Simply
Being Cleopatra - REVIEWS
Go to INFO,
LISTEN, BUY
Simply Being Cleopatra
Other
recordings BIG OPEN SKY
and EVERYBODY WANTS SOMEONE
Go to ANTJE's artist page
MidwestBands.com
by Mark Lush
©
2002 MidwestBands.com
This
brings me to my review of Antje’s latest CD
Simply Being Cleopatra; to be honest, no matter
what order you put the tracks on, this CD is a winner!
The tracks all have at least two things in common;
Antje’s unique vocal sound, and incredible
acoustic guitar! Those two things are the signature
that this artist puts on every track! Outside of
those two things, though, no two tracks are alike.
Each has a different quality that sets it apart;
sometimes it’s a twangy, country/western lead
(“Deep Shit”); at others, it’s
a Dixieland swing sound (“I’m Not Your
Friend”) or Brian Setzer guitars mixed with
Flamenco, for good measure (“If the World
Were Round”); this album is impressive for
the guitar work it includes; I have to admit that
I love rich, full guitar sounds in the music that
I listen to, and this CD doesn’t disappoint!
read
the entire review
---
GoGirlsMusic.com
March 2001
REVIEWS
by Megan McGehee
© 2001 GoGirlsMusic.com
In her second release on Chicago's Sweet Pickle
Records, Antje appears to have completely annihilated
the sophomore slump in an album unified by steady
rhythms and streaming vocals. Following an introduction
of raw acoustic guitar, Antje asserts "I'm done
with you...I'm ripe for change," and swiftly embarks
on a full gauntlet of increasingly dynamic musical
adventures before nurturing the listener back to
rest in the soothing final track.
Antje
cleanly strums and picks her way through classically-infused
guitar parts without hesitation on even the swiftest,
most complicated passages. Each song has an individual
personality, due partly to the varied musical genres
and topics touched upon, but also dependent on the
addition of an [un-typical] instrument to each track,
including cello, alto flute, cabasa, and electric
autoharp. Antje's agile guitar work could stand
alone, but her bandmates add valuable and creative
accents of sound to the insightful, sometimes coy,
and often introspective lyrics.
If
it is true that one can tell a lot about an artist
from their work, I would have to bet that Antje
is an extremely charismatic person who interacts
warmly and sincerely with everyone she meets, showing
just enough sly wit to keep her companions perfectly
at ease. In any case, Antje the musician is versatile
and engaging, equally at home in a confessional
acoustic style and the more playful sounds of a
uniquely arranged band. Buy this CD and get to know
her for yourself.
Hit
Picks: "Simply Being Cleopatra" and "If the World
Were Round"
---
indie-music.com
January 2001
REVIEWS
by Jennifer Layton
© 2001 indie-music.com
Last year when I first started reviewing
music for indie-music.com, I got the debut CD from
singer/songwriter Antje called "Big Open Sky." Since
then, I've been waiting anxiously for a follow-up,
and I got a small reward in the form of a new song
she contributed to"Big Fish Little Fish," a compilation
of music by some of Chicago's female artists. Now
I finally get her follow-up, "Simply Being Cleopatra,"
and it's even better than her previous material.
She's bolder with her words, sweeter with her voice,
and edgier with her music.
I
love the contrast between Antje's delicate, angelic
voice and her blunt, often sharply funny words.
She turns a bad day into a cheerful tune with a
dancing mandolin accompaniment, and the song is
called "Deep Shit." One thing you never have to
worry about is Antje being too subtle.
She
never tries to be clever or gloss over ugly feelings.
"Looking for Nice" honestly reveals the struggle
between her strength and her vulnerability. She's
confident about leaving her man in the beginning:
"I'm done with you, I've done all the shades of
crazy with you....I've been riding this mixed up,
sick puppy train." Then she makes the mistake of
kissing him one last time, and her heart aches.
She still makes her exit, but instead of striding
away, "I throw my pride over my shoulder and I run."
At
times, she thinks out loud. "I see your photograph
in the corner of my room, but you haven't been around
since 1982....I think I will leave it there for
the people who live here when I move," she sings
in "Remnants of You." Sometimes, as in this song,
startling, revealing statements pop out of nowhere.
Sleeping in his bed reminds her of his heart attack.
Now I don't know if he died or recovered and then
left her. But she pushes on, sharing only what she
wants to share and ending with powerful staccato
guitar work to bang out her frustration.
Every
song is revealing and fascinating. And there's no
stopping Antje's musical exploration. She's an artist
child running around on a musical playground, ignoring
the posted rules. The trumpet and trombone in "A
Good Cry" give this song a growl. The rocking, almost
carnival-spirit music of "Falling Snow in April"
is humorously unsettling when accompanied by lyrics
like "I will die, die, die...you will find me six
feet under snow and ice, you will see my frigid
body laying there, how very nice..." "I'm Not Your
Friend" is wonderful, old fashioned, upbeat jazz
with upright bass, ukulele, clarinet, trumpet and
trombone. "If the World Were Round" has a Latin
beat. She sets no boundaries.
Sometimes,
I might be overanalyzing. In the title track, when
she sings, "There's a hole in my heart where there
used to be a man," I don't feel like she's expressing
typical sad song heartbreak. I think she's mourning
the loss of something stronger and more aggressive
inside, something more typically associated with
men. Whether this was the intended meaning or not,
I admire her ability to leave herself open to interpretation
– to just put herself in a song exactly the way
she is, with no apologies. Antje is daring, unafraid,
and unique.
---
llinois
Entertainer
December 2000
SPINS
by Terrence Flamm
© 2000 Illinois Entertainer
Simply Being Cleopatra is
an easygoing colleciton of songs about relationships,
with Antje offering her often humorous observations
in a light voice that's reminiscent of Kate Bush
or Tori Amos.
At
times her vocals sound too precious, but she supports
them with well-crafted arrangements, like the Latin
flavored "If The World Were Round" or
the catchy "Remnants of You". Only "Deep
Shit" fails to avoid terminal cuteness, as
Antje sings "Cause if you do, do, do/I may
pull you in the doody doo doo too." But if
Antje sounds childish on "Deep Shit",
she deftly describes adult relationships elsewhere.
The melodic title track finds her taking aim at
the kind of guy who expresses admiration for a woman's
intelligence, and then proceeds directly to groping
her body. The bluesy "You In The Black Dress"
serves up a sobering message for a flirt who can't
keep her hands off other women's husbands: "You
can satisfy the itch of all the men who are hitched/But
it doesn't mean they love you."
Simply
Being Cleopatra has serious moments as well,
such as the moody jazzer "Insane", a song
about losing emotional stability. "Looking
For Nice," which depicts a failed relationship,
is notable for Antje's acoustic guitar playing and
Lance Helgeson's percussion, and the album closes
with a duet between Antje and Jonathan Rundman on
the hearbreaking ballad "Drowning Sand."
-----
The Daily Herald
October 13, 2000
Deceptively
simple songs highlight Antje's 'Simply Being Cleopatra'
by Mark Guarino
© 2000 The Daily Herald
The title "Simply Being Cleopatra"
may imply immediate divadom, but on this second
album from Chicago songwriter Antje, it's hardly
the case. Instead she's armed with the heroine humor
of like-minded underdogs Amy Rigby and Aimee Mann,
twisting knives into ex-lovers with good charm and
dry wit.
A
dash of Ally McBeal happens to pop up at times too,
upping the zany level at times ("I just hope you're
this cute in the morning light," she assures one
sad sack) to where it gets not uncomfortable, but
too cute.
Her
folly is also her strength - Antje does not hide
behind metaphors, but digs right in with songs that
strike with a startling conversational bent. Dressed
in hot jazz or acoustic blues arrangements, they're
mostly standard fare. But when producer Lou Carlozo
layers in a bleary-sounding Poi dog Pondering horn
section or a thicket of banjos and guitars, the
songs take sharp left turns that were never expected.
The
greatest achievements are the bookend songs - "Looking
for Nice" reveals itself through supple textures
and "Drowning Sand" has that relaxed, late evening
Rickie Lee Jones vibe that could draw out until
morning. Deceptively simple songs like that are
the most rewarding paybacks of "Cleopatra." With
a wickedly pristine voice until it soars wide and
far, Antje can play the duped fool, but unlike Ally,
she's more crazy like a fox.
Antje
headlines her CD release party at the Abbey Pub
in Chicago Saturday. See Concert Picks for details.
-----
The Chicago Reader
October 13, 2000
Spot
Check
By Monica Kendrick
© 2000 Chicago Reader
Antje
Gehrken, who runs the publishing company and label
Sweet Pickle Music, is a tireless promoter of inoffensive
local female singer-song- writers, herself included.
She recently issued a compilation, Big Fish Little
Fish Volume 1: Emerging Women in Chicago Music,
and organized an extremely well publicized showcase
for the artists on it at Double Door last month.
This concert is a CD-release party for her own second
solo album, Simply Being Cleopatra, which aims to
be a bit darker and meaner than her previous effort,
Big Open Sky--and to that end she turns the blue-watercolored
guitars all the way up to four and does a little
freaky vocalizing on "Insane," sounding something
like Kate Bush doing Janis Joplin.
