Re: Wait for Kate

[nbuchwa1@ix.netcom.com (Norman Buchwald)]

Hi, Robb.  :)

nsrjm@nursepo.medctr.ucla.edu (Robb McCaffree) wrote:

. If you *have* heard it
>> what is "Professional Widow"? Grunge metal on a harpsichord?

>	Well...I've got to give her credit for trying something so
>experimental, and except for the "famileeEEEeeeee" howling, I kind of
>like the groove of "Professional Widow." However, I agree that most
>of the experimenting on this album failed. Vocally, Tori's become so
>breathy, it actually detracts from the song. Musically, there are a
>lot more over-long piano ballads than there are "enfant terribles"
>like "Professional Widow," which is at least very different. And
>lyrically she's become far too obscure. 

A big hint to understanding Tori's poetry.  (and it isn't always going
to work and sometimes not work for you right away).  Begin putting
quotes around certain words, like "chickens" and "meat," for example.

Whereas Kate's lyrics lend
>themselves to many interpretations, Tori's (at least on BfP) are very
>specifically about things about which the listener can't possibly know,
>which is irritating to say the least. The chickens want your meat,
>girl? Whatever.

There's a lot more modern and slang colloquealisms used in Tori's
poetry.  Kate's songs are more likely understood because there is a
Western Canon tradition behind most of her lyrics.  Tori's relies on a
lot of modern slang by comparison.

>	This said, I must admit that I LOVE "Hey Jupiter." It's simply
>beautiful lyrically, vocally and musically. "Horses" is also very nice
>except for the length. There CAN be too much of a good thing.

I thought "Horses" was not long compared to "Mother."  Though I do
admit that to make something earn its length like "Yes, Anatasia" is
difficult.  And Tori may not be as successful on certain songs on this
album.


 And I
>found myself humming "Father Lucifer" all day today, and thought that
>"Zebra Head" was moderately neato.

You too?  :)  "Father Lucifer" is currently my favorite song on the
album
.  
>	It ain't "The Dreaming." It may be Tori's "The Dreaming" in
>that it expands on her original piano-based songs in an experimental
>format, but these songs are all still rock/pop songs. 

"Pop" songs?  Nah.  Take another listen to Y Tori Kant Read.  "Boys
For Pele" don't contain pop songs.  The songwriting itself cannot even
allow them to be so and this isn't "They Might Be Giants" melodies'
hook, either.

The treatment
>they've been given is definitely weird...and as hard to get into as
>"The Dreaming" first was (for me at least), but many of them fail to
>grab your interest enough to make you 're-investigate.'

It's a difference in songwriting.  Metonymic writing is still fairly
new and I'm not sure whether it'll become more ingrained with the way
we write or be a "writing fad" that currently fades.  Feminist and
deconstructionist theories have led to the popularity of such writing
styles.  As a writer, I'm interested in what Tori does and appreciate
when she makes it work.  There are many risks she took here.  She
produced group of songs headed by different sections (the sections are
prompted by short songs, which she made clear by identing them on the
songlist).  Along with the others mentioned above.  Add the length of
the album, this is an album produced with art upon art over and over
again.  The question should be did she do too much that it's almost
indecipherable or is it too mind/emotional exhausting on the
listener's part?  

>

>	After having to sit through 1 minute 45 seconds of "Beauty
>Queen," I wanted to join her. ("BQ" is 'attached to the beginning of
>"Horses" on track one of the CD. There's no avoiding it.) The chicken

it's a turkey, actually.  :)  
>and the snake were a bit much. Just like on the rest of the album, I
>wondered, "What are you trying to say, and can't you figure out a
>better way of saying it?" Piglet, however, didn't bother me. 

Emphasizes a general atmosphere of farm/south/redneck atmosphere in
her photos.
>> 
>> IMO rating: -1 out of 10 (without track 4, it'd be 0/10).

>	I'd give it a five for the aforementioned tracks. I would have
>given it a higher score if it weren't so interminably long -- I
>would've cut some of the far-too-similar and far-too-lengthy tracks.

I'm tempted to agree with you here.  Though I'll admit that I find
myself also somewhat enriched by the length, too.  It would've been
nice if she kept the illusion yet  not taken the time.  The feel of
length helps her approach to make the album be like a novel.



>	Agreed. But I also agree with Norman (for a limited time, and
>not in conjunction with any other offer)

Does this mean the offer has now expired?  :)

 that you should give it more
>than one listen. Perhaps a small dose at a time would be best, so as
>not to O.D. on her vocals, which are pretty consistently too breathy.

I don't know why.  Her "breathiness" didn't bother me.  I didn't even
pay attention to it so much until I read your post.  

>	The incidence of 'Kateliness' on this album is actually less
>than on previous albums. The single, "Caught A Lite Sneeze" has some
>very Dreaming-ish African rhythms driving it, and some background
>vocals that are reminiscent of "Mother Stands for Comfort."  At one
>point, in the lead vocals, Tori sings 'Dreamed' much like Kate exhaled
>"Houdini."

I'll pretend I didn't see that.  You know better than that, Robb!  :)


>	Other "Kateisms' on the album are also incidental. Any
>comparisons of "Boys for Pele" to "The Dreaming" have more to do with
>inaccessibility than with actual style.

And ambition!  Don't forget that.  And complete control over
production.  Right now, especially for Toriphiles, the curiosity will
be on what happens on her next effort?  Hopefully, she'll be unphased
by certain receptions she has and will get.  A lot of the elite are
going to be tough on it (as Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times
have).  But unlike Y Tori Kant Read, she's clearly more sure of
herself as an artist.  So I think she will mostly be unphased.

The Storm

no one's picking up the phone
guess it's me and me

>Robb