Not to toot my own horn, but what the heck, I was one of the few bloggers that picked up on the atmospheric roots music of Dao Strom a few years back. Now that she’s back with a new record I’ll be glad to get out in front again. Everything That Blooms Wrecks Me is out now after a recent cd release party in Alaska. It’s a more accomplished record than her first, or at least it seems that way, since it’s a little more fleshed out with a variety of instruments and a slightly more full sound.
Dao is more well known for her critically acclaimed fiction than for her earthy, unusual, and heady music. Her first two books were well received, as was her 2005 debut record Send Me Home. Musically Dao is firmly planted in the indie folk/out-there alt-country genres. It’s clear that her music is informed by her life experiences and her diverse cultural and ethnic background (Dao is Vietnamese but grew up in the mountains of Northern California and now lives in Juneau, Alaska).
This new record has a very rural feel to it. It oozes modern hippie. Not in a bad way of course, but more along the lines of the freak folkers like Devandra, Alela Diane and Marie Sioux. The title track is a beautiful cello and piano based number with Dao’s vocals front and center.
You can buy Everything That Blooms Wrecks Me or Send Me Home or her novels for that matter all here.
Buy the new record here.
Everything That Blooms Wrecks Me
Bonus track: