The World Of Things To Touch

Hauschka / Tarwater “The Afterlife Of Things” – Though other artists on Hauschka’s new compilation Versions of the Prepared Piano rework or embellish his compositions in often radical ways, Tarwater’s “The Afterlife of Things” barely alters the source material, and simply adds a droll, melancholy vocal performance to an already stunning piece of music. The song is slow and languid. The vocals simply hang over the top, following its gentle rhythm and doing very little to interfere with the simple beauty of Hauschka’s fragile melodies and the chiming tones produced by the unorthodox tuning of his piano. (Click here to buy it from Amazon. Originally posted in my AP Hit Refresh column on April 18th 2007)

Siobhan Donaghy “So You Say” – I didn’t notice it until the third time I heard the song, but the first line of each verse is addressed to a man named Adam. There’s something rather disarming about the way Siobhan Donaghy utters his name — in two quick syllables, she seems wounded, generous, patient, and terminally lovesick. The lyrics are fairly standard “you just dumped me and I can’t deal” stuff, but that tiny bit of specificity changes the feeling of the entire track, making it seem almost uncomfortably small and personal even when it hits its huge Wilson Phillips-as-a-shoegazer-band chorus. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK. Originally posted here on April 17th 2007)

Joss Stone “Put Your Hands On Me” – Joss Stone never inspired any enthusiasm from me before — her voice is strong but generic, and she seemed to be going out of her way to win cred points with the dullest sort of mainstream pop fans. Her music was inoffensive and generally dull, the sort of thing that you can hear and tune out, or maybe enjoy just enough to ask “hey, who is this?,” get the answer, and then totally forget about it the next day. This song, on the other hand, is quite fun. It’s extremely corny and not especially original, but Stone is utterly unashamed, and embraces its cheesiness wholeheartedly. Her collaborator Raphael Saadiq is clearly mimicking Rich Harrison’s “1 Thing” and DJ Premier’s “Ain’t No Other Man,” and though the track and the vocal performance do not reach the incredible heights of either song, it’s a worthy tune, and I’m glad to hear another song in the style much in the same way that I’m likely to enjoy any reasonably successful copy of the Pixies’ formula. Aside from the obvious affectations, she reminds me a lot of early ’90s Mariah Carey on this recording. She sounds completely overwhelmed by infatuation, and totally amped to be singing. Her pure pleasure in the act of performing is obvious and it elevates a song that would otherwise just be pretty good to something kinda thrilling and special. (Click here to buy it from Amazon. Originally posted here on February 27 2007.)

Elsewhere: Ugh. That’s all I can say about this. A million times over, UGH.

Meanwhile, At Fair Game With Faith Salie: If you want to listen to the segment with me talking about Christmas music, here you go.