RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE, Part One; GETTING IN TOUCH WITH MY FEMININE SIDE
If you like Norah Jones…then discover Rachael Yamagata’s Happenstance (RCA) or Jolie Holland’s Escondida(Anti):
Imagine a Twilight Zone episode where some mad scientist figured out a way to split Norah Jones into two distinct personalities.
Are you imagining?
Good.
Now, imagine that the scientist is successful in creating two respective Joneses.
[Bear with me here. I love metaphors]. He then discovers that Norah I focuses on her wistful jazz, creating songs of nostalgia and timelessness while Norah II has a bit of rockier side, writing sultry jazz-like compositions but with an angsty edge of bitterness.
Norah I is actually Jolie Holland, a pigtailed musky vocalist, who writes lazy-sounding songs so calming, they could almost qualify as music for the sloth-inclined. Essentially, Escondida is a collection of twelve black-and-white photos illustrated with teasing snare drums, smirking trumpets and humid guitars. Recalling Billie Holiday but with a slight Southern rust, Holland’s debut makes for the perfect sunset viewing, sitting barefoot on a rustic porch and sipping a cold glass of lemonade.
Rachael Yamagata, or Norah II, possesses the same smoke-flavored and barbeque potato chipped voice as the two aforementioned torch singers but unlike their serenity, Yamagata, on occasion, likes to get things moving. In this way, Rachael is much like Fiona Apple, alternating between summer-dress-fare and girl power rockers. “Worn Me Down,” Happenstance’s obvious standout single, is a breezy bike ride into pop territory. “Quiet,’ is a nine minute surrender so heart-meltingly precious that Jones would surely trade in one of her three hundred Grammy’s for a simplicity so seductive.
(FOR ALISON)
If you like Norah Jones…then discover Rachael Yamagata’s Happenstance (RCA) or Jolie Holland’s Escondida(Anti):
Imagine a Twilight Zone episode where some mad scientist figured out a way to split Norah Jones into two distinct personalities.
Are you imagining?
Good.
Now, imagine that the scientist is successful in creating two respective Joneses.
[Bear with me here. I love metaphors]. He then discovers that Norah I focuses on her wistful jazz, creating songs of nostalgia and timelessness while Norah II has a bit of rockier side, writing sultry jazz-like compositions but with an angsty edge of bitterness.
Norah I is actually Jolie Holland, a pigtailed musky vocalist, who writes lazy-sounding songs so calming, they could almost qualify as music for the sloth-inclined. Essentially, Escondida is a collection of twelve black-and-white photos illustrated with teasing snare drums, smirking trumpets and humid guitars. Recalling Billie Holiday but with a slight Southern rust, Holland’s debut makes for the perfect sunset viewing, sitting barefoot on a rustic porch and sipping a cold glass of lemonade.
Rachael Yamagata, or Norah II, possesses the same smoke-flavored and barbeque potato chipped voice as the two aforementioned torch singers but unlike their serenity, Yamagata, on occasion, likes to get things moving. In this way, Rachael is much like Fiona Apple, alternating between summer-dress-fare and girl power rockers. “Worn Me Down,” Happenstance’s obvious standout single, is a breezy bike ride into pop territory. “Quiet,’ is a nine minute surrender so heart-meltingly precious that Jones would surely trade in one of her three hundred Grammy’s for a simplicity so seductive.
(FOR ALISON)
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