|   Heather Nova and Garrison Starr.... | tugmcmartin
Apr 17, 2002 8:26 AM | | I picked up a couple of new albums yesterday (thanks to some tax refunds). Got Heather Nova's "South", which i think was released late 2001. Also picked up Garrison Starr's "Songs From Takeoff to Landing". Both kind of remind me of Aimee Mann. Anywho... After giving them both a couple of spins, i can say that these are both worth picking up. Not very many overly powerful songs, but i didn't ever feel the need to skip a song either. Been a while since i've had a rock/pop album where i didn't want to skip at least one. Anyone else have any experience with either of these two albums?
Tug |
| re: Heather Nova and Garrison Starr.... | jack70
Apr 18, 2002 8:43 AM | | I have 3 previous CD's of Heather's... some good cuts in there. Did not know she had a newer one out. Also have Garrison's "18 over me" CD, plus her "24-7" EP with rare live and acoustic versions. There are some songs there that are "A" material... really terrific. Will definitely get her "new" one... wasn't aware of it either (jeeze). Thanks for the heads up!
Now... to compare either to Aimee... that's a stretch and 1/2. Aimee is far and away the best female artist out there.... not even close.[IMHO] Her songs, lyrics, etc are all great. She's in a whole 'nother class than all but a few other female artists... I could list over 100 others (female artists) worth listening to, but I don't know how many you're aware of, so maybe you list Aimee because you don't have enough other female artists to compare with. [Of course, I'm saying this based on earlier works, so I'll reserve TOTAL judgement.] |
| Hmm...... | tugmcmartin
Apr 18, 2002 1:40 PM | | I don't think i actually compared the two to Aimee Mann. Just said they reminded me of her (in an edgier, female singer/songwriter kinda a way). Now i haven't listened to a whole lot of Aimee Mann (only 2 or 3 of her albums and none at any great length of time), but i'd say i do like her stuff a little better. But still, to get all worked up over a perceived comparison when you haven't heard the two albums i'm talking about seems a bit premature. Maybe those two works ARE in the same class as Mann's stuff. Not likely, but it could be so.
As for my exposure to female artists... i'd like to think i'm aware of quite a few from all different kinds of genres...
To name a few:
Kirsten Hersh, Tanya Donnely, Lucinda Williams, Allison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Sherri Jackson, Shannon Worrell, Shannon McNally, Shana Morrison, Sarah McLachlan, Sara Harmer, Kelly Willis, Gillian Welch, Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Raitt...
You get the picture. That said, i'm always open to some new suggestions you might have. Give me some homework for the weekend.
Tug |
| Point taken | jack70
Apr 19, 2002 6:28 AM | | One of the shortcomings of post-boards is getting one's meaning understood clearly to all... an impossible task with only a keyboard. Yeah, I can understand you bringing up Aimee's name because she's well known and does have a similar "sound" ...in some ways... especially compared to the others you listed... but understand the reason I dismissed your comparison with her [a bit] is because I have such a HIGH regard for Aimee, primarily as a songwriter, something I think is the most difficult thing to do (well) in music. (she's one artist I DO "get all worked up about"...well, a little bit... sorry, no slam intended). Her work is not perfect... some stuff I don't even like much... but "I'm with Stupid" may be the best CD of the 90's... all things considered... for me anyway... as much as I hate making such pronouncements. (& even that has some 2'nd rate stuff on it...) One reason the Beatles, Kinks, Dylan, etc were better than their contemporaries was because their lyrics were deeper, more poetic, or more had more insight than others; on top of the great melodies, etc. I think Aimee has few peers today from the standpoint of classic songwriting. And you are right-on about my not hearing either of the 2 Cd's you mentioned... that's why I added the last line in my post... sometimes an artist will release something better than anything else they've done yet. And it doesn't have to be especially great [for me] to be happy with a CD... a SINGLE excellent song or 2 is all it takes to make me happy with a CD... anymore is just gravy.(imagine if EVERY cut on EVERY CD was great?... there's only so much time)
I'd love to list a number of other artists to check out, but many are pretty obscure, and with independents etc these days, most would be hard to find (out of date etc)... but... I have been working on some of my music pages, and there's going to be a section there on modern female artists... it'll be a while till all that's complete... and it's only one of a dozen other pages I'm simutaneously working on... a seemingly endless job! But, in the meantime, I WILL give you something else to peruse -- my page of contemporary music-online. Understand, it's a work in progress, and is focused primarily on the more popular 5% of the artists out there... but you may find something of interest in it. Comments welcome.
Anyway, thanks for the heads up... I always liked both those artists. Garrison got nice live reviews back in 97... nice to see she's still recording. And considering how young she is, she has lots of time to develop into a superior songwriter. (Aimee was writing 2'nd rate stuff at that age herself). I've put both those CD's on the ole want list. Cya
http://timemasheen.tripod.com/m/mp3.html |
| Didn't intend to stir up anything... | tugmcmartin
Apr 19, 2002 6:42 AM | | Well, maybe i did. I was a bit fiesty yesterday. At any rate, I hope i didn't come across as thinking your points were invalid. Quite the opposite. I do think that Mann is a better, more respectable artist than Garrison and Nova, mainly because she's been around for longer and most of the stuff she's done that i've heard, i consider pretty solid. Whereas Heather Nova has had a couple of questionable outputs (IMHO). I'd never heard of Starr before, but from what i've read, her new album is a pretty big step up from her songwriting on her other releases. Apparently she took some time away from music to "regroup".
In the meantime, i'll check out your site. Thanks.
Tug |
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