LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Sound |
by Blair Fraipont |
Some Sounds Sizzle While Others Fizzle
I've devised a new rating system using mostly Food Network stars to decode the values: A+ Julia Child: Classic. A Iron Chef: Sometimes otherworldly. Often wide-ranging. Thoroughly satisfying anyway you cut it. A- Giada De Laurentiis: Italian may not be everyone's choice, but you can't deny the strength of the end results. B+ Tyler Florence: At least half of what he cooks is solid to great. The other half ain't too shabby. B Ace of Cakes: I can't say I'd buy their cakes, but I raise my glass to the effort. B- Barefoot Contessa: To those who appreciate her aesthetic, she's a goddess. To me, she's tepid-to-hot but never boiling. C+ Paula Dean: A hack job overall. Well, at least it is greasy. C Rachel Ray: She's peppy, she's pedestrian, she's got a few good ideas, but who cares? C- Sandra Lee: Semi-homemade translates as either de trop, lazy or just semi-tainted. D Diner Cakes: Unfathomably dry, lacking any true style or flavor. They may seem good from time to time, yet, overall they're just crap. E Health Food: Little pleasure, if any, can be derived from this contrived assault. F Mushroom & Raisin Jubilee: My personal vision of hell. Herbie Hancock River: The Joni Letters(Verve) B- If you want Joni Mitchell transposed into torch, this is your best bet. You've got Norah Jones adding her breathy stamp to "Court & Spark" and Corinne Bailey Rae contributes unnecessary sweetener to River. Tina Turner, of all people, turns "Edith and the Kingpin" into a dull lounge number. Even Joni makes an appearanceon her own tribute album no lesson a forgotten '80s cut that sounded better with synths and layers of Wendy and Lisa. Hancock revives "Nefertiti," one of Joni's personal Miles Davis favorites, which sounded better with Tony Williams burning behind the kit. What keeps this record stirring is Herbie's agile touch and mild soloing throughout. My favorite part is Leonard Cohen's husky recitation of "The Jungle Line." Antony & the Johnsons Another World(Secretly Canadian) C In a world where global warming has become a trouble reality to many, it was sooner or later that someone would mirror these fears in song. Antony's "Another World" is the emo kid-sister to Melissa Etheridge's Oscar-winning, "I Need to Wake Up." Yet, Hegarty's sad sack of a title track accepts our doomed fate to destroy ourselves over mournful piano not unlike any of his preceding work. Resignation never sounded so pitiful nor helpless. Laura Nyro was just as wishy-washy in her later years, yet she exuded hope and strength in her outrage. Nyro's idealism is charming and sincere compared to Antony's nihilism. Both share the dream of a feminist revolution. Yet, in the end, I'd rather listen to plans of overthrowing the patriarchy than giving in to the dying of the light. Ra Ra Riot The Rhumb Line (Barsuk) B My first impression was that this sounded like a blanched Vampire Weekend. The Rhumb Line lacks VW's colorful, catchy hooks, snobbish lyrics, exploitative musicology etc., but shares its quick pace, melodic singing and string section for texture. This quintet's violin and cello allow a thicker sound than VWwhich helps because their songs are such ambiguous meditations on distanced relationships. But are they of the corporeal or the spiritual (the drowning of bandmate John Pike inspired the recordings)? This is beside the point: the music is the anodyne to the heady, wearisome melodrama. Sadly, only when they tackle Kate Bush and incorporate e. e. cummings do they really shine. Email Blair Fraipont at blairfraipont@gmail.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 01 February 06, 2009 |