Re: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES REVIEW

[young@binah.cc.brandeis.edu]

In article <63994@apple.Apple.COM>, jody_ferguson.asw.navairtestcen%pcgate@NATC-FW.NAVY.MIL writes:
>
>I know a lot of people who post to Love-Hounds hate Axl Rose and unless        
>they have a subscription to _Rolling_Stone_, have chosen to pass on the        
>latest issue since he is on the cover.  Well there is a certain record         
>review in there that may be of interest to some here.  Here it is,             
>provided as a service to the Axl-impaired...                                   
>                                                                               
>(Three and a half stars)                                                       
>LITTLE EARTHQUAKES                                                             
>    Tori Amos                                                                  
>                                                                               
>Newcomer Tori Amos's songs are smart, melodic and dramatic; the deeper         
>you listen, the hotter they get.  Amos shares common ground with art-          
>folk songstresses like Kate Bush and Jane Siberry, but while they often        
>deal in abstruse, poetic terms, Amos has a tendency to cut to the quick,       
>to face facts, to call a rape a rape.                                          
>                                                                               
>_Little_Earthquakes_ is an often pretty, subtly progressive song cycle         
>that reflects darkly on sexual alienation and personal struggles.              
>Aiming for a delicate balance between the earthy and the ethereal, Amos        
>shifts from a whispering coyness to full-throated earnestness                  
>(overearnestness, at times) and a quivery vibrato-laden holler - akin to       
>Siouxie Sioux's.                                                               
>                                                                               
>(deleted review stuff)
>       
>Rage often bubbles below the sensuous surface ...(more deleted stuff)...                                 
>we hear the stark sound of her unadorned voice taking the         
>role of a rape victim, who endures the attack while desperately                
>rationalizing that "I havent seen Barbados, so I must get out of this."        
>                                                                               
>By the time the refrain in the closing title track comes around (Give me       
>life/Give me pain/Give me myself again"), we feel as though we've been         
>through some peculiar therapy session, half-cleansed and half-stirred.         
>That artful paradox is part of what makes _Little_Earthquakes_ a               
>gripping debut.                                                                
>                         -Josef Woodard                                        
>                                                                               
>....And there you have it.  I think maybe _Rolling_Stone_ hires the worst       
>critics in the business.  They always tend to ruin a song or album for         
>me by "explaining" it to me.  "Artfolk?"  Would anyone here consider           
>Kate to be a "folk artist?"  I think most of these critics presume more        
>than they know.                                                                
>                                                                                                                                                        
>                                                 Jody                          
>                                                                               

I'd have to say I think RS does justice to the album and to the review.  I
don't consider this an "explanation" so much as one man's interpretation.  Take
it for what it is.  I don't think anyone at RS really expects people to buy
wholesale into their interpretations and to forego the experience of assessing
an album on their own.  I also think this guy does quite a credible job of
describing the musical qualities of Tori's work for those who are not already
committed (or knowledgeable about up-and-coming artists like her).  How would
you describe her music (or Kate's, for that matter) to one of the many who have
never heard anything like it?  Art-folk (art-rock? art-pop?) seems as fair a
stab at categorization as any.  (God I love parentheses.)  Unfortunately,
spreading the word necessitates some degree of comparison, categorization, and
stereotyping, even for an artist such as Tori or Kate whose allure stems from
the indescribable aspects of their craft.

-Bruce

--------------------------------------
"If I can be someone who
 Never needs a disguise
 Maybe I'll go to heaven
 Cause heaven is in your eyes..."
		-Nanci Griffith
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P. S. The forementioned  RS issue also has a full-page story on Ms. Griffith. 
      YESSSS!!!!