She and Him.
So as I stated in my last post and as witnessed by skimming the dates next to my postings, recently my rants have been fewer and far between. To remedy this situation, I wish to keep writing as often as possible, telling myself that writing even the simplistic emotions of the day will be better than writing nothing. So here it begins, the thoughts of the day.
I downloaded the cd Volume One, by She & Him, which features the vocals of Zooey Deschanel and instrumentation by M. Ward in a debut recording. Ever since I first witnessed her performance in All the Real Girls, I have had a crush on the cute and innocently adorable Zooey Deschanel. Viewing that film at my college in a small intimate screening with the director present, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was the director’s previous film, and off reputation was ready for whatever he had to offer. The film was good, and all though it didn’t compare to the director’s other film, it was unavoidable to fall in love with Zooey alongside the main character in the film. Her performance was completely natural, and her expressive eyes held a gentle gleam that could encompass all of her emotions.
Not much later within the film Elf, Zooey first premiered her singing voice, and with every word of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” I found myself questioning if it was truly her who I was hearing. There was an old Billie Holiday like jazz sound to her voice, it had a strong depth to it but always remained soft and welcoming. With a little deliberation, I was forced to recognize that the voice I was hearing was without a doubt rooted within the same young and innocent soul I was watching on the screen. Now I was smitten on a whole new level, and knew that in time I would hear that voice again.
Recently, I ended up seeing her in concert where she performed two songs as part of an ensemble concert in a storytellers type format. There were many established musicians there, and at this point Zooey had nothing recorded beyond her appearance in Elf. As she stepped on stage her nerves were evident, but as her voice began to emanate throughout the hall the tones got stronger with every beat. The classic old school voice reverberated through me as I began to picture her in black and white, a glimmering sequence dress, and whiffs of smoke filling the room. In a musical period where so much is over produced and tweaked, watching her and M. Ward as the only two on stage deliver so much emotion, was an excitingly refreshing experience.
What I hoped from the cd was a good format to display this powerful voice, and songs which were not too over produced. The cd delivered on every level. Throughout the cd Zooey’s voice and songs vary between a Patsy Cline type country twang and a lovingly tone reminiscent of the Doo Wop style of the 50s with the Wall of Sound orchestration. I’m not a music reviewer, so I can’t get too complex in my review, though I can say that every song is a very comforting sound which is easy to welcome into your musical collection through its fun sound which never loses its natural feeling. The tone feels as though it is rooted with the sounds of many of the musicians to which they feel an ultimate respect, and that I should have received the music on a record burned in acetate instead of downloaded straight to my mp3 player. I have no idea how many of the songs are covers, except for a few obvious ones at the end. What I know is that, throughout each song I never lose the warm feeling from hearing her voice and as a debut it showcases her vocal ranges to a good variety.
I know that with the windows open on a nice sunny day, there is nothing that could keep me from smiling while listening to this record. Times have changed, and music these days often over use loops and hooks to drill lyrics into your subconcious without worry of any emotion behind the music. In this day and age technology has allowed for anyone to go into a record studio and have their voice manipulated into the correct tones, but through all the tinkering the sounds get so clean that many of the emotions disappear. I feel that a record like this allows for a rawness to the overall production, understanding that leaving a natural feel to the performance relays to the listener the true ability and emotional dedication of the artists.
I wish I could say that I will let the needle wear thin listening to the record, but instead I shall play it on repeat a few times through my samsung yp-t9 mp3 player. After writing this, what I really have come to understand is that I wish I could make the connections and references within all the musical stylings of the songs. I enjoy music, and even took a few musical history classes in college, but no matter what I am still a very casual listener. So in the end, I recommend the cd.
This was supposed to be much more simplistic and concise. My goal for future daily thought postings is to be just quick blurbs.
-B
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