At Your Mercy Circuit

Terese Taylor's music describes a personal world - or maybe series of worlds - that is dark, stark and cynical. Or perhaps, she is simply laying reality out in front of us as she sees it and letting us interpret her images through our own lens. Or maybe both at once. That is the genius of Terese Taylor, a song writer and musical artist who uses her lyrics to paint sharp, steel cut images of life that upon closer inspection can be ambiguous. The same goes for her music. Is it rock, folk, country, or punk...or something that is simply Terese Taylor, best enjoyed without analysis? You really, really have to listen to Terese Taylor's lyrics. It's not that they are hard to hear - just the opposite. She is clear, direct and too the point. And enchanting. With a spirit evocative of Kathleen Hana, but a style 180 degrees different from Hana's Bikini Kill band, Terese makes you think about the world as other people see it. That is powerful music. The funny thing is that her music is not powerful in the sense of blasting speakers and shrieking guitars; it is ethereal, sometimes astral, interior and inward, and all the more powerful for it. It is more like The Velvet Underground or Nick Cave in music style. The New York Times critic called it 'deliciously miserable music', an apt description, but it should by no means imply that her audiences are miserable. Just the opposite is the case, as they revel in the truth of her message and quality of her sound. Her new album, At your Mercy Circuit, is a collaboration with Kalus Flouride of the Dead Kennedy's and is backed by a group of talented musicians including James Whiton (Double Bass - Tom Waits), Will Hendricks (bass - Eleni Mandell, Califone), Garrin Benfield (lead guitars - Andrew Bird), and Teddy Rankin-Parker & Kristina Dutton ( Violin/Cello - Glen Hansard, Iron & Wine) . ~Patrick O'Heffernan, 'Friday Night Live'