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Morissette unplugs, Cartolari unwinds
and Cleopatra unleashes pure musical evil
by
K aty D avidson
MTV U nplugged
Alanis Morissette • Maverick
W
hy do I love Alanis
Morissette? Being the
3 indie rock snob (wink
wink) that I am, one might
think I’d deem her cheesy, too
mainstream, overproduced and
annoying.
But I don’t. Maybe it’s my
irrepressible Canadian fixation,
but I am continuously captivat
ed by this woman. Morissette s
first album, Jagged Little Pill, is
clearly a firecracker of melody—
it produced at least five rocking,
and
well-deserved hit single
her 1998 album, Former Sup
posed Infatuation Junkie, holds
some true gems as well.
I know Morissette is not
queer and a lot of lesbians prob
ably don’t care either way, but
I’m willing to bet there are a
slew of dykes out there who
kneel by their beds each night
and pray to a pagan goddess that
Morissette will someday see the
proverbial light at the end of the
gay tunnel. (But that’s not
Alanis Morissette
important, right?! It’s the music
that matters!)
Anyway, following a some
what successful ’90s trend, Morissette has
recently blessed us with an MTV Unplugged
album. The eponymous television series, which
began a few years back, features well-known
mainstream acts performing their songs in a
stripped-down, acoustic format.
I believe the best Unplugged sessions are
delivered by artists who regularly use a lot of
electronic sounds—it’s in this acoustic format
that we’re able to glean the songs’ structures
and basic forms. Morissette is an ideal candi
date for MTV Unplugged because her previously
released albums contain a fair share of pro
grammed beats and electric guitars.
On this hour-long disc, Morissette treats us
to chilled-out versions of songs from both her
albums, as well as a few new songs. The album
opens with the familiar feel-good chords of
“You Learn,” but just when you start singing
along, you discover that tricky ol’ Alanis has
sneaked in some new falsetto breaks to catch
you by surprise.
Next, she moves into a more-cryptic-than-
usual version of “Joining You,” then eases into
a new ballad, “No Pressure Over Cappuccino.”
Both tracks are emotionally rousing, but they
go on a little too long, I fear. (One can be emo
tionally aroused for only so long.)
Without a doubt, Morissette chooses the
best tracks to acoustically represent Jagged Little
Pill, like “Head Over Feet” and “Ironic.” The
great part is, she changes around her vocal pre
sentation enough to keep you as interested as
the first time you heard them.
She closes the disc with “Uninvited,” a
track she originally contributed to the City of
Angels soundtrack. This song is possibly the
spookiest Top 40 song ever recorded, and the
Get Turned Out
into the next century ...
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