Nina Nastasia is a New York City-based singer-songwriter born in Hollywood, California. Nina Nastasia was born in Hollywood, California and is of Calabrian and Irish descent. She began writing songs in 1993, and released her first album, Dogs, in 2000. Only 1,500 copies of the album were initially pressed, with Nastasia putting together the album packaging herself in her apartment. Nastasia sold them at her shows, quickly selling all of them. By the end of the year 2000, the album was out of print. Famed DJ John Peel took notice of the album (calling it "astonishing") after having been given a copy by Steve Albini. Peel began playing songs from it constantly on his radio show on BBC Radio 1. The album, as well as Nastasia, subsequently gained a cult following … (read more at Wikipedia)
Links to Peel[]
- "Nina Nastasia, one of our favourite people on Earth, in that she goes and has a drink with us when she's in this country." (09 January 2003)
Nina Nastasia was recommended to Peel by Steve Albini when the pair met in Groningen in January 2002. [1] Albini had recorded Nastasia's debut LP, 'Dogs' in 2000 and would work with the singer again on her second LP 'The Blackened Air', released in 2002. Peel took a strong liking to Nina Nastasia's music, and to the singer herself, as the session listings and show plays below illustrate. She was invited to perform a live session from Peel Acres on three separate occasions. Peel had dinner with Nina on 23 April 2002 before presenting that night's show. She recalled her time there on the video she recorded for the John Peel Record Collection project.[2] Her song "Bird of Cuzco" was written for Peel.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 2002 Festive Fifty: Ugly #4
- 2003 Festive Fifty: You, Her & Me #13
Sessions[]
Five sessions, including three at Peel Acres, one with Huun-Huur-Tu. No known commercial release.
1. Recorded 2002-05-03 in France at same time as third album and engineered by Steve Albini. First broadcast 04 June 2002.
- Beautiful Day / Albert’s Song / Every Time / Untitled
2. Live at Peel Acres 04 July 2002.
- Regrets / The Treehouse Song / This Is What It Is / Deck In Vegas / All Your Life / Too Much Inbetween / Ugly Face
3. Recorded 2002-12-05. First broadcast 09 January 2003.
- Party Favor / Heavenly Heartache / A Dog's Life / Cry Baby
4. Solo live at Peel Acres 01 May 2003.
- Untitled 1 / Untitled 2 / Untitled 3 / Untitled 4 / Untitled 5
5. Live from Peel Acres, with Huun-Huur-Tu, 10 June 2004.
- Underground / How I Like A Fight / Dumb I Am / We Never Talked / Take Your Time / Too Much In Between
Live[]
- 24 April 2002: highlights from All Tomorrow's Parties live set, recorded Camber Sands 19-21 April 2002:
- Albert's Song
- Run All You
- This Is What It Is
- Jimmy Rose's Tattoo
- Stormy Weather
- Oh My Stars
- So Little
- Ocean
- 29 October 2003: Live from the Old Market in Brighton for One Live:
- You Her And Me
- What She Doesn't Know
- In The Back Of The House
- Jimmy's Rose Tattoo
- Stormy Weather
- We Are Young
- The Body
- Untitled
- On Teasing
Other Shows Played[]
- 2002
- 29 January 2002: Judy's In The Sandbox (Socialist)
- 06 February 2002: Underground (Socialist Records)
- 07 February 2002 (Radio Mafia): Judy's In The Sandbox (Socialist)
- 12 February 2002: A Dog's Life (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 14 February 2002: A Love Song (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 17 February 2002 (BBC World Service): Judy's In The Sandbox (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 19 February 2002: The Blackened Air (LP - The Blackened Air] advance promo
- 20 February 2002 (BBC World Service): A Dog's Life (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 21 February 2002: Stormy Weathers (LP – Dogs) Socialist
- 28 February 2002 (Radio Eins): Judy's In The Sandbox (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 07 March 2002: Smiley (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 07 March 2002 (Radio Eins): Underground (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 14 March 2002 (Radio Eins): A Dog's Life (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 21 March 2002 (Radio Eins): Judy's In The Sandbox (album - Dogs) Socialist
- March 2002 (FSK): Smiley (CD - Dogs) Socialist
- 28 March 2002 (Radio Eins): Stormy Weather (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 09 April 2002: I Go With Him (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 11 April 2002: This Is What It Is (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 11 April 2002 (Radio Eins): Smiley (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 18 April 2002: Do Little (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 18 April 2002 (BBC World Service): Smiley (LP - Dogs) Socialist
- 18 April 2002 (Radio Eins): Nobody Knew Her (album - Dogs) Socialist
- 23 April 2002: Desert Fly (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 25 April 2002 (Radio Eins): Jimmy's Rose Tattoo (album - Dogs) Touch And Go
- 02 May 2002: Ugly Face (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 08 May 2002: Rosemary (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 09 May 2002 (Radio Eins): Desert Fly (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- May 2002 (FSK): So Little (CD - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 16 May 2002 (Radio Mafia): So Little (Touch & Go)
- 16 May 2002 (Radio Eins): (JP: "Last week I had dinner with Nina Nastasia and one or two other people as well. Just thought I'd drop that into the conversation to let you know that I'm a friend of the stars.")
Ugly Face (LP-The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
(JP: "I was really looking forward to having a conversation with Nina Nastasia in the restaurant last week, you know, discussing the meaning of life and all that sort of stuff, but unfortunately it was one of those restaurants, as most of them are these days frankly, where there was so much row that you couldn't have a conversation at all: just sat there staring at each other.") - 23 May 2002 (Radio Eins): Rosemary (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 23 May 2002 (BBC World Service): Rosemary (CD - The Blackened Air) Touch & Go
- 28 May 2002: Rosemary (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch & Go
- 29 May 2002: Been So Long (LP – The Blackened Air) Touch & Go
- 06 June 2002 (Radio Eins): Been So Long (album - The Blackened Air) Touch & Go
- 11 June 2002: The Very Next Day (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch & Go
- 12 June 2002 (Radio Mafia): Desert Fly (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 13 June 2002: That's All There Is (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 13 June 2002 (Radio Eins): Been So Long (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 22 June 2002 (BBC World Service): That’s All There Is (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 03 July 2002: The Very Next Day (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 10 July 2002 (Radio Mafia): (JP: "Every Thursday night, this studio is used for live programmes in my domestic BBC programmes. We've had some people playing here before: Blur played here a couple of times, Loudon Wainwright's been here a couple of times, just loads of people over the last three or four years. Last Thursday, we had the most astonishing performance we've ever had in this room, I mean, absolutely extraordinary, by Nina Nastasia, and I was really pleased that she came. Turned out to be a really nice woman, and her performance, as I say, unbeatable.")
In The Graveyard (CD-The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
(JP: "What was so extraordinary about her performance, really, this is just our house, you know what I mean? It's not like proper studio at all. It doesn't even look much like a studio,just like a room lined with books,and looks like a room with a rather overstated home stereo in the corner of it. And Nina came in, and she was like joking, and we were all laughing, drink had been taken, and a good time was being had by all. In fact, she said that towards the end of the night, she was fairly drunk. Well, I don't think she actually was, but what she did was like five numbers scattered throughout a two-hour programme. However jolly we were all being and whatever was going on, when she started singing, the whole atmosphere in the room just changed in an extraordinary way, not just to melancholy, but to something else which I don't think I've experienced very often in my life before, and it was a very very moving business. At one stage, in one of her songs, the phone rang, and because we don't have things insulated very well, you could hear the phone ringing quite clearly in the programme, and she started giggling halfway through this very serious number, but kept on playing, and finished the number and so forth, and it was just one of those great triumphs.") - 18 July 2002 (Radio Eins): In The Graveyard (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 25 July 2002 (Radio Eins): Ocean (album - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 26 July 2002 (BBC World Service): In The Graveyard (LP - The Blackened Air) Touch And Go
- 26 December 2002: Ugly Face (LP-The Blackened Air) Touch & Go FF#4
- 2003
- 19 June 2003: We Never Talked (LP- Run To Run) Touch
- 25 June 2003: I Say That I Will Go (LP - Run To Ruin) Touch
- 26 June 2003 (Radio Eins): I Say That I Will Go (album - Run To Ruin) Touch
- July 2003 (FSK): You Her And Me (CD - Run To Ruin) Touch And Go
- 02 July 2003 (Radio Mafia): Road To Ruin (album - Run To Ruin) Touch And Go
- 03 July 2003 (Radio Eins): Regrets (LP-Run To Ruin) Touch & Go
- 03 July 2003: You, Her and Me (LP- Run to Ruin) Touch & Go
- 04 July 2003 (BBC World Service): I Say That I Will Go (LP - Run To Ruin) Touch
- 09 July 2003: I Say That I Will Go (LP- Run to Ruin) Touch
- 22 July 2003: Superstar (LP- Run to Ruin) Touch
- 30 July 2003: While We Talk (LP- Run to Ruin) Touch
- 31 July 2003 (Radio Eins): Superstar (album - Run To Ruin) Touch
- 28 August 2003 (Radio Eins): While We Talk (CD-Run To Ruin) Touch And Go (JP: 'Nina Nastasia, I'm proud to say, is a member of our family, but I don't think any of us would have the nerve to call her a "funky chick."')
- August 2003 (FSK): While We Talk (CD - Run To Ruin) Touch And Go
- 17 September 2003: You Her And Me (LP - Run To Ruin) Touch/Go
- 25 December 2003: You, Her & Me (LP-Run To Ruin) Touch And Go FF#13
- 2004
- June 2004 (FSK): Judy's In The Sandbox (CD - "Dogs") Touch And Go
- 03 June 2004: Stormy Weather (CD-Dogs) Touch And Go
- 08 June 2004: A Dog's Life (LP - Dogs) Touch & Go
- 18 June 2004 (BBC World Service): A Dog's Life (LP - Dogs) Touch & Go
- Post-Peel
- 27 October 2004: Untitled (Peel Session) (From session #1, recorded 2002-05-03, and produced in France by Steve Albini. Its inclusion in this programme was apparently suggested by Nina herself.)
- 11 November 2004 (Rob Da Bank): Superstar (LP- Run to Ruin) Touch And Go
- 14 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank): Underground' (LP- Dogs) Touch And Go
- Pop Depresija (Pop Depression): This Is What It Is (Peel Session)
See Also[]
- Record Collection: N
- January 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
- February 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
- March 2002 / April 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
- May 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
- June 2002 (Peel's Record Box)
- June 2003 (Peel's Record Box)
- September 2003 (Peel's Record Box)