Pop Culture Update: The Bird and The Bee
I've been listening to the Bird and the Bee's new EP, "Please Clap Your Hands". Holy crap! I love these guys. "Who are the Bird and the Bee?", you ask. The band is composed of Inara George and Greg Kurstin. Greg Kurstin is the keyboardist whose sound is a huge influence on Beck's album, "Mutations" (which is just about my favorite Beck album). Mainly, my love of the Bird and the Bee is explained by my enduring love for Inara George, the chief vocalist for the Bird and the Bee.
Generally, she has a natural-sounding voice. She shies away from the kinds of histrionics that characterize American Idol singing. If you have heard Astrud Gilberto's work, then you'll have some idea of what Inara George's voice is like. Her simple vocal style is, however, the vehicle for sophisticated, but accessible, harmonic ideas. Everyone should check out her solo album, "All Rise", which, in addition to featuring her singing, indicates her skillz with guitar-based song-writing. At any rate, go to her website and check out "Fool's Work" and "Genius".
The Bird and the Bee has a bit more pop and electronica in it than her solo work. Additionally, it has more of a retro mid-60s feel to it. In the mid-to-late 90s, there was a bit of a mid-60s retro kitsch revival. This was witnessed by a brief enthusiasm for Esquivel, the madman behind the last baroque flowering of big band music. But, as these things go, what begins with a kind of ironic appreciation, often ends up being a serious appreciation. The 90s enthusiasm for mid-60s kitsch didn't go much of anywhere until now. The Bird and the Bee seem to me to have digested this late 90s ironic retro-ism and extracted a serious aesthetic from it. Especially check out their songs "Polite Dance Song" and "Again and Again".
Generally, she has a natural-sounding voice. She shies away from the kinds of histrionics that characterize American Idol singing. If you have heard Astrud Gilberto's work, then you'll have some idea of what Inara George's voice is like. Her simple vocal style is, however, the vehicle for sophisticated, but accessible, harmonic ideas. Everyone should check out her solo album, "All Rise", which, in addition to featuring her singing, indicates her skillz with guitar-based song-writing. At any rate, go to her website and check out "Fool's Work" and "Genius".
The Bird and the Bee has a bit more pop and electronica in it than her solo work. Additionally, it has more of a retro mid-60s feel to it. In the mid-to-late 90s, there was a bit of a mid-60s retro kitsch revival. This was witnessed by a brief enthusiasm for Esquivel, the madman behind the last baroque flowering of big band music. But, as these things go, what begins with a kind of ironic appreciation, often ends up being a serious appreciation. The 90s enthusiasm for mid-60s kitsch didn't go much of anywhere until now. The Bird and the Bee seem to me to have digested this late 90s ironic retro-ism and extracted a serious aesthetic from it. Especially check out their songs "Polite Dance Song" and "Again and Again".
posted by Idris at 12:33 PM
1 comments
