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Fri, 18 Feb 2005

Before the Poison / Marianne Faithfull
Before the Poison Some performers age gracefully. Some, like Petula Clark, barely seem to age at all. And then there are those who are barely recognizable as their former selves. They remind is, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, of our own journey from bright and optimistic youth to sour cynicism.

I first learned of Marianne Faithfull through As Tears Go By, her 1964 cover of a Rolling Stones hit. The next time I encountered her was my freshman year of college, when the student union ran a film called Naked Under Leather. (She was.) The film made something of an impression. What can I say? I was at an impressionable age.

It's forty years after that first experience and thirty from the second. And the innocent-sounding waif of 1964, who rerecorded As Time Goes By in 1987, has become a world-weary older woman.

We can hear the toll the years have taken on Ms. Faithfull, just as they will do with each of us. We don't recognize the contrast in ourselves quite so clearly. Perhaps there's a small blessing in the way vision, hearing and memory all soften as we get older.

[ Category: Alternative | 1 comment | Link ]


Wed, 29 Dec 2004

Absent Friends / The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy It was the name of the band that got me to stop and listen to a little of Absent Friends. The vocalist reminds me of Jim Morrison, although the melodies aren't nearly so memorable. Still, there's something haunting in their performances, something that makes me want to listen a few more times.

Perhaps the biggest weakness of the iTMS, next to its incomplete selection, is the lack of information on most releases. Never having heard of this version of The Divine Comedy (I read a translation of Alighieri's Inferno in college, as well as Niven & Pournelle's take on the story), I'd have liked to know something about the band, its influences, its history, its other efforts. That's one place where Amazon still wins big, with its combination of professional (although not in this case) and amateur reviews. On the other hand, the advantages of price and immediacy are not to be sneezed at.

[ Category: Alternative | 1 comment | Link ]


Fri, 19 Nov 2004

Final Straw / Snow Patrol
Over on my other blog, I wrote a piece a few days ago about a lecture by Malcolm Gladwell. The subject was how human nature works against things like focus groups and product testing. One of his examples concerns a study where subjects were asked to pick a poster they liked. When subjects were told they'd have to explain their choice, they chose differently. The reason, at least according to Mr. Gladwell, is that they lacked the vocabulary to explain their real preference. So they changed that preference to one they could articulate.

I mention this because I don't have much to say about this album except that I like it. I think I like it because it reminds me a little of Donovan. But not all that much. Maybe I just like the low key nature of the performance. Or maybe not. The point is that I like them. And if your taste is anything like mine, you might too.

Oh, and one other point: I have a feeling this isn't the only album I'll write about here where I'll be completely inarticulate. Isn't it a good thing the iTMS lets you sample for yourself? Heck, how does anybody choose music from words on a screen? You gotta hear it, right?

Final Straw
[ Category: Alternative | Add a comment | Link ]


Wed, 17 Nov 2004

Jealousy and Diamond / Autistic Daughters
Jealousy and Diamond I don't know what I expected from a group called Autistic Daughters, but this certainly certainly wasn't it. Such a provocative name suggests headbanger rock. Instead, what you get is atmospheric acoustic guitar and quiet vocals, a kind of background music that belies the complexity of the performances here. This is about as uncommercial a collection of tracks as I've encountered anywhere. And not just because the music doesn't scream, "Hey, look at me!" The combination of not really hummable melodies and long tracks (the shortest is five and a half minutes; the longest almost twelve) means that mainstream radio isn't likely to highlight these guys. Just as well that I stopped listening to mainstream radio a long time ago.
[ Category: Alternative | Add a comment | Link ]


Wed, 20 Oct 2004

Different Stars / Trespassers William
Different Stars Never underestimate the value of a good name. I'd never heard of Trespassers William before they showed up on the iTMS. But I gave them a try just on their choice of name. Veruca Salt got their inspiration from that annoying girl in Willy Wonka; these folks went back to Winnie The Pooh's friend Piglet, and the sign over his home that said Trespassers Will...

But of course a name will only take you so far. (Unless that name is Bush. But that's another rant for another time.) The music is what matters, right? And on this album Trespassers William produce sweet and melancholy melodies. Just perfect for a gray and rainy day like this one. And it's always gray and rainy somewhere.

[ Category: Alternative | Add a comment | Link ]


Wed, 06 Oct 2004

Everything Changed / Abra Moore
You know what iTMS needs? It needs bookmarks, some convenient way to record an album you find intriguing enough to want to return but for whatever reason doesn't get you to open your wallet. Because without bookmarks, things could get lost. Buried treasures are cool in pirates stories, but not so much in real life.

I discovered Abra Moore during the early days of the store, probably by following one of those "People who bought this also bought that" links. Unfortunately, I was watching my pennies at the time and her album didn't make the cut. There were a few others like that, whose titles I'm now trying without much luck to dredge from an ever more sieve-like memory. Heck, it was by accident that I rediscovered Ms. Moore again after more than a year. And I'm wondering how I let her go the first time. Not making that mistake again...

Everything Changed
[ Category: Alternative | 1 comment | Link ]


Tue, 21 Sep 2004

Beautiful Collision / Bic Runga
Beautiful Collision Thanks to the iTMS, I have a reason to look forward to Tuesdays. Because that's when Apple updates the Music Store with all the new music for the week. I have a little ritual, where I skip through all the covers on the front page of the store, looking for something new to sample. Some weeks I come up empty; nothing grabs me. Other times I find an album with a pleasant track or two, but not enough to justify a purchase. (I don't buy single tracks. If I find an artist I like, I want to have enough of their music to last me a while.) And then there are the unexpected finds, the discs that are more than a bunch of pleasant tracks.

This is one of the latter. The songs themselves are nice, interesting and varied enough to make for a satisfying 39:45 of listening. But Ms. Runga's voice; that's something special. When one of her tracks shows up in one of my Smart Playlists, I can feel the shiver up my spine. It's that kind of voice.

[ Category: Alternative | Add a comment | Link ]


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