Lavender Diamond
At the centre of things is Becky Stark, a remarkable vocalist who started singing in churches before studying classical singing as a teenager – and boy does it show. Something of a free spirit is our Becks – she left the prestigious Brown University to join Merce Cunningham’s Dance Conservatory, and somehow ended up in Rhode Island, performing and releasing music under the name Lavender Diamond – a character she’d created for a travelling operetta (with puppets, naturally) called ‘Birdsongs of the Bauharoque’.
Lavender Diamond was a solo thing for all of a year – releasing a seven inch single and a CD that came in a hand sewn, silkscreened case – before it grew in to a four piece upon Becky’s move to Los Angeles. She joined up with Jeff Rosenberg on guitar (though he’s no longer with them), pianist Steve Gregoropoulos and drummer Ron Rege Jr, a multi talented bunch – Ron is a cartoonist whose work can be seen on all of Lavender Diamond’s releases to date, and Steve is a composer of ballet and classical music.
LAVENDER DIAMOND DOT COM: Check out the comics here and just try not to smile, you miserable git.
LAVENDER MY DIAMOND SPACE: Two ‘heart’ themed tracks (‘You Broke My Heart’ and, erm, ‘Open Your Heart’…) to stream as and when you see fit. We suggest now.
LAVENDER DIAMOND @ MATADOR RECORDS: Up to date news and the ‘Lavender Diamond Media Player’ can be found here, and nowhere else.
ROUGH TRADE RECORDS: Seriously, clue yourself up yourself.
Live with the Decemberists: LD shine on their first UK tour.
The Cavalry of Light EP: The first we heard of Stark was this, and we hadn’t quite made our minds up. It did however show enough promise to prompt the eventual authoring of this behemoth of an article.
Stream ‘The Cavalry of Light EP’: And here, we offer that very record to you, to stream, in its wonderful entirety.
Open Your Heart: Lavender Diamond’s first single proper catches us in a decidedly upbeat mood.
