smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Michael Adelsheim" <madelsheim@adelsheimvineyard.com> |
| Subject | Re: Duffy |
| Date | Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:34:34 -0800 |
[Part 1 text/plain iso-8859-1 (3.6 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
I actually think this is the best piece of writing I've seen in the couple years I've been a member of this list. At least, the best piece written specifically to the group..... (John, what are you? Some sort of professional scribe?)
Adelsheim
-----Original Message-----
From: audities-owner@smoe.org [mailto:audities-owner@smoe.org] On Behalf Of govango
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 12:23 PM
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: Re: Duffy
John,
Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking but stating it in english for me.
your thoughts on duffy and adele etc, though I did have to go look up
lugubrious, and yeah you nailed that one also.
michael
--- On Mon, 2/23/09, John L. Micek <jlmicek@verizon.net> wrote:
From: John L. Micek <jlmicek@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: Duffy
To: audities@smoe.org
Date: Monday, February 23, 2009, 2:21 PM
> I would say Duffy's talent could fit in Dusty's pinky fingernail. No comparison there whatsoever, other than to say the former is perhaps trying to capture something that came naturally to the latter. Is Duffy better
> than her contemporaries? Say...Fergie? Definitely. Lilly Allen? I think so. Amy Winehouse? If Winehouse doesn't kill herself, she could rule the roost.
It probably is more appropriate to place Duffy in the broader context of her contemporaries -- Winehouse and Adele. Fergie's not an apt comparison -- she belongs in the pop firmament with Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera and that ilk. And, to my way of thinking, Lily Allen may not be an apt comparison either, since she and Kate Nash seem to belong to what I'll call a more 'confessional' school of songwriting. So she has to be judged among the practitioners of the new Northern Soul.
I'll preface my remarks by noting that I put "Rockferry" in my top 20 of last year's records, along with Nash's "Made of Bricks." I love Duffy's voice, and do find it reminsicent of Dusty Springfield's. But to try to draw direct analogues between the two of them is foolhardy. You can't put an acknowledged legend beside a young vocalist with one album to her credit. It does both of them a disservice and puts a tremendous burden on the younger artist that she can never hope to live up to.
Of the three, Adele is probably the most naturally talented vocalist, and I love "Chasing Pavements," though I found the rest of the record a little lugubrious. I also enjoyed "Back to Black," but sometimes I wonder if Mark Ronson won't someday outclever himself with his production style. Certainly that record wouldn't have been the document it was without the presence of the Dap-Kings, who classed the proceedings up measurably.
In interviews and performances, I've found Duffy the most personally enagaging. She's bright, funny and friendly, and that has gone a long way toward winning my affections. The fact that she looks like a young Bardot doesn't hurt much either -- to be blunt. But that's not the sole yardstick I'm using to measure her with. For my money, when it comes down to songs, "Mercy," and "Warwick Avenue," were two of the catchiest nu-soul tunes I heard last year.
I'm not sure how personally committed Duffy is to continuing to record in this style. In interviews, she can be evasive and non-committal about the whole business, leaving open the suggestion that the record was largely shaped by Bernard Butler's personal whims and a legion of A&R men. I'll be curious to see where she goes once she has a few more records under her belt. She and Adele both seem like they have tremendous promise. As much as I appreciate Winehouse's talent, I fear her demons have probably overtaken her.
John Micek
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.