Sinister/State Of Hope-Loney, Dear
Like most music fanatics, i am always searching for new sounds and bands. When i talk music with other people, though, i am often never surprised by the artist they believe they are introducing. As in the statement "have you heard of..." i often have. About 90% of the time, i've at least heard of the band or artists...through word-of-mouth or blogs or magazines. In any event, Loney, Dear was somebody i'd never heard or read about. Even more surprisingly, since i am such a Scandinavianophile; Loney, Dear (actually one man named Emil Svanängen) is from Sweden. So i asked my friend Liz to send me a copy of the CD.
Ever been in a really bad dour mood and then just hear a song which is so transcendent that it lifts your spirits? It can be a song you know really well or one you've never heard before. From the opening moments of "Sinister/State of Hope" my previously dark mood was lifted. Svanangen has an astonishingly beautiful voice--definitely a Scandinavian sound to it. As soon as he started singing on this track, i thought "sigur ros". That is only a good thing. His voice actually is somewhere between sigur ros and the Norwegian singer Evan Johanesen (Magnet). The lyrics are very simple and made me think of some existential late night crisis...a period of swinging between incredible doubt and great hope. And when he sings "when all i want, all i want, is a state of hope, with all i want summer night, and i didn't hope, for something i couldn't have. you turn me down" is heartwrenching. So gorgeous.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
It's All True-Tracey Thorn
This is a new single from Tracey Thorn, of Everything But The Girl. EBTG have not broken up....apparently this is just a solo venture while he runs his record label and DJ's and produces.
Sometime in the mid 80's, Chicago got a new radio station, WNUA. WNUA introduced me to the horrors of the word "smooth jazz." It is, unfortunately, the first place i ever heard David Sanborn or Andreas Vollenweider or Kenny G. It is, interestingly enough, the first place i ever heard Everything But The Girl. EBTG were a band that had a hard time getting airplay in the United States. They did have a jazzy side to them, although i would argue (and frankly, i think correctly) that their are as much influenced by Brazilian bossa nova and Jobim as they are English pop. Not only with the arraignments, but with Tracey's voice, which has this lilting melancholic understated quality to it. But they never really fit in for radio...they certainly were not "alternative" enough for college/alternative radio. But i fell for them when i first heard "I Always Was Your Girl", which is a beautiful song. I became a huge fan and went back and purchased their whole back catalog. When they transitioned to dance, i went with them...i had the "Missing" single about a year before it went to #2 in the US.
My only complaint: they wait too long between CD's....so i am thrilled that Tracey is releasing a new single.
In any event, its great. It has a quirky somewhat 80's electro vibe to it...its a great spring/early summer. And the vocals are sublime. I haven't heard the whole CD yet (today, tomorrow) but can't wait. Also great are the remixes, most notably the Escort and Martin Buttrich remixes.
Sometime in the mid 80's, Chicago got a new radio station, WNUA. WNUA introduced me to the horrors of the word "smooth jazz." It is, unfortunately, the first place i ever heard David Sanborn or Andreas Vollenweider or Kenny G. It is, interestingly enough, the first place i ever heard Everything But The Girl. EBTG were a band that had a hard time getting airplay in the United States. They did have a jazzy side to them, although i would argue (and frankly, i think correctly) that their are as much influenced by Brazilian bossa nova and Jobim as they are English pop. Not only with the arraignments, but with Tracey's voice, which has this lilting melancholic understated quality to it. But they never really fit in for radio...they certainly were not "alternative" enough for college/alternative radio. But i fell for them when i first heard "I Always Was Your Girl", which is a beautiful song. I became a huge fan and went back and purchased their whole back catalog. When they transitioned to dance, i went with them...i had the "Missing" single about a year before it went to #2 in the US.
My only complaint: they wait too long between CD's....so i am thrilled that Tracey is releasing a new single.
In any event, its great. It has a quirky somewhat 80's electro vibe to it...its a great spring/early summer. And the vocals are sublime. I haven't heard the whole CD yet (today, tomorrow) but can't wait. Also great are the remixes, most notably the Escort and Martin Buttrich remixes.
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