Audio post reblogged from Still a Weirdo with 35 notes - Played 40 times
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Liz Phair- Canary
I know Divorce Song, Flower, and Fuck and Run get all the attention but Canary and Shatter are the real heart of Exile in Guyville. The dissatisfaction and loneliness caused from living up to everyone else’s expectations and wishes is expressed in a devastating way here, and it’s one of the best examples of how Liz’s limited vocal range can work to her advantage.
Source: dustoffvarnya
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Tori Amos- Sugar (Milan 2011)
Because I’ve heard the majority of Tori Amos performances since 1996 due to my obsessive bootleg collecting, it takes a lot for her to really truly blow me away. I almost always enjoy her performances, but there has to be something unique or special for it to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This Sugar is one of those special performances. The first thing I noticed is the absolute confidence and power she’s projecting out into the audience. That “yeah, you just try and fuck with me, see what happens” attitude that was so prevalent in every performance from 94-01 and which seemed to completely disappear after 2005 (unless she was playing a character) is back in spades, and its making the performances feel unpredictable again. I’ve heard over 100 performances of Sugar (I told you I was obsessive!) and there are moments here where I don’t know what’s going to happen with her inflections and tempo, and that’s thrilling because every performance becomes about those particular moments and feelings, with no disconnect between the artist and the material.
The next thing to stand out about this performance for me was how tender it was. There’s still the anger and moments of fury that have been a part of Sugar since 1998 (a performance where “you’re just a pussy, my sweet boy” isn’t delivered right is a shitty performance), but “when they find you out…” has an empathy and quiet sadness that gives the song another dimension. Even as she’s ready to take this boy to task and call him on his bullshit, there’s still an understanding of his pain. And of course, if we learned nothing else from the 90’s, we should know that utilizing the quiet/loud (or sad/angry) dynamic makes both parts of a song more powerful.
Finally, how amazing are those ending high notes? It seems like somebody went back in time and gave Tori her 1998 voice again. They’re so clean and expressive, giving a difficult song a perfect finish.
OK, I think I’ve gushed enough for now. But trust me, I could probably go on for a few more paragraphs.
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Hole- Happy Ending Story (live on Radio 104.5 Philadelphia)
I believe this is the only taped full performance of Happy Ending Story, and I much prefer it over the studio version. Courtney’s vocal is more sedate, fitting the worn-out and nearly defeated tone of the lyrics better, and her yelling in the last minute sounds significantly stronger than on Nobody’s Daughter, where production fuzziness made it sound too ragged. I feel like this song is in some ways a sequel to “Dying” from Celebrity Skin, with Courtney reusing the quicksand metaphor, references to death, and hitting the same emotional beats. The yelling restores some power and saves the song from crossing into despair, which could’ve easily happened since there’s no hopefulness or anger in the song lyrically aside from in the 2nd verse, just a resigned sadness. By changing the vocal tone and DEMANDING that happy ending story instead of begging for it, as well as adding a new verse not present in the original demo, ending the song with “the battle it has just begun, he haunts me to the marrow of my grief”, Courtney lets the listener know she is trudging on and damaged but not defeated.
