"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast"
-Oscar Wilde		 Brilliant at Breakfast title banner "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself."
-- Proverbs 11:25
"...you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?" -- Steve Gilliard, 1964 - 2007

"For straight up monster-stomping goodness, nothing makes smoke shoot out my ears like Brilliant@Breakfast" -- Tata

"...the best bleacher bum since Pete Axthelm" -- Randy K.

"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Loving The Alien
Posted by Anonymous | 7:30 AM

Ane Brun's bio states that the gifted singer/songwriter was allegedly born in Norway, but I don't believe it. Ane came from someplace else. I bet if you open her closet door, there are pods inside.

Ane's voice is eerie, haunting, and unearthly. It's an alien instrument that chills you, enraptures you, and compels you to pay attention. The late Sandy Denny owned this type of voice, as did Nick Drake and Tim Buckley. Early in their careers, Sinead O'Connor did (before she lost her mind) as did Joni Mitchell (before the cigarettes took it away). Listen to those precious LPs your granddad has of jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott to understand what I'm talking about. Think of Björk, Patti Smith, and Diamanda Galás. Hailing frequencies open, Captain.

On Ane's wonderful CD A Temporary Dive, my favorite song is "Laid In Earth", an ominous, heartbreaking yet beautiful elegy of loss. It isn't just another "My lover is dead and I'm sad, boo hoo" song, oh no. It achieves the tragic majesty of Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" or the great Judy Collins song "Pretty Polly". Yes, it's scary, but in a good way.

Ane Brun is a journey worth taking. Welcome aboard. The starship is right over here.

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Susan Werner
Posted by Anonymous | 6:44 PM

Susan Werner is an über-talented artist who plays guitar and piano and sings beautifully, skillfully navigates the genres of jazz, gospel and folk, and writes real songs about real stuff that adults living in the real world care about, but it doesn’t feel like math homework or the leftover brussel sprouts your mom makes you eat. Performing in the margins outside the vapid pop music landscape, this singer/songwriter from the Midwest is deep without being pretentious, funny without being silly, smart without being arrogant, passionate without being strident, and very, very sensual. (Sensual is when "sexy" goes to graduate school.)

At a U2 concert I saw a long time ago, before the band performed the song "Helter Skelter" Bono said, "Charlie Manson stole this from the Beatles and we're here to give it back!" On The Gospel Truth, I think Susan Werner does the same thing with the thorny subject of religion, taking it back from the clutches of bible-carrying bigots and televangelists. It's Faith meeting Skepticism, and finding out they have a lot in common. Not really expecting an answer from God, her heartfelt songs are warm and melodic questions.

She’s good on CD (Last of the Good Straight Girls, Time Between Trains, I Can't Be New, Live at the Tin Angel, New Non-Fiction, Midwestern Saturday Night), and better in concert. Unplugged, Susan sounds refreshingly unscripted. Such a deal. Go see her and feed a starving folkie today.

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