The Candi Staton song (my number one) was bugging me because I could not could not could not could not come up with a name for the voice, though I knew the voice very well; in fact the one and only time I did a list of favorite 100 singles ever, "Victim" was on there. Anyway, "Sure As Sin" is good bread-and-butter gospel-based soul, doesn't stand out as a song. Xgau: "Maybe she really is a victim of the very songs she sings - though not that one, or 'Young Hearts Run Free.' But her reputation for stiffing onstage makes me think there's something radically self-effacing about her - something the richest and sexiest voice can't quite make up for." If there's self-effacement, I'd say it's working to her advantage in this performance: her voice has tremendous heft, and so this touch of vulnerable tentativeness makes it more human, makes her seared as well as searing. Anyway, an easy number one.
As for the others, Marcy Playground has a casual but sticky drawl and would have been my number two except I already knew it, "Sex Boot Dread" has the same trouble as the Staton (good arrangement in a style I love but the song's not distinctive [not counting the words, which you forget about after a while]), and the singing is pretty good but not on Staton's planet much less her league, but this got my number two tick. Wouldn't have voted for "Warm Leatherette" even if I hadn't known it since I've never liked it, in fact in its day I hated it for being stupid jaded hipster cynical posing bullshit. Not so sure now that it is jaded or cynical, in fact seems funny - however, that's funny "peculiar" rather than funny "ha-ha," and once I eliminate "cynical" and "jaded" from my description of the voice, I still retain "boring." Latryx just kinda sound devoid of spark, though my indifference may be due to a culture barrier - I rarely like British r&b (if these guys aren't Brits they've done a good job of convincing me that they are; but anyway, "sounds like Brit r&b" is a criticism in itself).
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timeasmymeasure
Old Brains Run Free But Not Accurately
Date: 2007-06-14 12:17 pm (UTC)As for the others, Marcy Playground has a casual but sticky drawl and would have been my number two except I already knew it, "Sex Boot Dread" has the same trouble as the Staton (good arrangement in a style I love but the song's not distinctive [not counting the words, which you forget about after a while]), and the singing is pretty good but not on Staton's planet much less her league, but this got my number two tick. Wouldn't have voted for "Warm Leatherette" even if I hadn't known it since I've never liked it, in fact in its day I hated it for being stupid jaded hipster cynical posing bullshit. Not so sure now that it is jaded or cynical, in fact seems funny - however, that's funny "peculiar" rather than funny "ha-ha," and once I eliminate "cynical" and "jaded" from my description of the voice, I still retain "boring." Latryx just kinda sound devoid of spark, though my indifference may be due to a culture barrier - I rarely like British r&b (if these guys aren't Brits they've done a good job of convincing me that they are; but anyway, "sounds like Brit r&b" is a criticism in itself).