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Regina Spektor On World Cafe

Regina Spektor
Shervin Lainez
/
Courtesy of the artist
Regina Spektor

There's a bit of magic in everything Regina Spektor touches. In her early days, she captivated New York's East Village crowd by tapping a bench with a drumstick with one hand and exercising her classical piano training with the other — all while speak-singing and belting her way from indie darling to icon. Her whimsical story-songs have earned her praise as this generation's Joni Mitchell, as Charlie Rose noted earlier this month.

Spektor released her latest record, Remember Us To Life, after nearly four years off the radio radar. In part, it's a look back at her experience growing up Jewish in the Soviet Union before her family escaped to America. But the album also sees Spektor looking forward — she gave birth to her first child shortly before releasing it. In this session, hear her tell the stories behind Remember Us To Life, play a couple of her new songs on piano and even sing an old Russian lullaby.

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Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.