Regina Spektor's new album is not Better, but worth Fidelity.

Sunbrothers - Holdfast

The Sunbrothers create plant sculptures that mimic nature by collecting and using energy from the sun. During the day, sunlight charges up a set of batteries in the base of the sculpture. At night, the small lights inside the glass flowers make them glow, fade, and change color. Pretty cool stuff. Apparently, the artists were involved in quite a debacle when a bunch of their pieces were stolen from their display garden. Afraid that their work would be for mere scrap metal, they acted upon an anonymous tip and located their pieces in relatively poor shape. Who would deface an artificially photosynthesizing metal flower?

Regina Spektor's characteristic staccato vocals and chilling classic charm are truly contagious. I've developed quite a bit of a crush over the last year and can't wait to see her live. So fucking cute. The new songs from her upcoming album Begin to Hope (out June 16th) are nice, but sometimes in a mom-approved nice-girl-who-plays-the-piano kind of way. Fidelity's songwriting hardly rivals the unique catchiness the blossoming hit Us and relies too heavily on overdramatic vocals to make the repetitiously picked violin interesting. Better is a terrifyingly compromised piece of bland pop that is luckily saved by a floating live version which removes the full band from the middle of the song and allows the piece to thrive without canned guitar/drum predictability.

Regina Spektor - Fidelity (stream) [from upcoming Begin to Hope]

Regina Spektor - Better (ripped off myspace) [from upcoming Begin to Hope]

Regina Spektor - Us [a beauty from her last album Soviet Kitch with an artsy video available here]

Dip your spring feet into more of her stuff at myspace or your local record store (Strictly Discs or B-Side in Madison).