Send "Marnie Stern " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Though most record labels accept demo submissions, it's not all that common for anyone to get signed because they sent in some unsolicited recordings. Marnie Stern is an exception. The music that eventually became her debut album, In Advance of the Broken Arm, was composed in her bedroom studio, totally removed from the culture of rock clubs and regional scenes. The songs are incredibly distinct, fusing the frenetic finger-tapping of metal and the atypical rhythms of math rock to bubblegum hooks sung in a high, girly voice. It's no wonder Kill Rock Stars head Slim Moon took notice of her demo. Stern immediately announced herself as a singular, compelling artist, but she also clearly had some aesthetic kinship with KRS acts such as Deerhoof, Erase Errata, and Sleater-Kinney.Stern's demo is now commercially available as a cassette-and-digital release on the tiny Dog Daze Tapes label. It's an interesting, if not remotely essential, document for fans of her music. The tape comprises mainly compositions that eventually turned up on In Advance of the Broken Arm, though it does contain two songs, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and "Dancing By My", that didn't make the cut. (No great loss, by the way.) None of these recordings tops the Broken Arm versions, though there is some charm in hearing melodically complex numbers such as "Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!" and "Every Single Line Means Something" without the busy clatter of Zach Hill's percussion. Hill's absence is the main difference between the demos and the album versions. Stern's music is merely intriguing in this demo form, but Hill's drumming and production on the finished recordings enhanced everything that is great and moving about her songs. Comparing and contrasting the demo and album versions reveals a lot of Stern and Hill's editing process. Some parts were pared down to avoid unnecessary clutter, while other sequences became far more dense and hectic in Hill's studio. Pretty much across the board, Hill's eventual contributions to these pieces improved the material and brought out the best in Stern as a performer. As such, there's really not much use to listening to this tape unless you actively dislike Hill's drumming, enjoy the novelty of owning recent cassette releases, or require proof that Marnie Stern arrived more or less fully formed....full text |
| Insound |
| Comes with a digital download! These are 2006 solo home recordings from the #1 DYI SHREDDER of all time. Different versions of some of these songs ended up on Marnie's 2007 debut In Advance of the Broken Arm. Pro-dubbed and imprinted green cassette...full text |
| Prefixmag |
| This is for all you Marnie Stern fanatics who apparently weren't satisfied after reading her (fantastic and in-depth) interview with fellow Prefix writer Jeremy Gordon. These recently released demo versions of a number of her tracks provide ample insight into both her recording and songwriting process. For example, among others, you get to hear the demos of "Logical Volume" ""Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!!" before they appeared on her killer debut, In Advance of the Broken Arm. Little treats like this are essential for die-hard fans along with those who just picked up her self-titled album and are left wondering how she got to where she is today musically....full text |
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