Description:
With songs penned by Mötley Crüe, Chuck Berry, R. Kelly, Spade Cooley, Ike Turner, and Gary Glitter, Shivaree's notion of what comprises a gorgeous album of love songs is radically different than Frank Sinatra's or Tony Bennett's. But vocalist Ambrosia Parsley--the Air America network's singing newswoman--is nearly as distinctive a stylist, with a sweet breathy timbre that coats lyrics with fragility, wanting, innocence, or wickedness at whim. That plus Shivaree's textural command make their fourth album more interpretive than a mere collection of covers. A growling industrial-punk treatment pushes the pedal down on Berry's &
With songs penned by Mötley Crüe, Chuck Berry, R. Kelly, Spade Cooley, Ike Turner, and Gary Glitter, Shivaree's notion of what comprises a gorgeous album of love songs is radically different than Frank Sinatra's or Tony Bennett's. But vocalist Ambrosia Parsley--the Air America network's singing newswoman--is nearly as distinctive a stylist, with a sweet breathy timbre that coats lyrics with fragility, wanting, innocence, or wickedness at whim. That plus Shivaree's textural command make their fourth album more interpretive than a mere collection of covers. A growling industrial-punk treatment pushes the pedal down on Berry's "I Wanna Be Your Driver," and Parsley's warm cooing is the wanton, feminine flip side of Kelly's machismo in "Half on a Baby." Some of the best tunes, like Tanya Tucker's 1974 hit "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)," undergo otherworldly transformations worthy of Ennio Morricone via Shivaree's taste for colorful electronics. And others, like Glitter's "Hello! Hello! I'm Back Again," stay closer to text. But Shivaree are best when they're surprising, and the cocktail lounge arrangement of the Crüe's "Looks That Kill" and the New Orleans-brass-band-from-Saturn treatment of Ike Turner's "My Heart Belongs to You" are entrancing and utterly inspired. --Ted Drozdowski
Album Description
What's love got to do with Phil Spector, Rick James, Michael Jackson or Gary Glitter? Shivaree attempts to mount this riddle in a fractured look beneath the covers and through the keyhole of some of true Rock n' Roll legends, interpreting the songs of these and many more controversial greats on Tainted Love: Mating Calls and Fight Songs. In the words of lead singer/headmistress Ambrosia Parsley, "Rock and Roll may save your soul, but a good man is truly hard to find." Shivaree's twisted, biting cabaret pop has been featured everywhere from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill to Air America Radio (who employed Parsley to encapsulate each week's news in song form). Have a listen to what the fuss is all about.
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Manufacturer: Zoe Records
Release date: 31 July 2007
EAN: 0601143109225 UPC: 601143109225
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