Winnipeg-based singer/songwriter
Christine Fellows returns with
Paper Anniversary, a remarkable change of pace from 2001's
The Last One Standing. Where that album had been an intimate record built on
Fellows' voice and piano,
Paper Anniversary consists largely of
Fellows' own tape loops and found-sound samples, which
Fellows layers in ever-shifting combinations underneath her electronic and acoustic keyboards, accordion, and percussion. Cello, mandolin, vibes, violin -- and on the surreal, otherworldly "Instructions on How to Dissect a Ground Owl," even a glass harmonica and a Tuvan throat singer! -- complete the soundscapes, making
Paper Anniversary a dense, nearly psychedelic record that strongly recalls
Lisa Germano's art-folk hybrids from the '90s,
Happiness and
Geek the Girl, in its richly textured sound. However,
Fellows' knack for comfortingly familiar folk-rock melodies roots the album in the AAA radio mainstream alongside
Aimee Mann or
Fiona Apple; in between the atmospheric instrumentals and interludes, proper songs like "Vertebrae" and "Double Takes" are among
Fellows' strongest efforts. ~ Stewart Mason