I was recommend The Bride of Dynamite, the debut release from Rio En Medio, because I love the punk-Victorian cello group Rasputina. Since I am a rabid Raspy fan, I couldn't wait to check En Medio out. The songs are beautiful, and Rio's voice is wonderfully breathy and light, but sadly, her back story is more interesting than her music.
Real name? Danielle Stech-Homsy. Parentage? A gay Syrian painter and a Ukranian flamenco dancer. Locale? New Mexico, California, Arizona, currently residing in Brooklyn. Training? None in music; some in creative writing. Instruments played? Ukulele. Intrigued yet? You should be.
En Medio's music is light, ethereal, almost supernatural. Her voice is delicate, as if it could break at any second - but you never hear so much as a tremble. Don't be scared off by the above-mentioned ukulele. There is no twang to be found. It would take a very trained ear to pick out the ukulele amongst the diaphanous "electronica" samplings. En Medio is more Loreena McKennit than Fatboy Slim.
Rio originally began recording music by herself, for herself, in her New York apartment. She reluctantly shared them with friend Sierra Casady, with strict instructions that Sierra not share them. Sierra did, inadvertently: Devendra Banhart bulldozed his way into Casady's apartment while Rio's music was playing, and insisted that Rio share her music. She did, and thus The Bride of Dynamite was born.
Despite all the wonderful anecdotes and obvious talent, The Bride of Dynamite is boring. The songs all blend into one another. It was 10 minutes into the CD before I realized that I was already on track three. The first song was beautiful, and I was smitten... but not a single track stood out. I don't think that I could differentiate "Girl on the Run" from "Heaven is High." This would be the perfect music to meditate to, or play while trying to fall asleep, but I don't expect this to fall into my regular rotation.
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