Jane Siberry - City (2001)

This is Siberry's odds-and-sods album -- tracks that have appeared here and there, all gathered up and collected in one tidy package. The result is to show just how much of a true artist she is, continually taking chances and never standing still, whether it's on "My Mother Is Not the White Dove," with its curious mix of ney flute, flugelhorn, and strings, or "All the Pretty Little Ponies" from the soundtrack to Barney's Great Adventure. Throw in some work for director Wim Wenders and collaborations with the likes of Scots piper Michael Grey (where Siberry sings in Gaelic) or French sound-builder Hector Zazou, and you've got someone who doesn't believe in limits or boundaries. The highlights, however, have to be "Innig," which pairs her with classical violinist Nigel Kennedy, and the spacious "Spade and Sparrow," where she teams with Japanese songwriter/musician Takafumi Sotoma. It's a lot of ground to cover on one disc, really, but proof that some of these individual tracks have been more successful than some of her full-length album experiments. But she never stops going further and seeking the new, a sign of someone for whom the music is about art, not commerce. And God knows, listeners need all of those they can get.~City Review by Chris Nickson