RICE, DAMIEN

Personnel: Damien Rice (vocals, guitar); Lisa Hannigan (vocals); Vyvienne Long (cello); Shane Fitzsimons (bass guitar); Tomo (drums).
Recording information: Dublin, Ireland.
In the wake of Damien Rice's success with his 2003 debut and the placement of his songs in the Academy Award-nominated film CLOSER, B-SIDES served a stopgap until he was able to roll out a full-length follow-up. The mix of unreleased demos and live cuts that make up this set (all of which were previously unreleased in the United States) gives a peek at the early steps of the Rice creative process. "Volcano," for example, is not only rendered in an instrumental version chock-a-block with darting string arrangements and deftly plucked acoustic guitar, but in its demo form as it was originally recorded directly into a Walkman on December 3, 1997, shortly after it was written. Also noteworthy is "Moody Monday," an ethereal number that swirls and undulates with chanted refrains of the title provided by Rice and background singer Lisa Hannigan. Most striking is the live unplugged version of "Woman Like a Man," which benefits greatly from the composer's duet with the equally airy sounding Hannigan and the deft use of cello accompaniment. B-SIDES ends up being a nice recorded document for anyone wanting to sample the varied compositional talents of Damien Rice.

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