Bela Karoli on NPR's Second Stage 30 May 2008

NPR.org, December 7, 2007 – Bela Karoli is an unusual trio featuring upright bass, violin and accordion. The all-women group’s latest album, Furnished Rooms, is a stunning set of jazzy acoustic compositions with touches of subtle electronics. The album is filled with beautifully structured dynamics and captivating sonic twists.

The Denver-based trio explores the connection between the organic and the machine. Julie Davis’ upright bass and Carrie Breeder’s cello fill their sound with low-to-the-ground, resonating tones. The dramatic violin on their rendition of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Some Things That Fly There Be” sets an imaginatively dark soundscape.

The most noticeably electronic arrangement is TS Eliot’s “Prelude 2.” With crunching micro beats, it paints ominous images of being born in a modern, mechanical world. Cool, laid-back vocals and creeping bass add a sluggish vibe to Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Singer Julie Davis wrote most of the original lyrics on the album while riding in a car. On the featured track, “Invertebrate,” she sings evocative lyrics that fit with the album’s mechanical theme: “we are soft cells / we have metal shells.”

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