This Reporter

Brooklyn band This Reporter has a sound that is trembling but never wavering. Floating but never lost. Haunting and ever enticing. There is both a sadness and a hopefulness to the songs of singer/songwriter Jennifer Curtis.

Their self-released EP 'Five Smooth Stones' showcases all of this thru inventive production and performance with intermingled electric and acoustic elements.
- http://www.stephenbailey.com

Voices sometimes get to you. Something in the way they curve round the words. Maybe they remind you of something familiar. A feeling or a memory perhaps. On this 5 track EP by This Reporter, Jennifer Curtis's voice had that effect. She sounds familiar but not in the way that she sounds like something else. More like she echoes feelings that we have all felt.

There is a sense of melancholy to the proceedings that is reinforced by the production sound. Reverb swathes the sings in a swirling unreality. Emotions are there in quantity as well with the torment of repressed feelings surfacing in "Letter". The delicate piano introduction to "Set Me" seems to signify hope and indeed there is strength even majesty in the words.

Jennifer Curtis's songs might well be described as the kind of thing that would result should Fiona Apple and Janis Ian get together. Intense and emotional, they work away at you until you have to press the repeat button for another fix. Songs that are a hell of a lot bigger than they seem on first acquaintance, in other words.
- Bluesbunny - Glasgow, Scotland

This Reporter - Five Smooth Stones (Independently released CD EP, Progressive pop)
This Reporter is the Brooklyn, New York-based quartet consisting of Jennifer Curtis, Sonny Ratcliff, Robert McCullough, and Vani Kannan. Five Smooth Stones features interesting, slightly haunting tunes that in some ways remind us of babysue favorite Lisa Germano. The songs are subdued and somewhat off-kilter...with arrangements that are strangely dreamy and somewhat surreal. Curtis has a cool voice that comes across sounding rather ghostly at times (simultaneously distant, fragile, and friendly). This is definitely one of those cases where the short disc leaves you wanting more. Only five cuts here ("Stop Me," "Letter," "Fragment 31," "Set Me," "Seven States")...but enough to give us the impression that these folks are on the right path to true artistic success. Really cool sounding stuff. (Rating: 5+) - http://babysue.com/2009-April-LMNOP-Reviews.html

September 23, 2008 · No Comments
Utterly captivating debut from this New York dreampop outfit. In their shimmery yet spiky layers of electric and acoustic guitars, multiple keyboards, acoustic bass and some terrifically interesting, jazz-inflected drumming, you can hear distant echoes of the first Lush cd as well as My Bloody Valentine from back when they were a pop band. But This Reporter aren’t derivative like so many others reviving that late 80s-early 90s sound. Their music is complex but also remarkably accessible, atmospheric yet earthy, sparse acoustic instrumentation cutting through dense arrangements. Frontwoman Jennifer Curtis’ voice is instantly distinctive, breathy with a playfully cajoling edge. But it doesn’t seem that she’s trying to be seductive: that’s just how she sings. Her lyrics are fragmented yet often strikingly terse and imagistic. “Baby, you’re fake,” she announced offhandedly as the cd’s first track begins. “You can’t stop me.” On the second cut, Letter, the vocals float off in the mix, disembodied, lending a somewhat disturbing edge as the band plots their way through a tricky time signature. Temperatures rise on the third track, the anthemic Fragment 31: is that a recorder solo, or just a cleverly programmed synthesizer patch?


Curtis’ raison d’etre becomes apparent, sailing into the upper registers on the following cut, Set Me: “Passion burns more fierce than the fires of hell, and many waters cannot quench,” she wails, effectively adding an optimistic edge to the song’s dark swirl. The cd closes with the lush anthem Seven States: “I don’t miss you because you’re dead,” Curtis intones brightly and matter-of-factly, leaving it up to the listener to figure out if she’s merely being metaphorical. Or not. At the end, the layers of melody fall away gracefully, leaving the outro to just Curtis’ stately acoustic guitar strumming over the drums. This album is best appreciated on an ipod – or over a powerful sound system that can bring all its many complexities to life. Live, without the thicket of sonics, the songs get stripped down to just guitar, keys and acoustic rhythm section, giving the basic tracks a chance to show their muscles. This Reporter have an upcoming gig at Spikehill, watch this space for details.


- http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/

http://spin.com/articles/spin-picks-7-undiscovered-bands-worth-listen

Hometown: New York
Recommended if you like: Kate Bush, Bright Eyes
Why we picked them: Nakedly confessional lyrics, paired with ambient atmospherics and guitarist/vocalist Jennifer Curtis' quivering voice.
- Spin Magazine