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New albums
May. 27th, 2008 08:41 pmI bought two new albums today and I am pleased to say that both of them are excellent.
The first of these is 'No, Virginia', which is what pertains to be a B-sides and rarities album but is easily the quality of their two studio albums to date. Highlights include 'Night Reconnaissance', a fantastic track which comes a little earlier in the track listing that I think it deserves to, it's one that I feel should have been a peak in the middle of the album. The track 'Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner' is also one that instantly stands out, dissonant and loud with a very dark story to tell.
And as if this week couldn't get any better when it comes to album releases, there's also Scarlett Johansson's debut album, 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' which is really something... I don't know. It's fantastic, but it's so odd that it almost invites criticism because of its eclecticism. Scarlett Johansson is an incredibly brave woman, releasing an entire album of Tom Waits covers, and doing it rather well. She's not a jaded and hoary gentleman in the autumn of his years, and so it's very different from the original songs, but they all have the original feel of stories, and her voice works very well. She sounds in several places like she's struggling with the register (Her singing voice is excellent, but is normally considerably higher than she is using here) and that adds to it. She misses notes, but she's singing like she means the lyrics, and that means more than any perfect pitch or 7-octave range.
I'm very very happy that these two albums have entered my life at the same time, they work very well together. I can also sit back and imagine Amanda and Scarlett wrestling in jelly whilst singing Leonard Cohen songs, which is nice.
The first of these is 'No, Virginia', which is what pertains to be a B-sides and rarities album but is easily the quality of their two studio albums to date. Highlights include 'Night Reconnaissance', a fantastic track which comes a little earlier in the track listing that I think it deserves to, it's one that I feel should have been a peak in the middle of the album. The track 'Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner' is also one that instantly stands out, dissonant and loud with a very dark story to tell.
And as if this week couldn't get any better when it comes to album releases, there's also Scarlett Johansson's debut album, 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' which is really something... I don't know. It's fantastic, but it's so odd that it almost invites criticism because of its eclecticism. Scarlett Johansson is an incredibly brave woman, releasing an entire album of Tom Waits covers, and doing it rather well. She's not a jaded and hoary gentleman in the autumn of his years, and so it's very different from the original songs, but they all have the original feel of stories, and her voice works very well. She sounds in several places like she's struggling with the register (Her singing voice is excellent, but is normally considerably higher than she is using here) and that adds to it. She misses notes, but she's singing like she means the lyrics, and that means more than any perfect pitch or 7-octave range.
I'm very very happy that these two albums have entered my life at the same time, they work very well together. I can also sit back and imagine Amanda and Scarlett wrestling in jelly whilst singing Leonard Cohen songs, which is nice.
