Because Joni has often commented on her guitar tuning
and technique - how she uses the guitar to create more
orchestral sounds -- I think Travelogue is a natural
progression, having an actual orchestra at her
disposal. I'm so curious if Mendoza's arrangements are
his entirely (based on her original songs) or if they
collaborated some.
I found this quote in the jmdl library from a 1990
interview, but I think it can be applied to
Travelogue:
FROM: Diary of a Decade with Trevor Dunn for Greater
London Radio. Taped 6/9/90. Broadcast 7/9/90.
JM: Well, I think each record -- it's all experimental
work. You can't -- you can't just go "this works" and
stay there. It would be terribly dull, you know. Like
I mean my patron saints, Miles Davis and Picasso, are
restless people. I'm a restless artist. I try
different things, and they succeed or fail depending
on who you talk to. We mixed those albums for what we
thought was appropriate for the music at the time, you
know. To me, the orchestration is as important as the
words, but not to a lot of people. It depends who
you're listening to. People who like instrumental
music, they like that, you know, they like that
attention to detail. Some people would rather that I
just did everything with the guitar and nothing else.
Had I done that, I wouldn't be alive in this business
today, you know?
Jenny (digesting Travelogue a little more before
commenting, too)
--- Emily Gray Tedrowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> hi all. i haven't written anything about
> "travelogue" because i'm still
> trying to give it a full, fair chance--i really
> would like to find more things
> about it that i like. having listened a number of
> times, my biggest
> obstacle with this project is that i just don't see
> the thematic or artistic
> need these songs have for such over-the-top
> arrangements. maybe
> "sire of sorrow" etc. do have the larger themes that
> call for bombast,
> but so many of these songs i feel are intimate,
> gemlike stories of life
> (rendered exquisitely by joni's lyrics and original
> music), and to hear them
> awash in huge arrangements of dozens of
> instruments...why? is
> what i keep coming back to. i just keep thinking,
> ick.
>
> what a bummer! there's not much in this album that
> challenges me
> the way the originals do...
> possibly the problem is that joni loves this "kind"
> of music (big,
> dramatic, theatrical, etc.) and i just happen
> to...not. a personal thing?
> possibly. still, i would love to ask her why she
> believes these songs
> need (or could benefit from) this kind of
> treatment--the form and the
> content don't seem to jibe, in my opinion.
>
> and the WORST of it all, is that i can hardly stand
> to listen to one
> of my favorites as it is done
> here..."judgment"--because i find that
> the vocal performance is so grating and awful. in
> particular, i cringe
> every time she sings "in a bell jar"--she YELPS it,
> to my mind.
> the "hey hey heeeeyyyyyy"s that come soon after are
> also so
> icky. i don't feel this is a voice deterioration
> issue as much as it
> is a stylistic choice that i find a real clunker.
>
> and i remember swooning when she sang this in the
> BSN concert!
> huh.
>
> i'm sorry to have so much negativity here--there are
> songs on "travelogue"
> that i do like to listen to--"flat tires," "love,"
> and one or two others i can't
> remember ("be cool"?) off the top of my head. oh
> and "otis and marlena."
>
> so i'm not giving up--yet. if joni finds worth in
> this project, then i'll
> work pretty hard to give it a fair shake. the
> booklet is so lush and
> pretty--silver lining? cold comfort at this stage!
>
> -- emily, in chicago
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