This is a really nice five-track EP. All the tracks were recorded live at Bull Moose, a record store in Portland, Missouri. All the songs are, obviously, stripped down to her voice and the piano, yet they don’t sound simple.
The album opens with It Ain’t No Cover, a nice anti-love song of sorts. You can hear her tapping her foot throughout.
Carbon Monoxide, from the album Soviet Kitsch, makes an appearance. It doesn’t sound much different from the studio version.
Pound of Flesh, track three, is a really great song that centers on clever turns of phrases, including one on a great poet’s name: “Ezra Pound sat upon my bed/Asked me which books as of late I’ve read/Asked me if I’ve read his own/And whether I could spare a pound/Of flesh to cover his bare bones.”
The Noise is probably the song I was least impressed with. While it’s a decent song, it doesn’t really have anything uniquely Spektor in it. It’s followed by My Man, an a capella medley that ends the CD and reminds you of how versatile her voice is.
The EP was only released in certain independent stores, so you might have a hard time getting your hands on it. However, if you come across it, it’s definitely worth buying. It’s a nice complement to her full albums.