Search - Tywanna Jo Baskette :: Fancy Blue

Beautiful

08/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard Ms. Baskette's unique voice covering Elvis Costello on a tribute CD. I picked up Fancy Blue not knowing much more about her. It is an amazing record. The songs are so intimate and moving it blew me away. Its a cliche, but it really does make you laugh and cry at the same time. Her singing is a soft whisper most of the time (which is not for everyone) but she packs a lot of emotion into every tune. Highly Recommended."

Interesting little tease...

Frank Gualtier | Colorado, USA | 11/06/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly, I agree with everything I see in the previous reviews, both good and bad.



From my own head comes this:



o Beautiful voice. First thought through my head was "I'm listening to Bernadette Peters trying to sing and narrate bizzare urban legends while on laughing gas and there's a band somewhere in the background that thinks it's country but really isn't..."



o Too much talking and not enough singing for my taste. In fairness there are some who love that. Have at it 'some'.



o Believe it or not I actually found a decent amount of value in the simple chord structures and melodies (though it would be nicer if she sung them rather than talked and/or talk-sung them).



o Once again - believe it or not - I also found value in the poetic sinkhole of the lyrics. That is to say, one persons sinkhole is anothers treasure. It wasn't necessarily mine, but there was a consistency to it, I'll give her that.



Put it all together and what it means to me is incredible potential. A voice like that with melodically pleasant perpensity (though not oft realized here) and willingness to put words to paper, in my head, are all the basic ingredients of musical greatness. Trouble is that 'musical greatness' is in the eye of the beholder and I'm just not seeing eye to eye with her on this album.



Nutshell version is that I'd love to hear that same voice do more singing and less talking, that music flow more, and songs that transcend the 7th grade level in lyrical depth.



I did like the dark edge - keeper.



Finally, if all else fails I think she'll have no trouble with a career on the business end of a phone sex service (hot voice)."

Grows On You

S. F. Bell | Raleigh, NC United States | 09/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had some doubts about this album when I first bought it, but after listening to it a few more times I liked it much more (so I've edited my review and upgraded my rating from four stars to five). Baskette sings (and sometimes closer to speaks) with a voice and style that's sometimes reminiscent of Jill Sobule. But she has a quirky charisma and likeability that's hard to define. I think this is an album you'll either strongly love or hate, and you'll probably be playing it for your friends just to find out what they think of it."