Saturday, May 19, 2012

Florence and the Machine: MTV Unplugged

Here's the thing. Each song is a craft in and of itself, it is a layered myriad of instruments and sounds. Much of this gets lost on us amateurs - we typically only hear its nuances on big-ass stereo systems.

Or, in an unplugged session.
Here, you can hear loud and clear all the instruments that would otherwise be lost. You pick up the nuances of the singer's voice. You listen to lyrics much more carefully. Each song becomes an individual jewel in and of itself. And this album lives up to all those elements, beautifully. Each song is special, and makes for really pretty and interesting listening.



There is only one small one problem. Florence Welsh's voice.
Don't get me wrong. We all recognize what a beautiful voice it is. Personally, I'm a huge, huge fan of her undeniable talent. But she has a tendency to overdo it sometimes. I love her most of all at her most restrained moments. The more quiet she is, the more lovely she sounds to me. But there are a lot of occasions when she gives in to her urge to indulge herself and us, and just belts. Ouch.

So like I said, each song in and of itself on this album is interesting - with some real highlights, like Florence's version of 'Jackson', 'Try A Little Tenderness', and the faithful 'Dog Days are Over'. But listen to several of them strung together, and it'll get a bit much. For that reason alone, I would recommend listening to this album in parts instead of as a whole. Florence       and       The            Machine. Much better, thank you!

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