10/3/00

The Nields
"May Day Cafe"

The Nields are the '00s Northeast answer to the '60s San Francisco Sound. Or the Beatles. Smart and energetic, eternally young and optimistic. From the beginning, Nerissa Nields has been one of the most daring of the new songwriters, clothing dramatically and psychologically complex fictions in pop song stylings. Katryna, the group's lead singer and Nerissa's younger sister, plays the perpetual ingenue whose languorous, feline style is never quite innocent.

The results are deceptively simple - you're happily bopping to the music, but at the same time you're moved on a deeper level by images taken from a kind of communal memory and wisdom that seems to come from a voice in a dream. The Nields' fans recall the heyday of the Deadheads in their loyalty and family feeling. Who else but The Nields could throw a benefit concert for a new tour bus and offer hand-knit hats and sweaters as part of a fundraising scheme?

Their new album, If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now, is out on Rounder/Zöe (see my full review)."May Day Cafe" is classic Nields - happy and spring-y but not without a nagging sense of imminent emotional crisis (May Day! May Day!) - and it's all set dramatically in a hip setting with a caffeine buzz. You can get a free, legal copy for your very own at Rounder's Download Den - a page that offers dozens of truly great downloads from their crop of new releases and classic re-releases (including vintage Bob Marley); "May Day Cafe" is 6 up from the bottom on this long page of free downloads:

http://www.rounder.com/download_den.html

Only caveat: all these Rounder MP3s require Liquid Audio software. The good news is that it's a great format, it's free and easy to download and it's supported by both Mac and PC:
http://www.liquidaudio.com/downloads/liqplayer/liqplayer.html

Don't be a nerd - get some music.

For more information on The Nields, check out their website at:
http://www.nields.com

There are links to more excellent MP3s in Fenario, the e-zine affiliated with this site. Each month Fenario provides links to four MP3s uploaded by your Guide, and provides lyrics, bios, and contact info. For a list of past issues and their contents, check out the Fenario Index.