Hoy te proponemos un juego. Queremos mostrarte la vuelta a los directos de dos mujeres, Whitney Houston y Scarlett Johansson. Nosotros te enlazamos los vídeos y los directos para que tomes tus propias conclusiones.

Whitney Houston

La primera canción que queremos que escuches es “Million Dollar Bill”, incluida en el último trabajo de Whitney, “I Look to You”:

Todos sabemos los graves problemas por los que ha pasado la cantante hasta conseguir salir de un mundo tan corrosivo como es el mundo de las drogas. Ahora ha vuelto a trabajar, ha vuelto con un nuevo trabajo que salió a la venta hace bien poco, en Septiembre. Sin embargo, ¿cuántas secuelas ha dejado esta etapa oscura en la diva?

Quitando el incidente del vestido, que como puedes ver se le rompió por la parte de atrás, ¿cómo ves su voz en directo? El vídeo corresponde a la versión británica de Factor X y, en mi opinión, no suena mal, al fin y al cabo sigue siendo Whitney, pero lo que mejor sonido destapa es la parte de fondo grabada.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson ya había probado suerte en el mundo de la música con “Anywhere I lay My Head” (un disco con versiones de Tom Waits), pero no llegó a convencer a la crítica, como se aprecia en revistas especializadas como en la Rolling Stones donde llegaron a decir que “la voz de Johansson no es muy destacable y a veces se muestra inestable”.

Ahora vuelve a subirse a los escenarios con “Break Up”, un disco de duetos junto con Pete Yorn en el que se retoman melodías sesenteras. Así era como sonaba en estudio la canción “Relator”:

Y así es como suena en directo:

El vídeo corresponde al programa de televisión “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” y en él,
se la nota mucho menos segura de lo habitual y eso también se refleja en su voz. Posiblemente mientras entonaba la canción estaba pensando en alguna playa de Hawai (truco que usa en situaciones donde el pánico la acorrala y que le enseñó John Travolta, según 20 minutos).

Every morning when I go to a certain coffee house, I have to look at Scarlet Johansson’s face. Unfortunately, she’s not modeling. No, her pretty mug is on the cover of her new album Break-up with indie darling Pete Yorn. Don’t get me wrong. I love her acting chops, but it seems every time I turn around to get a cup of coffee a new actor or celebrity is making a go at music, saying they’ve been doing music all their life suddenly. To be honest, there are a select few that actually should be dabbling in music. There’s a reason why they’re actors or celebrities first and musicians second. Johansson’s attempt at Him & Her’s Zooey Deschanel style doesn’t compare to her acting. The album sounds good enough, but most of that goodness is coming from Yorn. You’d know what I’m talking about if you heard her solo album Anywhere I Lay My Head. I see the same problem with LANDy, fronted by actor Adam Goldberg, who’s music sounds very similar to band mate Aaron Espinoza’s other group Earlimart. It just seems like actors and celebs need too much help in the music department. So, isn’t that a sign they should stick to what they do best? Hint, hint: Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Montag, Paris Hilton. And what about Phantom Planet? Jason Schwartzman got me all hooked and then left the band. It’s dissapointing… But I don’t hate all celeb music. Even though he’s been tagged as a royal Hollywood douche, I like Jared Leto and his brother in 30 Seconds to Mars. I also really like Juliette and the Licks, fronted by Juliette Lewis, in addition to Keanu Reeve’s Dogstar and Ed Westwick’s Filthy Youth. I am also digging  the most awesome celeb-music find: Jada Pinket Smith fronting  metal band Wicked Wisdom. However, her band like Dogstar and the Licks were on a top ten of worst celeb bands. Sorry guy, but Montag and Lohan are much, much worse. I guess I’m just a picky celeb music consumer. They’re my ears aren’t they?

And now a celebrity Band of the Week that’s a musician first…Julian Casablancas!

I’ve never met a person who hates The Strokes. How can you, with their cool melodies. It seems their commitment to music kept their rich kid background from making too much of an impact. Casablancas is the son of famous modeling agent John Casablanca. Casablanca’s solos project seems to be rooted in the same place at The Strokes melodies, with some added electronic assistance. I love the first single “11th Dimension” off his solo album Phrazes for the Young coming November 3. Look out for the singer in LA to do some live shows. He’s awesome live.

Until next time, don’t be “wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood.” Courtney Love- K

Scarjo in the recording studio; image courtesy of actressarchives.com

Scarlett Johansson wants to be considered a hyphenate. And not by joining her surname to husband Ryan Reynolds’s. She wants you to think of her as both actress and singer.

Now, I’m not sure when hyphenates like “actress-singer” or “singer-model” or “model-actress” became a punchline, but I think it suggests a certain snobbery toward classical training and finely-honed technique, usually acquired from years of stage work. Having just watched another episode of Glee, I wonder if guest-star Kristen Chenoweth and principal Lea Michele, both Broadway babies, lend legitimacy to the hyphenate. You could sub in any number of singing actresses with considerable stage training for more examples — Patti LuPone, Julie Andrews, Rita Moreno, Bernadette Peters, Vicky Lewis, Jane Krakowski, the mother-daughter legacy that is Judy and Liza.

Jane Krakowski as Lola in Damn Yankees; image courtesy of playbill.com

And yet, if actresses like Scarlett Johansson, Juliette Lewis, and Gwyneth Paltrow try to establish a musical career, their efforts are dismissed with a derisive chuckle (okay, admittedly, GOOP made Paltrow more of a punchline than Duets ever could). 

But Johansson is an interesting case, because she seems to want to tap into some of the indie caché that fellow It Girl Zooey Deschanel has cultivated with projects like She & Him, if not at the very least balance it with an attempted career in the imagined, perennially just-emergent film musical revival.

Johansson has made music for some time, having taken music and dancing lessons as a kid. Fans of Lost In Translation, her break-out movie from 2003, were perhaps charmed by her performance of The Pretenders’ “Brass In Pocket” during the scene at the karaoke bar. I know some girls who donned that pink wig for Halloween.

Johansson also leant her vocals to a cover of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” for a charity album in 2006 and performed with proto-shoegaze royalty Jesus and Mary Chain at Coachella back in 2007. Again, anyone who saw Lost In Translation can walk through the big symbiotic moment that results from having the actress sing a song featured in the movie that made her a star. That she is alongside the band that authored such a legendary song in the first place and performing it at such a public, credible venue as Coachella should not be overlooked. 

But Johansson’s first widespread effort to tap into hipster-approved musical ventures was her Tom Waits covers record, Anywhere I Lay My Head. Pointedly, this effort was widely dismissed by its target audience. The critics were not kind, dismissing it as a vanity project, discrediting Johansson’s ability, and crying offense that some starlet would dare cover the songs a musical legend like Tom Waits.

Cover of Anywhere I Lay My Head, released in 2008 on Atco/Rhino; image courtesy of tomwaitsuper.blogspot.com

Now, I don’t consider Waits’s ouvre or anyone else’s to be a sacred text. Songs are malleable. What’s more, covers are really fascinating. When they’re bad, they test what you actually like about the original. When they’re good, they can be transcendent, forcing you to rehear a song you already know and love. The Wire faced this each season when they re-worked Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole” for the opening credits, the original only being heard in season two. Let it be known that I think Steve Earle’s pedantic version for season five that swipes from the theme to Law and Order made me question if this song was actually good. Conversely, The Neville Brothers’ version in season three reminded me that it totally was.

Oh, have you seen The Wire? If you haven’t, you should.

For me, then, it wasn’t so much that Johansson, an actress, dared attempt reworking the songs of the (male) master. I could think of far worse things Johansson could do with her time and resources (get arrested for drugs, get cosmetic surgery, get really skinny, make another movie with Woody Allen).

My big frustration with her Waits covers record, which is where I ended up siding with some of the critics, is that I couldn’t actually hear Johansson. Perhaps putting her vocals so far down in the mix was meant to free her from any tethers to the master’s words. But, to my ears, it kind of sounded more like an attempt for producer David Sitek to upstage her, twiddling knobs and piling on layers of reverb so that her voice lent a “cough medicine/Tinkerbell“ vibe to the proceedings. Sitek’s futuristic, anthemic sensibilities usually do it for me, particularly with the work he’s done with Telepathe, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and his own band, TV on the Radio (aka my favorite band, aka the rock band of the 2000s). But here, I was like “oh, this is really his record.” It seems to make all the difference when she sings the song live.

Despite this setback, Johansson continues to make music. Last summer, she covered Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye” for the soundtrack to He’s Just Not That Into You, a movie I did not see because I figured an ensemble rom-com of needy skinny women, aloof men, and Wilson Cruz being underused would make me yell “feminism!” and throw tampons at the screen and that’s why we watch movies at home. I can’t valorize her efforts, because the original is a song that made me so swoony for the beautiful boy singer that I taped a photo of him in my notebook and spent my allowance money on Grace. Johansson’s version, on the other hand, reminded me of Vonda Shepard. Tepid execution of such a powerful song makes me feel like a wet noodle.

But now Johansson has recorded Break Up, an album she did with Pete Yorn (who has not had the effect on me that Buckley has, but he seems nice enough). If you’d like to hear some songs off the album, along with their interview with NPR, check it out here and then thank my friend Kristen for, once again, pointing you (and me) in the right direction.

Cover to Break Up, released in 2009 on Atco/Rhino; image courtesy of forthempire.info

Yorn had Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s collaborations in mind when composing these songs and casting long-time friend Johansson, who he felt was today’s version of the French bombshell.

The music itself sounds fine, and definitely lines Johansson up more closely with the indie-friendly retro cool Deschanel has found for herself. I still feel like her voice, while more expressive and interesting here, seems a bit flat and projectable. And, of course, there’s something potentially unsettling about Johansson being linked with men like Yorn and Sitek who seem to have a little too clear a vision of what they want to construct instead of fostering a more openly collaborative relationship. One could easily extend this reading into a comparison of patriarchal impulses surrounding production between musicians and movie directors. 

So while I don’t want to suggest that Johansson isn’t singing for herself, I also hope she keeps striving to find her own voice.

Exposing the multitude of truly great songs out there, one song at a time…

Anywhere I Lay My Head

Rain Dogs

Tom Waits, 1985

There’s a great line in Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, Volume 1, where he’s talking about American poetry:  ”There was a letter from Archibald MacLeish waiting for me on the table.  MacLeish, Poet Laureate of America – one of them.  Carl Sandburg, poet of the prairie and the city, and Robert Frost, the poet of dark meditations were others.  MacLeish was the poet of the night stones and the quick earth.  These three were the Yeats, Browning, and Shelley of the new world, were gigantic figures, had defined the landscape of twentieth-century America.”

Whether it happens in threes or not, art lends itself to such characterizations.  Though they may not all turn out to be Sandburgs or Frosts, artists tend to rise monolithic from their surroundings in ways and at times that allow them singular identities – often in the context of each other.

Tom Waits, and Dylan himself, are like that.  Dylan, poet laureate of the old America, and Waits, the poet laureate of urban love and grit.

Waits’ music always seems to come from a place of kinship with the city’s downtrodden – even when he’s not writing about literal cities or literal downtrodden-ness, their forms are always hanging around.  1985’s Rain Dogs is his great paean to those forms, and it wraps up with “Anywhere I Lay My Head,” a short, effective song that closes the album up with a musical and lyrical mediation on what makes the Waitsian city dweller so worth hearing about.

After all, that’s one of the great questions about Waits:  much of his work hangs on the idea that he’s describing characters that we care about and relate to, while at the same time, it feels like he only ever describes their blemishes and tribulations.    He seems to search for the nobility in the most ignoble of places, people, and circumstances.

“Anywhere I Lay My Head,” with its refrain, “Anywhere I’m gonna lay my head, I’m gonna call my home” succeeds as a song, and as an exercise in this sort of understanding, because it is a work of dualities.  Waits half screams, half sings the opening lines “My head is spinning round/my heart is in my shoes,” in a voice that isn’t quite angry or anguished.  You think it’s language of pain until the verse continues, and you get first to “She’s laughing in her sleeve, boys/I can feel it in my bones” and then to the refrain, at which point you start to suspect it’s perhaps more defensive than anything else.  It’s the old Waits’ trope:  ”you only think there’s something wrong with my situation because you’re only observing it.”

Somehow, Waits maintains the scream-singing while being backed by a plaintive horn arrangement.  Or rather, it might be a plaintive horn arrangement – that is, if its not a prelude that’s about to break through dark clouds.  You could almost hear it being part of a religious piece, the Spirit descending as a dove.

The song is only two short verses.  The second is like the first in that the sad images – pockets that used to be filled with gold, cold wind – are negated by the fact that “the world is upside down;” things aren’t right anyway.  The refrain after this second verse is extended, and this time Waits sings:

Well I don’t need anybody, because I learned, I learned to be alone
Well I said anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys
Well I gonna call my home

It’s an interesting way to end an album.  When you hear it, you think it has a lot to do with the idea that “home is where the heart is.”  But I think it’s different.  I think it subverts the idea of home.  It posits that “home” itself is an ambiguous notion, and that this is why the gamblers and drunkards and pimps and prostitutes and down-on-their-luck citizens of Waits’ songs are beautiful.

People are always trying to find “home.”  And it seems that most of the pity we have for others comes from situations where we think that “home” is something that we have that they don’t.  It’s this paradigm that leads us to look at Waits’ characters (and their real-life counterparts) as the dregs of what the city has to offer.  We think that because we’ve got a roof over our heads or a well-paying job or a lack of obvious problems that we’ve found a home.  But while home may be where the heart is, or may be the roof over our heads, it might also be the streets, or the other disheveled customers at the bar, or the under-arch of a bridge.

What Waits’ seems to say, in fact, is that home might just be knowing oneself.  Not needing anybody.  Learning to be alone.  If you know yourself, loneliness (life, existence?) isn’t happy or sad.  It just is.

The coda of the song is a jaunty little number from the horns.  True to form, it feels happier, but you start to suspect that that feeling comes purely from the fact that the tempo is considerably higher.  When you listen harder, it’s actually kind of a sad piece, because it feels like something’s leaving.  Ultimately, it seems to be just as fitting to the rain dog sleeping in the archway as to the couple waltz-walking across the plaza, hand in hand.  It can be both because in either case, the people know where they belong.

L’actriu de Nova York segueix amb l’agenda plena. Per una banda, l’actriu ha editat el seu segon àlbum, aquest cop amb el músic Pete Yorn, titulat Break Up. Després de publicar el seu primer àlbum l’any passat, Anywhere I Lay My Head, on versionava temes del seu adorat Tom Waits, en aquest Break Up canta 8 temes composats per Pete Yorn i un novè tema que és una versió del grup noramericà dels setanta Big Star, I am the cosmos, composat per un dels fundadors de l’esmentada banda, Chris Bell. Recordem que Pete Yorn és un cantautor nordamericà que es va fer famós arrel del tema Strange condition, que apareixia a la pel·lícula Me, Myself & Irene; també apareix a les bandes sonores d’ Spiderman 2 i de Shreck 2, entre d’altres. És a més autor d’ àlbums d’èxit comercial, sobretot a EUA, com Day I Forgot i Nightcrawler. En el disc parlen d’amor i desamor, i segons comenten els propis autors, i s’han inspirat en el duet Serge Gainsbourg i Brigitte Bardot, creant d’aquesta manera un àlbum conceptual ple de sensualitat. El disc es mou entre el neofolk al més pur estil Bon Iver al pop més melòdic. La veu de la Johansson, sense recordar la de la Bardot al polèmic tema Ja t’aime…ma non plus, ni a la versió definitiva del tema, gravada finalment per Jane Birkin, almenys no grinyola com ho feia en el disc de versions de Tom Waits. Podeu veure el videoclip del single Relator a la web de l’àlbum.

D’altra banda, es preveu que Scarlett Johansson estreni dues pel·lícules que segurament faran les delícies de la seva legió de fans. Al 2010, s’espera Iron Man 2, dirigida per Jon Favreau i protagonitzada per Robert Downey Jr. En aquest projecte, a més s’han sumat Mickey Rourke, qui interpretarà a Whiplash, Don Cheadle i Sam Rockwell. Dir que Scarlett Johansson interpretarà a l’espia la Vídua Negra, en una segona part que assegura l’èxit de la saga de Marvel.

Per acabar, apuntar que pel 2011 s’espera Con “M” de Marilyn, on el director Todd Robinson (Corazones solitarios) vol indagar en la connexió mexicana de Marilyn Monroe, adaptant el llibre de Rafael Ramírez Heredia. I sí, efectivament, Scarlett Johansson serà Marilyn Monroe.

A atriz Scarlett Johansson lança nesta semana seu segundo disco e deu uma entrevista fofa ao jornal britânico “The Times“.

Em certo momento ela fala sobre ser atriz e cantora: “Acho que todos os cantores atuam. Não importa se a composição é dele ou de outro autor, eles estão atuando enquanto cantam. Não acho que sejam coisas diferentes”.

Depois sobre um de seus heróis: “Eu sempre quis ser Frank Sinatra. Mesmo quando eu era uma criança, sempre achei que iria crescer e ter uma voz como a dele. Eu continuo esperando isso acontecer”.

Não dá para imaginar a moça dando risinhos à la “Encontros e Desencontros” depois de dizer isso?

O segundo disco da atriz, “Break-Up”, traz duetos com o músico Pete Yorn – já vazou e é ótimo. Em 2008, a loira lançou “Anywhere I Lay My Head”, com covers de Tom Waits, que foi até bem recebido, mas nem se compara ao novo trabalho.

Geral vai torcer o nariz, mas Scarlett, my darling, você pode ser o que você quiser, ok?

- Sinatora?

(That’s the name of a song, by the way, I don’t really wonder why she doesn’t love me. How could she, when she hasn’t had the chance to meet me?
It’s not a good song, and doesn’t seem to be much to do with Scarlett Johansson, but the title kinda suits this post.)

Thanks to Spotify (I was listening to a playlist of songs featured on LOST while reading C.S. Lewis’ Miracles), I just discovered this today:

It’s often the case that a new version of a song doesn’t sound as good as the version you’re already familiar with, but I really like this as well as Jeff Buckley’s, and the shortened-ness leaves me wanting more, which has to be a good sign.

I was one of the cool people to dig* Anywhere I Lay My Head from the beginning, so I was already familiar with her singing voice. I never bothered to think who she sounded like though, until a comment on youtube that on Last Goodbye she sounded like Adele (in a good way), I think they have a point, and I would suggest a cross between Adele and Diana Vickers (still in a good way).

I’m trying to be more disciplined with the amount of time and money I spend on music. I think I’m making some progress, but then I’m planning to buy a ticket tomorrow for Muse at Teignmouth, and I think ScarJo’s new album with Pete Yorn might be one I consider worth buying, based on the Relator video which you can see here. (It was an advert for Relator on Spotify that also led me to discover Last Goodbye.)

*The use of ‘dig’ in this way probably cancels out any possible coolness drawn from liking an album before anyone else.

Capa do primeiro álbum de Scarlett Johansson. Foto de David Sitek

Texto de Lucas Scaliza (lucas.scaliza@gmail.com)

Logo, logo a atriz Scarlett Johansson lançará um álbum musical ao lado do músico Pete Yorn. Até um video clipe da dupla já foi liberado na internet. No entanto essa não será a primeira vez de Scarlett como cantora. Em 2008 a moça gravou Anywhere I Lay My Head interpretando 10 canções de Tom Waits e uma inédita que não é de autoria dele.

Hesitei muito em ouvir o álbum de Scarlett, já imaginando a bomba que vinha pela frente. Seriam músicas pop teen melosas? Será que ela acabaria com Tom Waits? Aliás, ela canta bem? Logo de cara o disco mostra que não veio brincando e não demorou muito até eu perceber que ali havia alguém que sabia o que estava fazendo.

Ela não tenta mostrar potência vocal, nem inventa firulas. Faz o básico e acerta, não se expõe em momento algum ao constrangedor. A banda que a acompanha é excelente e recriou todo o clima das músicas de Waits com esmero, apostando em climas viajantes. Scarlett e seu produtor David Sitek, da banda TV On The Radio, não regravaram tudo exatamente como eram os registros originais. Eles incorporaram novos elementos com propriedade e conseguiram fazer o álbum soar coeso.

O disco também conta com a participação de Nick Zinner, guitarrista da banda Yeah Yeah Yeahs e o guitarrista da Celebration, Sean Antanaitis. O cantor britânico David Bowie, 61, empresta sua voz a duas faixas do disco, “Falling Down” e “Fannin Street”. Você pode ouvir a íntegra do álbum aqui ou aqui.

Scarlett manteve um clima onírico em todo o álbum. Ainda este ano sai o disco em parceria com Pete Yorn

Resenha faixa a faixa

Fawn – uma linda abertura que deve ter deixado o próprio Tom Waits feliz. Não teve medo de arriscar combinações agudas.

Town With No Cheer - No comeo quase não parece a Scarlett, clima soturno, onírico. Teclados, sintetizadores presentes.

Falling Down – É como se ela cantasse na segurança de uma redoma de vidro enquanto em volta um tornado rodopiasse. Destaque para a guitarra e o jogo dos vocais dobrados cantando o refrão.

Anywhere I Lay My Head – Reinventa sem medo. Imprime força e faz sua voz, que não é adocicada, ganhar força e destaque.

Fannin Street – Lenta, a percussão dá o tom. Belos arranjos vocais. Nada de pressa aqui, e ela acerta novamente.

Song For Jo – A música inédita do álbum. Não decepciona também e mantém-se, estilisticamente falando, em sintonia com o resto do disco.

Green Grass – Voz grave, não tenta subverter a canção, mas também não deixa de deixar impressa sua marca pessoal. Tudo em seu devido lugar e com bom gosto.

I Wish I Was In New Orleans – Quase uma canção de ninar. É o mais doce que ela chegou neste álbum.

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up – Dançante do começo ao fim. Podia cair na mãe de algum DJ e virar um hit em pistas de dança. Bem animada.

No One Knows I’m Gone – O que acontece quando você mistura os climas de Pink Floyd com Beirut e um vocal feminino que não tenta soar nem diva do soul, nem ídolo teen? Você tem uma bela canção.

Who Are You – Belo dueto e serve como síntese do álbum. Scarlett não tenta fazer mais do que sua voz permite, não cai em impressionismo tolos.

Depois de Anywhere I lay my head, a musa Scarlett Johansson vai lançar um novo álbum, The break up. A parceria agora é com Pete Yorn. As músicas foram inspiradas nos duetos de Serge Gainsbourg e Brigitte Bardot e contam a relação abalada de um casal.

O primeiro single é Relator. Apaixonei! O álbum sai dia 8 de setembro.

*Relator, Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

Atriz e compositor trabalharam juntos em 2006 em álbum

Vocês já sabiam que Scarlett Johansson e Peter Yorn estão lançando um álbum em parceria? O álbum chama “Break Up”, e foi gravado em 2006, dois anos antes da atriz estreiar como cantora com “Anywherer I Lay My Head” (fraquinho, diga-se de passagem).

Hoje estreiou o clipe do primeiro single do disco, “Relator”, que será lançado em 8 de setembro.

Segundo Yorn, a inspiração veio do dueto feito por Serge Gainsbourg e Brigitte Bardot em 1960. O disco conta com 8 canções, compostas por Peter e completando o setlist, há uma releitura do clássico I Am The Cosmos, de Chris Bell.

Confira o setlist completo:

- Relator
- Wear And Tear
- I Don’t Know What To Do
- Search Your Heart
- Blackie’s Dead
- I Am The Cosmos
- Shampoo
- Clean
- Someday

Eu achei a música bem bonitinha, comparada às canções do disco solo de Scarlett. Você confere o vídeo aqui.

Den 24-årige amerikanske skuespillerinde Scarlett Johansson (hvis far i øvrigt er dansker) lægger krop og ansigt til den spanske highstreet-kæde Mangos efterårs/vinter-kampagne 2009-10. Jeg var noget skeptisk, da jeg for et par måneder siden så Scarlett Johansson fotograferet ved et pressemøde iført den samme billigt udseende leopardplettede fake fur som på nederste billede – ikke ligefrem hendes vanlige stil – men jeg synes egentlig, billederne er blevet helt ok. Hun er jo en temmelig vampet sag og en åbenlyst sexet karakter, men hvis der er én, som kan bære både pels, læder, dyreprint, laksko og iturevne strømpebukser på samme tid, så er det fandme Scarlett Johansson.

Var du i øvrigt vild med Scarlett Johanssons første album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, som var en samling covernumre af en række af musikeren Tom Waits’ sange, så glæd dig til slutningen af september, hvor hendes nye album Break Up udkommer. Albummet består af en række duetter indspillet sammen med singer/songwriter Pete Yorn og har fundet inspiration i den franske sanger og musiker Serge Gainsbourgs indspilninger med skuespillerinden og stilikonet Brigitte Bardot i 1960′erne. Jeg glæder mig til at høre, om der kommer en moderne klassiker som Je t’aime… moi non plus ud af det samarbejde.

A maioria das pessoas acha que Scarlett Johansson é uma tonta e não gosta dela – bom, as pessoas que gostam de mulheres costumam achar ela gostosa e não se importam se ela é tonta.
Eu acho Scarlett muito humana, sabe? Acho que a Cristina, sua personagem no Vicky Cristina Barcelona, é muito ela, assim como Anna Taylor, nome de Scarlett em Ele não está tão a fim de você. Ela é só uma pessoa querendo ser intelectualizada (como nós), boba (como nós) e com má sorte no amor por sua própria culpa (er, como quem?).

Tudo isso pra falar que estou me coçando de desespero pra ouvir um disco com ela que foi gravado ANTES de Anywhere I lay my head, o CD com músicas de Tom Waits. Break up é de Pete Yorn com Scarlett, e os vocais dela foram gravados em duas tardes de 2006. No site dá pra ouvir o single em streaming, que já me gusta mucho. A coisa completa vai pras lojas em setembro.

E quem é Pete Yorn? Pois é, também não sabia. Não sei se gostei. Dá uma assistida aí:

anywhere
anywhere
I’m gonna
lay my head
I’m gonna
call my home

Tipo Scarlett, mesmo.

40, Stansfield road, Brixton, a due passi dalla Academy. Sta qui la casa dove David Bowie è nato e ha passato i primi sei anni di vita. Ieri ci son passata davanti in cerca d’ispirazione e mi sono accorta che sulle mura non c’è la placca che in genere contraddistingue i luoghi storici di Londra. Avete presente quelle belle placcone rotonde colorate di cui è costellata la città? Ce ne è una per la casa dove ha vissuto Handel, una per quella dove Marx ha scritto “Das Kapital”, una dove TS Eliot ha scritto le sue poesie, una dove Jimi Hendrix ha vissuto, una dove il Generale Charles De Gaulle ha stabilito il quartier generale delle Forze della Francia Libera e un miliardo di altre… Insomma dov’è quella per Bowie?! Tra l’altro girano voci che il Duca Bianco si trovi a Berlino impegnato a registrare un nuovo album… Sarà vero? Lo scopriremo presto. L’ultima volta che ha inciso qualcosa sono stati i cori in due brani – Falling Down e Fanning Street – nell’album di Scarlett Johansonn dello scorso anno. Sempre che sia giusto chiamarlo “album” quella pecionata orrenda e snervante in cui l’attrice americana stupra senza pietà ben 11 canzoni di Tom Waits.

Ancora sono ignoti i motivi per cui Bowie si sia prestato a quella mentecattata, la Johnsonn alla conferenza stampa aveva dichiarato: “Ho conosciuto David Bowie a una cena, eravamo seduti allo stesso tavolo, lui è uno dei miei idoli e per scherzo gli ho chiesto di venire in studio a darmi una mano“. Mai sottovalutare il potere della gnocca. E mai sottovalutare il potere dei bloggers: magari presto potremo davvero stringere tra le mani un nuovo Bowie record. E va bene che le ultime cose non sono state proprio il massimo ma qualche perla, qui e là, l’ha infilata sempre. Dopotutto come dimenticare i capolavori che ha fatto negli ultimi 40 anni? La sua insaziabile e coraggiosa sete di rinnovamento e sperimentazione, la continua ricerca di un nuovo linguaggio musicale per liberare la sua voce pazzesca unica e immortale? Io intanto una placca per la casa natale l’ho preparata, un po’ rudimentale ma simbolica… long live the White Duke!  

Confesso que ainda não consigo pegar o CD da Scarlett Johansson, Anywhere I Lay My Head – aquele com músicas do Tom Waits – e ouvir do início ao fim. Não porque seja ruim, mas porque me causa uma estranheza. Quase todo mundo que eu conheço detestou, considerou uma ofensa e blablabla. Todos os críticos trucidaram a guria. Mas quer saber? Depois de insistir e ouvir umas cinco vezes, achei um trabalho com alma, de alguém que se dedicou, se esforçou. Ela realmente tem uma voz crua, rústica, mas pelo menos é real. É uma atriz cantando.

Falling Down

Anywhere I lay my head

1. Pois é. Para quem pensava que era rumor, não tem mais como negar: o Kiss, de fato, fará dois shows no Brasil. Em São Paulo, tocará na Arena Skol Anhembi, onde tocaram Elton John, James Blunt e palco do terrível mas memorável (teve Björk, afinal de contas) Tim Festival 2007.

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2. “Land for Journalists Program“? O New York Times explica.

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3. Vamos começar com a declaração. Daniel Radcliffe, que interpreta o personagem Harry Potter nos cinemas, falou o seguinte ao Sun UK: “For a lot of straight guys – and I know I’m guilty of it sometimes – when you know a gay guy has a crush on you, it is the most flattering thing”. Até aí, OK. O mais engraçado foi o comentário feito pela Vulture: “Daniel Radcliffe just made Harry Potter slash fiction fans very happy”.

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4. Ainda na Vulture, me assustei. Aparentemente, a adaptação de Watchmen para o cinema não trará apenas alegrias: o My Chemical Romance resolveu, para a trilha sonora do filme, colocar um cover de Desolation Row, do Deus Bob Dylan. Tortura musical não, por favor… é Dylan, gente. Tem que ser alguém MUITO bom para não estragar tudo.

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5. A turnê Sticky & Sweet não terminou: Madonna agora vai tocar na Europa. Mas, pelo jeito, nenhuma alteração significativa será feita na estrutura do show ou mesmo no setlist.

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6. Mesmo quem ainda não viu A Troca, com certeza está curioso em saber como é Gran Torino, que, além de outro filme de Clint Eastwood, tem a enorme vantagem de contar com o diretor no papel principal (sorry Angelina, mas não dá para competir). A Variety fala um pouco mais sobre o filme – que, sinto dizer, não perece que vai levar muito reconhecimento no Oscar.

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7. Já falei aqui do novo álbum do Bat For Lashes que sairá em abril, Two Suns. Agora, Natasha Khan está na capa da Dazed, mais linda do que nunca. Dica da Kakau. Uma parte da entrevista está aqui.

Em outro artigo tem uma matéria antiga, de 2007, sobre a turnê do álbum Volta, da Björk. As imagens são encantadoras.

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8. Não gostei do álbum de estréia de Scarlet Johanson, Anywhere I Lay My Head, com covers do Tom Waits. Agora ela resolveu cantar a clássica (e linda) Last Goodbye, de Jeff Buckley. Talvez seja porque eu adoro a original, mas a versão da Scarlet é só… normalzinha. Emoção, zero.

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9. Para quem não viu, a Companhia Os Satyros reestreou 120 Dias de Sodoma e A Filosofia na Alcova por tempo indeterminado. Vale a pena.

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10. Dia 30/01 é o Dia do Quadrinho Nacional. O Blog dos Quadrinhos está incentivando que as pessoas divulguem e mostrem seus trabalhos.

En 2008, Scarlett Johansson, grande actrice plus que reconnue, ajoute une corde à son arc en sortant un album. La blonde demoiselle se lance dans la musique avec cet album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, sous le label WEA. Il s’agit dans cet album de reprises uniquement. Des reprises de Tom Waits pour être précis. Sur deux titres, on a un duo avec David Bowie et on a même une chanson originale Song For Joe, coécrite avec David Sitek du groupe TV On The Radio [Eva, je te vois devenir toute rouge et t'indigner !].

L’album est très reposant, très homogène. Certaines chansons ressortent plus que d’autres, mais elles restent toutes dans le même style, à savoir un fond sonore assez présent fait d’instruments à vents qui vont seconder Scarlett à certains moments. La demoiselle a une voix très belle qui colle parfaitement à ce qu’elle chante, quelque fois déformée par un effet quelconque qui ne servira qu’à embellir la chanson.

On a une ouverture fabuleuse avec Fawn qui commence tout en douceur puis qui se réveille avec un épanouissement très orchestral. Elle pose une intro lente mais énergique, ce qui définit plus ou moins l’album en lui-même.

On enchaine ensuite sur Town With No Cheer qui est lente, mais qui peut très bien se permettre son intro de 45 secondes tant celle-ci est bien faite. Elle nous entraine puis nous lâche petit à petit avant de repartir. Scarlett nous offre enfin sa voix, assez grave, mais d’une beauté rare. La chanson est lente et colle très bien à la voix de la belle.

Vient alors Falling Down, single de l’album. Elle est plus rapide, on rentre plus vite dedans, La voix de Scarlett est bien plus présente, on a un refrain qui rentre dans la tête et qui n’en sort pas. On a là un très bon titre.

Scarlett nous livre ensuite Anywhere I Lay My Head, titre phare de cet album. Une intro en pointillés, puis sa voix. Elle est ici chez elle, on sent que la chanson est devenue la sienne. Le refrain arrive, et c’est une vraie révélation. Talentueuse à l’écran, la belle l’est aussi au micro pour ceux qui ne s’en serait pas rendu compte.

Fannin Street se pointe. Mon avis va être encore moins objectif, puisqu’il s’agit de ma chanson préférée sur cet album.  Une petite intro puis la voix, déformée légèrement par un effet, sur un fond instrumental très léger. Un refrain très entraînant, très mélodieux. Le tout étant en duo avec David Bowie, la chanson a tout pour plaire. Gros coup de cœur de cet album.

On arrive sur la chanson originale, Song For Joe. Bien qu’il ne s’agisse pas d’une reprise de Tom Waits, la chanson reste dans la continuité de cet album lent. Le fond musical est répétitif, hypnotisant. La voix calme et grave qui se pose dessus n’enlève rien au charme. Bon morceau, sans aucun doute.

Next one, Green Grass. Intro très courte si ce n’est inexistante, mais on a un petit instrument qui égrène ses notes une à une qui pose un rythme très régulier, sur lequel se pose un fond musical qui n’en est peut être plus un tellement il est présent. La voix est quelques fois noyée sous le « fond ». Il n’en reste pas moins que le morceau est très bon dans son genre, le petit rythme étant très accrocheur.

Autre grande chanson, I Wish I Was In New Orleans. On a une petite boîte à musique qui nous envoie toutes ses notes, avec Scarlett qui se pose dessus, dans une osmose parfaite. La chanson est extrêmement travaillée, même si elle reste très simple dans son écoute. La voix de Scarlett est tout en finesse, s’éteignant souvent sur les fins de phrases, elle instille douceur et onirisme.

Pour changer un peu, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up est assez rythmée. On commence sur une batterie épaulée par les sons du fond musical. Puis Scarlett débarque et nous raconte qu’elle ne veut pas grandir et que le monde réel n’est pas certain, qu’il est plein de brouillard. Scarlett assure à mort, elle change un peu de registre, ce qui ne fait pas de mal. La chanson apporte un peu de pêche à l’album, ce qui fait sans doute toute la différence.

No One Knows I’m Gone revient un peu dans la lenteur de cet album. On a une guitare répétitive qui pose son rythme, Scarlett dessus qui chante avec sa voix prête à s’éteindre mais qui reste là. Jolie chanson calme, mais triste.

Enfin, pour clôturer cet album grandiose, on a Who Are You ?. La voix de David Sitek en fond sur les chœurs, le fond musical original toujours aussi présent, et Scarlett par-dessus. La critique va être la même que celle des autres chansons, mais ce n’est pourtant pas la même chanson. Jolie voix, joli fond, une bonne inspiration.

Sur cet album, la belle Scarlett a fait plus qu’un travail de reprise. Elle a recréé un univers complet, avec tous les effets, tous les fonds musicaux. Elle n’a pas cédé à la facilité, à savoir un piano-voix ou un R’n'B lourd d’effets tous faits. On sent qu’elle a fourni un travail conséquent sur cet album puisqu’il ne s’agit pas de reprises basiques, mais de reprises modernes. Cela peut choquer les inconditionnels de Waits, mais pour ma part, j’adhère totalement.

Note générale : 18/20.

Des fois que mon article vous ait convaincu, vous avez un des deux bonus de l’album ici, Yesterday Is Here, en AOL session, où on voit la jolie Scarlett chanter, pour ceux qui pourraient douter que c’est bien elle qui chante. Comme dans Lost In Translation de Sofia Coppola en passant (à voir là).

Loïc

]]> http://operationitch.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/the-least-essential-albums-of-2008/ Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:41:04 +0000 operationitch http://operationitch.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/the-least-essential-albums-of-2008/ http://owlphonophobia.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/top-albums-of-08-according-to-us/ Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:46:59 +0000 sweepstakesprize http://owlphonophobia.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/top-albums-of-08-according-to-us/

with Xmas in the bag and new years coming at you like ulf samuelsson’s knee. what better to blog about than top ten lists?

with that said this was a pretty good year for music, everyone involved should be proud. so take a second to congratulate someone who you know was involved somehow with music this year on a job well done, except the jonas brothers.

_shame on them.

10.Pink Clouds CS -{{sunset}}

sunset’s pink clouds cassette was actually released last december, after that it was leaked, given away for free, and now i think the band has ran out of copies. if you have the means to find it. (ehrm internet?) it’s highly recomended, lo-fi with hi ambitions and more imagination that all those little creepy dudes on fraggle rock combined.

9.Anywhere I lay My head- Scarlett Johannson

scarlett doesn’t have the voice of an angel, far from it. but neither does miley cirus and neither does tom waits. but most importantly neither does tom waits. so i guess it helps hide a bad voice when your singing a bunch of his songs. but the attitude she has in her voice does a great job of carrying the songs, the fact that she’s a babe and likes tom waits also makes this album worth liking.

8.Hold On Now Youngster-Los Campesinos!

i knew one of los campesinos! albums was going to be on this list. and for now it turns out it’s their first one. some things i might regrett after posting this are: not having both on here, or not having the other one on here. punk without too much punk, emo without too much bullshit, british accents, and proper grammar. what more do you want.

7.Soft Airplane- Chad VanGaalen

this album begs for falling leaves and plastic skeletons, but two seasons down and it hasn’t lost anything after daylight savings time. sounds like he got bored one afternoon and decided to turn on garageband and make songs. soft and hard. sad to extremely depressing. i haven’t gotten around to listening to his other albums yet. but if its even half as good as this one i’m going to have a good time.

6.Re-Arange Us- Mates Of State

i’m new to mates of state. they were one of those bands that i’d wanted to like and for some reason (clarion’s internet) never got around to illegally downloading any of their songs. i’m glad they were on yo gabba gabba! recently or i wouldn’t have listened to this album. these songs are great. a few reviews say it’s not as good as their older stuff. but not having heard that, and taking it for what it is. i can say this is a very great album. if this is what marraige is supposed to sound like, what the hell was wrong with the bundy’s?

5.Fleet Foxes- fleet foxes

can’t say that much about fleet foxes that hasn’t already been said. mixes the old with the new. sounds like neil young at a medeival fair…or maybe thats just the madellin. fudge it. blue ridge mountain is crazy good. can double f bee any hipper? nice flannel and neck beards dude, can i bum a kamel red or are you all smoking cloves?

4. vol. 1- she and him

zoey deschanel, m. ward. country pop folk whatever. zoey’s voice and wards guitar are all you need. sounds like drinking yuengling on a front porch at dusk.

3.Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend

vampire weekend… your oppinion was made last year. the album dropped very early this year. i can’t change your mind either way. number three. respec +5 for catchyness

2.We Brave Bee Stings And All- Thao w/ get down stay down

love this album, catchy, friendly, summery, springtime, fall, its got you covered in all situations. thaos voice is soft and powerfull and the way she switches between the two is masterful. the fact that i have a slight bias towards female lead singers has nothing to do with it’s number 2 spot. i think.

1.youth novels- lykke li

lykke li completely took over my ipod one catchy pop gem at a time. there are few things greater than listening to lykke sing. and one of them is watching lykke sing. her “dancing” is just as jerky and frenetic as the songs need her to be to carry them out. every song on this album should be a hit single. none are ever boring. <3 lykke, can’t wait for more… oh yeah she covers the tribe in concert too. Respec +10

near misses: The Renessance-q-tip, The Evening Descends-Evangelicals,In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (except not really)-Madeline Ava, Santogold-santogold, Donora-Donora

1.Evil Urges: My Morning Jacket
2.Gossip in the Grain: Ray Lamontagne
3.Walk It Off : Tapes n Tapes
4.Elephant Shell: Tokyo Police Club
5.Como Te Llama: Albert Hammond Jr.
6.In The Ever: Mason Jennings
7.Way To Normal: Ben Folds
8.The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty…: Hello, Blue Roses
9.Intimacy: Bloc Party
10.Anywhere I Lay My Head: Scarlett Johansson