musically asiding

[realthog]

A few posts ago I mentioned that these days I'm listening to classical music almost to the exclusion of all other forms.

This evening, on the other hand . . .

I looked to one side and there was my copy of Vienna Teng's Inland Territory. A  couple of its tracks are inarguably pop/rock, but most of the rest are in that area where borderlines haze. I popped the CD onto the player, and it's now disturbing the neighbours . . . which is saying something, as the nearest neighbours are about two hundred yards away.

Yes, I was right.

This is the best new CD I've heard in the past couple of years.

Comments

[deliabarry.livejournal.com]

You kids and your loud music!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm being trendy and with-it. And groovy.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Seems we need to send the constabulary around to collar a jubilant delinquent.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Nah. They were dancing in the road outside the house, I tell you.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

And some chap said that a policeman's life was not a happy one.

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

Well, because of your post, I went, I sampled, and I purchased.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Well, in that case I'm glad I wasn't talking about Mantovani . . .

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

She's something like Tori Amos, only much better diction and without the weird disconnected lyrics. Similar to Imogene Heap in some ways, as well, so a good choice for me.

I'm not saying I'll pick up everything you recommend, mind. I recall we have differences of opinion about Portishead, frex, which in theory is a group I should adore, but do not. Mantovani...eh, Mom and Dad had about a million recordings, and I uniformly hated them all.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Others have made the Amos comparison, but I don't get it myself. The fact that for some reason I find Amos more or less unlistenable-to may have something to do with this!

The comparison I note is in her diction and phrasing, which I find very reminiscent of Janis Ian's.

I was lucky in that my parents hated Mantovani if anything even more than I did. We played a lot of Beethoven.

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

The comparison is roughly: girl with sweet and true (but not strong) voice + killer piano + musicality. Amos is hit or miss with me. When she hits, as in her early works, she's amazing. When she misses, it's nigh-on unlistenable. Heap, on the other hand, just keeps knocking them out of the park for me.

*nod* to Janis Ian comparison.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I recall we have differences of opinion about Portishead, frex, which in theory is a group I should adore, but do not.

I liked their Dummy album, and the live one's above tolerable, but the rest of their stuff, and all their solo work, I find pretty dreary.

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

If you're going to disturb the neighbors, then it should at least be done with good music. Excellent choice.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Ah, another VT fan?

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

Yup. I heard her for the first time at Appel Farm Arts & Music Festival a couple summers ago and promptly bought all her CDs.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Ah. I first heard her thanks to the Listening Booth at music.msn.com, which had this CD as one of its play-for-free-all-this-week items. I liked it a lot. She and her producer/arranger Alex Wong were gigging fairly locally a few weeks later, so I put off buying the CD until I could do so from her own fair hand, as it were -- more revenue to the artist that way, etc.

Wong is a quite extraordinary musician, if you've not seen him. If you put an object in front of him, he'll make music with it. Teng was doing some of the same -- at one point she produced an excellent percussion track just by rubbing her palms together -- but nothing compared to Wong.

We took a couple of friends with us, one of whom was blown over by the support act as well . . . so it proved an expensive evening for him!

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

Wong was playing with Teng when my husband and I saw her and was duly impressive. There was a cello player who was late for the set because of a plane delay, so they were adjusting and improvising on the spot--which I never would have known until the cello player showed up and they explained what happened.

I had a chance to perform "Harbor" a few months back, which gave me even more appreciation than I already had for just how challenging some of Teng's music is. Though in comparison to what my poor accompanist's fingers had to do, I got off easy with the vocals!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

There was a cello player

Sounds like it must have been the same tour, because he was with them at the gig we went to.

just how challenging some of Teng's music is

I can imagine!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Oo, and look what I've just discovered. A nicely recorded Teng concert from a few years back, streamable at http://www.folkalley.com/music/livefrom/vienna_teng/

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks for the link!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Glad to've bin of service!