MUSIC
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emphatically, “W e’re better off for all that we
let in.”
T h e two have grown in different musical
directions, Sabers favoring the ballad and
Ray branching off to collaborate with punk
hands on her solo efforts. But on this
album, as with all that have come before,
it’s the blending of voices, strong writing
and politics that makes the Indigo Girls
greater than the sum of its parts.
— Kathy Beige
L ucky
M elissa Etheridge
Island Records
A ll T hat W e L et I n
Indigo Girls • Sony
•
et me start by say
ing I’m a huge
Melissa Etheridge
he Indigo Girls sound hasn’t changed much
in the 20-plus years the duo have been
fan. I’ve bought all
her albums, seen her
together, and that’s a good thing. Like a
bowl of your mom’s chicken noodle soup, the in concert dozens of
Indigo Girls are comfort food that doesn’t need
times, read her book,
to be improved upon.
joined her fan club.
On the past few albums, Amy Ray’s song
I rushed to buy
writing has overpowered Emily Sabers’, which
Lucky the day it came out and popped it into
has been pasty white. W hat a nice surprise on
my car stereo. My heart started to race as I
All That W e Let In that Sabers, author of the
heard the first distinctive guitar licks. Then she
classics “Power of Two” and “Closer to Fine,”
opened her mouth.
finally has her songwriting power back.
At 40-something, Etheridge’s voice is as
strong
and rich as ever. Her problem is lyrical.
Ray’s songs tend to ask the unanswerable
It just gets annoying listening to her rhyme
questions. Sabers’ give us answers and hope.
words like notion, ocean and emotion. She has
Especially strong is the title song, a muse on
always overused certain terms, such as “angel,”
predictable Indigo topics: love and war. Ray
for instance, from “H ie Angels W on’t Have It”
asks: “Can we make it better? Do we tether the
to “I’ve Been Talking to My Angel” and now “I
hawk or do we tether the dove ?" Sabers states
T
L
want to ride with my angel and live
material, except for
shockingly.” H ie woman needs to
Macy Gray’s “Come
ditch her rhyming dictionary and pick
Together” and Tori
Amos’ “Cornflake
up a good thesaurus.
G irl,” both from live
“I want to see how lucky, lucky can
performances.
be,” Etheridge opines. My 10-year-old
D ID O
"V i
MACv GRAY
ZA
niece writes better stings. H ie album’s
Part of the pro
AVR11 :AV>GNf
ceeds
from sales of
best offering, “Home,” was not written
ICA! h i t£ N CDWAROÌ^
t o s i Afvvos
Æ
by Etheridge.
the album go to Oh!
AIMÉ t M ANN
THE P R E l t N D e « ^ ^
G
et the Money, an
To the dyke icon’s credit, lesbianism
SARAH M C lA C H lA N
THE HE G O O D TANYAS
organization of Oxy
is creeping more overtly into her
S a r a h h a r m e r
o h S u s a n n a
gen Media company
music. “Meet Me in the Dark” is a
that helps women
strong ballad about life in the
entrepreneurs start their own businesses.
closet, and in “G iant” she deservedly
credits herself with some of the
Hopefully these entrepreneurs will know
progress of the modem gay rights
how to put together a better CD. Oh! exhibits
movement. But, her earnest tribute to
little variation in its mood, which is mellow in
gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham falls a
an unsatisfying kind of way. Combining the
little too short, too late.
chosen artists with more lively songs could
have produced an edgier compilation, but, as
Etheridge is newly in love, and
that’s what this album is really about.
too often is the case, the balance is tipped in
favor of less character and less dare.
Unfortunately for us, her real song
H ie Be Good Tanyas’ calm but mesmerizing
writing talent lies in heartbreak.
It’s Not Happening” and Stacie Orrico’s rock
— KB
ing “Stuck” are good examples of more spirit.
O h ! F rom the G irls
But then Sixpence None the Richer’s cover of
Various Artists • N ettwerk
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” is a strange choice
considering the hand’s many powerful songs.
And why flaunt Amos’ overdone “Cornflake”
h! From the Girls, the latest showcase of
when she cuts right through the heart with
women in music, does a fairly good job at
spanning genres (pop, rock, folk) and
unearthly songs like “Precious Things”?
artists from mainstream biggies (Dido, Avril
Similarly, Erin McKeown’s fine “Slung-Lo”
Lavigne, The Pretenders) to lesser-known
does not magnetize like, say, her opulent “The
indies (Sarah Harmer, O h Susanna, Martina
Taste of You.” And Sarah M cLachlan’s “Angel”
Sorbara).
pushes you right over the languid edge.
All recordings were pulled from existing
— Els Debbaut JH
O
ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR
Roger &eit EBERT &ROEPER
C rush
cessm »
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W?: W iT
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