Thank you for bearing with me during my unexpected hiatus from daily blogging. I hope my hastily assembled batch of placeholder songs (none of which I actually heard before posting) proved diverting enough in my absence.
I now return to my look at the albums of 2004, with five left to cover in the latest installment of the Decades series.
Unlike the other albums I’ve featured this week, I’m very familiar with today’s artist, if not the specific tracks on the record.
Norah Jones rocketed to stardom following the release of this jazz-folk record, which sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and 26 million worldwide. Come Away With Me earned eight Grammys and showed up on plenty of critics’ year-end lists (even as others dismissed the album as sleepy and bland).
Belle & Sebastian sing duets as a matter of course, with three or four of their seven members sharing vocals on most of their albums. Lead singer Stuart Murdoch often trades lines with Sarah Martin or (previously) Isobel Campbell as well as Stevie Jackson.
But on a couple of occasions, Murdoch has teamed up with somebody outside the band. One was the EP track ‘Lazy Line Painter Jane,’ on which Scottish singer Monica Queen laid down a spirited vocal track that threatened to blow Murdoch’s thin whisper right off the tape.
Meet Me In Montauk 