Monika Bullette

Glenn and I get a fair amount of submissions from a variety of artists and we don’t write about everything we receive. However, I was recently giving my inbox a much needed cleaning when I discovered an e-mail from May of last year. It was from an artist asking if we would write about her music. When reading this old e-mail, I didn’t recognize the artist’s name, so I figured that I had been lazy with checking my e-mail and just kind of glossed over her request without downloading her music or checking out her website. As I was cleaning out my inbox, I decided to check out her music and see what I had been missing out on for the past year. Unfortunately for me, her music was quite exceptional and was definitely worth writing about.

So to make up for the blunder I made over a year ago, I present you with Bullette, a very talented songstress. The Secrets, the album she asked Glenn and I to write about in the first place, is still freely available at her website as it was in 2005. And trust me when I say this: it is well worth checking out.

Not only does Bullette have a beautifully rich voice, but the music sounds intriguingly unique. There is a constant folky/jazzy flavor to her music, but then elements of bubble gum pop, hard rock, experimental noise, and even industrialish techno get sewn into this sonic tapestry. It’s as if Bullette is not comfortable staying in one genre for very long. For example, the first track “Show Me” is a rocking tune with grinding electric guitars. The third track “Your Eyes Have It” is a hip, happy, mellow pop song that bounces along to a sweet little tune. Then the sixth track “I Can’t Tell You Why I’m Smiling” is a somber track filled with the gentle cacophony of stringed wails and electronic crunches that is eventually joined by the sound of marching drums. Then there’s the final track “Uneasy,” which is a strange, one could say uneasy, combination of distorted electronic beats and Bullette’s folk-tinged singing. But nothing that Bullette does on this album seems out of place or unnatural. There always seems to be some method behind any perceived madness.

Download The Secrets by Bullette for free

Bullette – Show Me
Bullette – Your Eyes Have It
Bullette – I Can’t Tell You Why I’m Smiling
Bullette – Uneasy

***EXTRA KRUD***

The Sky Drops – Rob Montejo & Monika Bullette

Since I dropped the ball on writing about Bullette’s online release, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you about her recent collaboration with Rob Montejo. Together they have formed a band called The Sky Drops. For some reason they remind me of a heavier, less noisy version of My Bloody Valentine. “Green to Red” especially gives me that impression. Maybe it’s the way Bullette’s and Montejo’s voices combine to create an enchantingly ethereal chorus that is so reminiscent of songs like “When You Sleep” from Loveless. Oh yeah, and “Green to Red” also makes me think of “Machinehead” by Bush. If you know the song then you know why.

Buy Clouds of People by The Sky Drops

The Sky Drops – Now Would Be
The Sky Drops – Green to Red