Martha Wainwright and Morphoses

I always forget how much I dislike Central Park SummerStage in between visits. The view is bad enough to begin with but once you factor in the number of reserved seats shows like this one have, well, the hoi polloi just isn't going to be able to see that well. And the only time bleachers are remotely comfortable is when you have lots of space around you. Definitely not the case Friday night. Still, it seems churlish to complain about the seating you get at a free show and I am glad I went.

When I first heard about this particular performance I thought it was a fairly odd combination that wouldn't show either party at their finest. Part of the appeal of Wainwright's shows is their slightly ramshackle, undisciplined feel. They tend to be warm and down to earth. And the way she changes up her songs live is another of the delights. For the most part though I think those concerns were misplaced as the show was something of a mash-up of concert and dance performance, with each getting their moment in the sun.

The first half felt mostly like filler on the dance front. There was a nice little solo to "Far Away" and "Whither Must I Wander" was one of those pieces that features the woman being partnered all over the stage and not dancing much on her own to feet, while "Bleeding All Over You" brought us a dance with Teresa Reichlen and four men that showed off her long legs but wasn't particularly interesting choreographically. "Love is a Stranger" was upbeat and fun at least. Wainwright also, to my surprise, played a number of songs without dance accompaniment. I was glad that she replaced "Tower Song" (not one of my favorites of hers) with the more upbeat "When the Day is Short" with her mother Kate McGarrigle playing piano. It's always a family affair one way or another with the Wainwrights.

The second half of the program was more rewarding. It opened with Wheeldon's "Fool's Paradise," which despite its at times excessive partnering is more interesting and innovative than any of the too-brief dances of the first half. It really sort of felt like the dance portion of the program began there. Afterward Wainwright sang a few songs without dancers, including her delightfully over-the top rendition of "Stormy Weather."

And then we got the piece of the evening, the world premiere of "Tears of St. Lawrence," choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and Edward Liang. Here I thought the musical collaboration worked much better than in the first half of the evening--where it wasn't so much a collaboration as the choreographers setting movement to songs Wainwright has been singing for some time--as the greater length gave Wheeldon and Liang time to develop ideas in their choreography and create an arc. At the same time though, I'm left with the same impression I get from so much of the Wheeldon choreography I've seen: It's perfectly pleasant to watch, I'm interested, and then 48 hours later it has evaporated from my memory. Or at least everything but the ending tableau has (both "Fool's Paradise" and "Tears of St. Lawrence" close with scenes that stick in the mind, though in different ways). While I'd be happy to see the ballet again, I'm more interested in hearing the music again. I couldn't focus on it or get an impression of it as a whole to the extent I might have liked and it seemed on first listen to be lovely and moving.

As a side note, Alistair Macaulay complains about the program notes in his review. He actually lets them off easy; the bios on the back were shoddily written as well. Even if the program creators are operating from the assumption that well-written program copy doesn't matter, you'd think they could bother with a spot of copyediting.

Hawksley Workman, St. Matthew Passion, Death is Certain

I've loved Hawksley Workman's music for years. He's pretty eclectic and, frankly, his work is fairly uneven, but when it's good it's really good. So I was looking forward to seeing him perform live, particularly since he doesn't play in New York very often. As it happened, he was ill and the performance was pretty so-so, although the talky guy who got to go on stage and play guitar for one of the songs seemed thrilled. And I was tired enough that even if it had been an awesome concert I would have probably felt sort of blah about it. Fortunately it was at Joe's Pub and started at 7:00 then ended by 8:30-ish.

That was Wednesday and on Friday I went to BAM to see St. Matthew Passion (why no apostrophe in that title?). Which was a bit too much Jesus for me. I mean, I'm not stupid so obviously I knew it was about Jesus. But still. That's more religion than I've subjected myself to in quite some time. Which would have been fine, I think, if the guy singing the role of Jesus hadn't bored me so much. I know nothing about music and for all I know he's actually fantastic. But he just seemed kind of lumpen (his presence not his singing since, again, I certainly couldn't judge anyone's singing and wouldn't know what constitutes lumpen singing anyway). I did think the circular staging was neat and also liked that everyone was dressed casually. And I very much enjoyed the guy singing the Evangelist--Rufus Müller--probably at least in part because I could understand everything he was singing. What I really loved though, were the chorale parts. 

As a sidenote, I sat next to a very nice man who gave me a cough drop during the intermission (the two of us had a little two-person chorus of allergy-related sniffling during the first act) and chatted with me. Also, there was a guy on the subway Friday afternoon asking me about my e-reader (I have it for work) and then I ran into him at BAM as well. Which has nothing to do with anything but was kind of funny in a small world sort of way. 

Then on Saturday, wrapping up my happening week, I went to see Jack Ferver's Death is Certain at St. Mark's Church, which was a Performance Club outing (P. Club post here). I'm not really sure what I thought of the performance as a whole but there were a lot of things going on that I was interested in; I felt like there was a kind of overflowing of ideas which is far preferable to watching something that's lacking ideas. And there were numerous times when I felt emotionally engaged/invested in these people and scenarios I was watching. I also spent a lot of time thinking, ooh, that even sounds painful. You could really hear the dancers hitting the floor, hitting each other, etc. At one point Tony Orrico (one of the three dancers in the performance) was shaking Ferver hard enough that you could hear Ferver's cheeks flapping and I was a bit worried that it could cause whiplash. What I liked best though was the way the piece explored how the same people can be both a burden and a support, at one time pulling you back or obstructing you, at another time lifting you up, the ways we have power over one another. Or maybe this is too literal an interpretation? Anyway, I'm really glad I went. 

I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too

Here I am, feeling whiny and stuck at JFK because they canceled my flight up to Buffalo and now I'm on one that leaves more than 2 hours later (if it leaves on time). Lovely.

Anyway, enough complaining. I've been listening to Martha Wainwright's new album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too and as with her last album, I've got mixed feelings about this one. Martha is a fantastic live performer. She wasn't always--earlier in her career she tended to look miserable on stage and didn't really establish a great rapport with the audience--but she is now. She has this sort of raw, honest quality--or at least her performances can seem raw and honest--that is also quite theatrical when she's singing certain songs. It really separates her from your run of the mill singer-songwriters. The thing is though, that she doesn't seem to be able to transfer the unique quality of her live performances to recordings. I think there are two problems: One is that, while she's a perfectly decent songwriter, she's a more interesting singer than she is a songwriter. She's delightful when she's singing old standards, for example. The other is that her albums are more polished than her live shows and it flattens everything out a bit.

She also doesn't seem to be very prolific. Her first album had some songs from earlier EPs, and that was to be expected. In fact, I was happy about it because some of those songs, like "Don't Forget" are songs I love. But I was a little surprised that this she went back to that well for this album as well. "Jimi" is from her Martha Wainwright EP, which was released in 1999. That same EP gave us "Don't Forget" and "G. P. T." which were on her debut full-length, but those are much stronger songs. This one feels immature. "The Car Song," which is included as a bonus track, if from the Factory EP which was released in 2002. Again, it's something that didn't really need to go on an album as well. (The best song on that EP, incidentally, was her performance of "Bye Bye Blackbird.") "So Many Friends" has also been around for years--I have a recording of her singing it on Routes Montreal in 2004--but is a stronger song and hasn't been released before. "Comin' Tonight" is a song she performed a lot on tours over the last three years or so and it's one I really like. Although for some reason I always thought it was a cover. Apparently I'm delusional. It's quite catchy.

The album also has a couple of covers, one being Syd Barret's "See Emily Play" and the other being the Eurythmics' "Love is a Stranger." I've never heard "See Emily Play" before but it's a nice sounding song in Martha's cover. Taken on it's own her rendition of "Love is a Stranger" is fun, and it's a great song. But it's kind of similar to the Eurythmics version, really, just not as awesome. And her vocals don't match up to those of Annie Lennox. So it just winds up feeling superfluous. Maybe something that it would be a lot of fun to hear her do in concerts but not something that needed to be recorded.

What I'm really interested in then, is all the new to me songs that she wrote for the album. "Bleeding All Over You," the song from which the album title comes, is quite good and lyrically clever. One of my favorite songs on the record. It's followed up by "You Cheated Me," which is totally radio ready. I can just imagine singing along to the chorus while in the car. And unlike some of her songs it works really well on CD and doesn't need a live performance to come to life ("Comin' Tonight" and "Bleeding All Over You" also fit in this "good on CD" category). Another one I really enjoyed immediately is "Hearts Club Band."

There are a slew of other songs though, that I'm waiting to hear live before deciding on. "Jesus and Mary" is one of my favorite songs on the record in terms of lyrics and I think it's going to be really fantastic live. I've heard some shoddy live recordings and it really seems to have weight and propulsion. "In the Middle of the Night" is one I'm not loving now but think might improve significantly with her wailing it from stage. Meanwhile both "Tower Song" (about September 11th? the war?) and "Niger River" (a love song to her husband) are really lovely and interesting vocally. I love the way she sings, "if I can't have you," on "Niger River," drawing out and contracting words to add texture. So I'm looking forward to hearing those live as well, even though I find the lyrics to "Niger Song" to be simultaneously too self-consciously poetic and too self-pitying. And then there is "The George Song" about which I am wildly ambivalent. So maybe hearing that one will help clarify my thoughts. The only new-to-me song I outright dislike on early listens is "I Wish I Were," which I find boring.

So, you see, I'm kind of all over the place. On the balance I like the record, and I can't wait to go see her perform in July, but I always come away from her recordings wishing for more. I'd love to hear her do a live album, I think. I'd also love it if she did an album of standards at some point. But this will certainly do for now.

Linda Thompson and Versatile Heart

So, I fucking adore Linda Thompson. No, not Linda Thompson who used to date Elvis. The one pictured here. While I liked her most recent album, Fashionably Late, what I really love is the work she did in the 70s and early 80s when she was married to Richard Thompson and the covers she's done in more recent years. I have a low quality bootleg of her singing Cohen's Alexandra Leaving at the Brighton Came So Far for Beauty that's just fabulous. She got a wonderfully melancholy tone to her voice that is inimitable. Here are a few videos of Richard and Linda Thompson songs so that, if you're not familiar with her singing, you'll hear what I'm talking about.


A Heart Needs a Home-This really shows off her voice and the performance is from before she began suffering from the hysterical dysphonia that kept her from performing or recording for so many years:


Dimming of the Day-One of my absolute favorite songs ever, although this isn't the very best rendition of it. None of the covers stand up to the original though. On the recorded version there's something about the way she sings the first couple lines which is just brilliant and no one else can replicate it (she doesn't do it here though):


Walking on a Wire:


Anyway, she has a new album, called Versatile Heart coming out on Tuesday, which is exciting, because she's terribly far from being prolific. I downloaded it early (although I certainly do intend to buy it) and have to say it's really very good. Seriously, go buy it.

The low spot is Do Your Best for Rock 'N Roll which is typical, boring jukebox country and some other songs like Nice Cars are pleasant enough but nothing special. But there are other songs like her cover of Tom Waits's Day After Tomorrow (she's the perfect singer to cover his songs) and Beauty, which was written for her by Rufus Wainwright and features Antony (it's better than anything he put on Release the Stars). These songs, along with other highlights like Go Home make this album so much better than most of what's out there.

You can hear both Day After Tomorrow and Beauty as well as the title song on her MySpace here.

Idan Raichel Project

My sister was in town Sunday with her boyfriend for the Idan Raichel Project concert at SummerStage. They're an Israeli group and I had not only never heard of them, I am also completely incapable of pronouncing the name. And of course, I can't understand what they're saying either. No matter though, I got a chance to talk to my sister (who I don't see very often) and that was lovely as was the concert, really.

The music is great sounding and also, I think, perfect for summer with its Ethiopian and Middle Eastern influences. I couldn't stay the whole time because I had to go meet people for dinner, and in some ways I wasn't sorry to go because it was blazing hot, but I was sorry to leave my sister early and to miss out on the music. Anyway, here are a couple of songs:

Mi'Ma'amakim

Siyaishaya Ingoma

Your Rocky Spine

I've been listening to this Great Lake Swimmers' song constantly for a while now and think it's incredibly beautiful. It's basically an extended metaphor, either comparing a lover's body to the land or the land to a lover's body. It's hardly a new concept, but it's one that wears well, I think. Lyrics:

I was lost in the lakes
And the shape that your body makes
That your body makes

And the mountains said I could find you here
They whisper the snow and the leaves in my ear
I traced my finger along your trails
Your body was the map
I was lost in there

Floating over your rocky spine
The glaciers made you and now you're mine

I was moving across your frozen veneer
The sky was dark
But you were clear
Could you feel my footsteps?
And would you shatter, would you shatter?
Would you?

Your soft fingers between my claws
Like purity against resolve
I could tell then there that we were formed from the clay
And came from the rocks for earth to display

They told me to be careful up there
Where the wind rages through your hair

It seems to me that the landscape they describe is also distinctly North American. Not only because their Canadians but because the specific images of a glacier carved landscape, exposed rock, frozen veneer, seem particularly new world to me. There's a sense of discovery and the elemental that feels as though it couldn't come from a more thoroughly settled European background. The myth/reality of wide, unsettled spaces.

It reminded me, momentarily at least, of John Donne's To His Mistress Going to Bed. This part:

License my roving hands, and let them go
Before, behind, between, above, below.
O my America, my new found land,
My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned,
My mine of precious stones, my empery,
How blessed am I in this discovering thee!
To enter in these bonds, is to be free;
Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be.

Now, the Donne poem and the song have fairly little in common. Basically just the comparison between the lover's body and the American continent(s). But still, I always like to reminded of things I love by other things I love.

Release the Stars

Rufus Wainwright's new album isn't out yet, but it's already recieved some glowing praise. I can only imagine that in the case of a critics' darling, some reviewers have made up their minds before even hearing the album. This always seems to me to be the case with the British music press more than the American music press. They decide some artist produces good work and then proceed to gush about them in a sycophantic and hyperbolic way. Anyone who has read NME has seen a rather egregious example of this tendancy. Anyway, this tendancy is on full display in the 5 star review from the Guardian. I find myself hoping now that the frequently obnoxious Pitchfork says nasty things about it, because I've heard the leaked CD and I like few things as much as having my opinions validated by others. And yes, I do realize that's petty and lame.

The thing is, I've been a big fan of Rufus Wainwright for years. I bought his CDs and went to his concerts and told people how fabulous he was and all that shit. The problem is that no matter how great he is, he's still not nearly as wonderful as he seems to think he is. And for a long time I found that narcissism not only tolerable, but even vaguely charming. Because he was at least making wonderful music. But this CD includes lots of not-so-wonderful music and thus his faults are harder to forgive. There's still good stuff on here. It's half a good album. But there's a lot of self-loving (and I don't mean that in the dirty way), melody-free dreck. And in the time-honored tradition of the rant, I'm going to talk about each and every song briefly just so you can all see how annoyed I am. But hey, at least I'm giving you fair warning.

It opens with a song that I actually enjoy a fair bit, called Do I Disappoint You?, in retrospect a somewhat prophetic name. It opens by asking the addressee if he disappoints him, "in just being human." It also features Martha Wainwright yelling things like, "fire," and, "chaos," in the background. I'm not totally crazy about the lyrics, but it's one of the high points in the album for me. Which is too bad, because I only like the song. It's followed by Going to a Town which will probably get attention because it's the first single and is critical of America. I'm all for criticizing my country. But only if it's done well. And while I like the music on this one the lyrics are broad, not terribly perceptive, and frankly bring nothing to the conversation. Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly tired of the way my country as a whole is behaving too, I just think it could be put in a more interesting way. Follow that up with the mannered Tiergarten and we're on song four before we get to another one I actually enjoy listening to.

That would be Nobody's Off the Hook which has two rather big things going for it: a) you can actually hear the piano, which is often one of the nicest things about his songs and b) it's about someone other than himself. Between My Legs I had heard him do live. Liked it then and like it now--it's kicky and fun and has a nice voiceover toward the end by Sian Phillips. But after that we dive off the cliff.

Rules and Regulations starts off with a nice rhyming couplet (human relations/public citations) but doesn't have much else going for it. The lyrics are, at best, boring and at times bad and the music just isn't particularly interesting. Then I'm Not Ready to Love come on and makes Rules and Regulations sound good in comparison. The lyrics are just awful. If I wanted to "enjoy" lyrics like, "I'm not ready to love/I'm not ready to fly," and, "I'm not ready to love/until I'm ready to love you/the way you should be loved/until I'm ready to hold you/the way you should be held," then there's an awful lot of crappy high school poetry out there and I'm sure I can find it.

This is followed by Slideshow which I actually enjoyed initially because I enjoy the music, particularly Richard Thompson's always excellent guitar work. But the lyrics irritate me more each time I hear it. He's pondering why he loves someone. That's fine, but it's only interesting if we, as listeners have some idea of the beloved. And yes, that means something more than that he doesn't want his back rubbed. And Rufus used to do that in his songs (see: Danny Boy among others), but apparently he can no longer be bothered. Count in the obnoxious lines, "I'd better be prominently featured in your next slideshow/'cause I paid a lot of money to get you over here, you know," and I'm torn between wanting to listen to the music and wanting him to shut the hell up. Tulsa descends to I'm Not Ready to Love levels with crappy, self-regarding lyrics, and singing that doesn't seem to mesh at all with the overdone musical accompaniment. And thus ends the ditch of bad to mediocre songwriting in the center of the album

A lot of people really love Leaving for Paris, which is an older song. I've always just found it boring. He adds a verse here. I remain utterly indifferent to the song on its own. But listening to the album straight through, it's an absolute breath of fresh area, with little relatively little orchestration--you can actually pay attention to the voice--and lyrics that show some regard for someone other than himself. This marks an upswing of sorts because the next song, Sanssouci actually goes so far as to paint an exterior scene. It's a song with a setting and a cast of characters as well as lyrics that are interesting and an actual tune. And Release the Stars is a good ending song. Grandiose but controlled, it's an extended metaphor using the old Hollywood system of keeping movie stars under contract to specific studios. Which is actually and interesting thing to write about and fits well with the big sound.

So in the end you have a music with songs that succeed but with a bunch of other songs that fail utterly. And with Wainwright albums that's impossible to ignore or overlook because his aims are so grand and over-the-top. It's like the self-edit function was broken and no one was making judgements on what was actually successful and what wasn't. Maybe he should never produce his own albums? I don't have an answer, but nothing would please me more at this pioint than for Rufus to write an entire album of songs that are not about himself. Because seriously? He's not so interesting that he can write about nothing and no one else. No one is. What's interesting is the interactions and relationships between people and too many songs on this album seem to completely lose sight of that in favor of wallowing in self-absorption.

I'd also like a scaled-back, simplified album with strong melodies, but not as much as I'd like better, less solipsistic lyrics.

March Playlist (with downloads!)

I don't know if anyone actually wants music downloads from me, but I figured hey, why not. These are the songs I've been in love with lately. It's a bit of a melancholy set of songs but then again, I think March is a bit of a melancholy month. And like March it ends on an cheerful note. Anyway you should download them because they're good songs. I swear.

• Your Rocky Spine-Great Lake Swimmers


• Get Lonely-The Mountain Goats


• Tonight-Stars


• One for Sorrow, Two for Joy


• Today Has Been Ok-Emiliana Torrini


• No Cover Up-Duke Special


• Night Out for the Downer-Damien Jurado


• The Circus is Leaving Town-Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan


• Dying Breed-Marissa Nadler


• Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death-Jens Lekman


• The Magic Position-Patrick Wolf