the magnificent miss murphy

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I went to see Róisín Murphy last night (review in Grau tomorrow). She was WONDERFUL and her hats were FABULOUS. I know she's a long-time poptimist favourite but I don't think we've actually talked about her much, so shall we? Her album is one of the best of the year - my favourite is 'Tell Everybody', omg that was so good last night, she did it as the encore. And there are so many parallels with Gwen Stefani: platinum blonde MILF ex-frontwomen of 'alternative' acts who hit big late in their career, now embracing pop and offbeat couture for their solo careers.

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'd better listen to her record then.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

You really should!

Gig was proper rave-up at times, omg extended thundering version of 'Overpowered'. Sorry people behind me and Anna-Marie but you weren't dancing so you deserved it really.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

dammit why didn't Alix and I go to this gig like we wanted too (well her more than me because i hate gigs ;) but if i was to go to one it probably should've been this).

[martinv.livejournal.com]

Not sure about the Roisin album. Still think her only real 'pop peak' was 'The Time Is Now' and that was with Moloko. That still sounds fresher than most of Overpowered to me...

Bet she's fun live though.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

On my computer I divide albums up so that the best tracks are in one folder under the artist name (so it includes their previous good album tracks etc.) and the ones I don't rate as much go into an archive folder that I will rarely play stuff from.

Anyway, I think I put all of 'Overpowered' in the premier folder as it's all sounding good enough although there's nothing on it I would class as truly outstanding (similar to 'Tangled Up') and nothing quite as good as the highlights on the last album. but the singles are good, 'Footprints' and 'Scarlet Ribbons' are lovely. i think i like the banging Seamus Hadji mix of 'Overpowered' more than the original now tho - it's in my 07 mix...not sure i've heard the Kris Menace mix but how much different can it be from the Haji one??

Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Overpowered - I know this one and it's good - science metaphor works intellectually but not emotionally: I don't FEEL her desire at all, this is because she has a very detached voice, bit like Sophie E-B

You Know Me Better - cold, vaporous, tedious.

Checkin On Me - better beat for sure, I remember now from Moloko that I really hate her mid-atlantic accent - she sounds like someone deciding to perform being a disco vocalist, rather than a disco vocalist.

Let Me Know - boring ersatz disco, gruesome cod-funkiness on the chorus "lick" betrays a career spent hanging out with ex-member of Chakk. Very tasteful, as ever.

JESUS CHRIST 9 TRACKS TO GO?? Do something under 4 minutes for once!

Movie Star - like the pumping electronics and the chorus is OK, Roisin detached as ever but her high register is a lot nicer.

Sorry Lex I can't get any further with this - it's SO FUCKING BORING, it sounds like every move is really tightly designed to make sure Roisin never risks doing anything tasteless or vulgar. 5 tracks in and I'm desperate to hear, I dunno, Infernal or the Cheeky Girls or ANYONE who doesn't sound quite so superior and BLOODLESS.

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think I'm probably in the wrong mood for this though today - I'm feeling quite up and energetic.

I am sure also she has a lot of star presence live - she has more on video than on record.

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

did you hear Ruby Blue?

i think she has a nice 'souly' voice with some sort of character. i suppose you could accuse Goldfrapp of sounding superior and bloodless too but i never feel this with these types (probably cos i am the same ha ha).

Re: Listening to the album

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I was going to say what Steve said - I love her voice because it's such a naturally great soul voice. I don't see how she's any more focused on tastefulness or that smooth veneer of sophistication than Annie, and she's no colder - actually the way she uses cold and warmth is v similar to Annie, the warmth is quite unexpected and subtle when it arrives in the middle of all the glam detachment. It's a pity you didn't get to the 'Dear Miami'/'Cry Baby'/'Tell Everybody' axis, which is my favourite, or 'Primitive', which is her big soul ballad, though then again 'You Know Me Better' is one of my favourites so that is no guarantee of anything. fwiw I basically agree re 'Let Me Know'.

Alison Goldfrapp's voice is a terrific sound in itself but I'm not convinced it's a good instrument for songs, it's better for just going "oooh-ooohh-ooohh" in the background. Luckily her songs tend to sound like this anyway because she doesn't enunciate.

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well I'm not as big a fan of Annie as many are* - most of the album passes me by, but on the big celebrated songs she's more vulnerable and funnier than the Roisin I've heard.

I don't think Roisin's tastefulness is exactly a smooth veneer of sophistication - I'm not trying to use it as an anti-bourgie diss. It's more the tastefulness of the connoisseur or minor artist: she knows her craft, knows how to get to "good" and never shows any interest in risking moving beyond that. It's the attention to unsurprising detail that bugs me.

*Though I'd reverse yr criticism to say that if this record was by someone called, I dunno, Rosa Murfisson and came from the hit factories of the frozen north you'd probably hate it!

Re: Listening to the album

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I'd certainly agree with Primitive - I think it's the album's highlight and the one where she sounds least superior and bloodless (not that I mind her when she's doing that). I also think Scarlet Ribbons works surprisingly well on that score too, and stands out as well for its gentle reggae sound.

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i'm intrigued to hear Alison's new stuff as P Robinson is going mad over it but at the same time warning everyone how it won't be what they want. Sounds like a return to 'Felt Mountain' basically but probably less electronic hrrrrm.

Primitive

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

The lyrics are kind of boggling on this one: "take me into your caaaaaave" OO-ER MISSUS

Re: Listening to the album

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

The album is very inoffensive, isn't it? I guess she's going for coffee table types who do cocaine at dinner parties (odd drug reference here and there is sole claim to edgyness). However the production is very pleasing for the most part (varied, surprising changes in structure/tempo/banging-ness).

I really, really, really like Overpowered but I think this has grown out of being entranced by the video. Whilst Let Me Know has similar video style I agree that it's a really weak choice for 2nd single (definitely sub-Bextor).

BUT something I pinned down the other day is that the lyrical patterns (verse chorus etc) are VERY unsettling - they don't quite fit with the hi-tech dance music underneath. Nearly every song has a middle 8 that seems, well, out of place: eg a totally different melody after a big disco build-up where it really should have gone back into the chorus but BIGGER (or dropped out to a tiny whisper) - instead it's like they've shoved a leftover tune from another song into the slot as they weren't quite sure how to fill it.

I can't quite explain it properly as I don't have the album to hand, but compare to Sophie E-B: her 'pop' songs are definitely pop (slower, less of the bosh and more 'cosy' piano & harmonies) but her dance songs are actually DANCEABLE (eg all the bits of China Heart fit together very well yet still manage to build up from spooky beginnings to overblown mentalism by the end).

Arrgh I'm not quite sure what I'm getting at here.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

The thing I love most about Roisin (beside her hot-mum looks) is that amazing voice, all soul and purring, coupled with her amazing timing and delivery which I think is pretty much unparalleled in this country. The best tracks on the record - Overpowered, Primitive and especially Dear Miami thrive on her phrasing, which is sort of an old-fashioned notion.

I also really love that the album is DISCO and proud, and I'd really love to hear it very loud on a flashing dancefloor.

I have started skipping Scarlet Ribbons though... I liked it at first but now I see it's a schmaltz disaster of epic proportions.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

yes Scarlet Ribbons is a bit 'unnnggh gerroff' but if you're gonna write a song to your Dad it is a pretty sweet effort and you can't avoid cliche completely.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

'Dear Miami'! For some reason I'd processed the words but it wasn't til last night that it suddenly hit me that she was singing "STRICTLY ROLLIN', VIP"

[datura800.livejournal.com]

I saw her on Tuesday night - it was seriously one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Amazing.

I don't really see the Gwen comparisons - Gwen whole-heartedly embraced pop, Roisin is still making quite left-field music. Anyone coming to 'Overpowered' expecting a Kylie record is going to be baffled.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Gwen is making really leftfield music too! 'What You Waiting For?' is mental obv but 'Hollaback Girl' still satnds as one of the weirdest TRACKS I've heard in recent years, never mind just things in the charts. I think Overpowered is sonically v straightforward house/disco - Ruby Blue was v leftfield but on Overpowered Róisín mostly uses her lyrics and imagery to express her eccentiricities.

I mean, they don't sound like each other - it's more where they're placed in the industry, how they use the dance traditions of their respective countries (hip-hop vs house) to make slightly off-kilter pop.

Oh and also Gwen is multi-million selling star and Róisín is not but that is the fault of this bloody country preferring Kate Nash.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

Is it going to be worth me listening to this album considering I haven't liked anything she's done up to now? And words like 'tasteful' and 'soul voice' used together are likely to have me leaping for the stop button within minutes?

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

no

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I love Roisin and raved about her on ILM (and I think here at times). Last tour was one of the best shows I've seen, missed her on this one (although she injured herself and only played like three songs, so I didn't miss much).

I still like Ruby Blue better, though - Overpowered is great but somehow I just haven't been able to get into anything else yet.

[mooxyjoo.livejournal.com]

'too tasteful', etc. - possible measures of it:

intensity of:
the pleasures it gives
the weirdness
the novelty
the satisfaction it aims for
the dissatisfaction it hopes to avoid

or the different kinds of:
uses it can be put to
settings it is appropriate to
moments which call for it
moments which are not made worse by it
people who can agree to keep it playing

[ghettofuture.livejournal.com]

Still waiting for a U.S. release... oh and fuck Perez Hilton, PS.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I fucking hate Perez Hilton and keep missing out on gossip because I refuse to go to his page.