''(a)spera'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Mirah Mirah (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington, in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on ...

, released on March 10, 2009. Produced by

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 26, 1978) is an American musician and songwriter known for his Independent music, indie bands the Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elv ...

, it met with a largely positive reception from music critics.

Production and release

''(a)spera'' was the first album after a four-year hiatus by Mirah, after time spent working on collaborations and remixes of previous albums.

produced and engineered the album, as with many of her previous releases. It was released on March 10, 2009, on Olympia label

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

Critical reception

The album received positive reviews, including 4/5 stars from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, a positive review in ''Dusted Magazine'', 7.8/10 by

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

, 8/10 by

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

, and 3.5/5 stars from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

.'' According to PopMatters, "The musical marriage of Mirah and Elvrum is one of those rare perfect meeting of the minds—

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

and Kanye,

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...

and

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

and... basically anyone who can sing. One could easily imagine Mirah being just another songwriter, singing turgid ballads about loneliness over an acoustic guitar (and indeed there is the occasional disturbing flash of this in her work), but through the intelligent production of Elvrum, and indeed, some of the other producers on ''(a)spera'', she is able to set her thoughts upon soaring mountains of musical genius."

Track listing

Personnel

;Songwriting, etc. *

– Vocals, Songwriting, etc. * Christopher Doulgeris – Bass, Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Producer, Organ (Pump), Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements ;Production *

– Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Piano, Cymbals, Organ (Hammond), * Bryce Panic – Producer, Percussion, Bongos, Drums, Vocals, Kalimba, Bells, Claves, Vibraphone, Hi Hat * Tucker Martine – Producer, Engineer, Mixing * Kane Mathis – Producer, Kora * Adam Selzer – Producer, Engineer, Mixing * Barry Corliss – Mastering * Liz Haley – Photography, Cover Collage ;Instrumentals * Jef Brown – Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor) * Chris Funk – Dobro, Mandolin, Celeste, Hurdygurdy, Dulcimer (Hammer) * Lori Goldston – Cello * Cory Gray – Trumpet * Radio Sloan – Guitar * Doug Jenkins – Cello * Robert Andrew Jones – Double Bass * Emily Kingan – Caixa * Justin Mackovich – Violin * Lisa Molinaro – Viola * Cynthia Nelson – Flute * Tara Jane O'Neil – Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Bass) * Toussaint Perrault – Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba * Mehmet "Memo" Vurkaç – Caixa, Pandeiro, Repique, Surdo

References

External links

MirahMusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspera Mirah albums 2009 albums K Records albums