In a message dated 12/20/2002 12:05:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> an artist who takes songs she has written over a four decade period, pooling them >together on one recording and refurbishing them with a complete symphony orchestra. I certainly won't disagree that it's a *unique* project. That's a plus and a minus, the plus being the depth and breadth of the ambition of it, the minus being that there's not really much of a market for it. And you could state that it IS a logical progression, especially given the fact that she's not writing. There's really not anything left for her to do though in terms of this being a progression...she's now done a project where she sings others' songs as a vocalist interpreter(BSN) and one where she does her songs in a similar style. All of a sudden a "Christmas" cd is beginning to sound logical! And while I agree that it's a significant statement by an artist of her stature, I still don't see it as a "forward" move, but rather as one of retrospective. >Second of all, it's progressive in the sense that Joni herself has never done this >before. But given that definition, isn't EVERY cd released by any artist "progressive"? It's ALWAYS something they haven't done before! > Simply because she hears 40s and 50s music in her head and admires that era more >than what is being produced today does not make what she's doing retrograde. She's >taking modern songs with modern sentiments, sentiments that are in fact timeless, and >situating them in a grand context that is reminiscent of a time gone by.> This is an excellent point, and it may be why songs like "Cherokee Louise" & "Sex Kills" don't work for me in this format. There seems to be a disconnect between the lyric & the music. In its original version, the instrumentaion for CL was more tender & fragile sounding & suited the story. In its T'log setting it sounds like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. I admit this is picking at nits. And by the same token, this same theory is what makes T'log's Dawntreader SUCH a breathtakingly gorgeous gem! This song is intended to be treated with this fuller setting...same with "Judgement", and I could name many others that are augmented with the orchestration. But I would also argue that merely because it's different or new doesn't make it good. > Dare I say that what Joni has done with Travelogue it's post modern expressionism? A >fusion of past with present. It's quite progressive, I think. Dare, dare! But the only thing 'present' about it is that it's released in the present. The arrangements and songs, as well as Joni's vocal stylings are all "past". Of course I'm grateful for whatever golden eggs Joni gives us, and I do enjoy T'log for wht it is. I just think it's a shame when so many of her peers (Waits, Dylan, Costello, Springsteen) ARE legitimately still growing and Joni's choosing to be left behind, for whatever reasons. And obviously Andrew, I respect your thoughts greatly and appreciate you sharing them. Where else could we have this kind of discussion? :~) Bob NP: Sheryl Crow, "We Do What We Can"
