Lee on new Suzanne Vega album
 

http://annalsofsongitude.blogspot.co...is-summer.html

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

New Suzanne Vega Disc out this summer



Out June 5th internationally and July 17th in North America, Beauty & Crime, her seventh album, marks Suzanne's debut on Blue Note Records.

Inspired by the city where Suzanne grew up and still currently resides, Beauty & Crime revolves around Suzanne's experiences in New York. Her gift for storytelling is evident on 'New York is a Woman', which personifies the city as a hard-luck lady whose beauty still shines.

Take a tour of New York on 'Ludlow Street', which discusses the ghosts of Lower East Side haunts and 'Zephyr & I', about a conversation Suzanne had with graffiti artist Zephyr while walking down West End Avenue. The album also includes two of Suzanne’s most personal songs yet, a love song for her husband, 'Bound', and a dedication to her daughter, 'As You Are Now'.

Beauty & Crime Tracklisting:

1. Zephyr & I
2. Ludlow Street
3. New York Is A Woman
4. Pornographer's Dream
5. Frank & Ava
6. Edith Wharton's Figurines
7. Bound
8. Unbound
9. As You Are Now
10. Angel's Doorway
11. Anniversary

Beauty & Crime, recorded in both New York and London, was produced by Jimmy Hogarth (Sia, Corinne Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall) and mixed by Tchad Blake.
Made up of a diverse and talented cast, the sessions included orchestral arranger Will Malone (Dido, Seal, Corrine Bailey Rae); background vocalist and vocal arranger KT Tunstall; guitarists Gerry Leonard (David Bowie) and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth); bassist Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith); as well as long time members of Suzanne's band, bassist Mike Visceglia and drummer Doug Yowell.

Way to go, Lee!

Who the hell is Suzzane Vega?

my name is luka
i live on the second floor

awesome!!!!

most famous for http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDBGia0CNuo

but even better...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H65p7ImAOA

hmm.?

ha! my dad likes Suzanne Vega.

I'm always highly suspicious of albums with the actually artists on the front cover

ah... were you suspicious of SY's first album? ;)

Yes! I dont like it that much.
As long as people do it in a interesting way (unlike that Suzanne Vega record) but with all the infinite amount of intresting things you can put on a front cover, putting yourself on just shows an incredable lack of imagination. Thus I expect the contents of the record to be equally as tedious!

this sounds pretty neat. maybe he'll sit in on a set of hers and do a freakout during 'tom's diner'. actually, that's probably a horrible idea.

I said if it was done in a interesting way. The Piper at the Gates of dawn cover is actually quite interesting. Just putting yourself on the cover seems like such a dull thing to do. I know its perhaps insane, but record covers can help sell a record. I think an album is the whole experience, cover, the music, the feel. Otherwise we may aswell just download all our music. Theres nothing better than killer artwork that is backed up by great music inside. Like Bad Moon Rising, Daydream Nation or Kid A.

i'm totally interested in hearing it, regardless of how bad it may or may not end up being. i'm sure it'll be, at least, an interesting listen.

I had an old tape of Suzanne Vega, had some awesome songs on it.

I like the cover, it's cool. The red font and feeling reminds me of that Alkaline Trio album cover 'Crimson'.

Also reminds me of the new Christina Rosenvinge's album cover, with a shot of herself positioned to the right side of the cover.
How old is Suzanne Vega now? She looks like she could be 20 in that photo, but she must be getting on.

I'm not a Suzanne Vega fan, however I really like 99.9 F° (the album not the song).

Press release:

SUZANNE VEGA

Over 20 years into her storied career, singer Suzanne Vega shows that she remains one of the freshest voices in popular music today with the release of Beauty & Crime, her seventh album and her debut for Blue Note Records.

Revolving around the theme of New York, the city where Vega was raised and still lives, the 11 original songs on Beauty & Crime present Vega’s signature poetry and folk-pop songcraft illuminated by lush orchestral arrangements that are juxtaposed against cutting-edge beats.

From the driving opener “Zephyr & I,” which recounts a conversation with the seminal graffiti artist while strolling down West End Avenue, to the ghosts of Lower East Side haunts depicted in “Ludlow Street,” to “New York is a Woman,” which personifies the city as a hard-luck lady whose beauty still shines, Vega captures the spirit of her hometown’s past, present and future. The album also includes two of her most personal songs yet, a love song for her husband (“Bound”) and a dedication to her daughter (“As You Are Now”).

The sessions, recorded in both New York and London, were produced by Jimmy Hogarth (Sia, Corinne Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall), mixed by Tchad Blake, and included an eclectic cast including orchestral arranger Will Malone (Dido, Seal, Corrine Bailey Rae), background vocalist and vocal arranger KT Tunstall, guitarists Gerry Leonard (David Bowie) and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), bassist Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith), as well as members of Vega’s touring band, bassist Mike Visceglia, and drummer Doug Yowell.




With the release of her self-titled debut on A&M Records in 1985, Vega began paving a path for an entire generation of female singer-songwriters to follow in the 1990s. Her 1987 album Solitude Standing established her as an international star, first with its surprise hit “Luka,” and again later when UK electronic dance duo DNA released a remixed version of the a cappella “Tom’s Diner” (the song has since been remixed upwards of 25 times). Vega’s other albums include Days of Open Hand (1990), 99.9 F° (1992), Nine Objects of Desire (1996), and Songs in Red and Gray (2001).

Vega has also played a fundamental role in the pioneering of two recent frontiers: digital music and virtual worlds. She unwittingly played an integral role in the creation of mp3 when Karlheinz Brandenburg, the central developer of the format, used “Tom’s Diner” as the subject for his experiments in audio compression. In 2006, Vega also became the first major recording artist to ever perform live in avatar form within the online virtual world Second Life.

You must freak out when Bob Dylan put's out a record.

book of dreams

The record is great, in my opinion it's her best since 99.9F°.

Yeah, it's a cool album. especially tracks 1, 2 and 10. Mentions a load of backing singers and the studio musicians in the cd cover/book, but nothing about lee!