Clunk.
No, not crunk. Clunk. The sound of a shoe hitting the floor, onomatopoeiacally speaking, or of a coin dropped through the slit in a wooden offering box; I like how “clunky” has become a visual adjective as well. Perhaps the word also refers to the past tense of Werner Klemperer’s most famous character… also, metaphorically, clunk is the sound my plan to write about the Sandy Denny box set has made, since one of the discs is not in the box! OCD emergency! Oh well, I’ll get caught up on some strays and do another box set once I catch up, and I’m sure to find the Denny CD as I go onward through the CD fog.
208) Kate Bush: The Sensual World
I think I can understand why people wouldn’t dig Kate’s voice, it is pretty high in the register, and is also warbly, and sounds at times like a room full of crepe paper. But I like all those things just fine, and she writes really interesting, challenging, occasionally pompous songs, so what the hell. And, this CD allowed Maxwell to make one of the best cover versions ever.
209) Paris Combo: living room
Whoo-boppa! Gypsyish jazz from France, a little Django, a little Edith, and, of course, modern haircuts. Fun to dance to, songwriting a little too derivative to be considered wonderful.
210) Macy Gray: On How Life Is
I also can understand how folks might not dig Macy’s voice, sometimes it sounds like she’s faking it, the tone is cartoonish. But I dig it, and she can write a good song when she doesn’t get lost in the smokey production room cuteness…
211) Oingo Boingo: Anthology
Punk/New Wave was an opportunity many folks leapt at, the doors were thrown open to weirdness, even as a set of conventions emerged… which explains groups like Oingo Boingo, who had absolutely nothing to do with, say, the Dead Kennedys, but they got out through the same doorway. That door, the record company embrace of artistic exploration, is shut now, but people are beginning to notice that the wall the door sits in is just a stage set, and you need simply walk around it and see the fields beyond.