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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2002)
MUSIC Diva schmiva by V Jazz and pop greatness without all the ’tude T J N o r r is — — —— Irance-indueing Sigur R on plays the Roseland I heater on Nov. 2 I — night becomes a meditation. Barber breathes with the preci sion, if not the attitude, o f any notable diva. erse Patricia Barber • Blue Note Records azz label giant Blue Note has released the newest and the bluest from lesbian pianist/singer/songwriter Patricia Barber, titled Verse. O n the disc opener, “T he Mtxm,” she has captured a mystical melding o f jazz, spoken word and a x il attitude. Silken vocals twist oh so sweetly, with brilliant confidence and the pure, deep bass of Michael Am opol and singing trumpet of Dave Douglas. Some may say that it is all in the pacing, and here, well, its true. Lyrics like “tonight there won’t be light, ’cause 1 can’t shine with out you” reveal true passion. Filled with plenty of questions, the short “Lost in T his D ive” recalls an echo of Suzanne Vega. Partly cabaret storytelling, Barber lights up her search with the vibrato of her Fender Rhodes strings on “Clues,” making for an ethe real contemporary sound. Tongue-twisted lyrics sung over softened percussion and cymbal work provided by drummer Joey Baron offer an atmosphere o f solitude. Barber’s lyrics are biting and pronounced, her speech styled, with an almost neo-beat phrasing appealing to a jazz aesthetic more in the vein of Betty Carter and early Abbey Lincoln, who use(d) their voices like musical instruments rather than, say, Dinah Washington or Mildred Bailey, whose sassy feminine charm and wit defined their public selves. Not to say that this record is lacking in those areas— it’s just more icy than soulful, more cerebral than earthy. O n this seventh disc since 1989, Barber has suited up and tightened her sound to include the smoldering French-sung “Dansons la Gigue.” Douglas sounds so skillfully sleek in a rare under stated performance here in a lilting, kinda blue, Miles Davis sorta way. “If I Were Blue” concludes the disc with Barber mesmeriz ing about Fhx:kney, Hopper, Picasso and Goya as she radi ates through illusions produced through color and sensual light. She talks about their silences as Neil Alger delicately wields a Spanish-flavored guitar. A beautiful song about indi genes, the rain and the thick of H o m e t im e Alison M oyet * Sanctuary Records .**.■• * S- fter an eight-year hiatus, Alison Moyet has returned to form on her first full- length recording since 1994’s critically success ful Essex. In Hometime we experience the divine, deep tonal rapture we’ve grown accustomed to from a rare British diva in the same vein as A nnie Lennox and Tracey T h om . Moyet’s bold chords are still in great shape after a handful o f perfect pop gems: her 1984 solo debut, A//; its follow-up, Raindancing; and the gay dance floor anthems of Upstairs at Eric's from her former band, Yazoo. Hometime provides lush tunes without a lot of pomp and circumstance. Here Moyet shines vibrantly on the title track, crooning “I’ll remember his name, and he’ll remember mine" with a shy curl of a knowing smile. “Say It” sways in its bold refrains and full chorus with brash lyrical repetition. Though no track here has the same flavors o f her older and wiser recordings, Moyet takes us on a more subtle ride, purring all the way through sensual pop songs like “More,” hear kening back to 1991 ’s soulful Hoodoo. Moyet hasn’t been resting pretty during the time away from the recording studio; she was refocusing her energies in the theater, starring in the stage smash Chicago in London’s West End. Like the Pet Shop Boys— whose Some where tour established their passion for the grand theater back in 1997, leading to a collab orative stint with playwright Jonathan Harvey in C loser to Heaven — she seems to be part of a new type of British invasion on the London stage. “If You Don’t Come Back to M e” is Moyet’s flirtation with dramatic jazz that has essence-au-Massive Attack written all over it. She suc ceeds in traversing to a new place on one of 2002’s brighter discs. Welcome back, Alison, and don’t keep us waiting another eight years! J H ALISON MOYEl HOMETJVb J- - V*-'# > «$* P&t * s* * *1 ; % v *• £•> *> •V fit V f t if- * ‘ f - E Ev A- irst, some context. Sigur Ros is from Iceland. Four guys: gay frontman Jonsi Birgisson (vocals, guitars), Kjarri Sveinsson (keyboards), Orri Pall Drason (drums) and Goggi Holm (bass). T he band is named after Birgisson’s little sister and translates as “victory II by C o ri rose. You should know that Bir gisson sings nonsense lyrics in a made-up lan guage he calls “Hopelandic.” You should proba bly also know that the band’s second album, 2000’s agaetis byrjun (Icelandic for, approximate ly, a good beginning), stoked a fire in the pants of mainstream and alternative music critics. Sigur Ros is not your average rock band. So when the band made the long trek to North America for their first U .S. shows in the spring o f 2001, urban myths propagated wildly. Fans reportedly fell down (literally) at the feet of the humming haunted amplifiers— fainting, coming to,* then walking away dazed, hypnotized and in love. You might not understand Birgisson’s lexicon (with sounds like “ils-eye-yoh"), but you’ll recog nize something strange and familiar in his haunt ing falsetto. Underneath the rise and fall of ten der, quivering vocals and cello-bowed electric guitar, the lead singer’s bandmates create atmos pheric open melodic lines that meet him in a narcotic fog. It’s been said you can hear Iceland in the veins of this band— quiet and icy and big, moving slowly toward som ething, on the verge of som ething you can just barely understand. Sigur Ros is not likely to get radio airtime, but some of Hollywood gets it— Cameron Crowe hired them to write two songs for Vanilla Sky. T aratoot Chances are the band won’t do that again, but much of what they do would serve a film well. More than a traditional verse-chorus-verse-bridge pop band, the four boys create an entire habitat of music. And where much of the post- 1970s Eno ambient sounds fall into the “background music” category, Sigur Ros distributes incremental doses of light- psychedelic beauty that’ll stop open-eared junkie music lovers in their tracks. W hich leads us to their latest, ( ) . A spare title, no-name tracks and empty white pages for liner notes, this is another epic release. W ith most cuts exceeding eight minutes, Sigur Ros rightfully assumes an intelligence in their listen ers. And while this album’s tone and color close ly resemble earlier works, the band has fought off the demons that often torch artists with the noose of expectations readied around their necks. This is an album even more unconventional than the last, with songs drifting further from the anchor o f beginning-middle-end structures. Listen to it in one sitting— the band obviously intended for it to be experienced as a 71-minute tale. T hen go catch Sigur Rris on Nov. 25 at the Roseland. D on’t forget the smelling salts. J H roch band Get ready, Portland, for Sigur Rós 360 of JfrÚaíerfroní lining Surround yourself with spectacular views and a fresh perspective on "dining out." Aboard each Portland Spirit cruise, Executive Chef, David Fisher, puts a new twist on Northwest cuisine. It's the perfect dining experience, all the way around. Book y o u r holiday parly on the Spirit! Portland Upcoming C r u i s e Events: C all (503) 224-3900 or (800) 224-3901 • Crystal Dolphin cruises in Tri-City - Oct. 26th - Nov. 4th book online now at www . portlandspirit . com
