Search - Petra Haden :: Imaginaryland

Petra Haden's uncanny vocal harmonies and graceful violin are two of the best about That Dog, a Los Angeles pop combo also featuring her twin sister Rachel. On her first solo project Petra loops together interlocked vocal strings that "ahh," "la-aa" and "tra-la-la" in such a childishly engaging manner that it'll melt years of cynicism off your slimy trunk. Primarily an a capella venture, Imaginaryland pops in a few numbers where Petra plays violin and viola, as on her father's slippery composition "Song for the Whales" and on a cover of Enya's "Watermark." Even though most of the album has the feel of a hypercreative kid bubbling away into a tape recorder between classes, Petra is obviously well-schooled (her father is Ornette Coleman bassist Charlie Haden), as her take on a Bach choral piece and the transofmraiton of her bouncing-ball vocalese into alluring and hypnotic madrigals ably demonstrate. If your eardrums (and patience) wear thin from too many guys with guitars, Imaginaryland could be the aesthetic panacea you've been looking for. --John Chandler