There is a unique challenge in being a songwriter and rock and roll band in an age of dollar store mp3s and nap-time pop. But some solace may come with pianist/singer/songwriter Liz Pappademas who continues to create unique, highly visual narratives for those who want a total musical experience.
Well-received by critics and by fans of her previous band Hurts to Purr, 2007's 11 Songs was a great solo debut - a haunting collection of bare-bones recordings which addressed such subjects as love ("Vacation Romance"), murder ("The Born Again April Fool") and film criticism ("Desaturate It"). Last year's appearances, most often solo, were a preview of her emerging style as a captivating and soulful performer.
Her ambitious new album, Television City, will feature Pappademas backed by her powerful new band, The Level - bassist Dave Alvarado, guitarist Mike Corwin and drummer Justin Polimeni. Guests from the LA marching band and jazz collective Killsonic (Pappademas was a member of the accordion section) will also join in on a few songs.
Produced by Pappademas and recorded live in Los Angeles at The Carriage House in Silver Lake, with Sheldon Gomberg (Rickie Lee Jones, Eleni Mandell, She and Him) engineering, Television City promises to be as rewarding and challenging as its process.
From what we've heard, all branches of TV Land are represented in the fourteen songs written and arranged by Pappademas. They swivel from character to character, linked Altman-like, around a central event: a fictional 1970s game show called "Who's Your Neighbor". But her writing is as personal as ever and the stories come through in Technicolor clarity.
Born in the backseat of a Checker cab in front of Lincoln Center in New York, Pappademas grew up in San Francisco where she studied piano, writing songs from the get-go. After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, she began making her way back to the West coast via Austin, Texas. She returned to California in 2005 and has finally settled in L.A.
Pappademas, with The Level backing her, comes with the kind of respect for songwriting, musicianship and production of their influences: artists like Brian Eno, Elvis Costello and Randy Newman. Camping in the wilds of today's pop music, Pappademas narrates with a resonant voice, broadcasting from Television City. - Peter Ward
Buy 2007's 11 Songs
Buy 2005's Hurts to Purr
Loma Prieta - Directed by Josh Forbes
