Allison Crowe is an artist who's yet to disappoint me. She
always delivers fabulous records and the delightful Spiral
is no exception. She's in terrific voice throughout and delivers
some well-chosen covers including a superlative "Chelsea Hotel 2"
and a passionate "Why" by Annie Lennox. Her own songs fare equally
well, "Double-edged Swords" is a fine example, Crowe's
ever-flexible voice dancing across a restrained backing to great
effect.
She really sets her own stamp on the aforementioned "Chelsea
Hotel 2" even if she never knew Janis Joplin. "Oceans" is just
beautiful, Crowe's sweet vocals coming to the fore to a melody full
of soul. The title song yet again proves her talent, as Crowe sings
her heart out. She's made yet another album to treasure. If you
don't know her music, now's as good a time as any to discover it.
As I have already reported, Allison Crowe’s new
album, ‘Spiral’ plonked through my letterbox all
the way from Canada a while back. I’ve had a week
or two to assimilate it so it’s time to post a few
comments.
My first impression on opening the package was of
the unusual nature of the digipak that contains the
CD. It is one of the best I’ve ever seen. The
design of the pak, which opens out to reveal the
disc, is beautifully conceived and contains a
montage of part embossed and wonderfully colourful
images around the main disc holder. Unusually, and
so much better is the way that the user does not
need to drag the disc out of a tight cardboard
sleeve, thus scratching it forever, but can merely
remove it from a slotted base after all the flaps
have been folded back.
So, full marks for packaging but what about the
content? Allison is known for the largely piano
based output of her previous albums like the
acoustic ‘Little Light’ released in 1998, but this
time she has gathered her small but select touring
band around her and the effect is to fill out her
sound in quite a delicate way.
As has become standard for Allison’s albums there
is a majority of original material with one or two
covers of others’ songs. In this instance, she has
covered Leonard Cohen’s ‘Chelsea Hotel No 2’ and
Annie Lennox’s ‘Why’ and for me these are the
highlights. It takes a certain type of artist to
take another’s song and have the insight to
reinterpret it in a way that makes you see another
side to the song. There has been a good amount of
discussion about the subject of covers in this blog
in recent months and commentators have contributed
a whole list of cover versions from a variety of
artists where they feel that this object has been
achieved. Certainly it is a subject that seems to
provoke a lot of debate amongst musicians and
listeners alike. In the case of Allison Crowe I do
not need to make a case as her record of covering
songs by Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and other big
hitters in the song writing fraternity proves.
This album shows yet again what a sensitive
interpreter she is. ‘Why’ in particular is a tour
de force performance giving the song a spine
tingling sheen. And this is where I find myself
wondering what direction her career might take.
Left to me, I’d say that in view of her special
talent, she should reorganise the content of her
albums and increase the number of covers. This
sounds like her own material is sub-standard, but
that is not true, it is just that she may find
playing to her obvious strengths may benefit her in
the longer term, but that’s just my opinion.
In any event, this is another fine album and comes
with an unconditional recommendation.
Quand j'ai fais mon post concernant les reprises
d'Hallelujah de Leonard Cohen, j'ai malencontreusement
oublié de mettre la version de la canadienne
Allison Crowe que j'apprécie
particulièrement :
Cela fait quelques années maintenant que j'ai découvert
Allison Crowe et je suis étonnée de constater que
relativement peu d'articles francophones lui soient
consacrés. En effet, la belle artiste possède une voix
fabuleuse : puissante, maîtrisée, travaillée, dotée d'un
vibrato principal vecteur et moteur d'émotions intenses et
de chair de poule. Son univers musical est principalement
influencé par Leonard Cohen et Joni Mitchell auxquels, elle
voue une véritable admiration, ses instruments de
prédilection sont le piano et la guitare acoustique qui
mettent en valeur son timbre de voix chaleureux et apaisant.
Tous ces facteurs rendent sa musique intense et
émotionnelle, tout le monde ne peut pas adhérer à ce
concept et d'habitude "les chanteuses à voix" ne m'attirent
pas du tout mais quand j'écoute Allison, je ne peux que
m'incliner devant son talent et sa générosité artistique en
ressentant sa passion et authenticité qui sont tout
simplement résumées sur sa page d'accueil de son site
officiel par : "Why music? Why breathing?".
Auteur(e), compositrice, mutli instrumentaliste, ingénieure
du son et à la tête de sa propre maison de disque
Rubenesque Records, Allison Crowe n'a pas encore
fêté ses 30 printemps qu'elle est déjà à la tête d'une
discographie généreuse : 6 albums et 2 Ep's et se trouve
auréolée d'une notoriété important dont elle jouit, en
particulier, dans les pays anglo-saxons. Comme il n'est
jamais trop tard pour découvrir cette artiste unique, j'en
profite pour vous chroniquer son septième album Spiral sorti dans le courant mars
2010. Ce nouvel album dont l'artwork est basé sur une
magnifique peinture de l'artiste néerlandaise
Tara Thelenest avec l'âge, la maturité et
l'expérience aidant, son album le plus sobre et maîtrisé.
Dearly et
Double Edged-Swordsouvrent l'album sur des
notes enlevées, la première étant dans une veine
folk/country mélancolique, la seconde plus pop et
douce-amère. Excellent début en matière, très agréable.
Il se dégage une très belle émotion à fleur de peau sur sa
reprise Chelsea Hotel n°2 de
Leonard Cohen, les arrangements boisés (la
contrebasse + piano) lui donnent un cachet émouvant mais
sobre, à l'image de l'interprétation nuancée et habitée
d'Allison. Wake Up qui est en
réalité un live et non un enregistrement studio démontre
qu'il s'avère impératif de voir l'artiste sur scène pour se
faire une idée plus précise de son énorme talent de
vocaliste. Je firssonne à chaque écoute de ce magnifique
morceau. La cassure est peut être trop importante avec le
son plus polissé mais très plaisant d'Oceans
qui fait place au somptueux et poignant I
Dont Know, un des highlights de l'album,
une véritable petite merveille. Le tumultueux, sombre et
virevoltant Spiraloffre une
superbe vue sur la musique d'Allison, ici davantage
complexe et "rock" que d'habitude. Throw Your
Arms Around Me, qui constitue la seconde
reprise, cette fois-ci du collectif
Hunters & Collectors s'avère rehaussé par le
talent inné de vocaliste d'Allison Crowe qui est à son
summum sur la dernière reprise Why
d'Annie
Lennox. Reprendre une artiste aussi marquante
qu'Annie Lennox est sans conteste casse-gueule pourtant
cette version acoustique mise en scène à l'aide d'un violon,
une contrebasse et guitare sèche, est époustouflante.
Allison n'a jamais été aussi proche de l'émotion, son
interprétation à la fois sobre et passionnée est totalement
bouleversante. Sans conteste possible, l'une des meilleures
reprises de l'année 2010. La belle atmosphère planante qui
parcoure Going Home Tonight
en fait l'un des mes morceaux préférés de l'album (avec
Why, Spiral,
I Don't Know et Wake Up). Magnifique. L'album se
clôture sur une note plus relevée avec le vivifiant et
brave No Matter The Battle.
Pour la petite info, l'album contient également deux
versions alternatives des titres Why
et Throw Your Arms Around Me.
Un septième album d'excellente facture
mettant en valeur une Allison Crowe qui s'impose, de plus
en plus, comme l'une des très grandes vocalistes et
artistes du Canada.
CD Reviews: April 27
By Stuart Derdeyn, Tom
Harrison, The Province (Canada)
ALLISON CROWE Spiral (Independent)
Crowe has a wondrous voice and is gaining fans but sometimes her
idealism translates as someone still searching for what best suits
her. This varied record proves that she hasn't found it yet. You
can still marvel, though. B -- T.H.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
By Robert Reid, NightLife staff
Allison Crowe
Spiral (Independent)
West Coast
singer-songwriter-pianist-guitarist Allison Crowe’s Spiral
follows a familiar pattern, a pattern that works wonderfully
well.
Her seventh album features a collection of original songs
complemented by a couple of inspired covers — in this case,
Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel (following the success
Crowe has enjoyed with her rendition of Cohen’s Hallelujah)
and Annie Lennox’s Why.
As a vocalist Crowe doesn’t shy away from emotion and
producer Kayla Schmah’s lush arrangements provide an ideal
setting.
Having spent most of the past two days playing and replaying
the Allison Crowe “Spiral” CD, I’ve come to certain
conclusions:
1. “Spiral” is an outstanding album. That’s hardly a
surprise. The album features a great voice, great song
selections, and great arrangements. What’s not to like?
2. Listening to the CD renders an already obvious point
unavoidable: newcomers to Allison Crowe should be granted
access to her music only on the condition that their first
experience is listening to an entire album. Don’t get me wrong
– there are several tracks that would, in the era of 45 rpm
records, have qualified as hit singles. But, listening to a
song or two from “Spiral” is impressive; listening to the
entire album in one sitting is overwhelming – in a good way.
Allison Crowe - "Spiral"
inside flap
3. The “Spiral” CD not only sounds right, it looks
right and feels right. Having owned too many of the same albums
in too many conformations, including vinyl records, cassettes,
8-tracks, reel-to-reel recordings, CDs, and downloaded files
with any number of suffixes (MP3, WAV, AIFF, AU, FLAC, AAC,
MPEG-4, WMA, …), I am rarely swayed by format nostalgia, but in
this case, the physical CD itself seems a better fit to
the album than invisible computer files. It is especially
gratifying to discover that the art and the gatefold design
evokes the the sense of those albums I bought in the 1960s and
1970s when examining the graphics, reading the liner notes, and
considering their implications vis-à-vis the music inside was
an essential element in listening to that new record (see
graphic below; click on image for best viewing).
The concern shown in this quality of design reflects
parallel concerns and respect for the music and for the buyer’s
experience.
“Dearly” and “Chelsea Hotel #2″ By Allison Crowe
Yes, I am aware of the irony of offering videos of two
tracks from the album immediately subsequent to
recommending one listen to the entire album at once as well as
gazing upon, perusing, and fondling the CD sleeve lavish.
I can deal with it.
'Why music?' is de eerste vraag die op haar website staat,
direct gevolgd door haar antwoord in de vorm van de tegenvraag
'Why breathing?' Muziek is een noodzaak volgens de Canadese
Allison Crowe en dat
is duidelijk hoorbaar in de intensiteit van haar zang en
pianospel. Om artistieke vrijheid te waarborgen en in navolging
van een van haar grote voorbeelden
Ani DiFranco, startte ze in 2003 haar eigen label
Rubenesque Records waarop ze reeds een tweetal EP's en een
zestal albums uitbracht. Toch zou het goed kunnen dat je -
behalve
hier - nog nooit van haar hebt gehoord. Wellicht komt daar
verandering in met de release van Spiral. Acht eigen
composities die naast de eerdergenoemde DiFranco in de lijn van
Jewel en
Sarah McLachlan liggen, aangevuld met een drietal covers.
Haar interpretaties van "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" (Leonard
Cohen) en "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (Hunters
& Collectors) zijn meer dan prima. "Why" is echter zo
onlosmakelijk Annie
Lennox dat de lat van het origineel ten opzichte van
Allison's adequate versie domweg te hoog ligt. Luisterend naar
de kwaliteit van haar eigen werk, rijst al snel de vraag waarom
ze überhaupt covers speelt. Door de afwezigheid van een
overbetaalde knoppendraaier is de produktie sober gebleven,
ondanks de toevoeging van ondersteunende orkestraties. Hoewel
het een en ander hierdoor af en toe uit balans klinkt, komt de
focus te liggen waar die moet zijn: op Allison's krachtige,
emotioneel geladen stem. Met name de indrukwekkende live-versie
van "Wake Up" versterkt de behoefte om deze dame eens live aan
het werk te kunnen zien.
Allison Crowe’s
new CD Spiral finally arrived! I posted mp3s from it
last November and
last month, and the entire album was released digitally on
March 17th. But the physical release was delayed due to printing
issues, so I didn’t receive my copy until this week. It was well
worth the wait. Spiral is Allison Crowe’s best album since
Live at Wood Hall (one of my
Best of the Decade picks), and is possibly her best studio
album ever.
I don’t know what is wrong with everyone,
but I guess I don’t even know what’s wrong with me,
& I won’t try to be judgemental, I won’t try to be
holier-than-thou,
but I don’t get this & I’m not going to pretend I do.
Spiral is a prime example
of why I will always prefer physical albums over digital ones. The
beautiful gold and silver embossed cover has a lovely peacock
painting by Tara Thelen.
Cover art and liner notes enhance the listening experience, and
mp3s can never capture a moment in time the way holding an album in
your hands does. An old album can conjure up the same sense of
nostalgia as a photograph.
Onto the music…Spiral
opens on a somewhat lighter note. The twangy “Dearly” and
“Double-Edged Sword” have a buoyant folk-pop style akin to Dar
Williams. But the meat of the album is Allison’s voice and piano,
both of which take a more prominent position in the third track.
Allison is probably best known for
her astounding rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which has
become one of my favorite songs of all time. This time around,
Allison tackles Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” Her emotive vocal
gives the usually sedate song a whole new sense of desperation.
Yet it’s the acoustic
transformation of Annie Lennox’s “Why” that proves to be the
album’s most captivating cover. Allison’s heartfelt voice drives
the song with some help by a lovely, subdued string arrangement.
The album includes two bonus alternative versions of “Why” and the
album’s other cover of Hunters & Collectors’ “Throw Your Arms
Around Me.”
The stand out track “I Don’t Know”
is one of those Allison Crowe stunners. Her voice flawlessly flows
between the most pristine soprano and gut-wrenching, full-bodied
wails. Her intimate, emotional lyrics are layered over a
soul-stirring piano melody.
The album’s title track is just as
haunting, but has a more frenetic energy to the instrumentation.
Allison’s frenzied piano playing is juxtaposed with fiercely low
vocals that give the song a murky, seething mood. I bet it’s
particularly chilling and spectacular live.
I hear so much music these days,
too much for one person really. I’m inundated with such a flood of
sounds both good and bad that I sometimes forget what it feels like
when a song literally produces chills on your arms.
Then I hear Allison Crowe sing, and I remember the effect music
is supposed to have on you. That awe-inspired rush, that
indescribable feeling of communion between artist and audience. The
gratitude that someone gifted has expressed through their art an
emotion you personally lack the talent to articulate. To quote
Allison: “Why music? Why breathing?“
Allison and her manager are
exceptionally generous when it comes to sharing mp3s, so I have
three free, legal mp3s from Spiral for you. Please support
this extraordinary artist by purchasing her album at the links
below.
Allison Crowe understands music. A great deal of people claim to
understand music, but for the most part they simply mean 'I really
really really like music.' Allison Crowe, though... she understands
music. She understands that music isn't about production, or sales,
or even, necessarily, lyrics. Music is about necessity.
More often than not writers and journalists claim that music
doesn't need to be about anything, doesn't need a purpose or a
raison d'être - that the real beauty of music is it just exists,
just is. My response, in its most academic form, goes something
like this: Nah.
No, you are wrong, Credible Music Journalists. It's Crowe who's got
the theory down. An oft repeated Crowe quotation reads thusly: "Why
music? Why breathing?"
That's what music is. Necessity. A life force. It is magnificent
not for offering us nothing, but for offering us everything.
There's a nourishment of sorts in music. Nothing so physical as
food or oxygen, but something undeniable nevertheless.
I've spent the last two, three days playing a new Crowe song over
and over, letting it soak in, fill me up with its goodness. I'm not
entirely sure how representative 'Oceans' can be of the forthcoming
album Spiral - Crowe's music by nature is wide-ranging
both in influence and genre, and as such no one song can ever truly
capture the album as a whole. Nevertheless, a single Allison Crowe
song will always be representative at least of the quality of her
music - it's always a pleasure to leave the world for a few minutes
to indulge in some of the most sumptuous, luxurious musical treats
available.
Here’s another beautiful new song from Canadian singer-songwriter
Allison Crowe’s
upcoming seventh album Spiral. I first posted “Going Home
Tonight” from the album
last November. “Oceans” will be track number five. The song is
apparently the mid-point of the album, which is described as an
eleven song collection with a two-song reprise.
The entire Spiral album will be made available for
purchase as a digital download on March 17, along with a series of
fourteen videos to be posted on Allison’s site, Facebook, and
YouTube. The physical CD is scheduled to start shipping the same
day.
I’ve been offered a digital advance, but I prefer to keep it old
school with my favorite artists. So my full album review will be
published after I receive the physical CD. Until then, enjoy these
mp3s…
I've been a fan of Allison Crowe since around 2004, and have never
looked back since. Crowe's philosophy mirrors mine perfectly: 'Why
music? Why breathing?' Though not widely known outside of her
native Canada, Crowe's speciality is startlingly beautiful
piano-based songs that sort of make you wonder why you bother with
anything else. A new album from Crowe is a treat in the same vein
as a new cake in your favourite tea room, or a hug from a friend
you've not seen for years.
(Joining Crowe's Spiral on this
list of most exciting 2010 albums are new recordings from: Fleet
Foxes, Fyfe Dangerfield, Girls Aloud, Goldfrapp, Gorillaz, Joanna
Newsom, Marina and the Diamonds, Massive Attack, MGMT, Music Go
Music and She and Him.)
'Why music?' is de eerste vraag die op haar website staat,
direct gevolgd door haar antwoord in de vorm van de tegenvraag
'Why breathing?' Muziek is een noodzaak volgens de Canadese
