St. Vincent – Marry Me
I’ve had about enough of yelping, eccentric female vocal stylings. This in another release which occupies the same sort of everso fashionable territory that you might imagine emanating from Kate Bush and Bjork locked in a passionate 69. It’s vaguely similar territory to the likes of CocoRosie and Feist, but less intimate and with far more of the faintly spastic ejaculations to which the patron saint earth mother of tortured 80s intellectual eccentrica was so very prone.
Don’t let my frustration with this particular musical niche distract you though; I’m not denying that there are some very good songs on this record. The first single, Now Now, is terrific, as is Paris is Burning, but when I listen to the whole album all at once I find the style starts to grate on me a little too much for me to ignore it and listen to the songs on their own merits.
Ultimately, I always get the feeling that listening to this sort of music eventually turns you into a sensitive feminist who is a bit overly intellectual and thinks she alienates everyone because she’s too intelligent and sometimes demands too much from people, when in actual fact it’s more to do with the fact that she’s just dull as shit.
St. Vincent – Now, Now
St Vincent – Paris is Burning
Oh, Mr Toad. I think here you and I are going to have to disagree. I’ve given this album a couple of spins already, and I have to say that I’m loving it!
Have you tried My Brightest Diamond. Interested to see what you’d make of her…
St. Vincent reminds me a lot of Laura Nyro from the 70s…I like what I’ve heard from her so far.
An observation: I can relate to the sentiment in your post Mr. Toad. I think you are not alone in the testosterone-fueled indie rock blogosphere on this one
I love these songs and I know a lot of people who will too. The legacy Kate Bush leaves isn’t bad, eh?
All in all, I quite enjoy the legacy of Kate Bush, including her own stuff. But ultimately it can get a bit much on occasion. It’s possible I just listened to this in the wrong frame of mind, so I’ll keep on going back and see what I make of it in time.
Funny you should ask about Lavender Diamond, Monsieur Growl, but I didn’t buy it because I saw her support Calexico and found the kookiness just a little too much to bear. I am pretty certain it isn’t forced, but it can be so self-conscious at times that it feels it. Just grates on me eventually, that’s all.
I know I act all sensitive and tactful and sweet, but I have an inner philistine who occasionally rears his head and barks for some fucking balls-out guitar bashing every once in a while.
‘Kate Bush and Bjork locked in a passionate 69′…hmm. They could make a great record together (probably somewhere about 2040, given La Bush’s work-rate in recent years) but the shrieking what have to be laid off. And as for the ’69′…
dear mr. toad, i think mr. growl refers to shara worden, aka my brightest diamond, who is worlds away from lavender diamond musically. mbd has one of the best voices god ever bestowed, and she’s one powerful performer.
little bit of trivia: both st. vincent and mbd have both sang back-up/toured with sufjan stevens. i much prefer mbd to sv, and aside from the vocal prowess of mbd, i think it’s the way she structures her songs. they’re more straightforward, less “kooky” and lean more on her classical training than her desire to be kate bush’s or bjork’s progeny.
Shit – what a muppet I am, of course! Sorry Tim, it seems I am proving, once more, to be a complete retard.
I have actually heard a few MBD songs, back in my first few weeks as a blogger. I never really bothered exploring further, but to be honest I can’t really remember the reasons. If you two are going to be bloody stubborn then I suppose I really should revisit.
I have to say, in disagreement with everyone else here, that your review made me feel a lot better about disliking St. Vincent. I was starting to think that somehow I wasn’t a proper feminist music-listener or something.
Only Proper Feminists (TM) like St. Vincent! There, I’ve said it now! Right up there with bloody Sarah McLachlan.
Actual feminists, on the other hand, like all sorts.