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| From | Ken Kase <kenkase@nighttimes.com> |
| Subject | Re: Top 20, etc. (Nellie McKay) |
| Date | Fri, 07 Jan 2005 13:00:56 -0600 |
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Peggy Lee, Dinah Shore and Julie London, it should be noted, did not write
their own material. Nellie has precious little in common with these singers.
And she's a rabid feminist, so telling her she's cute probably won't get you
very far! ;-)
--Ken
On 1/7/05 12:43 PM, "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@ameritech.net> wrote:
> One of the few negative things I could say about
> Nellie McKay's future recordings is that he
> songwriting skill is such that she probably won't be
> doing a whole lot of cover material (and, Stewart
> mentioned Randy Newman -- I could probably come up
> with a few Newman numbers she would just rule on).
>
> I don't find her songwriting as consistently great as
> Stewart does, but there are some gems on the album --
> in particular, one of the tracks mentioned below, "I
> Wanna Get Married" -- it sounds like a 1940's era
> standard, but it's subverted by her lyrics, which are
> wondefully dry and sarcastic.
>
> The only other knock on Nellie is that at times she
> verges on being a bit precious and self-impressed
> (look how clever I am!), but I hope she grows out of
> it. She is also a brilliant singer. I think Norah
> Jones is OK (and that her second disc was a nice step
> forward) and has loads of potential as a singer, but
> Ms. McKay is way ahead of her at this point in her
> career. I don't know if I'd rank Nellie up there
> w/Peggy Lee yet, but she might be as good or better
> than Dinah Shore and Julie London.
>
> And, she's really really cute...
>
> Mike Bennett
> --- Stewart Mason <craigtorso@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Even the relatively straightforward
>> songs on the
>> album, like the absolutely lovely "I Wanna Get
>> Married," have a few
>> snarky lines, and most of my favorites are downright
>> cutting: the most
>> Norah-like song on the album, "Really," is a
>> gorgeous little ballad
>> for jazz trio plus trumpet, and it sounds like the
>> ultimate Starbucks
>> music until you notice that the lyrics are a woman
>> insincerely
>> apologizing to someone, saying that while she knows
>> she's supposed to
>> care about him and his problems, she really just
>> can't be arsed to.
>> For my money, Nellie McKay might well be the best
>> lyricist in pop
>> music right now.
>
>
> =====
> Chicago Pop Show Report on Yahoo Groups:
> http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/?yguid=162827291
>
> Music reviews: http://www.fufkin.com
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