REVIEWS

Hadn't seen that---thanks KY!

Here's some mo -
KY just posted a bulletin on MS :

VILLAGE VOICE NYC
by Sean Bosler
Kristeenyoung is the poppy, piano-driven ruckus of Kristeen Young and friends. The kind of smart and edgy songwriting found within her newest Tony Visconti (T-Rex, Bowie )-produced disc, Music For Strippers, Hookers, and the Odd-Onlooker, is the kind of "commercial" pop we need more of. Her (allegedly) four-octave voice swirls ethereally, all Kate Bush-like, but then counters those stabbing percussive piano and drum attacks with PJ Harvey heft. Bet she's a hoot live.

MONTREAL GAZETTE

by Mark LePage
Kristeen Young appeared wearing what looked like a bagpipe made of broken piano keys slung over her left shoulder and a chimneysweep hat from Tiffany’s perched rakishly on her head. And she brought shard-songs, with a Bjork Amos attack.
And I do mean attack. While Jef White pummeled heavy drum rolls and fills, Young vaulted through her extraordinary upper range, pounding her keyboard (she must have been wearing the previous one) with enough percussive force and emotion for a five-piece.
Fearless, and still something of a broken mirror, songwise, she will eventually dial this into something fierce. She certainly accomplished the rare and coveted feat of frightening some in her audience. The new album is called Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd-Onlooker. She has a backstory: asked to leave a Morrissey tour slot for making a joke about the headliner’s supposed prowess in “going downtown” (a compliment, one would have thought). She’ll have a frontstory, too.

MISHMASMAGAZINE.COM

by Joe Cortez
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and there are precious few others that have eyes as telling as Kristeen Young's. She gazes out the corner on the cover of her most recent, Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker, looking like the girl that never quite grew up and we regard her in monochromatic tones as a fleeting figment of our imagined past. It's little wonder someone like Morrissey could be so taken with her.

Although not a household name, Kristeenyoung (both the band and the woman) has cut its teeth as a touring act and across four studio albums to varying degrees of success (that being mostly creative). The fifth, Music for Strippers..., finds Young at a point where she seems to have absorbed some of her more eccentric past tendencies to create something that's palatable to a wide audience but retains much of what has made her such a unique and endearing performer to her cult.

Moments of sweet passion and tender mercy are mined throughout Music for Strippers..., however this is not to say Young's latest is without its bite. "That's What it Takes, Dear," "The Depression Contest," and "Stop Thinking" play like highlights for a bitter night, contrasting the more whimsical efforts put forth on this release. Clearly this woman has an axe or two to grind and as a listener you feel it, identify with it. That's the power of a great imagination at work.

As a band it's hard to pin down what exactly it is that Kristeenyoung does. Young herself seems possessed by the same theatrically-inclined rock demons that transformed David Bowie, Tori Amos and Kathleen Hanna, sometimes all at once. Of course comparisons to the Thin White Duke are almost obligatory seeing that Tony Visconti has served as producer on all of Young's albums and has seemingly taken Young under his wing as a protege of sorts. That Young is able to pull off such a balancing act and produce something that's not only original but (for lack of a better phrase) good is refreshing.

Young is certainly not the first girl to take to piano and espouse neurotic but there is a welcome lack of irony to her lyrics that makes everything she says that much more vital and necessary. Make no mistake, Kristeen Young is a bonafide talent and Kristeenyoung is a band that is only beginning to find its stride.


BLACKBOOKMAG.COM

KRISTEENYOUNG, Music for Strippers, Hookers and the Odd On-Looker (Test Tube Baby) If post-millennial feminism has gone insufferably mawkish, Morrissey-fave KRISTEENYOUNG seems all about dragging it back to the stripper pole of emancipation. The brainchild of the eponymous singer and her drummer, “Baby” Jef White, Music for Strippers is another merciless counter to a culture drowning in emo tantrums. Young rock-operatically shrieks disdainful and literate vitriol while thrashing at her piano with a rather unsettling fervor. Given a Teutonic sheen by Bowie producer Tony Visconti, Young’s sixth album sounds sort of like Cole Porter, Kate Bush and Ziggy Stardust all caught up in the same typhoon—the best thing to happen to sex workers since Mötley Crüe. —Ken Scrudato

FRANKTIKMAG.COM

Raw passion, undying conviction, power, and undeniable talent, that’s Kristeen Young in a nutshell. Her latest opus is a wild ride through a wall of mind bending musical pieces and eccentric stories, all while being seduced by her imaginative creep-piano-pop rock style. Kristeen’s aim for Music For Strippers, Hookers, And The Odd-Onlookers was to crush all notion of piano based music and make a new sound for piano, which I believe she accomplishes mighty easily. Kristeen’s ultra-colorful, raw, heart-wrenching lyrics tell of stories about sex, death, heartbreak, recovery, strength, and obviously, love. Written at an unsettling time frame in her life, Kristeen captures the moments in vivid quality and narrates viscerally with full emotion and abstract interpretation. Sharp-edged “Son Of Man” cuts like a knife with it’s stingy lyrics while the dissonant swing of “The Depression Contest” leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth. “Everybody Wants Me To Cry” leads into a dark, downward spiral where Kristeen’s words come alive in full color. “You Must Love Me” is a super sexy, serrated pop gem with cutting words that dig deep under the skin, beautifully sung by Kristeen’s powerful vocals. Sitting at the throes of interjections is “That’s What It Takes, Dear,” where Kristeen enlists the help of Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Vaughan Stump for added texture. Most accessible track on the record goes to the pop heavy bang of “If You Marry Him,” which is an undiluted warning to fools in love. The pummeling piano melodies, dissonant harmonic characteristics, off beats and Kristeen’s undeniable vocals make this record one hell of a ride. It’s a good mixture of instrumentation and the production also sounds very well done. Music For Strippers, Hookers And The Odd-Onlookers is one good album that should take Kristeen Young to greater heights, higher up the pecking order. It’s good from the bottom up, inside, out. It also kicks major ass. It is definitely worth your time!
By: Gian Erguiza

YES!

Only two Kate Bush refrences... progress.

  Sorry, malfunction

ky album review by elbo.ws

http://elbo.ws/post/2091343/kristeen-young-music-for-strippers-hookers-and-the-odd/

So nice to see reviews like this :)