non-ecumenical ramblings

Came home to happily find my Paypal delayed CD from Norway via Holland. Just shows how rich the Depressing Female Musician genre is. Here I was running out of artists to purchase just a month ago, and now I've been introduced to two (3?) new DFM's.

Last month, in part because of a posting from Crooked Timber, I looked up Cat Power's latest album - web site first & then Amazon reviews. One Amazon user wrote "oh Cat Power's no good. If you want someone with talent check out Patty Griffin or Kristin Hersh." Neither name rang a bell until I looked them up and realized that Kristin was the Talking Muses lead. Now reading a review of Ane Brun, who does the reviewer compare her to but Kristin! Better still he mentions another unknown artist Erin McKeown, so a 3rd possible DFM on the horizon.

Patty Griffin's Impossible Dream was a real find. Downloaded Mother of God and Cold as it gets and will either download 2 more tracks, or break down & purchase the album.

Ane Brun is an artist I could never have found on my own. Amazon had no record of her existence, so you know she must be obscure in america. Will be jammin' up the 405 tomorrow to "i shot my heart to let you go/i shot it down for you/but you don't know/i let my soul grow cold". The critic didn't like this song because it was too american - as an american i'm vaguely insulted.

As a final note on Cat Power, she, like Ani DiFranco, is your classic 2 good songs per album artist. Cat has the discernment to know which 2 tracks are her best, so her web site, used to have the 2nd best track I don't blame you and her only video is for the standout track He War - pretty clever video: one of those where you just know you can figure out the story if you just watch it a few more times.