Avant-garde or traditionalist pop auteur? Angel Corpus Christi is the most well-informed instrumentalist on the planet. Plus, she can sing.
Angel Corpus Christi is a San Francisco singer/accordionist who began releasing vintage-sounding pop albums in the '80s.
In 1984, Angel debuted with an album of NYC-related covers (by The Ramones, Lou Reed, etc.) called, fittingly," I Love New York."
"Wake Up & Cry," which primarily consisted of originals, emerged the following year, followed by 1987's "Dim the Lights."
"Accordion Pop Vol. 1," a collection of accordion covers, came out in 1989. That same year saw the release of her first CD effort, "The '80s," a collection that included both retrospective tracks and new material.
Her husband, Rich Stim, a frequent musical co-conspirator, first became an important figure in avant/fringe rock in the mid-'70s with MX-80.
In 1995, Angel found herself on a mainstream label, Almo Sounds. That year she released the immensely catchy and fully realized "White Courtesy Phone." Producer-extraordinaire Craig Leon (The Ramones, Richard Hell, Blondie, Sir Douglas Quintet and way so much more) played keyboards and produced, while Almo head Herb Alpert added some guest trumpet to "Lazy." Legendary session percussionist/drummer Hal Blaine also shows up on the effort.
Angel has also added accordion to the Spiritualized album "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" and collaborated with Luna's Dean Wareham on a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime (I Wanna Boogie With You)."
In 2005, she released "Louie Louie," an album of Lou Reed covers (that also includes an original track, "Lou Reed's Hair" as well as a cover of the title track).
2010 finds a new Angel release, "Elvis Elvis," a loving tribute of reinterpreted/re-contextualized covers of the King's most memorable songs. angel delivers a decidedly downbeat performance of these songs with solid intentions: Time to hear Elvis in a new and quiet way!
