Various Artists [The Female Touch]These types of discs don't usually find their way into my Blog, but this one is a clever compilation, it's certainly got some more interesting Artists, it either goes beyond the 'pop chart female', or it has the more cutting edge individual, with a few exceptions, it's a good mix too.
The booklet cover isn't great, the pic is somewhat out of focus, but the face / hair / pose is great, and the redeeming feature is the use of dark pink as the main colour, nicely listed on the front, and even better on the back inlay, pink and black on a white background works a treat, Artists and their tracks are differentiated by colour, a clear and distinctive track listing which is a joy to read.
This is the first time i've listened to these discs, most of the songs i know, some are unfamiliar, the tracks i liked the best are, tracks 5, 7, 22, 26, 29, 32 & 36, with track 29 'She Cries Your Name' by Beth Orton really catching my eye / ear, it's very much Adult Contemporary music, i've heard some Beth Orton before, and she's very good indeed, but her work isn't consistent, she is English, and will hit 40 at the end of the year, this is the first time i've heard this track, and immediately it struck me as inventive and clever, it starts off with what sounds like atmospheric out of tune violins [0:00-0:47], very effective indeed, possibly this could be created electronically, or maybe warped with electronics, but it sets the scene for the whole song, the song is actually quite acoustic, three short verses, the violins come back in on the chorus [1:05-1:26], this time with the addition of what sounds like a penny whistle, but this time it is created electronically, with some nice morse code vibes at the end of the chorus, the opening violins come back between the chorus and the second verse [1:27-1:46], but this time with drums, that are nice and uneven, here's the second verse, nice words,
Cut beneath the surface screen
Of what we say and what we seem
Is a trick to be seen
She keeps cryin' out your name
But her screams sound the same
How fickle fate can be
It actually sounds like the chorus 'she cries your name, three times again', is a reference to multiple orgasms!, that the guy has left the singer, and now is with the new girl, but is it all fickle?, the more i listen to this song, the more wonderful things i notice about it, it has those little touches that turn a good song into a great one, and it's those damn violins that get into your soul!.
Well now i notice that there's 'The Female Touch 2', so i'll have to get this too, and it's got some more Beth Orton on it.
Here's Beth Orton singing 'She Cries Your Name' on YouTube.
