Todd, Mia Doi – “La Ninja: Amor and Other Dreams of Manzanita ” – [Plug Research]

Thurston Hunger   4/19/2006   A Library, CD

Ooey I can taste the shelf-life on some of these remixes, the
goofy bubble-breaker on the Flying Lotus Remix, the achingly
ancient keyboards on the Dntel Remix trying to drop Mia into
a VNV Nation on another planet. Snake Pliskin couldn’t save
her there. Her voice however rises to the assaults, and this
does come with some “premixed” new pieces. And some remixes
do work, the Campanella/Hellie does add a lot of warp to Mia’s
soft woof. Nobody brings out the secret Gordon Lightfoot in
“What If We Do?” better than Nobody. Huh? Chessie kidnaps
Mia for a submarine remix ride, s’alright. Anyways…there is
a cover of “Norwegian Wood” in case your grocery store refuses
to play a Muzak version (actually, what happened to Muzak?
There’s a college thesis waiting to happen.). “Kokoro” sounds
like a lovesong to a lovebird, “Shikibu” summons a shamisen
sitar shaman, drizzly drone over austere beats laving her
enchanting voice out entirely. And therein lies the rub, her
primordial atomic element is singer-songwriter in a sparse
sonic setting, but that beckons for more. Whether mixing by
DJ’s or maxing out with other players. I’d rather see more
of the latter, surely her lyrical vision can find like-minded
living breathing musicians, and hers is a voice that makes its
own Canyon, so there’s room to roam. -Thurston Hunger