Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

Courtesy of Billboard Live

By turns lilting and stilted, Regina Spektor’s vocal style may not be for everyone. Yet the singer should have more than enough fans around town to fill Roppongi’s impressive Billboard Live. The Russia-born, New York-bred “Bronx Björk” first appeared with 2006’s Begin to Hope, inviting comparisons to fellow artsy piano songstresses like Tori Amos, but with an eccentric sense of humor all her own. Appearances on late-night TV talk shows and in cellphone commercials followed, and last year saw the release of Far, in which Spektor offered offbeat fare like imitating dolphins and singing a song from the point of view of a lost wallet.

NY based anti-folk singer songwriter. May 6, 7 & 9:30pm, ¥5,500-¥7,500. Billboard Live, Roppongi. Tel: 03-3405-1133.