SOUNDTRACK: MARTHA WAINWRIGHT-I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too (2008).
I’ve been a fan of Loudon for years. I also rather enjoy Rufus. So why not check out Rufus’ sister Martha and see how she stacks up in the family canon. Actually, it’s not fair to compare because she is an entity all to herself. And indeed, I feel that she sounds nothing like her family (maybe a weeeeee bit like Rufus, but not really).
In fact, I find that Martha’s voice rests comfortably between Mary Margaret O’Hara, Jane Siberry and, somewhat surprisingly, Patti Smith.
Lyrically, the title of the album pretty well tells you where she’s coming from: smart-assed and a little pissed off. But the real question is what kind of songs does she actually write? Well, the second song on this disc “You Cheated Me” is so strong and so catchy I was convinced it was a cover.
The rest of the disc is an exciting collection of styles: baroque arrangements, pop folk, and even straight ahead rock. There are times when the songs are not so much difficult as cantankerous: with her vocals reaching extraordinary heights. But it’s not just Martha showing off her range, the vocals work very well with the lyrics.
She also adds two covers on the disc: Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” which she takes some of the weirdness out of but which adds a bit of her own eccentricities to it. (It’s a great cover). The other cover is the Euryhthmics’ “Love is a Stranger” which doesn’t sound like a cover until the chorus kicks in.
I feel like the disc is a little long (somehow it feels like it should end after “See Emily Play”) but that’s not really that big of a complaint. Even though Martha sounds like others, she is still quite a unique presence, and this is a worthy CD for anyone who likes quirky singer songwriters.
[READ: Week of March 1, 2010] 2666 [pg 353-404]
I was bracing myself for a horrific section here. The Part About the Crimes is 280 pages of women being killed in graphic detail. Well, that turned out to be not exactly true. At least so far.
Nevertheless, the Part is largely filled with crime scene details about the many many women who died in the Santa Teresa region between 1993 and the beginning of 1994.
For my sanity I’m not going to detail all of the young women who were killed in this Part. I know someone on bolanobolano is detailing all of the deaths in the book, so I’ll assume that that is dealt with there. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 