Melody James
Country of origin:
Australia
Type of music generally:
Split between pop and folk, with the pop predominating somewhat.
Status:
Most recent release, blue dawn rising (2000)
See also:
Currently no web presence (01/09)
Comparisons:
None immediately obvious to me. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Covers/own material:
Mostly own, occasional co-writing
General comments:
See album comments below.
Recommended first album:
blue dawn rising is her debut cd
Recordings:
blue dawn rising (2000)
blue dawn rising
Release info:
2000—Tall Poppet Records—TPR 201 DAD
Availability:
Unknown
Ecto priority:
Low, I think, at this point. Hopefully it will rise over time. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Group members:
Melody James—vocals, backing vocals, tin whistle
Guest artists:
Hans Meinig—guitars, bass, piano, vocals, percussion, claps, guitar synthesiser
Aaron Wales, Steve Lane—backing vocals on 1 track
Colin Thompson—drums on 4 tracks
Chris Zelno, ting on 1 track
Ruby James—bells on 1 track
Produced by:
Melody James and Hans Meinig
Comments:
Before there was a Tori Amos, there was a Y Kant Tori Read. To me, this album illustrates why it's important to remember things like that. Not every superb artist had a superb first album. James' first album is actually much better than Tori's was (which, in turn, was not quite as bad as many people think); but she still has some distance to go before she reaches the A-list.
This album is very pleasant listening. But I found much of the music rather bland, and I didn't detect a lot of intellectual depth in most of the lyrics. For all that, James strikes me as an artist with potential, an artist still on the learning curve. I saw sparks of imagination in the lyrics of the "Clouds" track; and the music for "Live With Me and Be My Love" and the Celtic-flavored "Health" are very nice indeed.
James should be encouraged to keep at it. Her artistic development will be worth tracking. Here's hoping for a favorable report in the long run. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Thanks to Mitch Pravatiner for work on this entry.
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