You Could Be In Movies

Bette Midler. Dolly Parton. Cher. Barbra Streisand. They’ve all been widely accepted as accomplished singers and award-winning actresses. And while many actors/actresses take a stab at singing, they don’t always make a successful jump. Here are a few that do a surprisingly good job.

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Although Kathleen Turner provided the voice for Jessica Rabbit in the ground-breaking film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, it was actress Amy Irving who provided Jessica’s singing voice. In the film, Amy performed the widely-known ‘Why Don’t You Do Right?’ in a sultry, crystal-clear form. Amazingly, the song never appeared on the album’s soundtrack.


Juliette Lewis made a respectable attempt at channeling her inner Polly Jean Harvey in the 1995 thriller Strange Days. Juliette performed Polly’s ‘Hardly Wait’ and ‘Rid Of Me’ in the film, but the former is the only one that can be found on the film’s soundtrack while the latter is featured here. Juliette is currently preparing for the release of her own album, with her band Juliette & the Licks.


The Fabulous Baker Boys became Michelle Pfeiffer’s true ticket to the Hollywood A-List. Not only was the movie great, but it was a nice surprise to discover that Michelle’s voice is the one being heard in the film’s many performances. True to her character, Michelle oozes a sexy version of the popular standard, ‘Makin’ Whoopee.’

While she never made a full album of material, Michelle’s performances of ‘Makin’ Whoopee’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ can be found on the film’s official soundtrack.


There’s probably not too many people who knew that Minnie Driver was performing with a band before performing in film. Trained in music in London, Minnie was actually in the process of embarking on a career in music before her break in film began.

Minnie’s debut album, Everything I’ve Got In My Pocket, is due out next week, although the title track was originally released on last year’s Trampoline Records Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. While I have yet to hear the bulk of the album, to my ears, she isn’t half bad.


Downloads:

Amy Irving - Why Don’t You Do Right
Juliette Lewis - Rid Of Me
Michelle Pfeiffer - Makin’ Whoopee
Minnie Driver - Everything I’ve Got In My Pocket

Quinn-tessential

One of the nice things about maintaining Womenfolk is the opportunity to hear some great music from people who point me in specific directions. About a week ago, I received an e-mail from Louise Quinn, who asked me to give her music a listen. Always thirsty for something new, I was more than willing.

Through a few e-mails, I learned that Louise hails from Glasgow and received the bulk of her introduction into the world of music after playing and singing in church when she was younger with much encouragement from her mother. She cites her musical influences ranging from Lou Reed, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and the Clash (all of which were from the constant listening of her elder siblings’ records) to Jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn and says they all probably played their part in her approach to songwriting.

In 2002, Louise and her band welcomed their debut album, Inbetween Worlds, which was released by their own label (Lunardiscs) under Louise’s surname, Quinn. The album featured eleven tracks of incredible music beginning with ‘Rising Star,’ a song that swiftly weaves from its quiet introduction to a lush and relaxed musical landscape. Also found here is the beautiful ‘Autumn’, a track which also garnered attention when it was featured on the Acoustic Vol. 1 compilation in Britain.

In addition to appearing on compilations, Quinn’s music also garnered exposure when a couple of their songs found themselves in films such as The Last Great Wilderness and The Principles Of Lust.

For their second album, Luss, Quinn recruited notable French producer Kid Loco, whom Louise had worked with on his 2001 album, Kill Your Darlings. The result of this latest collaboration marks a subtle change in the music as both ‘You Don’t Try Anymore’ and ‘The World Is Upside Down’ both exhibit a sense of power and confidence not as noticeable on the group’s first effort, yet continue to maintain Quinn’s unique vocal delivery. The latter being an eight minute trance of delicious noise. Expect the album to be released by the end of the year.

For more information on Quinn and how to purchase their music, be sure to visit their official website, which offers some additional MP3s.

Downloads:

Rising Star
Autumn
You Don’t Try Anymore
The World Is Upside Down

Cover Girls, Vol. 4

Some site news: The site was down for the majority of yesterday. Apparently, there was a slight lapse in the domain name renewal and things were temporarily taken offline. My apologies to anyone who came to visit and found nothing here.

I would also like to congratulate fellow music bloggers, Soul-Sides, Fluxblog, Gabba Pod, Cocaine Blunts, The Suburbs Are Killing Us and Music (For Robots) for their feature in the current issue of Rolling Stone.

Congratulations!

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Anything Sophie B. Hawkins records is almost guaranteed to be poured with her heart and soul. She is completely involved in every step of her music’s creation and her recording of the well-known ‘Feelin’ Good’, a song made famous by the late Nina Simone, is an excellent example of Sophie’s energy. The song can originally be found on Sophie’s latest album, Wilderness.


In 2002, Ivy released Guestroom, an album of cover songs featuring renditions of the Cure, the Ronettes and others. ‘Streets Of Your Town’ is a definite highlight, originally written and performed by the 80’s group, the Go-Betweens. Lead singer Dominque Durand’s soft and airy voice perfectly pilots through the upbeat pop, reviving the 80’s favorite and serving it justly as its facelift for the new millenium.

Known for her own Beatles-inspired brand of pop, Sam Phillips recorded John Lennon’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Man,’ which was featured on the Crossing Jordan soundtrack in 2002. Sam’s low, rich voice glazes over the lazy strumming of acoustic guitars, and parlor-esque pianos, making it a very sensual and slinky interpretation . Sam continually performs this song in her live performances, usually after declaring her love to Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields.

I can’t think of a group more ‘perfect’ (pardon the pun) than Fairground Attraction to record one of Patsy Cline’s best known songs, ‘Walkin’ After Midnight.’ While the original is unsurpassable, Eddi Reader & Co. don’t try to top it. Instead, you have a bubbly, feel-good interpretation which is surely a sign of admiration to Patsy and the band’s pure love of the song.


Downloads:

Sophie B. Hawkins - Feelin’ Love
Ivy - Streets Of Your Town
Sam Phillips - I Wanna Be Your Man
Fairground Attraction - Walkin’ After Midnight

Dolls And Stars And Dreams

For a few years in the late 90’s, there was a huge surge of female songwriters being scooped up by major label companies following the huge commercial success of Alanis Morissette. Lauren Hoffman was one of them.

Lauren was fortunate to be raised around music. Her father, also a musician, wrote and performed songs with a pre-famous Dave Matthews. Lauren would eventually even work at Dave’s independent label. It was there that she soon met Shannon Worrell and joined her band, September 67 as their bass player, giving her her first opportunity to play in front of an audience.

September 67 wouldn’t be in Lauren’s future for long, as she wanted to make her own music. So through the connections available to her, Lauren worked on her own material and eventually signed to Virgin Records, who released her debut, 1997’s Megiddo.

All of this by the time she was only nineteen.

The album was a fine mixture of rock, folk, and moody elements, a fresh change from much of music that was released at the time. ‘Rock Star’, the album’s only official single, is a sharp and groovy ode to the yearning of fame whereas ‘Fall Away,’ switches to something more softer, but musically just as powerful. Megiddo proved that Lauren had incredible talent and had made an excellent decision to blaze her own trail.

However, despite those talents, the album went unnoticed, much in part due to its poor (i.e. nearly non-existent) promotion. Discouraged, Lauren and Virgin ended their relationship and she had nearly made up her mind to quit the music business altogether.

After taking some needed time off from the disappointments and pressures of her major-label experience, Lauren wound up creating From The Blue House, a collection of more acoustic-driven songs, stripped from studio effects and gloss. The focal point here is Lauren’s voice and music in its most natural form. Natural, but still extremely potent.

Since its release, Lauren has spent a lot of her time traveling, focusing on various stays in India, Israel and France (the latter of which her work is highly regarded), until ultimately settling on New York where she currently resides.

Lauren is also due to release her third album, Choreography soon. You can hear her new song, ‘Broken’ via her section on MySpace.com. For further information on Lauren, including more samples of her music, be sure to visit her official site, which is evidently maintained by Lauren herself.

Downloads:
Rock Star
Fall Away
Hope You Don’t Mind
Look Like Shit
The Dragon

Main Attraction

Already a household name in Britain, Scottish-born singer/songwriter Eddi Reader is an artist who initially started her performing career with a traveling circus before landing a leading role as the voice for the appropriately named group, Fairground Attraction, before embarking on her solo musical career. With an incredibly clear voice, she has created a very impressive catalogue of music mainly falling into the folk genre while occasionally traveling to other musical realms.

Eddi only stayed with Fairground for their debut release, long enough to enjoy the enormous popularity of their hit, Perfect, a bouyant blend of catchy lyrics and a memorable chorus. Be prepared: once you hear it, it’ll stay in your head for awhile.

Her official solo debut was 1992’s Mirmama, which seemed to depart itself from the traditional pop sound found on Fairground Attraction’s debut, The First Of A Million Kisses. The album features the beautiful, ‘What You Do With What You’ve Got,’ Mirmama’s first single, which is prime example of Eddi’s beautiful voice. On the single release, one could find the b-side, ‘I Wish You Were My Boyfriend,’ another gem.

After a steady release of albums, Eddi contributed ‘Nobody Lives Without Love’ to the film, Batman Forever in 1995. A song which could easily belong filed next to much of the work by Everything But The Girl or even Air with its haunting delivery and electronic instrumentation.

On Angels & Electricity, Eddi’s fourth album, there was little that was electric. Here you’ll find a steady dose of acoustic tracks nearly guaranteed to lull you into relaxation. The trick again is all in Eddi’s voice, which always seems to sound effortless. ‘California’ is taken from here.

Since Angels, Eddi has continued making great music. Famous of her interpretations of classics and covers, she most recently released Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns, a critically acclaimed collection of well-known traditional material, furthering her stellar musical portfolio.


Downloads:

Fairground Attraction
Perfect

Eddi Reader
What You Do With What You’ve Got
I Wish You Were My Boyfriend
Nobody Lives Without Love
California