ryan@fremen.DEC (Mike Ryan DTN 264-8280 MK01-2/H32) (07/18/85)
---------------------Reply to mail dated 12-JUL-1985 04:00---------------------
Glad you like Suzanne, Doug (yes, I was the one who inspired his interest
in her). I've been meaning to post my own review but haven't had the time;
I also had intended to post the Fast Folk review - I'm glad you saved me
the typing.
The first I heard of her was in February when the Fast Folk Musical
Magazine Revue played a concert at the Arlington (MA) Town Hall. Leading up
to the concert the Boston Globe ran a series of articles about the "folk
music revival", focusing on Fast Folk and the Greenwich Village scene, and
giving a lot of space to Suzanne. My normal reaction to such hype is to gag
and turn the page (indeed, that *was* my reaction). But the two songs she
played at the concert ("Small Blue Thing" and "Crackin'") simply awed me.
(That performance of "Small Blue Thing" is on a recent Fast Folk record, BTW.)
Amongst all the comic songs and love songs, here were two genuine works of
art! Usually I'll forget most of the songs I hear at a concert like that,
but the beautiful music and strong imagery of those two songs stayed with
me until the album finally came out. And it was no disappointment!
One of the things that most impressed me about the album was the
exceptional quality of the arrangements. On more than one occasion I've
gone out and bought folk albums after seeing a performance at Arlington
Town Hall or Passim, and found that for the recording the artist added a
backup band (to flesh out the songs? to appeal to a wider audience? who
knows) with near-total disaster the result. These recordings aren't really
arrangements - it's more like "here's the chords, let's all strum along".
The resulting performances detract heavily from the music. This is all too
common among folk singers. I feared much the same thing when I bought
"Suzanne Vega", but I'm happy to report that the songs are very well
arranged, and the arrangements enhance the songs without straying very far
from her live acoustic performances. It is quite obvious that the songs are
actually arranged, and a lot of thought went into the arrangements.
Rather than fully reviewing the album, I'll just reply to the Fast Folk
review with my own comments.
>["Watch while the queen in one false move turns herself into a pawn"]
Great line! But just a small sample...
> Suzanne Vega, review by Bill McCaulley
>[From the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, May 1985]
>`Suzanne Vega' is a record of great beauty that comes out of the singer/
>songwriter category to challenge what acoustic guitar-based albums must
>sound like.
>
>Vega and her accompanists have begun to redefine, using new wave and
>classical sensibilities, the genre of Folk without either style suffering
>from the marriage. Preconceived notions of what makes popular folk music
>or softened rock are left behind.
>
Couldn't have said it better myself!
>`Fast Folk', though the additional instrumentation adds new depths and colors
>to many of the songs.
Like I said above...
>"Cracking" sets the tone for most of `Suzanne Vega' in that it defines the
>musical vocabulary that runs through the whole of it. The quizical
>psychology of the song comes through in a vocal that floats in and out of
>the music track. Throughout this record, the acoustic guitar played by
I should point out the icy textures which match the lyrics so well.
>What emerges in this collection of songs is a personality in isolation,
>describing, trying to get out. "Marlene on the Wall" is the one that
>gets most to the point on this idea. The unspeaking and all-seeing
>Marlene watches while the singer projects back and forth on a picture
>of Marlene her own internal struggle. The song is given a muted rock
>treatment, and the fun of it is the lyrical interplay between the singer
>and Marlene and the singer's amusement at her predicament. While the
>track starts out rather soft, it gets more and more edgy as the singer
>does more "fighting to be free".
>
All right, let's not analyze it too much (this sounds like Doug on Kate
Bush:-). I don't here all that much of a "rock treatment" here (certainly
not as much as "Neighborhood Girls").
>The gem of this record is "Small Blue Thing". The lyric and the music are
>wedded together with beautiful precision. Low frequencies generated by the
>synthesizer provide a solid dramatic bass without heaviness, and the
>sparkling high notes add to the liturgical flavor in this very introspective
>song. The synthesizer picks up the rain, sky, and skipping images in the
>lyric, and adds glassy sounds like wood block and a Japanese Koto.
>
>This track has a transparency to it that lingers for a long time. It seems
>that the synthesizer is programmed for high and low frequencies, leaving a
>window for Vega's voice to float out of. But while there is a great deal
>going on in "Small Blue Thing", it is not cluttered. This is a crystalline
>edge to this very soft song that is distant and makes the strongest claim
>for a new territory in what is called today's folk music. The guitar work
>is clear, and fingersnap-like notes punctuate small silences and lyrical
>transitions. This is a very strong song.
>
Yes!!! A truly wonderful song. I just wish the reviewer would stop being so
fascinated by the arrangements and pay attention to the strong imagery in
the lyrics. This song (actually the whole album, but especially "Small Blue
Thing") would make an excellent animated film a la "Fantasia".
>"Straight Lines" turns from introspection to the wider world. The arranging
>gets harder here, and the songs begin to encompass more than one singer.
>
>In "Straight Lines", we watch another woman change herself, while in "Marlene"
>we are hearing Vega find her own footing. She is working from the outside
>where all the previous songs were internal ones. The girl in this song is
>cutting her hair: she doesn't need her flag of beauty anymore. But in the
>end the music goes back and forth from hard to soft, and the feeling is that
>turning off lovers and cutting hair won't change much. The end of this song
>is unresolved, like the subject of the song. This is the end of side one.
>
Missed the suicide interpretation completely (straight lines can be the way
she cuts her hair, bars on a window,... or slashed wrists). A very powerful
song.
>"The Queen and the Soldier" and "Knight Moves" are the two songs that seem
>clouded by additional instruments. In "The Queen and the Soldier," the
>song is essentially acoustic, with harpsicord-like sounds and 12-string
>guitar lines that are strong and effective by the end, but that sound
>pedestrian at the beginning. They simply accompany and do not orchestrate
>like so many of the previous arrangements. There is not as much interplay
>with the lyrics, and while the song is great, the sound is not as original
>as some of the others.
>
"The Queen and the Soldier" is the closest thing on the album to a more
typical folk song, carrying (what at least appears to be) a
straight-forward story. Most of her lyrics are more abstract, and rely more
on evoking images than telling stories.
>"Knight Moves" is the one song on the album that would have benefitted
>mightily had it remained a solo performance. The purely acoustic sections of
>it are very, very strong, while the fluttery synthesizer lines distract from a
>very precise guitar arrangement. Harpsichord sounds take away from the
>knife-like directness of the lyric of this song. The vocal is clear and
>sharp, and would sound so much stronger were it unencumbered.
>
The arrangements on both these songs sound perfectly fine to me... I love
the chess theme of "Knight Moves". I already warned against over-analyzing,
but just this once...: The placement of these two songs (both involving a
queen and her subject (soldier/knight)) seems to imply a connection, but I
can't quite seem to figure it out. Any ideas from those who've heard it?
>Suzaenne Vega's first album closes on a great rocking note of a song called
>"Neighborhood Girls". It comes out of the indistinct territory of "Knight
>Moves" with strong drums and clean guitar lines. Vega's voice is right up
>front, more so than on other songs, and her diction is crisp so that when
>she spits out some of the lines, like "eyes of ice", they ring out. Nowhere
>on this record does Suzanne try to belt like a rocker. Even where her singing
>is hard, it is her clearness of voice and diction that carries strength. The
>strength of the lyrics cuts through, and the underpinning arrangements do what
>they set out to.
>
Yes, another great song. Someone mentioned seeing a video for "Marlene on
the Wall" - I figured this would be the most likely choice, since it rocks
more than any of the others. By the way, where did you see that video? Is
it on MTV (Nah, they'd never "lower" their standards like that:-).
>This album sets up new definitions for what singer/songwriter albums can
>sound like. It is a deliberately produced record that breaks up precon-
>ceptions and does not try to disguise itself as one kind of pop record while
>being another. `Suzanne Vega' defines it own territory. Vega has made a
>clean, modern sounding album using modern instrumentation with some very
>classical sensibilities. Her remarkably innovative first album will sound
>fresh and strong for a very long time.
Synthesizers in folk music, and it sounds good!?!!?! Ohmigosh!!! (:-)
You are definately going to hear a lot more of Suzanne Vega in the future
(and not just in net.music:-)!!
Mike Ryan
ARPA: ryan%fremen.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
UUCP: {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,ucbvax,...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-fremen!ryan
Today I am a small blue thing, like a marble, or an eye.