Cake on Cake
Live @ Radio Cherokee, St. Louis, MO, 12/15/05
I was stunned when I learned that Sweden's Cake on Cake would be performing at a tiny coffeehouse here in St. Louis. Hey, it ain't cheap to fly newbie artists over from Scandinavia, and clearly, the profit margin won't be high playing at venues with a capacity of a mere coupla dozen enthusiasts. Nonetheless, Helena Sundin, who pretty much IS Cake on Cake (assisted by label boss and sideman Josh Penn onstage), was here in the flesh, and I couldn't have been more delighted. "I see no stars", Cake on Cake's debut, manages to be both lush and lo-fi at the same time: Sundin plays all manner of instruments on the disc, with piano, metallophone and melodica the prominent musical elements. Sundin overdubs harmonies, but for the live show, Penn sang the harmony parts (and a couple of tunes featured tape loops over which Sundin sang and played along). Early problems with mic feedback were handled deftly and charmingly by Sundin; she just patiently waited for Radio Cherokee's sound guys to get it right. The music was sweet, sincere and melodic. Sundin played about ten songs and her wispy, girlish vocals had the rapt attention of the small crowd. Highlights included "Pictures from 1964" (about "the time when my mom was young"), the curiously titled "Fell asleep like an acrobat, woke up like a rock" (which Sundin said was about going out to night clubs) and the sublime "Animals and humans", which was delightfully quirky and managed to make Sundin thoroughly compelling simply by doing an elementary rhythm part with an egg maraca. Sundin's cover of Mojave 3's "Tomorrow's taken" had an extra emotional edge, as she told everyone how much she liked the song, and clearly it had some deep personal connection for her. It's always amazing to me to see artists get a full piano sound out of a tiny onstage electronic keyboard, and Sundin made the most of hers, serving up one childlike little melody after another. She's a soft breeze of an artist, this woman, and despite the modest presentation of both her CD and her onstage performance, Sundin has a substantial, multi-faceted talent that is sure to only get more interesting as time goes on. I left utterly entranced.
- Kevin Renick