SOUNDTRACK: TORI AMOS-Midwinter Graces (2009).
I had loved Tori Amos for many years, but I got bored with her mid 2000s works, they were too adult contemporary for my liking. So I wasn’t that excited to hear this Christmas album. But Sarah bought it for me that year anyhow, and I have really grown to like it a lot. At the same time there are a few things about it that drive me insane–particularly the crazy and I’ll say it, stupid way she pronounces words in her songs.
If Tori were not a native English speaker I would forgive her (I love a lot of non native English speakers as singers). But she was born in the US and now lives in England and none of the weird things she does reflect any “accent” nor do they reflect the way she speaks. She has a very distinctive way of mispronouncing certain words (which she seems to have developed late in her career) which is maddening and often makes the words unintelligible. Why would one do that?
That aside, the melodies and (most) vocals are really lovely. For this album Tori takes some bits of traditional carols and tinkers with them. The accompanying DVD has an interview in which she explains her inspiration. But without knowing this, some of these versions can be very upsetting. The first time I heard the first song I just did not understand what was happening–it’s just so wrong. And while I’m not saying I “get” it now, but I enjoy it more because it uses the carols as a jumping off point..
“What Child, Nowell” is very disconcerting because the song changes so many different things at once. It has a string section opening and then lyrics to What Child is This (in a very different melody). When she switches the vocal line in the “this this” part, you know something’s up, and when it jumps to the Nowell section (which is also done differently), well, who knows what’s happening. It’s an unusual track but lovely. “Star of Wonder” has a very cool middle eastern lick. It opens with the we three kings line, but is immediately changed into something different (lyrics and melodies). I just love the chorus of this which modifies “star of wonder” in a cool way. “A Silent Night with You” is a romantic song (her voice sounds a little funny) But the melody is very pretty. “Candle” Coventry Carol” I don’t recognize the melody of the Candle part but the Coventry Carol party has a wonderful Victorian melody (it could do with more olde instruments, I think).
“Holly Ivy an Rose” has a pretty piano melody. I love the melody even more when the chorus comes in. But I genuinely don’t like when Tash’s voice kicks in—it feels flat to me. I appreciate her using her daughter (and I feel bad criticizing a nine-year old), but I think Tori’s voice sounds so magical that her daughter’s voice just can’t match. “Harps of Gold” I didn’t realiy like the musical opening of this (the guitars sound really pale compared to the rest of the disc, but I love the drums –simple but so effective). This song is the one where I really noticed how weird Tori emphasizes words now. I was sure that she she was singing “Napoleon” (Nah ha poh ho lee un) which I know made literally no sense for the song. In fact she is singing “Gloria” (Gluh hoe hoe Ree uh). That speaks volumes about how weirdly she has been emphasizing words on the last few albums. Despite that weirdness, I really like this song and I will continue to sing “Napoleon.”
“Snow Angel” is a bit adult contemporary for me, but I find myself singing it a lot, so I must like it. “Jeanette, Isabella” is a pretty song with a lovely melody but for some reason it’s not very catchy. “Pink and Glitter” is a big band type swing number. It comes as quite a shock after the mellow song before it). I love the chorus—Tori’s voice works very well with this style of music. But again, what’s with the weird emphasis. “honorable mention” is sung strangely: “men she un.” And worse yet, the song ends with the word “pink” and yet she sings it without the final k so I was sure she was singing “shower the world with pain.” What gives?
“Emmanuel” begins with the “O come O come” lines. It’s a little too slow. This is another song where she mispronounces words on purpose–the way she says Israel is crazy. But as soon as it switches to her own song, it becomes quite lovely. “Winter’s Carol” is actually from her musical ‘The Light Princess.” It reminds me a bit of her song Marianne and it’s really quite nice musically, but again, the way the words are sung is insane: “first song oov the robin, i koh through the land” Its a shame her pronunciation is so awful because the song is quite lovely (and the lyrics are good too). I love the backing vocals–her niece sings them and she is quite fabulous. The disc proper ends with “Our New Year,” it is a pretty song with nice string arrangements but a rather sad sentiment and kind of a downer way to end the record.
My copy has two bonus tracks: “Comfort and Joy” It plays on the lyrics of “let nothing you dismay” and “glad tidings.” It’s a totally different with a slow angsty ballad. “Silent Night” is a mostly straight but with some different lyrics in the later verses. But why does she say “pierce” instead of “peace?”
[READ: December 23, 2014] Locke & Key 4
This book opens with a tribute to Bill Watterson, in which all of the scenes in Bode’s head resemble Calvin and Hobbes (somewhat). Bode is ostracized in school because he’s pretty weird. His mom wants him to have friends, but he doesn’t seem to be able to make any. But when he finds the animal key (which Scout used to transform into a wolf), Bode transforms into a…sparrow? He is bummed until he realizes the power of a group. And when he and his bird friends are able to take on the wolf, that’s pretty awesome (this is, sadly the bloodiest section so far in the book).
Chapter Two introduces us to the color key, in which Kinsley is able to turn into a black girl. She does this when she realizes that the woman who wrote her name next to her father’s in that underwater cave is in the nearby madhouse. The woman, Erin Voss, is black. And racism is rampant in this section of town (and in the asylum). Of course, when she screams the word white, it’s not because Kinsey is white, but because of something that Scout has done to her.
Chapter Three is set up in an interesting way. Each day of the month is represented by some event (with very little in the way of context). So there’s an embarrassing hockey loss for Ty, a breakup between Kinsey and Zack, and on the weekends they fight shadowy evils. They also find some more keys, one appears to be for a cupboard filled of all kinds of things, another is a Hercules key. There’s a lot of tears (and bloodshed) in February. (more…)
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VIJAY IYER TRIO-Tiny Desk Concert #438 (May 4, 2015).
I was unfamiliar with Vijay Iyer, but I really enjoyed this Tiny Desk Concert. Iyer is a jazz improv artist and composer (although all of these pieces have titles and come from previous albums). The first four (of five) pieces are fast and eccentric, with interesting rhythms both in the drums (by Marcus Gilmore) and the piano. There’s an upright bass too (Stephan Crump) but I feel like he’s not very audible during the early medley.
I Just Read About That... 