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| Popmatters |
 Nick Jaina’s sophisticated songs many not have been begging to be recorded by female artists and compiled onto one LP, but, now that he’s crossed that line, you can only wonder one thing: What took him so long? After Jaina’s last release, the typically fine A Bird in the Opera House, the Portland, Oregon-based artist discovered he had a few extra tunes. What to do with them? Give them away as a free EP? He’d done that with his covers album Sleeping on the Covers and while it wouldn’t have been a surprise or a disappointment, it probably would not have been the bold step that The Beanstalks That Have Brought Us Here Are Gone became. He took an initial risk, recording one song with Laura Gibson, then knew he could continue writing for and inviting other female vocalists to participate. This 10-song collection couples Jaina with Gibson, Kaylee Cole, Johanna Kunin, Myshkin, Audie Darling, and others to stellar results. His highly literate, Weill-esque songs are treated with exceptional care. And the care Jaina and his cast took in preparing these songs is evident –word is that a few songs underwent serious transformations once he found the right vocalist for the task. And about those tracks? The record opens with “When the Blind Man Rings That Bell” (featuring Kaylee Cole) two minutes and 16 seconds of purely amazing and understated music that feels as much like a hymn as it does a pop song. It’s followed by “You Were So Good to Me” (with Jolie Holland), a dark but seductive melody with a pitch perfect performance from Holland, whose phrasing has rarely sounded as impeccable as it does here. (Wishing for a full collaborative album between Jaina and her may be asking too much, but one can certainly dream.)...full text |
| Mezzic |
| Portland has many treasures in the city, obviously music being one of them. Within that is one particular songwriter by the name of Nick Jaina. His 2010 album A Bird in the Opera House is a varied delight, diverse in its offerings while retaining a distinct character on each song. This year he’s taken those leftovers and, unlike almost if not all songwriters out there, decided not to do a b-side album or deluxe edition or some other crazy offering. Instead each invention is given its own particular home with one female singer, effectively turning his music into a songstress mixtape with Jaina at the base with The Beanstalks That Have Brought Us Here Are Gone. While the music could be considered what was left from A Bird sessions, the new release feels nothing of such. In fact, it vastly varies as the geography from which each of the singers come from be it Washington’s Kaylee Cole, Houston’s Jolie Holland or Nashville’s Audie Darling. It’s Kaylee who starts it off, although another singer at the end was technically the first to kick off the project. “When the Blind Man Rings That Bell” sounds a lot like choir, more so Nona Marie & the Choir, with a haunting beauty brought by agonizingly stunning strings and listless, fuzzed guitar. It has as much emotion as the end of a funeral, with none of the foreboding emptiness or sadness. A strange way to describe, but it truly is lovely in a fundamental sense. Jaina often switches musically back and forth, evidenced in his previous albums and he continues as such. “You Were So Good to Me”, with its loungey horns and rim taps, has a smokey Spanish feel to the music over Jolie Holland’s velvet voice. ”Once But Never Again” is an addictive little track that is the most effective way pick up and prevent that guitar from collecting dust, all with effortless vocals from Luzelena Mendoza. It’s a toe-tapping number that, guaranteed, will flutter around in your head for some time-exactly like “Semoline”. While ”Whiskey Riddle” tumbles into a late night country bar, the kind that houses the diamond in the dusty rough with Annalisa Tornfelt strumming away to a heartfelt, appreciative community of regulars. “The President of the Chess Club” stumbles, just cause it doesn’t share the same emotional feel, but more pop. It takes until “Missing Awhile” for the album to regain traction. The song just prior, however, is “James.” On it, Johanna Kunin is, picks and drumsticks down, the best performance. She soars with an emotional level paralleled only with Sharon Van Etten....full text |
| Mezzic |
| Portland has many treasures in the city, obviously music being one of them. Within that is one particular songwriter by the name of Nick Jaina. His 2010 album A Bird in the Opera House is a varied delight, diverse in its offerings while retaining a distinct character on each song. This year he’s taken those leftovers and, unlike almost if not all songwriters out there, decided not to do a b-side album or deluxe edition or some other crazy offering. Instead each invention is given its own particular home with one female singer, effectively turning his music into a songstress mixtape with Jaina at the base with The Beanstalks That Have Brought Us Here Are Gone. While the music could be considered what was left from A Bird sessions, the new release feels nothing of such. In fact, it vastly varies as the geography from which each of the singers come from be it Washington’s Kaylee Cole, Houston’s Jolie Holland or Nashville’s Audie Darling. It’s Kaylee who starts it off, although another singer at the end was technically the first to kick off the project. “When the Blind Man Rings That Bell” sounds a lot like choir, more so Nona Marie & the Choir, with a haunting beauty brought by agonizingly stunning strings and listless, fuzzed guitar. It has as much emotion as the end of a funeral, with none of the foreboding emptiness or sadness. A strange way to describe, but it truly is lovely in a fundamental sense. Jaina often switches musically back and forth, evidenced in his previous albums and he continues as such. “You Were So Good to Me”, with its loungey horns and rim taps, has a smokey Spanish feel to the music over Jolie Holland’s velvet voice. ”Once But Never Again” is an addictive little track that is the most effective way pick up and prevent that guitar from collecting dust, all with effortless vocals from Luzelena Mendoza. It’s a toe-tapping number that, guaranteed, will flutter around in your head for some time-exactly like “Semoline”. While ”Whiskey Riddle” tumbles into a late night country bar, the kind that houses the diamond in the dusty rough with Annalisa Tornfelt strumming away to a heartfelt, appreciative community of regulars. “The President of the Chess Club” stumbles, just cause it doesn’t share the same emotional feel, but more pop. It takes until “Missing Awhile” for the album to regain traction. The song just prior, however, is “James.” On it, Johanna Kunin is, picks and drumsticks down, the best performance. She soars with an emotional level paralleled only with Sharon Van Etten....full text |
| Israbox |
| Nick Jaina is showing signs of being one of the most prolific of Portland, Oregon’s many independent musicians. Already in 2011 he has put out a free-download album Sleeping On The Covers that features songs by other artists as diverse as Madonna, Gillian Welch, Nick Cave and Sting. That was a followup to the critically praised A Bird In The Opera House (2010). His latest project is a collection of 10 of his songs that he recorded with 10 different female vocalists, nearly all of them currently Portland-based themselves. The Beanstalks That Have Brought Us Here Are Gone is an absolutely delightful indie-folk album that’s a virtual showcase of Northwest musical talent....full text |
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