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Isthmus review

Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 9:10 am
by jarkko
This one comes from Joe Way, from his hometown newspaper, via Marie

Isthmus, Madison, Wisconsin
November 5, 2004

http://www.thedailypage.com/going-out/m ... drevid=575

Leonard Cohen
Dear Heather
Columbia

Hard to believe that Leonard Cohen’s 70, but time marches on even for the most talented of hipsters. These days his already deep, spooky voice has taken on a raspy quality that adds an aura of time-worn wisdom to everything he intones, and Dear Heather is nothing if not a testament to his ability to endure and grow as dozens of musical trends came and went. Can’t say I care much for the smooth, R&B-inflected saxophone work that colors his interpretation of Byron’s “Go No More A-Roving,” but with stripped-down backing tracks deftly undergirding most tunes, that one musical misstep is easy to ignore.

What’s good here? Just about everything. “Because Of” is a poetic — and deceptively simple — salute to Cohen’s female followers, and the harpsichord-anchored recitative “The Letters” echoes with the kind of authority that only comes from a lifetime of emotional experience. His brief lament for Sept. 11, “On That Day,” raises goose bumps each time he repeats its haunting refrain: “The day they wounded New York.” And his unexpectedly languorous take on “Tennessee Waltz,” which closes the disc, will bring a lump to the throats of the hardest men. Here’s one recording artist who’s traveled gracefully from youth to old age...and learned something on the way, to boot.


Reviewed by Tom Laskin

Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 5:55 pm
by lizzytysh
I'm still trying to figure out the route this review took [written by Tom Laskin, but from Joe Way, from his hometown newspaper, via Marie]. Did you send it to Marie, Joe? Then, Marie sent it to Jarkko?

Well, in any case, amongst other things, I like the way Tom expressed this particular aspect:
"'The Letters' echoes with the kind of authority that only comes from a lifetime of emotional experience."
I, further, like his conclusion:
"Here’s one recording artist who’s traveled gracefully from youth to old age...and learned something on the way, to boot."
~ Lizzy

Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 6:19 pm
by jarkko
Actually I finally got it from both Marie and Joe, just happened
to open Marie's email first :lol:

Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 6:52 pm
by lizzytysh
Aha :D ! Now I get it ~ the route I hadn't even considered :lol: . Thanks for clearing that up :) .

Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:45 am
by Joe Way
Tom Laskin wrote a very favorable review of Ten New Songs, too. I just sent him an email thanking him for having an acute sensibility (I enjoy his other reviews, also). Marie really liked his review of TNS as it referenced Dylan's "Love and Theft" which was released about the same time and it was apparent that TNS was his favorite. You can still read it on the TNS website.

Joe

Because of is........

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:13 pm
by TOMinBKK
Such a cyclical song, and totally accentuates the Roving song. It is a conceptual album in so many ways. I love Cohen - such a collection of onion-skins which we get to peel and peel and peel.......

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:32 pm
by lizzytysh
That's a very apt way of putting it, Tom :D . Welcome to the Forum :D . With regard to your other post, I don't live in Bangkok ~ but I was there in 1965. Does that count :wink: ?

~ Lizzytysh

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:01 am
by TOMinBKK
lizzytysh wrote:That's a very apt way of putting it, Tom :D . Welcome to the Forum :D . With regard to your other post, I don't live in Bangkok ~ but I was there in 1965. Does that count :wink: ?

~ Lizzytysh
Hi Lizzy
I guess that counts, wow 1965, some time ago. I would dare to say that the huge modern glass and steel complex that is Bangkok now looks a bit different than when you were here. But I would also bet the people are about the same.

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:03 am
by lizzytysh
Well, do children still hang their hineys over the tall cement wall and go to the bathroom into the river below? If not, then it has changed :wink: . I'm certain you still have some of the most beautiful women in the world. When I was there, I hardly saw one who wasn't :D .

Ummmm

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:56 am
by TOMinBKK
Haven't seen that, but then again my house isn't very near a river. Yes, the people here are quite attractive, both on the outside as well as in. Must be all that karmic energy...

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:04 am
by lizzytysh
Yep, good karma :) ....and the river action may have ceased, due to some health standards applied.