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I admit that I haven't really done any talking like a pirate today. However, I have been listening and singing (along) like a pirate.
A couple of weeks ago, after seeing a highly favorable review in the Weekly Dig, Other Kenjari came home with a copy of Rogue's Gallery, a double CD set of sea chanteys and other nautical-themed songs, most of them traditional. The CD was produced by Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski, as a sort of tie-in to the Pirates of the Carribean movies. Clearly there was a huge potential for cheese here, for Rogue's Gallery to be nothing more than a quickly thrown together collection of nautical songs given routine performances by well-known rock and pop performers.
Luckily, nothing could be further from the truth. The people behind Rogue's Gallery took it very seriously. The majority of the songs are real sea chanteys and traditional songs about sailing and the sea. Some of them are given in their original X-rated versions. Most of the performers are folk and traditional music people, many of whom I'd barely or never heard of. And even some of the well-known singers are people like Nick Cave and Richard Thompson, whose music is informed by tradtional material. The most surprising star performance is by Sting, who really gets into the whole style very convincingly. And the liner notes are very thorough and informative.
I am very impressed and very glad that the production team took this so seriously. Especially since the CD is not being marketed to scholars or connoisseurs of traditional music - it's being marketed to folks like me and I dare say a good chunk of my friends' list. I'm always happy to see sincere attemtps to introduce lesser-known musics to wider audiences.
A couple of weeks ago, after seeing a highly favorable review in the Weekly Dig, Other Kenjari came home with a copy of Rogue's Gallery, a double CD set of sea chanteys and other nautical-themed songs, most of them traditional. The CD was produced by Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski, as a sort of tie-in to the Pirates of the Carribean movies. Clearly there was a huge potential for cheese here, for Rogue's Gallery to be nothing more than a quickly thrown together collection of nautical songs given routine performances by well-known rock and pop performers.
Luckily, nothing could be further from the truth. The people behind Rogue's Gallery took it very seriously. The majority of the songs are real sea chanteys and traditional songs about sailing and the sea. Some of them are given in their original X-rated versions. Most of the performers are folk and traditional music people, many of whom I'd barely or never heard of. And even some of the well-known singers are people like Nick Cave and Richard Thompson, whose music is informed by tradtional material. The most surprising star performance is by Sting, who really gets into the whole style very convincingly. And the liner notes are very thorough and informative.
I am very impressed and very glad that the production team took this so seriously. Especially since the CD is not being marketed to scholars or connoisseurs of traditional music - it's being marketed to folks like me and I dare say a good chunk of my friends' list. I'm always happy to see sincere attemtps to introduce lesser-known musics to wider audiences.
