the fairer releases

to finish off my favourite albums of 2007 two fine albums by two fine ladies. i’m actually quite disappointed that i only had two releases by female artists on this list, i like to be as gender neutral as possible with my musical taste but the reality is that their are many more guys in rock ‘n’ roll. but here are two examples who could not be more different.

laura veirs saltbreakers
initially i enjoyed this album but i didn’t think it was as good as her previous release year of meteors. i think that was just my normal hesitation to hearing an artist that i really enjoy doing anything new. i now enjoy this album much more than year of meteors. it’s not that this release is amazing it’s just a smooth steady listen with solid songwriting the whole way through. what really sets her apart is her arrangements combining the fairly standard bass, drum, guitar and some piano with strings and synthesizers and some electronica to create a unique but comfortable sound. she still keeps the arrangements somewhat simple so they don’t get exhausting, like sufjan stevens has a tendency to do sometimes. the most obvious difference between this album and the last is that the arrangements are more filled out, though i think her songwriting has improved as well. not that this album is without it’s missteps there are a couple of songs such as ‘to the country’ which are lulls in the album which i don’t really mind because it spaces out the album a bit, there is also the one rocker on the album ‘phantom mountain’ which isn’t nearly as successful as the equivalent track from year of meteors ‘black gold blues’. i also can’t really endorse the title track i enjoy it but the full band call and response thing makes me chuckle every time. anyways the positives far outweigh the negatives so i recommend you check it out. some of the better tracks: ‘cast a hook’, ‘don’t lose yourself’ (included on my end of the year mix), ‘pink light’ (download below), i also enjoy the more low key tracks ‘drink deep’, and ‘wrecking’.
laura veirs – pink light.mp3

scout niblett this fool can die now
while laura veirs is one of the easier listens from my list this is probably the most difficult but without question this was my absolute favourite release of 2007 and the only one to truly blow me away. there are so many contradictory adjectives that could be used to describe it. she goes from soft and sweet to loud and raw, it keeps you on the edge of your seat it’s just a great dynamic album. i know this isn’t the type of music that’s particularly in fashion, but i wish this had gotten more attention.

scout has been on my radar for only a short time having heard a song from her previous album kidnapped by neptune on the radio over a year ago. the song, ‘lullaby for scout in 10 years’, peaked my interest enough for me to check out that album, but that was really the only song on that album that stood out so i never looked into her further. it wasn’t till i heard a new song of hers, on the radio again, that i even knew she had another album out. when i heard the song i knew immediately that it was her because of her very distinct voice but the song was much different from anything on her previous album. i downloaded the album right away, it was actually the last thing i downloaded from the now defunct music torrent site oink, and was immediately taken with it.

this album has a folksiness that was not present on kidnapped by neptune which balances the more raw elements really well without losing her minimalist style. the first two songs are great examples of this. they are both duets witch feature will oldham, who i really need to check out. they are much softer more pleasant songs than anything i had heard from her before and they even feature strings but what i think makes this album great is that she goes right from those songs into a really raw set which kicks off with her vocals over really basic drumming followed by a sort of minimalist metal song. the album sort of trades off that way throughout switching between the more folksy songs to her more raw side but always maintaining a balance. i love music with a lot of space and here is a woman who knows how to use it pushing it to the limits creating a amazing tension similar to low. her voice is on the weak side and can be a bit shrill at times but i think she uses it to good effect in her music and i rather enjoy it. the stand out track for me would amount to most of the album, but to get you started check out ‘do you want to be buried with my people’ (found on my end of the year mix), ‘kiss’ (video below), and ‘let thine heart be warned’.

it could kill me:

up next: not sure yet

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~ by mwn on January 28, 2008.