Kathleen Edwards

Failer is still my favourite -- "6 O'clock News", "In State", "Hockey Skates," "Mercury", and "National Steel" all being standouts

Yeah, that was the other hockey one. And I liked "6 O'Clock News" at the time. Maybe should've kept it.

More about her on the Can We Talk About West Coast Country Rock etc thread and Rolling Country

Getting really into 'Asking for Flowers'...

Mercury is perfect, a sad bruised thing.

Listened to this in my car for a month, and "Sure As Shit" emerged as my favorite. The one that says "Believe me, all the days you're unsure/Believe in me, I don't want to anymore" is beautiful and I can't really listen to it without tearing up but it's slightly, ever so slightly...corny?

The flirting with corniness is what makes her really good, I think. Flirting in general, even. You get that unexpected tear in the corner of your eye and you fight it, feeling naively self-conscious, but then you just admit that it's very good songwriting and even better execution and you're hooked. I'm starting to think Asking for Flowers might just be her best now.

Asking for Flowers I definitely agree is her best. My mother compares her to Neil Young, and I think she's half-right (she's talking about his Harvest-era material). Just some drop-dead gorgeous stuff that also - at least for me - works on a few levels. It just wrecks me emotionally, or sometimes it's just pretty to listen to, and sometimes I dig it like I dig Dylan, as someone who I can appreciate their cleverness and their wit and their playfulness (with Edwards, way more playfulness than the first two).

Yeah, she reminds me of Neil a lot, too.

Hadn't thought of it, but yeah, I can see that. In the surprising emotional connection sense. Even if you're only half listening, it can just sneak up on you, which I find Neil can do as well. Maybe a crafty Canadian stealth thing?

i didn't like asking for flowers at first, but have come around to it ("oh canada" is a standout). whereas back to me grabbed me immediately, especially "copied keys." clearly she has a thing for writing about keys.

Yeah, she reminds me of Neil a lot, too.

Speaking of which...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXghGA9imzg

I can't really listen to it without tearing up

"Sure As Shit" does this for me, bad scansion, goofy denim king and all

She is brilliant. I discovered her around the same time I discovered Lucinda Williams, who I think has lost the plot with her last couple of albums. Unlike Williams, Kathleen just keeps on making superbly catchy songs with a gorgeous eye for lyrical detail and wonderfully subtle arrangements. Every single track on Asking for Flowers is at the very top of my iPod most played list.

I would, too.

My friend told me today that he sat next to Lucinda Williams at a show not too long ago. he asked her what she thought about Kathleen Edwards ripping her off, lol

Kathleen Edwards > Lucinda Williams imo

Kathleen Edwards > Lucinda Williams imo

^^^^^ on this

He said LW didn't think she was ripping her off, but she would, er, reverse the above equation definitely. He also said LW was cool as hell and bought everyone drinks and stuff, so much respect towards her.

I would say KE > LW now as well (see my earlier post). Kathleen lacks Lucinda's grit and sweat but that is no bad thing. I can't stop listening to "Scared At Night", I hang on every word of it and it makes me think about how I will feel when my father dies.

i met KE after a show where she was the support like 5-6 yrs ago and she was really gracious chilling with the crowd and signing stuff and shooting the breeze in general iirc

She's opening for Bon Iver this autumn. Seemed like an odd pairing until I learned that they are an item. Still, it should give her some much deserved exposure. New album out in the autumn as well I think.

They're an item? Does that mean Edwards broke up with the guitar player (who I thought was pretty crucial to her sound/show)?

I guess she must have done, yes.

woah, had no idea about any of that. Her last record was awesome.

holy fuck this new album is great

I had no idea she was even bringing a new one out any time soon! This is exciting, she's completely under-rated for someone so talented and consistent.

I haven't heard it yet. :(

Yeah I had worries about her working w/ schmindie types but this is sounding good so far.

New album is good, the first by her I'm actually looking forward to playing again since "Failer". Bon Iver dude doesn't appear to have ruined anything about her sound; the flaws I find here (professional/polite music saps a bit too much of the urgency of her songwriting) are the same things that bothered me about her last two.

"Sidecar" is flat out wonderful (even included it on my 2011 P&J ballot thanks to iTunes releasing it as an early single) and "Pink Champagne" is devastating. Still coming around to the rest.

I do think a Canadian invoking "moving to America" as an "empty threat" is both cheeky and clever.

this album is so fucking great- huge grower

see me smile / its not for funny joke / its for every time (every time)
i don't need a punchline

Love that song. The rest, especially the second half, I find hit-or-miss.

I am curious to see if the Bon Iver connection suddenly gets her adopted by all the folks that have slept on her for three albums.

....or on the other hand if folks like me who have loved all those albums get turned off her by the Bon Iver connection. Haven't heard the new one yet but I wouldn't say that was an impossibility.

Eh, his influence is subtle. Biggest dif. is that this one lacks the polish of anything that even remotely aspired to radio play. It's indie-dull in sound.

It's indie-dull in sound

well that's down to him then b/c none of the previous three have been indie-dull at all

Bet she had to change the sheets after Justin jizzed all over them.
imshippyupup 4 days ago

xpost Yeah, but it's not like the arrangements are all indie chamber rock all of a sudden. It's just less shiny and major-label sounding, ie indie-dull.

on Dave Letterman tnite!

she was really good

she performed Change the Sheets -- which is a really great second-half cut

good performance, she looked great. however the song did indeed sound "indie dull" as described above. I like my Kathleen polished and radio-friendly.

Not sure why this song didn't make the record? Melds the "indie-dull" sound with her songwriting more effectively than anything on the album, IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af66lh1uYvI

Really into this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVt7Tgf09Xw

Wanted to go to this, but couldn't get it off work. Shoulda tried harder, as I doubt she's coming back 'round this way again any time soon...

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/09/10/kathleen-edwards-stung-by-bee-nearly-dies/

Wow, that's wild. With all the talk of nut allergies, and wheat allergies and whatnot, it's easy to forget all about good ol' bee stings.

hockey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m69S1dfrak

:-(

http://www.canada.com/entertainment/music/Kathleen+Edwards+says+doesn+want+make+music+anymore/9494991/story.html

Blame Bon Iver.

Covers of Springsteen's "Human Touch" and REM's "Sweetness Follows" up at her Soundcloud page. The latter is gorgeous.

https://soundcloud.com/kathleen-edwards-1

There is a another Quitters video on FB of a different performance.

I can just barely do it. Can't put my finger on why, but I can't think of another songwriter who so consistently breaks my heart.

So glad you called @MarenMorris.@SXMOutlaw #TotalFreedom pic.twitter.com/rBAq0c9lcy

— Kathleen Edwards (@kittythefool) August 25, 2020

I can spot your kind a million miles away

Lol etc at the NPR description accompanying this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW6WICBscx4

the pet grieving one-two punch "Ashes to Ashes" -> "Who Rescued Who" is some amazing sequencing (not to mention very helpful to me recently)

it was driving me crazy but I finally realized what "Glenfern" reminds me of: Frente's cover of of Bizarre Love Triangle

now I just need to determine what very popular 90s song the guitar part in "Options Open" reminds me of. Anybody?

This album is ok. Better than Voyager but nowhere near Failer or Asking for Flowers. Too many twee songs about pets, for one thing.

the pet grieving one-two punch "Ashes to Ashes" -> "Who Rescued Who" is some amazing sequencing (not to mention very helpful to me recently)

― geoffreyess, Saturday, August 29, 2020 5:58 PM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

these songs come out of nowhere and kick my ass emotionally

Listening to Asking for Flowers again right now. Really hitting the spot.

It's a beautiful record.

"Alicia Ross"

stops me in my tracks every time

that third verse