Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Twist in My Sobriety



Amongst the myriad of sensitive, folk-influenced female singer-songwriters who emerged in the late 1980s, British teenager Tanita Tikaram was arguably the most original, arty and adventurous, easily coming to the fore with melancholy, wistful works that belied her tender age. The most remarkable characteristic about Tikaram's artistry was her distinctively smoky, torch song-informed voice, which provided a terrifically suitable conduit for her insistently elliptical, somewhat haunting folk-pop vignettes, making her stand out from her more conservative-sounding contemporaries. Check out one of Tikaram's most enduring standards, the darkly surreal 'Twist in My Sobriety', which is aptly backed by a moody, sepia-toned video featuring rather disturbing footage of what appear to be daily events in an indigenous community somewhere in the hinterlands of Mexico.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Danny Wilson



One of the best-kept secrets in late-1980s British pop was Scottish trio Danny Wilson, which amassed a healthy cult following and scored a handful of minor but memorable hits on the contemporary charts from 1987 to 1989. Hailing from the historic northern metropolis of Dundee, the group (which took their name from a minor 1952 Frank Sinatra flick) purveyed a refreshing brand of jangly folk-pop that is undercut with a dash of Steely Dan harmonic and lyrical sophistication and and a generous dollop of velvety blue-eyed soul, making them stand out from their cookie-cutter pop contemporaries. Check out one of Danny Wilson's better-known standards, the dreamy, insouciant 'Davy', backed with an idyllic, blissful band-performance video clip.