I'm working on a "real" entry for later. (Do I share the subject...? Nah, I like the illusion of keeping everyone in suspense better.) For now I'll just say that it's someone I've seen live.
In the meantime, I'm going to start throwing in a heads up to albums coming out each week that fit the subject here. This week?
Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come, Easy Go
Certainly a voice for the ages, the story I heard is that she started off as a high soprano, but years of cigarettes, drugs and Mick Jagger (they were together all through the late 60's...'nuff said) aided to develop the deep throaty voice she is most known for. If you're not already a fan, it never hurts to try out a classic.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Billie Holiday
(a short one, since most people should be at least somewhat familiar with her, and this is the age of the internet. The average person should be able to uncover all the information they need to know in three clicks or less)
I tend to stick to a certain style of music. I'm not entirely sure what to classify it as, but if I had to take a stab at it I'd probably say "Catchy upbeat and just-under-the-radar modern pop-rock" (no, not pop rocks, though those are pretty awesome in their own right.) Though I'm not averse to traveling outside my box on occasion.
I'd say there was a time circa 1999 when I was pretty obsessed with jazz for awhile and a quintessential jazz staple would undeniably be Ms. Holiday. There are others whose vocal styles I may prefer but let me put it this way: If I had to compare some of my favorite jazz singers to standard kitchen utensils, Sarah Vaughn would be a potato masher (a little muddled but soft and smooth), Lena Horne would be a large sharp kitchen knife (also smooth, but with a solid, stronger, precise tone.) Billie Holiday is a cheese grater. Tough, a little harder to get through as though her voice is pushing you forward and pulling you back at the same time, but often uncovering the sharpest, sweetest and most pungent flavors.
Admit it, nothing gets under your skin like Billie.
I tend to stick to a certain style of music. I'm not entirely sure what to classify it as, but if I had to take a stab at it I'd probably say "Catchy upbeat and just-under-the-radar modern pop-rock" (no, not pop rocks, though those are pretty awesome in their own right.) Though I'm not averse to traveling outside my box on occasion.
I'd say there was a time circa 1999 when I was pretty obsessed with jazz for awhile and a quintessential jazz staple would undeniably be Ms. Holiday. There are others whose vocal styles I may prefer but let me put it this way: If I had to compare some of my favorite jazz singers to standard kitchen utensils, Sarah Vaughn would be a potato masher (a little muddled but soft and smooth), Lena Horne would be a large sharp kitchen knife (also smooth, but with a solid, stronger, precise tone.) Billie Holiday is a cheese grater. Tough, a little harder to get through as though her voice is pushing you forward and pulling you back at the same time, but often uncovering the sharpest, sweetest and most pungent flavors.
Admit it, nothing gets under your skin like Billie.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mirah
Here's a good one. Mirah has probably been producing some of the finest music money or illegal downloads can buy for years, and yet keeping fairly quiet about it.
Think about it this way. Who's blown up in the past year? Feist (whatever...all it takes today is an iPod commercial Everyone knows that.) Must admit, rather a fan of the song itself though and the full video but Feist is for another day/entry! Anyway, who else? Kate Nash, to some degree Regina Spektor and probably to a bit lesser degree Laura Marling and Laura Veirs. Now who's been creating the same type of music for years and years, yet been traveling so stealthily under the radar for the most part? Why that would be Miss Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn.
Mirah may be an even better choice to extrapolate on tonight than I first thought as she is one of those artists whose music invokes more than just a simple "I like" or "I don't", more than even a feeling like "happiness" or "devestation" or "loneliness" but an entire concept. The songs she writes are not simply a feeling, but a feeling and a time and setting. It's spring and early summer. It's that feeling that midwesterners know so well, where you feel as though you've perhaps traveled through the depths of Mordor to make it through the winter to this release of prison, also known as spring and summer. So on a day where it reaches in the 50's in Chicago in February, I have to say that Mirah is an appropriate soundtrack.
First of all, she's one of those people whose voice can predominantly be described as "cute." And yet there's drama. In songs such as "Look Up!" and "Cold cold water" you truly feel the drama amidst distorted sounds and heavy instrumentation. (Honestly, the second of those got so intense that it got to the point where it probably wasn't a good decision to listen to it in my car as I'd be so lost in imagery...somewhere between this and this.) And as soon as it seems like this is a force not to be reckoned with and an artist who is only going to provide heavy, sophisticated music, then she throws everyone for a loop with something like Pollen.
In the end, Mirah is one of the more talented singers I've been made aware of as she can take the most simplistic song or the most complicated arrangement and make them equally appealing and attractive. It's music to skip through spring flowers to, or shiver on the beach to after the sun sets on a summer night. I can't say that there is generally musical accompaniment to either of these actions, but if there were...it should be Mirah.
Think about it this way. Who's blown up in the past year? Feist (whatever...all it takes today is an iPod commercial Everyone knows that.) Must admit, rather a fan of the song itself though and the full video but Feist is for another day/entry! Anyway, who else? Kate Nash, to some degree Regina Spektor and probably to a bit lesser degree Laura Marling and Laura Veirs. Now who's been creating the same type of music for years and years, yet been traveling so stealthily under the radar for the most part? Why that would be Miss Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn.
Mirah may be an even better choice to extrapolate on tonight than I first thought as she is one of those artists whose music invokes more than just a simple "I like" or "I don't", more than even a feeling like "happiness" or "devestation" or "loneliness" but an entire concept. The songs she writes are not simply a feeling, but a feeling and a time and setting. It's spring and early summer. It's that feeling that midwesterners know so well, where you feel as though you've perhaps traveled through the depths of Mordor to make it through the winter to this release of prison, also known as spring and summer. So on a day where it reaches in the 50's in Chicago in February, I have to say that Mirah is an appropriate soundtrack.
First of all, she's one of those people whose voice can predominantly be described as "cute." And yet there's drama. In songs such as "Look Up!" and "Cold cold water" you truly feel the drama amidst distorted sounds and heavy instrumentation. (Honestly, the second of those got so intense that it got to the point where it probably wasn't a good decision to listen to it in my car as I'd be so lost in imagery...somewhere between this and this.) And as soon as it seems like this is a force not to be reckoned with and an artist who is only going to provide heavy, sophisticated music, then she throws everyone for a loop with something like Pollen.
In the end, Mirah is one of the more talented singers I've been made aware of as she can take the most simplistic song or the most complicated arrangement and make them equally appealing and attractive. It's music to skip through spring flowers to, or shiver on the beach to after the sun sets on a summer night. I can't say that there is generally musical accompaniment to either of these actions, but if there were...it should be Mirah.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Kate Bush
Much like my listening habits in general I see this becoming a healthy mix of new discoveries and old favorites. E&TC was a new discovery. And Kate Bush is by far "an old favorite" As I believe my brother put it one day circa 1999, after seeing my CD rack in my room, "How many Kate Bush CD's does one person need" (And I'm about 99% sure my answer to that was "all of them.")
But she was someone I discovered toward the end of my high school years, a time when several people desperately need to NOT be listening to the same music as everyone else, when you felt like what was in your CD player also defines what people should think of YOU (and yes, I am completely ignoring the fact that a statement like that would now be updated to something like "what is on your iPod" Madame Bush is currently playing in the background to inspire me which means I am automatically transported to 1996-2000. What the hell is an iPod?)
In her day, Kate Bush was thrilling I'm sure. She was the first solo female artist to have a number one single and number one album on the UK charts. Never near that recognition on US charts but I'll let it slide being that she WAS British and all. She took risks. I've heard her credited as the first person to experiment with recording styles such as playing music backwards (which can be heard on "Waking the Witch") I haven't been able to confirm this yet, but it was obviously a concept used to enhance the song rather than a bunch of stoners claiming "Paul is dead" and is still such a forward idea that all the little kiddies would be freaking out if Kelly Clarkson was to attempt something like that. Her brother played accessory instruments on her albums. And by 'accessory' I don't mean the cowbell and the triangle. More like the didgeridoo and the balalaika (which, in its defense, IS rather triangular-shaped...) She ended her first album on "The Kick Inside" (of the album by the same name) which is quite possibly the most beautiful song on incest you'll ever hear. There was nothing safe about this girl. Ever.
Of course, discovering her work for the first time as much as 18 years after it was produced, it held a completely different fascination for me. I started with the albums The Whole Story (largely a compilation) and Hounds of Love. Lyrics focus on things like government interference and the threat of nuclear warfare. It is deliciously 80's and yet like nothing you've ever heard before. And on top of that, if you dig you can find that her music tends to read like a "Before They Were Stars" episode. "Jig of Life" contains appearances by multiple musicians and arrangements by Bill Whelan who are known for this little phenomenon (though not a Strange Phenomenon....yes, that was an inside joke for those who are already fans) called "Riverdance." That's the one that pre-dates Michael Flatley hoping to be reincarnated as Irish Step Dancing Tarzan for those trying to catch up. "Experiment IV" is accompanied with a video featuring a minor part given to a fellow Brit named Hugh Laurie. That's right, I think most people call him "Dr. House" now. But before he was relying on sardonic wit and the ability to diagnose every medical mystery known to man by...well at least the third try, he was just another scientist hoping that the latest covert government experiment didn't kill him...
Kate's last album, "Ariel", was a long time coming, and while it wasn't quite "Chinese Democracy"-level disappointment, it still doesn't hold the magic of the others. The truth of it is, this one sounds like Kate may have finally caught up with the times. "The Kick Inside", "Never For Ever", even "Hounds of Love", I could still believe these were all written several years into the future. Two to three decades later and these are still all too 'forward' for the general public. "Ariel" could have been written by so many others in the early 21st century. It has its good moments, but no real ground-breaking ones. If you want the Kate Bush magic experience I would stop before this one, but if you just enjoy her music and singing style, all are fair game.
But she was someone I discovered toward the end of my high school years, a time when several people desperately need to NOT be listening to the same music as everyone else, when you felt like what was in your CD player also defines what people should think of YOU (and yes, I am completely ignoring the fact that a statement like that would now be updated to something like "what is on your iPod" Madame Bush is currently playing in the background to inspire me which means I am automatically transported to 1996-2000. What the hell is an iPod?)
In her day, Kate Bush was thrilling I'm sure. She was the first solo female artist to have a number one single and number one album on the UK charts. Never near that recognition on US charts but I'll let it slide being that she WAS British and all. She took risks. I've heard her credited as the first person to experiment with recording styles such as playing music backwards (which can be heard on "Waking the Witch") I haven't been able to confirm this yet, but it was obviously a concept used to enhance the song rather than a bunch of stoners claiming "Paul is dead" and is still such a forward idea that all the little kiddies would be freaking out if Kelly Clarkson was to attempt something like that. Her brother played accessory instruments on her albums. And by 'accessory' I don't mean the cowbell and the triangle. More like the didgeridoo and the balalaika (which, in its defense, IS rather triangular-shaped...) She ended her first album on "The Kick Inside" (of the album by the same name) which is quite possibly the most beautiful song on incest you'll ever hear. There was nothing safe about this girl. Ever.
Of course, discovering her work for the first time as much as 18 years after it was produced, it held a completely different fascination for me. I started with the albums The Whole Story (largely a compilation) and Hounds of Love. Lyrics focus on things like government interference and the threat of nuclear warfare. It is deliciously 80's and yet like nothing you've ever heard before. And on top of that, if you dig you can find that her music tends to read like a "Before They Were Stars" episode. "Jig of Life" contains appearances by multiple musicians and arrangements by Bill Whelan who are known for this little phenomenon (though not a Strange Phenomenon....yes, that was an inside joke for those who are already fans) called "Riverdance." That's the one that pre-dates Michael Flatley hoping to be reincarnated as Irish Step Dancing Tarzan for those trying to catch up. "Experiment IV" is accompanied with a video featuring a minor part given to a fellow Brit named Hugh Laurie. That's right, I think most people call him "Dr. House" now. But before he was relying on sardonic wit and the ability to diagnose every medical mystery known to man by...well at least the third try, he was just another scientist hoping that the latest covert government experiment didn't kill him...
Kate's last album, "Ariel", was a long time coming, and while it wasn't quite "Chinese Democracy"-level disappointment, it still doesn't hold the magic of the others. The truth of it is, this one sounds like Kate may have finally caught up with the times. "The Kick Inside", "Never For Ever", even "Hounds of Love", I could still believe these were all written several years into the future. Two to three decades later and these are still all too 'forward' for the general public. "Ariel" could have been written by so many others in the early 21st century. It has its good moments, but no real ground-breaking ones. If you want the Kate Bush magic experience I would stop before this one, but if you just enjoy her music and singing style, all are fair game.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Elizabeth & the Catapult
I'm surprised I'm having such a hard time with this one. I guess because while I'm thoroughly enjoying what I've heard, I've still only been through a couple listens on most of the songs and there's not much material for me to work with. But that's part of the excitement.
Elizabeth & the Catapult have only put out a 6-song EP so far. Listening to them is like beta-testing. The mp3's aren't even available on iTunes right now (they ARE on amazon.com though, I would suggest it, I mean you can pick up the whole collection for a shade over $5)
Their bio states that frontwoman Elizabeth Ziman found inspiration in the classics (particularly Debussy and Bach) sprinkled on some Beatles flavor and mixed it all together in her own style and came up with a unique sound. The Beatles influence is apparent to me in "Momma's Boy" which is arguably the most original and infectious track of the six. Not only does it sound like what would result if Eleanor Rigby and Rocky Raccoon had a baby with a sweet and mellow voice, yet tinged with a sarcastic attitude. But also this and several other songs of theirs feel like they should be accompanied by kaleidoscope patterns and 'Yellow Submarine'-like drawings.
"Waiting For the Kill" sneaks up on you, the slower, dreamier songs seem to be well-placed within the CD, "Devil's Calling" screams at you and calls you out, but it's OK because the EP is resolved with "Golden Ink" which lullabyes the whole experience out and feels oddly hopeful even juxtaposed against rather desperate lyrics.
I'm really surprised this group has been around as long as they have. If nothing else, "Momma's Boy" is a gold-mine. And if it's not well-known because they didn't want to sell their songs to the fastest "Grey's Anatomy/The OC" knock-off to get to them, then more power to 'em! But I have a feeling they're about to get big...
At least bigger than a mere 2,000 listeners on last.fm!
Elizabeth & the Catapult have only put out a 6-song EP so far. Listening to them is like beta-testing. The mp3's aren't even available on iTunes right now (they ARE on amazon.com though, I would suggest it, I mean you can pick up the whole collection for a shade over $5)
Their bio states that frontwoman Elizabeth Ziman found inspiration in the classics (particularly Debussy and Bach) sprinkled on some Beatles flavor and mixed it all together in her own style and came up with a unique sound. The Beatles influence is apparent to me in "Momma's Boy" which is arguably the most original and infectious track of the six. Not only does it sound like what would result if Eleanor Rigby and Rocky Raccoon had a baby with a sweet and mellow voice, yet tinged with a sarcastic attitude. But also this and several other songs of theirs feel like they should be accompanied by kaleidoscope patterns and 'Yellow Submarine'-like drawings.
"Waiting For the Kill" sneaks up on you, the slower, dreamier songs seem to be well-placed within the CD, "Devil's Calling" screams at you and calls you out, but it's OK because the EP is resolved with "Golden Ink" which lullabyes the whole experience out and feels oddly hopeful even juxtaposed against rather desperate lyrics.
I'm really surprised this group has been around as long as they have. If nothing else, "Momma's Boy" is a gold-mine. And if it's not well-known because they didn't want to sell their songs to the fastest "Grey's Anatomy/The OC" knock-off to get to them, then more power to 'em! But I have a feeling they're about to get big...
At least bigger than a mere 2,000 listeners on last.fm!
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