From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V12 #485 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Wednesday, October 29 2008 Volume 12 : Number 485 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Eno whirls up a Hurricane? [KWil632057@aol.com] Re: [AVALON] Eno whirls up a Hurricane? ["Michiel van Sleen" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Eno whirls up a Hurricane? Not now, J! - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 9:01 PM Subject: [AVALON] Eno whirls up a Hurricane? > Thrilled to hear the new Grace Jones album recently. While Grace's > blistering version of Love is the Drug remains my favourite cover of a > Roxy > tune, I > must admit that my interest was piqued in her new material by the news of > Eno's > involvement. While my review copy is annoyingly missing it's sleeve > notes, > rendering Eno's contribution a mystery, there are at least two or three > tracks > that could well have been given the Brian treatment... > > Oh for a new Roxy album to get this kind of reaction... > > The first thing to say about bHurricaneb is that it is a classy bit of > work, > and Ibm not just saying that because Ibm old enough to remember Russell > Harty. The production values on this CD are high, the list of > collaborators > (Brian Eno, Tricky, Sly and Robbie amongst others) stellar, the songs > strong, > Grace Jonesb voice inimitable. She makes her own rules, does Grace, > always > has, > no doubt always will, her voice is her own and no-one elsebs, a rare > commodity in these corporate and homogenised times. Let this be said > because > this > album is good, very good, and it deserves to be measured against the > highest > standards, which is Ibm sure just how Ms Jones would want it. > Even measured against those highest standards, there is little to complain > about. bSunset Sunriseb is not just classic Grace Jones, it is classic > pure > and simple, with an infectious pop reggae rhythm (thatbs Sly and Robbie > for > you), memorable melody, strong lyrics, a sentiment befitting someone, how > to > put > this, not as young as once she was. I donbt mean to be rude here - the > sooner we get over this ridiculous glorification of youth that has > plagued > our > culture for decades the better. Webre all going to get old and die so > get > over > it, which is incidentally one of the things this song says, with the > wisdom > and lightness of touch which comes with age. I also donbt mean to imply > that > she doesnbt still look fantastic because she does, far better if you ask > me > than the sleek, androgynous and implausibly shiny Jones that graced the > cover > of > Island Life, but I digress. > It feels indelicate to mention this, but it has been nearly twenty-five > years since her last album, and in model/pop star terms she was old then > (nearly > thirty perhaps, the mind boggles). This is relevant only because one of > the > things that lifts this album above the ordinary is the way that she is > not > masking anything, ignoring or distorting where she is at right now, but > rather > simply singing about her life with daring, self-assurance, and a > surprising > amount of heartfelt reminiscence. See for example bIbm Crying > (Motherbs > Tears)b > (note the position of the apostrophe - she is not crying the tears of > mothers in general here) and the upcoming single bWilliamsb Bloodb. > bLove You To Lifeb and bWell Well Wellb also bring to the fore the > pop > reggae vibe that works so well whenever it appears on this album, some > distance > away from the clipped and brittle groove that defined older tracks such > as > b > Pull Up To The Bumper Babyb and bLove is the Drugb, and giving the > songs a > glorious uplifting mood even when the underlying message of the song is > more > sombre or reflective. > The other tracks explore a harder-edged, darker sound, which is where the > high standards come into play. Listened to in the background they have > enough > hooks to keep the brain engaged, and the lyrical content is on the whole > strong. Even the opening track bThis Isb, which threatens to be little > more than > vapid posturing (bThis is my voice/My weapon of choiceb) is redeemed by > the > rest of the album, where she really does use her voice (not just her > singing > voice, but her attitude, her whole mode of being) as a weapon. But listen > more > carefully, and a few worries appear. There is no lack of inspired ideas - > on > the contrary, on tracks like bCorporate Cannibalb, bDevil In My Lifeb > and b > This Isb, the problem is that there are too many ideas, which tend to > pile > up against each other without the kind of careful development that could > make > them shine. And the lightness of touch which made the rhythm section such > a > joy on the more reggae-inspired numbers translates into a lack of > aggression > to match the muscularity of the lyrics. (The official website > optimistically > describes the music as bindustrialb - Ministry is industrial, this > isnbt, it > simply isnbt nasty enough.) The structure of the title track is, Ibm > sure, > intended to mirror a hurricane, with two heavy sections book-ending a > quieter, > beat-free passage. But the build-up at the end of that middle section > doesnb > t explode into life, rather the beats come in one after the other, almost > apologetically, robbing the listener of the satisfaction of an abrupt > transition. > But enough of these niggles. bHurricaneb is a fine album, and it > improves > with every listen. If you know Grace Jones from her eighties heyday, > youbll > recognise the improvement on her earlier work, and appreciate the way she > has > grown up in the same way you have; if you are too young to remember her > first > time out, youbll be impressed by an artist from a previous era sounding > so > energetic and contemporary in her approach. Either way, youbll be glad > youbve > been graced. > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V12 #485 ***************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest