Post by petea on Aug 5, 2019 9:29:55 GMT
Natalie Merchant is an American singer / songwriter and one of the founding members of, main lyricist for and singer of 10,1000 Maniacs. Although often classified as an alternative rock group they have certain similarities to some modern American folk and quite a number of their songs comment on social issues and reflect Natalie’s pre-occupations. She left the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career.
Since leaving 10,000 Maniacs she has released eight solo albums, mostly written and composed by herself although one of them consists of poems written for children over the last 100 years and set to music (and very inventive and effective it is too - "Leave Your Sleep"). She also collaborated with Billy Bragg and Wilco on a tribute to Woody Guthrie, "Mermaid Avenue". Natalie Merchant’s singing style is often described as confessional, but I’m not not sure that is really correct given the content of many of the songs. Her performances are certainly intense and she ‘lives’ the song during its delivery. When you watch recordings of some of her live performances, especially when she is performing with musicians she has worked with for many years, that intensity really becomes apparent. In some instances one almost feels like a voyeur watching her even, for example:
Her first solo album was “Tigerlily”, recorded independently and released in 1995 by Elektra. Twenty years later she re-worked the songs and re-recorded the album as "Paradise is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings”, and it is this album that I would like to present to the forum as my first album choice (I decided to spare you 17 Hippies this time!). So, have a listen and let us know what you think.
tidal.com/browse/album/68587593
Wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Is_There:_The_New_Tigerlily_Recordings
Since leaving 10,000 Maniacs she has released eight solo albums, mostly written and composed by herself although one of them consists of poems written for children over the last 100 years and set to music (and very inventive and effective it is too - "Leave Your Sleep"). She also collaborated with Billy Bragg and Wilco on a tribute to Woody Guthrie, "Mermaid Avenue". Natalie Merchant’s singing style is often described as confessional, but I’m not not sure that is really correct given the content of many of the songs. Her performances are certainly intense and she ‘lives’ the song during its delivery. When you watch recordings of some of her live performances, especially when she is performing with musicians she has worked with for many years, that intensity really becomes apparent. In some instances one almost feels like a voyeur watching her even, for example:
Her first solo album was “Tigerlily”, recorded independently and released in 1995 by Elektra. Twenty years later she re-worked the songs and re-recorded the album as "Paradise is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings”, and it is this album that I would like to present to the forum as my first album choice (I decided to spare you 17 Hippies this time!). So, have a listen and let us know what you think.
tidal.com/browse/album/68587593
Wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Is_There:_The_New_Tigerlily_Recordings
