Wed 9 May 2007

Eleni Mandell in Toronto

Posted by stephanie under photography, music, performance
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eleni_4 
Eleni Mandell playing that little vintage Martin which I covet,
opening for Justin Rutledge at the Mod Club in Toronto

Although I’ve been listening to Eleni Mandell for years, I still find it difficult to describe her music to others, perhaps because it doesn’t fit easily into any category. It’s nostalgic yet modern, innocent yet tough. It’s jazzy at times, and rocks out in others.  Imagine if you will a kind of female Tom Waits, with a touch of Patsy Cline thrown in.  She’s the cool, smart, sexy girl next door, who’s maybe been around the block a few times.  You can imagine it now, right?

Since my description is so inadequate, perhaps you should just visit her website, where you can stream clips. Or better still, buy her older CDs “Wishbone”, Thrill” or “Dreamboat”.

Listen: 
Pauline from “Wishbone”
The Makeout King from ”Miracle of Five” (2007)

 

Tue 8 May 2007

style stymies substance

Posted by stephanie under general
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For the past few days, the style of the blog has been the cause of a huge kerfuffle, followed by a displacement of the substance.

I apologize for the possible confusion or frustration, and hope to have everything in order by the end of the day.

 

Thu 26 Apr 2007

Shifting energy…

Posted by stephanie under photography
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Fri 13 Apr 2007

voice and identity

Posted by stephanie under music, performance
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At the risk of sounding like a feminist musicologist, I’d like to muse a bit about the trend for childlike/disconnected women’s voices in Pop music. I’m just not comfortable with it. I agree that the effect of a light, breathy vocal can be fetching, and a straight, clear one very pretty, but except in rare cases, this is just not an adult woman’s voice. Sure, it’s charming to hear someone sing like a 16-year-old, when she really is 16. But as someone who thinks about the psychology of voices and representation, it perturbs me that women can’t act their age, be strong, be womanly, textured, throaty.  In my opinion, although I might be exaggerating, it’s a degree away from the musical equivalent of the schoolgirl fetish in Japan. This observation hit me the other day when I heard a track by indie breakout band, The Bird and the Bee . Let me add the caveat that I do like this track, and a few reliable music-loving sources recommended it to me.

Current female singers who go for it and get a thumbs up from me for doing so — Fiona Apple (of course)  Imogen Heap, Karen Matheson(of Capercailie) Cat Power… and Christina Aguilera. But of course, there’s no arguing with taste, or the creative choices which a performer makes. I just think singing is most interesting when it’s genuine.

 

 

Mon 2 Apr 2007

How I love Handel

Posted by stephanie under music, performance
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I’m back from a week with La Chapelle de Quebec/ Les Violons du Roy, conducted by Bernard Labadie. I’d forgotten what a genius Handel was. The  work predates his more famous work, “Messiah,” by a few years, but has all the drama and hummable tunes of Messiah, as well as movements which fans of his other works might find familiar.

Best thing about Israel in Egypt, to a chorister? It’s all about us, baby. The choir barely shuts up for the 80-or minutes it takes to perform the work. And what a range of styles — it’s like a little compendium of all of Handel’s choral techniques , as well as seeming prescient of work which will come much later (the pulsing, fragmented line and wind solos of the opening movement   are similar to Mozart’s “Requiem”, and later orchestra moments almost suggest Brahms).

My favourite part as  a singer is not the fire-and-brimstone of the runs in movements such as “he smote all the firstborn of Egypt”, but instead the more sedate “Egypt was glad when they departed.” It starts out like a slice of renaissance polyphony,  before being jolted into the 18th century by the trombone entry. It’s hard to pull off with shape  and emotions yet not overdramatization. The lines are so gratifying—  we altos cut through like laser beams at one moment, then pull back and melt. Good times for a singer!

Our performance: CBC Radio, Choral Concert, April 15, 8 - 10 AM in any Canadian timezones (or you can time shift by listening online)

 

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