Dirty Business

Every so often, I get on a kick with a particular band. For weeks on end, they are the primary artist in heavy rotation on the iPod. A while back, it was Elvis Costello, then Bjork and after that, Tori Amos. There really isn’t any impetus for it-I may hear a song on the radio (as was in the case of Elvis Costello, I was driving in the car with the family when What’s So Funny About (Peace, Love and Understanding) came on. For about a month, it was all Elvis, all the time.


A few weeks later, I happened across Bjork’s movie debut, Dancer in the Dark, which in turn inspired me to download her greatest hits album. Later that month, the new Tori Amos album came out, and Barnes & Noble happened to be playing it in the music section, which in turn inspired me to upload my whole Tori collection.

Currently, I am on a Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer kick, and its all Perez Hilton’s fault.

The other day, I was on his website (yes, I do read Perez for my gossip) and he had posted a link to Amanda Palmer (lead singer of Dresden Dolls) singing with Moby and Neil Gaiman on the Late Late Show…needless to say I immediately remembered how much I loved the album, “Yes Virginia” and quickly uploaded it my playlist.

I have a bit of vinidcation for the Princess-she is the one who really got me into the band. Palmer is married to Gaiman, who is one of my favorite authors (American Gods is one of the most truly amazing books I’ve ever read, with Coraline being a close second), and there is this incestuous feel to how everyone is interrelated. I do find solace that there are some brilliant minds coming together and making even more amazing art in concert with one another.

However, I digress. I have been listening to Yes, Virginia and it has been one of those it really gets what I am going through at this given moment. The opening piano solo of Sex Changes belies the rock backbeat that quickly overruns the song. One could close their eyes and picture it being sung on Broadway (or maybe, way off Broadway, in an experimental playhouse) in a Sweeny Todd like production. Actually, all the songs would fit in a theatrical production. Currently, Backstabber is one of my favorite songs and seems to be on repeat a lot. Singing along to it, at the top of my lungs, when I am alone in the car can be quite cathartic. It also raises my curiosity if the song is about a particular person or if it is completely fictitious. Whatever the inspiration, anger and rage never sounded so beautiful. The furious pacing of Modern Moonlight is the anti-Twilight soundtrack song-Death Cab for Cutie its not.

My Alcoholic Friends inspires my mind to think of a gothic tap routine. It’s the perfect beat for a soft shoe…but with, as Palmer describes their music, Brechtian caberet. Delilah starts off as a beautiful ballad; Palmer’s husky alto intertwines with the aching piano. One could almost picture it being sung, alone in the middle of a stage, with a spotlight over the singer, fading to black at the end. Dirty Business is another song that you could imagine dancers being integral to a live performance. The next two songs are a little bit of a let down compared to the rest of the album, but even masterpieces like London Calling or the White Album have their slow moments.

The last three songs must have been written with live performances in mind. You can almost envision a choreographer working on Mandy Goes to Med School with a bunch of tap dancing chorus girls, and an Ethel Merman-esque singer belting out the song. Same goes for Necessary Evil and Me & The Minibar.

Yes Virginia is a great introduction to the Dresden Dolls and their unique sound and vision.