Blogged with Flock

“Jesca Hoop’s music is like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or a red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night.”
— Tom Waits

You are doing pretty well when Tom Waits endorses your debut album, but the story goes deeper than just an endorsement! They live together! Ok. Well. Not really together. Turns out Jesca got a job as Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s nanny. I guess growing up in a strict Mormon household is pretty good qualifications for being a nanny.

Her music is as interesting and eclectic as her path through life. She sings and performs in the singer songwriter vein, but I am happy to say that she isn’t constrained by its often staid musical arrangements and instrumentation. There is plenty on Kismet that strays outside the lines. She draws on influences like The Police, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, The Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Talking Heads, but there is also plenty of earlier ties to music including church hymns.

I think I can detect Tom Waits’ influence in her music as well. I don’t know how much or even if Tom was involved, but there is certainly the drama and theatrics that Tom employs so well. There is also similar tones like a deep, booming upright bass featured prominently in tracks like Silverscreen that flicker with Tom Waits.

There are hints of Tegan and Sara, Sarah McLachlan, Suzanne Vega, and even Gwen Stefani, but Jesca has found her own voice and seems to be in command of her kismet.

Kismet: 3 out of 5 stars
Ingredients: 3 out of 5 stars
Innovation: 3 out of 5 stars
Presentation: 3 out of 5 stars

Radiohead, free of any label and the old thinking the music industry seems trapped in, released their album in two innovative (for a big class-A artist at least) ways; via online download, and a via a discbox collection. The discbox is available for 40 British Pounds Sterling (about $81.50 at current exchange rates) and contains the album on CD, on (2) 12″ Vinyl Records, a second enhanced CD with more songs and digital artwork, and a lyric booklet all encased in a hardback book with a slipcase. In addition, buyers of the discbox also can download the album.

The really interesting thing about releasing their album via download is that they didn’t set a price for the download. They allowed the buyer to assign value to the release. It is possible to “buy” the album for nothing except that there is a small transaction fee. The download comes as a zip- compressed folder containing the following 160 kbs DRM-free tracks:

15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

Yes. That’s right. DRM-free! Radiohead gets it and they are making a big statement in the face of a music industry that has done everything it can to restrict, limit, and frequently attack its customers in a useless attempt to control music. They are suffering as a result and I predict that bands that get it like Radiohead will reap a huge reward for their intelligence.

The music is music from Radiohead with an overall sound that is a little more mellow and at ease in the world than I have heard from them in the past. There isn’t the tension that I found so appealing from their earlier releases. This is a good album and I am looking forward to spending long hours with it, but it never reached out and grabbed me by the ear and dragged me into a new universe. Buy the album in whatever form or forms you prefer and cast a vote for intelligence in the music industry.

In Rainbows : 4 out of 5 stars
Ingredients : 4 out of 5 stars
Innovation : 3.5 out of 5 stars
Presentation : 5 out of 5 stars

I hope you like the look. I welcome your feedback.