Ema – “Past Life Martyred Saints” – [Souterrain Transmissions]

EMA is Erika M. Anderson, and this is her solo debut. She is young (22) and brilliant in her way–great vocals that harmonize well with each other, innovative in her techniques (1 switches from lo-fi to hi-fi in the middle), and a self-proclaimed “guitar destroyer.” The lyrics are fascinating, and the melodies range from gently soothing (7) to the angrier rock complication of 2 and 8. This puts South Dakota on the music map just as “Fargo” put North Dakota on the film map.