Lately Listening To... 3 Singer/Songwriters

[peteryoung]

Terry Callier, Timepeace, 1998
Norah Jones, Feels Like Home, 2004
Brendan Perry, Eye of the Hunter, 1999



Terry Callier, Timepeace, 1998 (Verve)
A 1970s Washington DC soul troubadour who frequently goes 'missing in action', Terry Callier's intermittent career only takes off when people periodically sit up and take notice of what a good songwriter he is. The most recent revival began in the late 1990s in the UK on the strength of his 1990 EP 'I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)', and he once again grabbed attention in 1998 with the most airplay-friendly tune from Timepeace, 'Keep Your Heart Right'. Callier's acoustic guitar gives a very melodic underpinning to an amalgamation of soul with social themes; he sounds contemporary though his music is unashamedly still rooted in the mellow singer/songwriter end of the soulful '70s. His mature voice also works very well spiralling around the various instruments of competent guest soloists, with only one unfortunate (but perhaps inevitable) flirtation with country music in 'Coyote Moon' (think of Lionel Ritchie's dreadful 'Stuck On You' sung around the campfire). Otherwise, Callier crafts often perfectly pitched songs, leading one to wonder why has he never properly made it to the front line of his field. Timepeace seems perfectly aimed towards the ears of London's Jazz FM listeners in the late 90s – it's mostly easy music for a hungover Sunday morning, and all so much about Brotherly Love.



Norah Jones, Feels Like Home, 2004 (Blue Note)
Like most artists whose first album is a runaway success, Norah Jones has been yet another victim of 'difficult second album' syndrome. As most people have discovered, it's just hard to get excited about many of the songs on Feels Like Home; there are too many easy country-influenced arrangements that are too self-contained and downright rural to interest her mostly city-living fan base. That's not to say it's all forgettable; tracks like 'Be Here To Love Me' and 'Don't Miss You At All' wouldn't sound out of place on Come Away With Me, but then again they're covers of tried-and-tested tunes by Townes Van Zandt and Duke Ellington. She'll need to recapture the authentic vibe of her debut if she doesn't want her career to be on a progressively gentle decline with each new release – then again, a possible album with her half-sister, Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar, will be a most interesting and challenging world music hybrid if it ever comes about, if their two very distinct musical heritages can ever be made to blend.



Brendan Perry, Eye of the Hunter, 1999 (4AD)
The male half of Dead Can Dance has only done this one solo album of his own material, but even without the foil of Lisa Gerrard his compositions are no less gloomy and haunting. This is, as expected, ponderous and conservatively-structured songwriting, dark and brooding and lyrically meaningful. The songs might at times seem unnecessarily repetitive and simplistic but then one just needs to gear down to Brendan Perry's slow and measured sense of time and hear how he pulls the maximum stretch out of simple melodies. There is only one cover, 'I Must Have Been Blind' by Tim Buckley who has long been a rich mine of material for 4AD artists, and it rises as a small highlight among a selection of seven other well-crafted psychological dramas that somehow deliver a welcoming and all-pervading sense of both solitude and belonging.

Comments

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

I have Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, which I enjoyed, but not so much that I felt compelled to grab her second album (unlike, say, Bjork, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, all artists whose releases I grab soon as I hear about them).

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

I used to be that way about Joni Mitchell too, but these days it's probably only Bruce Cockburn, David Sylvian, Joe Satriani and The Blue Nile that command such loyalty.

When I first heard Come Away With Me I was browsing in HMV, and I heard the whole album before knowing anything at all about who it was by. I could immediately hear the authenticity coming through in a way that someone like Katie Meluah, who is way too cheesy for me, doesn't.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I had a similar experience with Come Away With Me, which I first heard with Sharee in a internet cafe in Vancouver.

I believe that Jones has released an album of Willie Nelson covers as part of an all-star group, the name of which I can't remember. I heard one pan of it on National Public Radio. Her second album did nothing for me whatsoever, and I'm certainly not going to jump on this one. Have some very fond memories of the first one ...

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

an album of Willie Nelson covers

Must be The Little Willies (http://www.thelittlewillies.com), but I ain't goin' anywhere near that.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Although now that you mention it, that's a cute band name. I suppose The Wee Willies would have been too twee.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, we've been in a music-buying trough for a while now, and I see we've fallen one compilation and one album of new music behind with Cockburn. Must rectify that. Hard to say if there's anyone I'm bone-loyal to about buying albums. Peter Gabriel, I reckon, but it's not exactly a challenge to keep up with his album output. Trickier by far if one wants all his tracks, though.

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

I can highly recommend Cockburn's You've Never Seen Everything, if that's one you're missing. It's as politically cynical as ever, and marypcb and I got to see him when he was gigging in London a couple of years ago.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well that's one that I'm missing, for sure. It seems to be worse than I thought. The years trickle by in complete stealth, any more, and it's probably been six years or more since we last saw Cockburn live. Yikes. It sure was a lot of fun when he added the Pythons "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," to his performance repertoire though. Oh, and I've just remembered someone else I've been pretty loyal about picking up music from: Warren Zevon. No real worries keeping up with future output there, though. Crap.

[abrinsky.livejournal.com]

Well, that's me sold on the Brendan Perry... guess this is just your *bad* influence again.

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Bought any of that small list you made yet? When I'm earning money again I'll be looking for some return recommendations...

[abrinsky.livejournal.com]

Not as yet.... but I it is now a very long list.