Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine kd lang and Alison Moyet: Faaaabulous

I got home yesterday to find a nice parcel for me from Amazon. I got some vouchers a while back for some copies of Queen of Diamonds so I ordered a few things. I got a Joe Phillips book (very nice) and two CDs, both of which are fabulous: k d lang 'Hymns From The 49th Parallel' and Alison Moyet 'The Voice'.
I guess the k d lang one has already been out in the US for a bit but if you've not heard it then I really, really, *really recommend it. If you like k d or Joni Mitchell or Neil Young or Leonard Cohen then you'll love it. Each song makes you think 'no, *this* is the best track' until the next one comes on. Very few people can cover Joni Mitchell songs well (Annie Lennox doing 'Ladies Of The Canyon' is about the only one I can think of) but kd manages to do it twice, with 'A Case Of You' and 'Jericho' which are both gorgeous and different from the originals without being so different that they suck. Leonard Cohen writes well for other people, but she's gone and covered 'Hallelujah' and 'Bird On A Wire' so she's up against pretty well known and loved original versions but again she pulls it off. 'Bird On A Wire' is fabulous and 'Hallelujah' is... well, I think it is my favourite (at the moment at least). Makes the hairs on my arm all stand up. I could go on ('Love Is Everything' is especially fabulous and a haunting end to the album) but I'll just start gushing uncontrolably if I do.

And Besides I've yet to say anything about Alison Moyet yet. 'The Voice' is cover versions as well but they range from 'The Windmills In Your Mind' to 'Cry Me A River' to 'Dido's Lament' to 'La Chanson Des Vieux Amants' to 'The Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies-o!' (no seriously) but it all actually works oddly enough. A very mellow, almost creepy album but that's not a bad thing. It's a bit of a sleeper in a way in that the songs sneak up on you. The emotion in Moyet's is sort of subtle but incredibly intense at the same time. While kd makes you very aware of the emotion straight away Alison Moyet sort of makes you feel like she's thinking all the songs to herself, if you know what I mean. Introspective emotion in a way. It's all beautifully arranged and just flows incredibly well. Plus Terry Wogan thinks it's the best album of the year, so you know it's gotta be good (trust me, if you don't know who Terry is then he's a man to be trusted. )

God, kd lang is fantastic. One of the best female vocalists of this day and age. Bev, have you heard her "Live by Request" album? It's priceless.

k.d. covering Joni Mitchell AND Leonard Cohen? I have GOT to hear this. Thanks for the heads-up.

Katherine Dawn Lang has the purest female voice in music. Only the '60s-to-'80s Streisand has rivaled it, along with Karen Carpenter on her better days. I could listen to k.d. for hours at a time. I have.

We'll have to agree to disagree on Streisand Grey (*so* not to my taste) but I agree completely about Karen Carpenter. There's virtually no-one who can come close to matching her vocal quality. kd I think is hugely under-rated, and 'Hymns' really deserves to go down as one of the best albums for a good long while. It's possibly her best album... eh, actually that's maybe not true. It's impossible to compare it to something like 'Absolute Torch And Twang' for instance. *But* her vocal quality on 'Hymns' *is* the best it's been and it's a more complete album than some of her others, if you see what i mean. 'Drag' is one of my favourite albums of all time but even that has a very strong middle section but weaker (comparitvely) start and finish. The whole of 'Hymns' is just fabulous and works together brilliantly. Quite simple orchestration (Ben Mink at his best again) and lets kd's voice really do the work and the songs are different enough from each other to be interesting as a whole but not so drastically different that they don't work. I mean, if you just take to four songs that are by Cohen and Mitchell you've got 'Hallelujah', 'Bird On A Wire', 'A Case Of You' and 'Jericho'. They're all completely different and shouldn't work so well together, but she's tweaked them just enough so that they're *her* songs but keeps what makes them such great songs to start with.

Kippers, I've not got that Live album but I keep meaning to pick it up. Havign said that Chris and I are off to see her in concert in December, so I can't wait for that. I just hope she still does 'Johnny Get Angry'.

Alison Moyet is one of my favourite female singers so I'll have to try the Voice. I haven't read any reviews of it in any of the music press, has it been out for long?

I never really 'got' kd lang, don't dislike her or anything but never heard enough of her stuff to get to grips with her - I love Leonard Cohen so will try it. Have you heard Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah? Totally breath taking!

The Voice came out here in the UK a couple of weeks back on a small label, so I'm not sure when (or even if) it'll be released elsewhere. Of course, that should still mean that you can order it through Amazon if nowhere else.

I don't think I've heard Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah, but I have heard Rufus Wainwright's (it's actually from Shrek 2) and that's a pretty fabulous version too. I think possibly it's one of those songs that is very simple in a lot of ways, hard to do well at the smae time but when done well is great.

I'd like to hear an album of all the different "Hallelujah" covers, it's one of my favourite songs.

k.d. gave an interview about that album a few weeks ago - she was calling herself a "vocalist" rather than a singer. Said she didn't mean anything by it when questioned by the interviewer, but I thought it was an interesting view of how she describes her own talent.

I've loved Alison Moyet since the mid-80s, but finding anything of hers on this side of the pond can be a challenge.

That's cool about the new Alison Moyet CD. I probably would have been unaware of it for a long time if not for this post. Thanks, Bevis.

Coincidentally, I picked up kd lang's Hymns of the 49th Parallel yesterday. I had a long drive this morning so was able to listen to it in its entirety. I agree, Bevis, it's one of her best. I especially liked her 2 Neil Young songs, After the Goldrush and Helpless.

FC, I agree about Hallelujah, it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written. My favorite version is Patricia O'Callaghan's version. Her crystalline soprano makes this song just soar. I don't think I've ever heard anything more beautiful.