I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ST. VINCENT-“Savior” (2018).

St. Vincent has morphed from guitar goddess (with her own signature guitar) into a  synthy pop goddess (of sorts).  Her last album Masseduction sounded like it eschewed guitars altogether (it didn’t, exactly).  When I saw her live, she played guitar on every track (and was the only performer which was pretty awesome) but it rarely sounded like a guitar (which was cool in its own way).

So Masseduction was quite different from her earlier guitar-heavy albums.  It even featured a song based around the piano.

Now Annie Clark has reissued Masseduction as Masseducation (which is how I and many other people read the other title originally) and has more or less traded in the production and synth for piano.

The new version “pairs Clark’s resonant voice with Doveman’s Thomas Bartlett on piano. Intimate and focused, the reworked songs were performed and recorded in two days at Manhattan’s Electric Lady Studio. A handwritten letter by Clark sets the scene for this process: “Thomas and I faced each other — him, hunched over a grand piano, me, curled on a couch.”” [from NPR].

One thing that Masseduction showed was how fantastic Annie Clark’s voice is.  I’m not sure if I never noticed that her voice was great because I was focused on so much else or if she didn’t showcase it as much, but she hit and held notes that were really quite impressive.

“Savior” originally featured a slinky guitar line with bits of wah-wah on it (slightly porn-y to be sure, especially given the topic of the song).  The bridge picked things up and with each subsequent verse more and more was added (backing vocals, big drums and sound effects).  When the song reached the third part, the “pleeeease” it totally soared.

This new version opens with a muted piano, rather than slinky guitar.  The music seems to accentuate the words (which seem much more kinky in this version).  The song doesn’t build like the previous one did, although the switch from muted piano to deep bass notes is surprisingly effective.  The “pleeeease” section totally subverts the previous version.  Rather than getting big and powerful, the song actually grows quieter, more pleading.  It’s a cool twist on the same music/words.  And I like that you can hear the spoken words at the end of the song (which you really couldn’t on the original release).

This stripping of the production really makes you focus on the words (which were sometimes lost on the full album).  Annie must be pretty pleased with the ones she wrote.  I’m curious what this will do to the rest of the album.

[READ: January 7, 2017] “Vespa”

This is the story about Mark and his Vespa.  He loved his Vespa.  It allowed him a lot of freedom yes, but he also loved the look of it.

It also took him to see his girlfriend, Yasmin, in Manchester.  They were in love (and were even engaged on Facebook!).  He parked the Vespa at her school where it would be safe–even though she didn’t go to school on Fridays.

She told him to take a bus to an empty house where they could make love.  She had been there before.  (I like the way that detail was just tossed in there).

Later that day, when they went back to the school, his Vespa was gone.

Mark’s mother was dismissive of his concern–she thought that he must have parked it elsewhere.  Of course, he couldn’t tell her that Yasmin skipped school or that they were planning to have sex in an empty house.   But still, you’d think she would be more upset about it.

His mom says to call Yasmin in case she might know where he “really” parked it.  Yasmin tells him to look around back–maybe someone played a prank on him.  And there it is!

But when he gets closer he sees that the engine has been stolen.

The policeman is even more suspicious when a few days later the engine is magically reinstalled on his bike.  It seems that Yasmin was “able to get them to put it back on.”

The policeman has all kinds of questions for Mark, like why he left the bike there after the motor was stolen.  Then the policeman says that it sounds like your girlfriend is an old hat at this: “She tells you where to find it. Lo and behold there it is..  With no motor.  Your girlfriend says not to worry.   Lo and behold the motor reappears.”

He tells the policeman about Yasmin–her name and phone number.  A few days later the policemen wants to know why the phone–Yasmin’s phone–is in Mark’s name.  Mark explains that she hadn’t had her ID, so he gave his name as a guarantor.

The policeman doesn’t think that Mark is guilty, just very naive.

Finally Mark’s father asks Yasmin about the bike saga.  She said that as soon as she heard what happened, she put the word around that it was her boyfriend’s bike.  She’d been a bit surprised herself when the motor reappeared.  “I guess I must be popular,” she laughed.

Mark’s father says he thinks that Yasmin knew the guys who took it–like the policeman (and the reader) he is very suspicious of this girl.

Obviously Mark has some decisions to make.  And I love that one of those decisions comes when he tries to answer his cell phone while on his Vespa.