I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Asking for Flowers (2008).

I first heard of Kathleen Edwards because of her duet with John Doe on “The Golden State.”  I thought her voice was great and I wanted to hear more.  I picked this album because it was her newest.

My first impression was mild.  I thought initially, great, I’ve gotten yet another Canadian country singer.  And yet, as with Neko Case, there’s something about Canadian country-tinged music that I really like (I’m not a fan of U.S. country, by and large).  And so, while there are trapping of country music on this disc (slide guitar is scattered throughout), after the third or fourth listen, something clicked and I fell hard for this disc.

While listening, especially on the more rocking songs, I kept thinking of The Tragically Hip.  And while I would not in any way say she sounds like the Hip, there is something about her sensibility, lyrically and tonally, that I think is very Hip-like.  She sings with great passion about moderately esoteric things and about Canadiana (referencing Gretsky in one song, titling another song “Oh Canada”).  And as The Hip have recently released a more folky album, the two could probably share a coffeehouse stage quite easily.

Edwards’ voice is beautiful.  But it wasn’t until I really started hearing her lyrics that it made the songs that much more intense.

“The Cheapest Key” is a rollicking song (that reminds me of The Hip in many ways).  Especially the lyrics: “A is for all the times I bit my tongue / B is for bullshit and you fed me some.”  And while I think the whole disc is great, it’s the trifecta of “I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory,” “Oil Man’s War” and “Sure as Shit” that makes this album amazing.  Lyrically, musically, passionately, they’re simply awesome.  Individually, each song is great, but together, the rocking humor of “Dough” followed by the moving sadness of “Oil Man’s War” and the mildly vulgar wit of “Sure as Shit” show such depth in just three songs.

She also pulls out a really powerful song in “Oh Canada.”  I recently wagged my finger at The Trews for being too preachy on their song “Gun Control,” Edwards tackles a similar subject by going in a different direction and by making poetry, not preachery: ” It’s not the year of the gun / We don’t say it out loud / There are no headlines / When a black girl dies / It’s not the lack of a sense / It’s called ambivalence.”

The final song, “Goodnight California” has a chord progression that sounds somewhat familiar, and yet the vocal line she lays on top of it is different, just off enough to be really enchanting.  And even though it is a slow moody piece, it has a fairly scorching harmonica (!) solo.

I’m delighted to see that she has other discs out because I can’t wait to hear more from her.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Fanshawe”

This Shouts & Murmurs piece was really funny.  It was easily the funniest one I have read in a long time.  It reminded me a lot of early funny Woody Allen pieces (especially when he mentions what the mother died from).

The story is about Fanshawe.  He has just the one name (and comes from a long line of people named simply, Fanshawe. 

In fact, everyone in his family is named Fanshawe, just one name.  This in itself isn’t all that funny, but the absurd situations that Frazier creates (like marrying a woman named “Maria Conchita Something Something DiBiasio y Cosmo Something”) are quite giggle- inducing.

But the best part of the story comes near the end when the author interrupts the proceedings to say what a mistake it was to create a family of characters with the whole name.  Very funny.

It’s available here.