**Kathleen Edwards @ Park West (773/929-5959) on 6.4
**Vivian Green @ House of Blues (773/923-2000) on 6.15
** Dana Glover @ Schuba's (773/525-2508) on 6.23
There hasn't been a shortage of female singer/songwriters since the late '60s and early '70s, when artists such as Carole King, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell set the standard, and performers such as Kate Bush, Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega and Ani DiFranco, to name a few, kept the torch blazing. This year alone, more than a dozen female singer/songwriters have released albums on independent and major labels, many of whom are well worth your time and attention.
Perhaps one of the most talked about albums of the year, Failer (Zoe) by Kathleen Edwards, introduces listeners to an important new voice in the singer/ songwriter genre. At turns as twangy as insurgent country, as tart as Neil Young, and as tough as Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards says it all in new ways. The country shuffle of 'Six O'Clock News,' in which the reference to the 'failer' of the album title can be found, addresses a good-for-nothing who knows what it's like to 'try to come clean/but it's just no use/face is all over the six o'clock news.' She displays a dark sense of humor about the music industry on 'One More Song The Radio Won't Like' and gets Canadian on us in 'Hockey Skates.' There is a Neil Young and Crazy Horse crunch to '12 Bellevue' and a slow but steady rise of the temperature on 'Mercury.' In a perfect world, 'Westby' would be the kind of cheating song that radio would like and 'Sweet Little Duck' would be the soundtrack to someone's dream of getting out and moving on to a better place.
Eleni Mandell echoes some of Edwards's country influences, but takes them a step back in time. Sounding like one of Tammy Wynette's kinfolk on Country For True Lovers (Zedtone), the original songs and covers play up the pedal steel, banjo, mandolin and dobro aspects. A veritable sad country waltz from start to finish, songs such as 'Another Lonely Heart,' 'Don't Say You Care,' 'Refrain,' 'Iowa City,' and Mandell's renditions of 'It's Raining' and 'Don't Touch Me' should appeal to 'true lovers' with broken hearts.
When I attended an artist showcase for Dana Glover, prior to the release of her glossy, yet gritty debut disc Testimony (DreamWorks), I was surprised to see Robbie Robertson present. Glover is apparently a discovery of Robertson's. In the slick hands of producer Matthew 'Break My Stride' Wilder (who has also produced Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson), Glover gets lost in the final product, coming off as yet another belting babe (think Anastacia minus the funky dance edge) without much substance. Sure, she sounds great, but she doesn't sound memorable. Only the touching ballad 'Maybe' and the pop music gospel of 'The Way (Radio Song),' rise above the other songs and bear repeated listens.
How many albums open with the lines 'Gravity and entropy,/they have it out in me'? Not many, I can assure you. After three independent releases, the exotic Mia Doi Todd enters the major label realm on The Golden State (Columbia). Todd's unusual voice, angelic yet solid, is the perfect instrument for the 10 intelligent songs on the album. From the internal wrestling match of '88 Ways,' the musical mathematics of 'Digital,' and the modern blues of 'Merry Me' to the gorgeous blade of 'Like A Knife,' and the sweet season of 'Autumn,' Todd burns with a subtle inner light that took a while to shine through and earn my appreciation.
An acquired taste, Enantiodromia (Drag City) by Azita won't be to everyone's liking. Best known as the lead singer of the Scissor Girls, Azita's off-kilter crooning is in a new and unusual setting; a series tunes on which she plays piano and is backed up by guitar/bass/drums combo. A daring and unexpected effort that has its high points, including 'Better End In Time,' 'On the Road,' 'Ooh Ooh Johnny,' and the piano only closing track 'Show Theme,' for those willing to take a chance on something different.
The same can be said for Run To Ruin (Touch And Go), the third album by Nina Nastasia made under the watchful guidance of Steve Albini. A heavy wispiness permeates the album, with barely there instrumentation supporting Nastasia's folk-dirge vocals on songs such as 'I Say That I Will Go' and 'Regrets.' 'Superstar,' which is reminiscent of Hope Sandoval, feels more lived in, like a still-warm bed. The conflicting strings on 'The Body' made me think of gypsy fortune tellers, while the murmurings of 'While We Talk' sounds like something you might find in an obscure hymnal.
Arc Of Tessa (Carrot Top Records), the debut album by Megan Reilly, could probably also fit in the same category as Azita and Nina Nastasia. Bordering on accessibility via folk and country-tinged tunes such as 'Cease To Start, 'Two Chairs,' 'Annie B.' and the title track. Reilly can also rev it up to near punk pop on a songs such as the snappy 'Evergreen.'
Sam Shaber opens her latest disc Eighty Numbered Streets (SMG) on a country note with 'Eldorado.' She quickly demonstrates that she can write and perform songs in a variety of styles, from the adult contemporary pop of 'Without You Again' and 'All of This' to the drum loops of 'Make It Up To You' and the harmonica driven 'Tempting' and 'When The Roses Run Dry,' Shaber always rises to the occasion.
Vivian Green is a new-soul diva in the mold of India.Arie and Heather Headley on her debut disc A Love Story (Columbia). A one-time back-up vocalist for Jill Scott, Green has a firm understanding of the importance of songs that make a statement with memorable lyrics and melodies, which she demonstrates on songs such as 'Wishful Thinking,' '24 Hour Blue,' 'Emotional Rollercoaster,' the jazz-balladry of 'No Sittin' By The Phone,' the lightly funky beats of 'Affected' and 'Ain't Nothing But Love,' and the Jill Scott-esque stretching out of 'Keep On Going.'
San Francisco-based Brigitte DeMeyer has a distinctive blues and roots ring to her songs on Nothing Comes Free (brigittedemeyer. com), which is enhanced by the presence of Ivan Neville, and members of Emmylou Harris's Spyboy band. Highlights include originals such as the title track, 'Roll The Wheels,' and 'Hands Cannot Be Tied,' as well as covers of 'Roll' Em Easy' and an unlisted 'Oh, Darling.'
On her self-titled disc, Sissel (Decca) brings a distinctly Norwegian influence to contemporary Celtic music. Kind of like a frosty Enya. While I'm not sure that she would earn any air-play on Fiona Ritchie's National Public Radio program The Thistle & Shamrock, it is nice to hear a different take on this traditional style of music. Sissel's readings of the traditional 'Shenandoah' and Neil Sedaka's 'Solitaire' (how's that for range) are each interesting in their own ways.
In the mid-1990s, Atlantic Records (one-time home to divas such as Aretha Franklin and Bette Midler) was the place to be for female singer/songwriters. The label's roster included Melissa Ferrick, Jill Sobule, Tori Amos, Julianna Hatfield and Jewel, to name few. Jewel is the only one left standing, as all the others have left for other labels, and in the case of Ferrick, to start their own. In that time, the one-time female heavy label has scaled back a bit in that realm. Among the few female singer discs they have released (excluding the exception of reigning diva Linda Eder), is the trivial and tiresome teen nonsense of Willa Ford. While You Can (Atlantic), by Lucy Woodward, doesn't appear to be any more substantial. Geared toward the Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch audience, Woodward ends up sounding like a clone instead of her own person. Even the corporate prefab Lavigne has a distinct, if unlikable, personality.
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