snuh ([info]snuh) wrote,
@ 2008-01-26 13:21:00
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lost in translation


There's been talk of late around the music Blogosphere about posting tunes that you don't like. I feel there's three levels of bad - untalented crap, uninspired pap and bad so *bad* that it rises above its ineptitude and transcends into something memorable. Scarlett Johansson has talent - she isn't awful, it's just that she's not outstanding. If she wasn't an actress, she'd never get to record an album. For me, she's taking up space that would be better allotted to one of the numerous outstanding artists waiting for their chance. It was just announced her new Tom Waits tribute album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, will be released this spring. You can get an idea of what you're in for with this track from Unexpected Dreams - Songs From The Stars.

Scarlett Johansson: Summertime - 4.90MB


When news of the tribute was announced, I posted this compilation of Tom Waits songs that she might consider for her album - I'd love to hear ScarJo's interpretations.

 

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God's Away On BusinessBig In Japan
Step Right UpCemetery Polka
SingaporeHang Me In The Bottle
Frank's Wild YearsTelephone Call From Istanbul

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[info]frozenrhino
2008-01-26 11:17 pm UTC (link)
Leaving aside the whitebreaditude that will be her Waits CD, or even the less than whitebreaditude but still pretty grocerystorewheatbreaditude of Holly Cole's Waits covers, if you don't have it then you truly need to get hold of Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks' cover of The Piano Has Been Drinking.

If for nothing else, he makes masterful use of a dimestore accordian.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 12:05 am UTC (link)
It's a sticky wicket covering Waits' tunes, but that doesn't stop artists from covering him, for some strange reason. I was able to find that Dan Hicks tune - he acquitted himself just fine (love the accordion).

Tom Waits: The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) - 4.88MB

Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks: The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) - 4.20MB

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[info]frozenrhino
2008-01-27 12:18 am UTC (link)
Agreed w the difficulty of covering him.

Holly Cole did a fantastic job with her first two CD's, but when she took on Waits, just fell flat on her face.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 12:49 am UTC (link)
He's such a stylized artist that if you don't reinterpret his music, you'll fall flat on your face. A judge agreed Waits' voice was very recognizable when he won that lawsuit against Cheeto's.

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[info]carless_sam
2008-01-27 12:27 am UTC (link)
If you are going to cover TW, you have to find a way of really altering the sound if you are going to pull it off. Then again, when I heard TW covering the Ramones' "Danny Says" I didn't know whether to just stand in shock or start laughing.

Anyhow, I didn't expect much when I heard about the SJ album and the most contact I expected from it was listening to any mp3s that get posted somewhere.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 12:51 am UTC (link)
Tom covered some other Ramones tunes as well, here's that one.

Tom Waits: Danny Says - 4.88MB


Anyhow, I didn't expect much when I heard about the SJ album and the most contact I expected from it was listening to any mp3s that get posted somewhere.

Oh, I'll post 'em, since ScarJo=hits!

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[info]carless_sam
2008-01-27 01:22 am UTC (link)
Yep, that's the one. I really have to stop listening to stuff I've never heard before on my mp3 player while walking around in public because my reactions draw far too much attention sometimes.

As for Miss Scarlett, she's got plenty of other career opportunities to have to worry about iffy musical output.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 01:26 am UTC (link)
I think she's been kept abreast of all the boobs out there that'll grab her CD off the rack. Either way, it's a bust (and how!)

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[info]carless_sam
2008-01-27 03:58 am UTC (link)
She's gotta teach 'em to sing. Might be just what the act needs.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 04:11 am UTC (link)
Sorta like The Aristocrats.

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[info]carless_sam
2008-01-27 04:16 am UTC (link)
Well, it would need more embellishments, but sure.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 04:19 am UTC (link)
I don't think there needs to be any padding.

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[info]ljutefisk
2008-01-27 03:22 am UTC (link)
So what is Woody staring at? Do you think maybe he's getting a woody?

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[info]snuh
2008-01-27 03:40 am UTC (link)
As I said before, the impossibly deep Woodman is genuflecting upon Scarlett Johansson's acting abilities.

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[info]moxxyie
2008-01-27 08:24 pm UTC (link)
I'm actually a bit impressed with her rendition of Summertime.

People seem to dig her husky, throaty voice, and I was skeptical how it would translate into song. Summertime sounds good, but I agree with the above comments about her TW album. She chose to tackle one helluva difficult artist to go up alongside.

I look forward to your post of her songs. Curious.

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[info]snuh
2008-01-28 06:27 am UTC (link)
Well, people definitely like her. I posted the same songs in 2006, when she announced the album and the amount of downloads were mind boggling. I expected the same this time around and was not let down. There's been a few posts about the release of her new album since I wrote this, here's one of the better ones: In Which You Made Our Whole Deployment.

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[info]youngwilliam
2008-02-21 12:23 am UTC (link)
In case you hadn't heard it, there's been more information released about it (including a songlist!)

StereoGum had a video-clip of an interview about it, but it seems they were a trifle hasty in posting it (although it leads me to wonder why Scarlett and Dave didn't say anything when they knew they were being filmed).

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[info]snuh
2008-02-21 03:18 am UTC (link)
StereoGum has been on top of it pretty well. I also caught the songlist, which was a bit unexpected. I'd had figured she was going to head to the ballads, since those are the easiest Waits' songs to cover.

I never knew LJ had a Tom Waits community, that was a pleasant surprise!

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[info]youngwilliam
2008-02-21 03:33 am UTC (link)
I was thinking she'd lean towards the gospel ones, myself.

And yes! There's that one and [info]raindogs, although [info]_tomwaits_ seems to get more traffic of the two (mind, there's still a few things that crop up on RainDogs that isn't on TomWaits, so I joined up to both of them).

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[info]snuh
2008-02-21 06:55 am UTC (link)
I joined, looking forward to having more Tom Waits info. A high school friend I haven't seen in years has two brothers that have played in the Harry Partch Ensemble, they also recorded with Waits. This summer is reunion time, so I'm looking forward to catching up. Hopefully, they'll be some good music stories.

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(Anonymous)
2008-06-29 10:31 am UTC (link)
Grrrrooooowl. thanks for the quick mp3s. whoda thought she be the famous one from ghost world. what ever happened to the other american beauty?

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[info]snuh
2008-06-29 10:51 am UTC (link)
Thora Birch? She's currently staring in an MTV reality show, it's called Stripper Gripper. It follows Thora to her two new careers - stripping and key grip. She combines her knowledge of stripper poles and ropes with the work of a grip behind the scenes of a movie, as she works with dollies, tracks, cranes, camera cars and trailers. There's some nudity during the strip club scenes, dirt and sweat as she breaks down film sets.

Did you hear they're coming out with a new version of Fishin' Musician?

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