Music for a Long Day

1. Air - Playground Love
Languid, laid-back opening. Just the thing to sink into the sofa to. Deliciously smooth sax, like warm caramel, lifts the song from the oridnary onto a higher plane.

2. Ana Toroja - Hawaii, Bombay
Tropical breezes with a distinctly salty tang and a whiff of spices. Is she singing in Japanese? Immediately likeable, but I might drop off with too much of it. Reminds me of an exotic, upbeat, Enya.

3. Bettie Serveert - Satisfied
For some reason, the opening chords put me in mind of Ten Years After's Love Like a Man. What comes after the opening chords is nothing like. Smoky and soothing. A shot of Laphroaig.

4. Bitter:Sweet - Don't Forget to Breathe
A bit of trip-hop; quite bitter, not very sweet, a bit of a bit. Reminsicent of Portishead, which I see comes up later. Like chewing on an orange rind.

5. Eva Cassidy - People Get Ready
Somebody I have heard of! Filed-down, sugar-coated R&B. Nice voice but lacks the kind of edge that makes this kind of song soar.

6. Jevetta Steele - Calling You
This is more like it - a versatile but very controlled voice, which you feel could explode into something excitingly menacing at any moment. Yet it never quite does. I keep expecting something to happen but ultimately it's rather bland and disappointing. On first hearing I got rather bored with waiting. Salsa that needs more chilli in it.

7. Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons
Sorry, but this is the first track I disliked. I'm not sure what the silly little-girl voice is supposed to signify, or whether the singer is always like this. There's some rather nice harp (or something) that redeems it somewhat.

8. The Jody Grind - Promise of Sleep
At this point I find I want something a little more energetic. This doesn't deliver but it does live up to its title. I have nothing to say against it, but not a lot for it either.

9. Keren Ann - Not Going Anywhere
No, she isn't, is she? Nice voice, but the song fails to stir anything within me.

10. Llasa de Sela - Los Peces
Aha! A change of tone, and something more upbeat! It's an interesting mixture, Latin overlaid with the tones and cadences of Klezmer, or maybe the other way round. I like this a lot and I'd certainly like to hear more.

11. Maria McKee - If Love is a Red Dress
Another R&B voice - quite a belting one this time - out for a gentle run, not getting out of second gear. I'd like to hear more.

12. Maysa - Sunshine
Cool and funky. Nice!

13. The Jazz Butcher - Sweet Jane
I like this. Simple but haunting acoustic guitar riff and an attention-grabbing vocal. Manages to remind me of early Velvet Underground, and also Mark Knopfler,

14. Nancy Sinatra - Sugar Town
And not only do I know the performer, but I know the track too. And it's a pretty damned good one. After the rather sombre stuff that's gone before, this makes me feel good about life in a dreamy sort of way

15. Nellie McKay - Ding Dong
The upbeat tone continues, though the chirpy song is heavily ironic and woven with a darker thread. I like irony. I like this song too but I think I might tire of it if I heard too much of it.

16. Norah Jones - Don't Know Why
This is how to do gentle R&B, restrained but promising great things. A class performer.

17. Portishead - Sour Times
A real old friend, this one! It's twelve years, now, since I bought the Dummy album to see what all the fuss was about the local success story. I didn't rate the first track much the first time through, but this track bowled me over from the beginning.

18. The Blow - Some Chocolates
This is a wacky one. I'm not sure whether or not it's meant to be ironic, but the simple arrangement of two voices weaving harmonies together against an irregular handclap rhythm is immediately intriguing and comes off a treat.

19. Suzanne Vega - Caramel
Another good track from a performer of know high quality.

20. Paul Simon - Long, Long Day
Perhaps not my favourite Paul Simon track but he sets a high standard and seldom if ever writes a bad one. He is, after all, the master of sweet, wistful, melancholy for the end of the day, and an apt conclusion to this collection.

Thank you, Nancy!