back in denver in 1997, devotchka formed as a punk/cabaret/gypsy/polka/circus/folk/mariachi quartet playing mainly as a backing band for burlesque shows.  on march 18, 2008, a decade and five l.p.'s later, they released their most mature album, a mad and faithful telling.  according to devotchka lead singer nick urata, "this is the kind of album i have dreamed of making since i stared making records".

you may actually already be familiar with devotchka; along with composer mychael danna, the band scored the majority of the soundtrack to the 2006 film, little miss sunshine.  that same year, they were nominated for a grammy for best compilation soundtrack.

to stream their entire album go to their website; the media player at top left of the page should start automatically.  to listen to devotchka live, click here to access a may 16, 2008 performance recorded at the legendary d.c. venue, the 9:30 club.  if your a.d.d. doesn't allow you to listen to the entire 1.5 hour set, click here for a one minute slideshow of the gig illustrated by artist ariel kitch.  if you need more, click here to listen to an interview/studio session recorded for morning becomes eclectic, on l.a.'s legendary kcrw on december 17, 2004.

i hear their live gigs are epic and have included trapeze artists swinging from the ceiling and trumpeters suddenly appearing in the crowd.  they currently have a  ton of european dates scheduled.  click here to find out if devotchka is coming to your town.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand).  incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states.  that my friend, bites.