Sometimes you come across a piece of music that's absolutely essential to your collection: this one isn't.
It's not always good karma to seek out the company of strangers - this album
is a case in point. Severely overrated Beth Orton's latest release, Company
Of Strangers, her fourth studio recording was knocked together over two
weeks in New York in the spring of 2005, produced by ex-Sonic Youth axeman
Jim O'Rourke.
Simply put, this a rambling monster of a rambler containing
few defining moments. Unlike her contemporaries, such as K.T.Tunstall, she
fails to hit any kind of 'memorable' resonance in her writing. The
combination of monotonous, limp and dodgy vocals does little to enhance the
morbidity of its laboured 14 tracks.
Heartland Truckstop picks up the pace for a while, and then relapses into
tedium. Feral Children has the odd pleasant accordion touches, only to fall
foul of further limpness. Previously, she's not managed to enter the top 20
with any singles, and her highest album - her last release - The Definitive
Collection - is the only one to make the top ten in the UK.
This one will
bring the UK singer- songwriter little opportunity to improve on that
record. Omitting certain songs may have slightly enhanced its appeal, though
that's in some doubt. In reality, Orton's songwriting is way beyond average,
with too many filler tracks: overall this collection is quite forgettable.
A great listening experience needs to be bold, dynamic, and accessible; much
of this isn't.
Best of a bad bunch - the reasonably perky single Conceived was
released Monday January 30.
1. Worms
2. Countenance
3. Heartland Truckstop
4. Rectify
5. Comfort Of Strangers
6. Shadow Of A Doubt
7. Conceived
8. Absinthe
9. A Place Aside
10. Safe In Your Arms
11. Shopping Trolley
12. Feral Children
13. Heart Of Soul
14. Pieces Of Sky
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
