Rarely am I struck by moments when while listening to Joni's music, the sheer cinematic power in the synchronization of the scene I'm viewing live and the music is overwhelming. I've had two great ones before, one was while looking out the window of a transcontinental flight over the western and southwestern US, with "Paprika Plains." The second was the orchestral version of "A Case of You" while riding a train down the eastern bank of the Hudson River. The third was tonight, at around 2am, a beautiful calm still night in Los Angeles, driving slowly down a forlorn Santa Monica Boulevard in downtown Hollywood with "The Wolf That Lives In Lindsay." I will carry these chills forever.
Another context also occurred to me in relation to the discussion of "Joni's ragged sound" on some tracks, or as some have put it, her refusal to sacrifice the emotion in performance to the pursuit of sonic perfection. I don't believe I have ever heard a studio masterpiece as brilliantly conceived and perfectly realized as "The Wolf That Lives In Lindsay." Sound balance and rhythmic flows have never been so deftly placed before or since by anyone, in my humble opinion. It is, simply, aural manna. CC PS . Another good moment was cruising Sunset Boulevard with Kakki to "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter." "If you've got a place to go, you just got to go there." -- JM _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
