Re: those recommendations

Yikes, I would never, myself, buy something simply based on a 
recommendation, so I completely understand your hesitancy in general, 
Bruce, even as obviously you do seek new music and getting recommended 
can be a good source. The good thing is nowadays you can pretty easily 
find some samples to listen to before you buy. For instance, in all the 
cases of singer/songwriters I recommended, you can find free and legal 
full-length MP3s of their songs to download and check out at no charge 
and no legal risk. (At the risk, however, of a bit of self-promotion, 
I'll note that my web site Fingertips 
--http://www.fingertipsmusic.com-- is a good place to go to find these 
free and legal MP3s, both for all the artists I recommended and for 
many others.) Not that one or two songs will necessarily let you know 
how good an album is but at least you might get a sense if you're in 
the ballpark, as it were.

Given your extra bit of information about what you're looking for, I'm 
thinking you might want to try My Brightest Diamond first and foremost 
of those I mentioned. I can't vouch for the transcendent quality of 
every last song but she's got a whole lot going for her vocally and, 
yes, I think, in the arrangements (she's classically trained, which 
often helps). I would also add that quality of arrangement is not to my 
ear always dependent upon being "highly" arranged. I'm in awe for 
instanced of Annie Gallup's musical settings and they're by and large 
very very subtle. And to bring this back (phew) to Jane/Issa I would 
say that there are grand soaring moments in her songs that blow me away 
with very few apparent sounds at all (I'm thinking of portions of "At 
the Beginning of Time" as an example).

But anyway, none of my comments are all that relevant since we each 
like what we like, although it's always interesting to open this sort 
of stuff up for discussion, to see how others approach this very 
subjective matter.

In any case, I hope you find something new that stirs you! There's a 
lot of stuff out there, most definitely.

Jeremy




-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Sent: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 7:24 AM
Subject: those recommendations

   Thanks for all these suggestions, Jeremy.

This is really a tricky business, following recommendations... I've 
bought
a number of items based on reviews and other people raves that were not 
at
all what I was looking for, or what I was requesting.

Like I just bought a (used) Wondermints CD 'cause so many said that it 
was
"well-crafted pop" in a Beach Boys manner... but it proved far too 
simple
to qualify as "well-crafted."

Now, speaking for myself (and only myself), the qualities that I seek 
that
are most difficult to find in other people's recommendations are:

Being highly arranged. I get the sense that many people don't actively
listen to what's going on inside a song. They hear the voice, the 
lyrics,
but not the amount of work (or lack of effort) that went into putting 
the
song together. But it's the quality of the arrangement that makes it
rewarding to listen to a song closely, and then repeatedly. For me.

Also then also eclecticism. As someone who grew up with Beatles I 
delighted
in listening to an album, the epitome is Srgt. Pepper, natch, where each
song is  *radically* different than the one before. Where you had no 
idea
what was coming up next, when you heard it for the first time. But the
sense I get is that for many, eclecticism = stylistic confusion. 
Whereas I
associate it with creativity, being fertile and original.

On the other hand, I came upon Jane via recommendations: I asked 
someone to
play me something "out of the ordinary" (Maria), then learned about "The
Walking" (her apex, IMHO) reading the All Music Guide to Rock. So 
sometimes
these leads work.

BTW,
If there's someone our there who is keen on arrangement and 
eclecticism, be
sure to locate "California" by Mr. Bungle. It's quite extraordinary, and
the most remarkable item I've come upon since Jane's Walking. It doesn't
have Jane's emotional sincerity & intensity (the content of the songs is
empty pastiche for the most part) but there are great compensations. 
These
guys knew what they were doing, and put many hours of work into this 
one.

Bruce


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