also mixed by Mogis at Presto! Studios in Lincoln, NE.
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun (Bright Eyes).
Featuring brilliant performances by AJ Mogis (Criteria/ Saddle creek) on Rhodes piano, John Lefler (Dashboard Confessional) on guitar and wurlitzer, Bill Lefler on drums, the fantastic Joshua Grange (Dwight Yokam) on pedal steel, Brett Simons (Alexi Murdoch, Fiona Apple) on electric and upright bass, Kristin McCord (The Walkmen, Elliott Smith) on cello, Angelo Palazzo on electric bass, Chris Villepigue on guitar, and Nathanial Castro (Big Japan) on backing vocals.
"Looking for the next big thing? Hayley is wearing the crown. Her vocals are daunting and seem to strike out at your jugular and make their way through your exposed wound into your soul."
--Smother.net
"Very highly recommended for lovers of good songwriting and seriously sexy (or sexily serious) voices."
--Jon Sobel from Blogcritics.org
"Echoing the vocal talents of Aimee Mann and Rosie Thomas, Taylor and her band of talented musicians take their place among some of the best in the business. "
--Jake Nukolls from cdreviews.com
"Hayley's voice is like no other! Her laid back vocal approach and honest lyrics keep me listening over and over."
--Vasili Gavre of MCT Management
"the real show here is Hayley's songs and voice. She's got that comforting yet haunting type of voice that falls somewhere in between Lucinda Williams and Aimee Mann."
"It is clear to see that we have a new voice to pay attention to. I love this EP "Waking" as much as I do "Rabbit Fur Coat" and "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood"
--Ken at Earfood.net
"Not only is her vocal delivery a shocking display of “superior pipes,” but her musical ability is based around melancholy chords and tight musicianship. Taylor and her band (made up of some top of the line session musicians) give a superb outing on this, their first album. Waking is a melancholy love sick disc filled with bittersweet tunes and a soulful voice. Compared to Aimee Mann, Liz Phair, and Rosie Thomas, Hayley Taylor cuts a sound just different enough to make it her own."
--Jake Nukolls from cdreviews.com
"You are so talented. Your voice is great and so are your songs." reeve carney
"i'm happy to hear good, poetic, intimate sounding music." miki huber
"lovely voice" renee stahl
"you have some great tunes here, wish you all the best for the future!! "jayson norris
"Really wonderful show on Saturday. You make beautiful music and your band compliments you so perfectly." Ashley Powell
"i simply am in LOVE with your sound!!! You are RAD!!!" Mark Ward
"Hayley... I did not want to leave this world with you wondering "What I Never Said" about your wonderful style & music. I love your songs!" richard peacock
"What I Never Said is captivating, the kind of song you want to hear over and over." jeff jacobson
"YouR MuSiC iS mAgIcalLY~BeAuTiFuL truth... :}" Phoebs
FOR BIO GO TO HAYLEYTAYLOR.COM or MYSPACE.COM/HAYLEYTAYLOR
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compelling and heartfelt
author: Erasing Clouds/ Dave HeatonPretty much every week at least one CD will come my way that's explicitly person-centered...that is, it's made by one person, and the cover art includes several photographs of that person. "Singer-songwriter music", is, I guess, the proper way to describe it. It can get hard to distinguish them, and sometimes easy to substitute one for the other before listening. Hayley Taylor's six-song CD Waking is one of these at first glance, there's nothing about the cover that would slap you in the face and say "listen to me!" But listening even once reveals more talent and heart than your average singer-songwriter, one-person-and-a-guitar type of music. And look again at that cover, look inside: there's a collage of family photos that should point you to the fact that this isn't self-focused music, it's human music, about the feelings and experiences of us all. Taylor's songs quietly probe the human condition, From the opening plea for understanding about where a relationship stands ("Orange Tree") to the closing realization song "What Matters Most," the search for connection, for love, is the focus, but it's always handled in a straightforward, heartfelt way, free of clichés. And the songs themselves are gently melodic, never over-dramatic or showy, but all quite involving and compelling, with a lost-in-your-thoughts mood softly accented by pedal steel, cello, and wurlitzer. - dave heaton
Looking for the next big thing? Hayley is wearing the crown.
author: Smother MagazineEmotional lyrics that are sung with the type of raw tenacity that separates your standard female singer/songwriters from your great ones, “Waking” by Hayley Taylor is one amazing record. Produced by Taylor and AJ Mogis whose work with two of my favorites, Bright Eyes and Statistics, won’t go unappreciated ever in his lifetime, “Waking” is yet more reason for us to embrace this newer indie pop vibe that independent artists like Bright Eyes, Damien Rice, Rilo Kiley, Belle and Sebastian, and others have managed to carve into a niche that the mainstream even embraces fully. Her vocals are daunting and seem to strike out at your jugular and make their way through your exposed wound into your soul. Looking for the next big thing? Hayley is wearing the crown.
I love this EP "Waking" as much as I do "Rabbit Fur Coat" and "Fox Confessor Bri
author: Ken at EarfoodWaking to find....... Hayley Taylor's debut EP came out last week at her EP release show at The Hotel Cafe, and it sure would have been nice to be there. The Hotel Cafe is the hot spot for up and coming songwriters in L.A. and I would imagine a place that Zach Braff spends quite a bit of time, judging from the soundtrack to my favorite TV show. Damn what a good TV show. Someone should hire that man for A&R. Anyway, after gettting an advance copy of her EP, it is clear to see that we have a new voice to pay attention to. As rave reviews from us and everywhere under the sky con continue to pour in for Jenny Lewis and Neko Case for their take on country, Hayley Taylor is here to throw her unsigned hat into the ring. She's going to put up a good fight. I love this EP "Waking" as much as I do "Rabbit Fur Coat" and "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" (although you gotta give Jenny and Neko points for the great album titles). For her first EP though she is stepping out, and dare I say making music as great as both Neko and Jenny. Do I go a step further and say that she is just as pretty as well. Looks like I did both, and yep I'm right. "Waking" was recorded and produced by A. J. Mogis (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, and member of Criteria) in Nebraska, NYC, and LA. She brought in a cast of players to help fill out the sound including players from bands like Dashboard Confessional, Dwight Yokam, Fiona Apple, and Elliott Smith- but the real show here is Hayley's songs and voice. She's got that comforting yet haunting type of voice that falls somewhere in between Lucinda Williams and Aimee Mann.
Echoing the vocal talents of Aimee Mann and Rosie Thomas, Taylor and her band of
author: Jake NuckollsHayley Taylor - Waking EP Written by Jake Nuckolls Music critics are often sent the gamut of music. We hear everything from 15 year olds playing cheap guitars attempting to channel the teenage spirit of Dashboard Confessional to 60 year olds testing the water with their complex guitar chords and Celtic mood. Needless to say, it is few and far between when we are sent an album (that isn’t on our own “best of” charts) that catches our collective ear, and beyond that, forces us to give it press. Hayley Taylor is one such artist. Echoing the vocal talents of Aimee Mann and Rosie Thomas, Taylor and her band of talented musicians take their place among some of the best in the business. Not only is her vocal delivery a shocking display of “superior pipes,” but her musical ability is based around melancholy chords and tight musicianship. Taylor and her band (made up of some top of the line session musicians) give a superb outing on this, their first album. Waking is a melancholy love sick disc filled with bittersweet tunes and a soulful voice. Compared to Aimee Mann, Liz Phair, and Rosie Thomas, Hayley Taylor cuts a sound just different enough to make it her own. Waking is only an EP. Which, to the musical obsessee, means that there are about six fewer songs than there should be. However, though lacking in length, it makes up in quality. Waking chronicles some of the ups and downs of love. Songs like “Orange Tree” and “Falling” take us into the bittersweet reactions of a frustrated relationship. “Orange Tree” plays to the melancholy feel of the Rhodes piano. Draped in minor chords, it is a song that musically backs up the lyrics. “Falling” is a simple alt-country tune with the wonderful pedal steel guitar of Josh Grange. “What I Never Said” is a waltzy ballad and happens to be my wife’s favorite song on the album. Dedicated to the late actor, and Taylor’s good friend, Jonathan Brandis, it is a song that talks about the pain of losing someone close to you. “All I’ve got left here now are pictures in my mind of the good times you left behind. And it’s hard to think too much now. Cause I still don’t believe you’d leave somehow.” The beautiful acoustic rocker “This Is It” reminds me of some of the finer points of Fiona Apple and the harmonies of the Beatles, taking the place as the most radio friendly tune on the album. “Rafael” could have been written by either Norah Jones or The Shins—take your pick. The stand up bass sound and the Rhodes piano echo Jones’ “Sunrise” (off of the album Feels Like Home), but the chunky acoustic guitar takes on more of the sound of the ballads of The Shins. Closing the record with the delicate finger picking and strumming of “What Matters Most” is a stroke of genius. “I’ve seen people good be bad. The enemy raise up his flag. And I’ve seen darkness in your eyes. What is right always outweighs the lies… And I know now what really matters most. The child waving who turned into a ghost, the boy who took the bus down the west coast for love.” Dripping with bitterness and hope, it closes the album on a comforting note, reminding the listener that although the state of the world is shot, “What really matters most is love.” Very rarely do my wife and I get an album that we both appreciate and listen to more than once. This is the glorious exception to the rule. Though Waking doesn’t officially come out until early 2006, it is one that deserves hype now, in the hopes that greater recognition and popularity occur when it is released. www.myspace.com/hayleytaylor
Very highly recommended for lovers of good songwriting and seriously sexy (or se
author: jon sobelHayley Taylor, Waking (EP) While it's fair to ask if we really need another song about a man who can't commit, the answer, if it's Hayley Taylor's haunting "Orange Tree," is yes. This lovely minor-key tune is a small masterpiece of alt-pop. Taylor's voice is pretty, but, like Nick Drake's or Liz Phair's, plainspoken to the point of discomfort - a sweetly disturbing sensation for the listener. Without remarkable strength or tone, it penetrates deep into the psyche. One almost feels one has been delivered the succinct lyrics telepathically instead of aurally: You've got your orange tree I've got the blues You've got your easy answers but I want the truth The dreamy, country-tinged "Fallen" suggests what Radiohead (they're everywhere these days, aren't they?) might sound like with a pedal steel guitar and Aimee Mann singing. Here another frustrated lover (or perhaps the same one) seems to be sadly accepting her fate as a victim of incomplete love: I'll take the last train car The one too dark to see I'll be the bravest heart The missing part you need But in the end she remains defiantly hopeful: "Love just keeps on calling/Till you start listening darling." Here Taylor exaggerates her lazy drawl to simultaneously convey resignation, patience and a twinkle of humor, locking them down memorably with simple but sophisticated melodies. "What I Never Said" layers a Beatle-esque tune over folky acoustic guitars to tell the tale of a volatile and doomed relationship. Taylor sounds very much like the rueful Liz Phair here, swallowing the words as if they're nearly too painful to squeeze out. "You made me breakfast and you screamed 'cause you couldn't cry." Finally, "This Is It" is a catchy little waltz that evokes the Beatles' "Hide Your Love Away." All four songs are enjoyable, and the best ones show an almost startling songwriting talent. They will appear on Hayley Taylor's upcoming EP. Check her out at Myspace and make a note to buy the disc when it comes out. Very highly recommended for lovers of good songwriting and seriously sexy (or sexily serious) voices. ===