The first time I ever heard Olga Bell sing was at the sidewalk cafe a few months ago. I walked in half way into her rendition of Skee-Lo's "I wish" (yeah you know it...I wish I was little bit taller, I wish I was a baller I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her I wish I had a rabbit in a hat..etc) I wasn't able to see who was on stage I could only hear the most unlikely voice wishing for a '64 Impala. Who would've thought that a Russian-born Alaska-grown conservatory trained Olga Bell was reviving the one skee-lo song everyone can relate to.
Bell is the quintessential 21st century rock star. She's got piano chops that can quite literally pay the bills, a back-story that includes both the fall of communism and the most bizarre state of america, formidable DIY production instincts, a powerful and versatile voice, and a great backing band to boot. Everyone of the songs on her myspace i would describe first and foremost as graceful. They peel off layer after layer revealing wonderful and diverse underpinnings. They never stop changing, and opening up into new sections and permutations. My only complaint is that there aren't more of them. We need more of them. Bell is one of those artists that once you hear you just can't get enough. And that is why, as long as she keeps doing what she's doing, Bell is going to be very successful.
Bell's myspace claims that she sounds like "Grace Kelly joins the Wu-Tang clan." Now I think her beats are a little more spit-shined and jittery than our Wu-friends, But I'll be damned if this girl doesn't look like her friend (Queen) Grace Kelly. Just look at these pictures of them I found online:
Grace and Olga at the Academy Awards:
Warhol's Little known Bell w/ Grace portrait:
Bell [mp3] - Echinacea
befriend/listen to Bell on Myspace
and come see her March 1st at Savoir Faire!
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