Tiger Suit

tina — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Let me just say that I love KT Tunstall. Love her. I can't help it, she's just so cool: She plays the guitar, writes her own songs, and has an amazing singing voice. She's attractive, but not so pretty that you hate her for it, and her clothes are hip without being ridiculous or over the top. Also, she's Scottish, which in my eyes makes her even cooler for some reason.

Fandom aside, Tunstall's latest album Tiger Suit is excellent and definitely worth buying. With its catchy rhythms and generous use of the synthesizer, it's probably the closest Tunstall will ever get to a dance album. It’s a fun album, but thanks to Tunstall's lyrics and resonating voice, not a shallow one.

The album kicks off with “Uummannaq,” which has so much energy pulsing through it that it's practically alive. Try listening to the whole song without dancing. Go on, I dare you. It's impossible. The beat is infectious and it's a great introduction to the rest of the album. The next few tracks on the album are all pleasant, if not entirely memorable songs.

“Fade Like a Shadow” follows and it’s Tunstall's first single off of the album, but I've got to say, I find it an odd choice. There's nothing wrong with the song per say, it's got a peppy beat and it's enjoyable enough, but there are stronger songs on this album that would have been better suited for radio play. “Lost”, for example, is one of my personal favorites from Tiger Suit. It's an emotional ballad that you find yourself getting, well, lost in. Tunstall sings, “I got lost following you. What did I do that for? Am I an idiot?” The sheer sense of confusion and sadness heard in Tunstall's voice makes the song poignant and very relatable.

Two tracks on the album feature a very country blues feel. Tunstall's raspy voice is used to perfection in “Golden Frames”, giving the song a wonderfully smoky, Southern Gothic vibe, while “Come On, Get In” is more upbeat and reminiscent of gospel music. “(Still A) Weirdo” and “Madame Trudeaux” weren't my favorite tracks on the album, but both feature impressive musical arrangements. The former with interesting synthesized effects and the latter with a solid, classic rock sound. The last track on Tiger Suit is “The Entertainer.” Tunstall's voice, soulful and raw, is accompanied by the strongest guitar playing featured on the album and the effect is very powerful. It's a reminder of how talented an artist Tunstall truly is.

Written by: Victoria Granado, November 22nd 2010

Here Come the Vikings

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:40:00 +0000

By Astrid Williamson

One Little Indian

Astrid Williamson is a Scottish-born musician, who has been compared to Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac and lists among her influences the canon of American singer-songwriters, such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Though I like where Williamson is coming from on her fourth solo album, Here Come the Vikings, and the album has some decent ideas for pop tunes, I have two major problems with this album: the songs aren’t well executed and don’t provide any surprises.

Here Come the Vikings is Williamson's first self-produced album. Each song on seems to have the kernel of a really good song in it, but this is overshadowed by major flaws of some kind that might have been worked out by letting the song stew a bit longer or getting some additional input. When listening to the album, the thing that stuck out the most was how often I thought about shortening this or that song or choosing different background instruments.

Williamson’s voice isn’t the greatest either. I appreciate that this is her real, unadulterated voice, but on tracks like “Storm,” it sounds reedy and uneven. She sounds better on more sultry numbers like “How You Take My Breath Away” where emotion might appropriately crack the voice. The best track on the record is “Slake,” which features spoken word and seems to only include a chorus as an afterthought.

Of course, all of this would be irrelevant if the songs were well-written and innovative. No one has ever accused Dylan of having a lovely voice, and few question his musical importance. But the songs on Here Come the Vikings just aren’t that great. Sometimes they start out good and then peter out or circle in on themselves. Other times they just annoy. They seem to rehash ideas we’ve seen before—the piano ballad, the more rockin’ song about sex, the breathy, slow number—but without enough surprises to make them worth another listen.

Maybe having a producer is not such a bad idea.

Written by: H. V. Cramond, September 11th 2009

Scottish singer

Tiger Suit

Here Come the Vikings