spynotes ::
  April 13, 2007
April in Paris

In response to yesterday's post, Dr. Geek rightly pointed out that I should be energizing myself with music. It is a technique I use often, but one of the hazards of being a musician and musicologist is that when I am working, I am usually working on music and therefore can't play other music at the same time. Of course, the fact that I get to work on music is also a great pleasure and why I'm in this crazy business in the first place.

But today I am back to taxes and so I am also back to pleasure listening, which means I'm finally getting around to giving a listen to the fabulous mix CDs sent to me last week by the good Doctor himself. Actually, I started listening a while ago, but I accidentally deleted my review because I am an idiot, and I had to go back and do it again. Let this be a lesson to you. Although what lesson, 'm not exactly sure.

Anyway, here's my take on Dr. Geek's harri3t mix (aw, it's named after me and everything!). First of all, I have to say that this is the nicest looking mix CD I've ever received. Since I am lazy and my digital camera is downstairs, you will just have to take my word for it. And I have to confess, until I received this lovely disk with a nice montage of all the album covers from which the mix was drawn, I did not know that I could make my mixes look just as nice without any new software. So thanks, Dr. Geek, for demonstrating to me that my iTunes mixes don't need to be such an aesthetic abomination. But also, there are photos on the disks themselves and this I have not yet been able to do, as the software I have never seems to work properly.

But you probably don't care much about the eye-candy, especially since I'm too lazy to provide you with a visual aid. How about the tunes?

1. Muddy Waters: Mannish Boy. Are you psychic, Dr. Geek? Actually, you'd have to be beyond psychic. You'd have to not just be reading my mind, but seeing into the future, because the evening before this mix arrived in my mailbox, I heard this song on the radio and decided I must own it as soon as possible. And there it was in the mailbox the very next day! There must be something to this law of attraction thing. This is a classic blues tune and everyone should own it. I recommend deciding right now you should own it and then maybe it will be in your mailbox tomorrow too.

2. Willy Porter: Jesus on the Grille. This is not a singer I was familiar with, but this song is hilarious with a nice bluesy country beat . He reminds me a little of Jack Johnson with a little more guts. Extra points for the coda, "Man, where's Moses?"

3. Treat Her Right: No reason. I thought at first that this was another new-to-me group, but then I recognized the song. I went to look them up and realized I saw this band play in college before they had an album. They were opening for somebody, but I can't remember who. Scruffy the Cat perhaps. An unusual vocal/instrumental match. Like a metal singer in a country band. It works and it's a good song.

4. James Hunter: Smoke without Fire. I don't think I've heard this song before, nor have I heard of the artist, but I was convinced it was some classic artist that I'd missed. When I looked him up, I saw that he's a young British white guy singing R & B. His band is incredibly tight and I'm a little in love with the saxophonist. You can listen to more on his website. I'll be checking out the rest of the album.

5. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black. I am not familiar with this singer, but I will be looking for more. I love her voice. It's all the more impressive because the first half of the song is largely on one note and she makes it incredibly expressive. It's a Motown sound but a jazz aesthetic. Another contemporary British singer with a vintage sound and the chops to back it up.

6. Tift Merritt: Still Pretending. Yet another new-to-me artist, this is more in the country camp. A beautiful ballad with another fabulous voice. Her myspace page lists as two of her influences Emmylou Harris and Eudora Welty.

7. The Jayhawks: Sister Cry. I've been a Jayhawks fan ever since Mr. Spy gifted me with copy of Tomorrow the Green Grass over a decade ago. This song is from an earlier album that I haven't heard. It's classic Jayhawks, though, with some nice piano riffing and their distinctive vocal harmonies. This is a slow tune but with a contained anxiety that sounds like it could burst out into some serious hard rocking given little provocation. A nice addition to my Jayhawks collection.

8. Wilco: She's a Jar. This is a song off of Summerteeth, which is one of the few Wilco albums I haven't heard. I recently downloaded another tune off this album ("Via Chicago") for a Windy City mix, so the rest of the album my be in my future. The thing that struck me about this song was its string and harmonica parts -- something about them reminds me of some of Sufjan Stevens' arrangements on Illinoise, which I've been listening to a lot lately. But it still sounds firmly like Wilco.

9. The Little Willies: Best of All Possible Worlds. I saw the title of this song and was immediately launched into the soundtrack to Candide. Let me save you all some trouble: The Little Willies bear little in common with either Leonard Bernstein or Voltaire. The song was written by Kris Kristofferson and is a genre that when I was young I used to refer to as "Truck Stop Music," which is technically, I believe, honky tonk. But listen carefully to the vocals. Recognize the female voice? It's Norah Jones.

10. Fairground Attraction: Clare. This track was slightly damaged and I had a little trouble getting it to play, but it was worth the wait. It opens with a clarinet swoop reminiscent of Gershwin, but quickly turns into a cabaret song with an edgy (and I hate to use that word) vocal performance, so controlled it's on the brink. She does remarkable things. My favorite song so far.

11. Madeleine Peyroux: La Javanaise. The string quartet opening sounds both Victorian and a little unhinged, which sets the stage for Peyroux's dusky vocals. She lets a her simplistic (in a good way) delivery slip every now and then to reveal more complex tones -- more vibrato, the edge of a pitch, the line between speech and song -- show. The result is a sense of someone who appears innocent but has much more experience than is first apparent. An intriguing vocalist.

That's it for disk one. I'll tackle disk two as soon as I am able. But so far, I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Geek for introducing me to some top notch vocalists as well as some unfamiliar songs by old favorites. And of course, he's psychic.

4 people said it like they meant it

 
:: last :: next :: random :: newest :: archives ::
:: :: profile :: notes :: g-book :: email ::
::rings/links :: 100 things :: design :: host ::

(c) 2003-2007 harri3tspy

<< chicago blogs >>