Mike the Knife
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Maybe I had a wee chip on my shoulder when I went to Bimbo’s 365 Club on Sunday to see She & Him – touring to promote their debut album Volume One. I mean, I’m already on record as a supporter of the talented, cheerfully idiosyncratic Pacific Northwest singer-songwriter-guitarist M. Ward who is the "Him" in She & Him. But, even though I had seen the folk-rock/alt-country duo and their band performing a couple of songs on late-night television and enjoyed what they did, I couldn’t shake the idea that the "She" of the group – gamine actress Zooey Deschanel ("Elf," "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe," "The Good Girl," "Almost Famous," etc.) - was a case of stunt casting.
You know the deal. We’ve seen it before: Hollywood brat decides to be a rock star, does trumped up vanity project, ends up in the cut-out bin, blah, blah, blah…
I was wrong though. She & Him were a treat in concert. Ward was, as usual, shifting from tasteful and eloquent to jagged and off-the-wall on guitar. And Deschanel was the heart of the thing. She writes the duo’s wry, bittersweet songs (although they do a few covers – beautifully). She sings them – skillfully. And she plays piano, tidily.
Them...She & Him.
On television, I enjoyed her winsome delivery, even if she seemed somewhat tentative. In concert, she was so much more assured. She could project a breathy girlishness when the material called for it. Then, she’d get all womanly and passionate on the next song. When she dug into covers of the soulful Smokey Robinson & the Miracles hit "You Really Got a Hold on Me" and Joni Mitchell’s witty, seductive love song "You Turn Me On – I’m a Radio," she was never intimidated by the original artists – and her voice was potent enough to call it belting. Ward’s playing was an ideal complement, and they were ably supported by the rest of the ensemble, including back-up singer Becky Sharp (lead vocalist with the opening act – the dreamy folk-pop unit Lavender Diamond).
Deschanel’s compositions range from the confessional chamber-folk revelations of "Sentimental Heart" to the early ‘60s girl-group R&B verve of "I Was Made for You," the broken-hearted, country-styled regret of "Change Is Hard," and the romping Beatlesque rock of "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" (The latter was the penultimate song of the set, a genuine peak, and featured a wild, stunning Ward solo.) And talk about gutsy, the encore included versions of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ "I Put a Spell on You" (as a dark duet) and Sam Cooke’s "Bring It On Home to Me." Again, Deschanel delivered.
So I’m on board. If you enjoy Jenny Lewis with or without Rilo Kiley, allow me to recommend She & Him. Deschanel can act all she wants, and M. Ward better keep putting out his own music. I’d just hate to think that they would leave this collaboration on the back burner for too long.
If you like, you can listen to a stream of "I Was Made for You" on the MOG player. And you can also enjoy a performance of "Change is Hard" from "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" via the clip below.
I was a little saddened to learn that the kitschy Peruvian singer Yma Sumac – a favorite of suburban cocktail loungers in the 1950s, as well as latter-day hipsters – died this past Saturday at an assisted-living home in Los Angeles. (I was a little surprised, too. She had resurfaced in the 1990s as somewhat of a nostalgia act, but it had been so long since her heyday that I thought she was long gone already.) With her operatic five-octave voice and her glamorous Incan-princess image, she was a mix of genuine talent, strange beauty, and outlandish theatrics – and a staple of "exotica."
For the uninitiated, exotica was a style of music that arose in the ‘50s and was marked by the sort of grandiose mock-tropical sound (jungle fantasias, Pacific island reveries, Polynesian love songs, etc.) heard on albums of the era by composers/arrangers Martin Denny and Les Baxter – the latter having produced wild, evocative Sumac albums such as Voice of the Ixtabay. Even today, listening to her stuff is transporting. It’s no wonder that her vintage material had a ‘90s revival owing to the borderline-ironic embrace of lounge music by certain post-punk sophisticates. I was (and I remain) a fan.
Sumac was reportedly 86, but she had carefully built up a mystique over the course of her career. Her age and whereabouts were in the fuzzy zone. We do know that she was a native of Peru and her birth name was Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo. In 1942, she married composer, bandleader and early collaborator Moises Vivanco who flipped for her remarkable voice – an amazing instrument that could effortlessly swoop from trill to growl and back again, then gently or boldly seduce the listener.
She went on Peruvian radio, and people took notice. Billed as the "Nightingale of the Andes," she relocated to the United States, signed with Capitol Records, and recorded Voice of the Ixtabay under the name Yma Sumac. The album was released in 1950, and became an unlikely hit, selling half a million copies and setting her career in motion. More albums followed, as did concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, a role in a Broadway musical, and a brief run in films that included appearing opposite Charlton Heston in the 1954 movie "Secret of the Incas."
If you’ve seen the Coen Brothers’ rollicking 1998 comedy "The Big Lebowski," you’ve heard Sumac singing her miasmic melody "Ataypura." If not, you can see and hear her perform the number "Chuncho" in the video below. And under that, there is some archival footage of the diva herself to the tune of her "Malambo No. 1," which is also available as a stream on the MOG player above.
Take the trip, and let Yma be your guide…
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Mike, I really like what you wrote. "Malambo No. 1" and the two videos are priceless. The second video has a lot of cool images, but I prefer the first for how its straightforward approach better captures her baroque allure. The Fifties certainly had its share of oddity and eccentricity.
Great post!
I'm a big fan of Baxter and Denny, but don't know much about exotica beyond the two of them.
This is good stuff--thanks for the lesson!
May her spirit dwell in the misty mountains of the Andes forever, communing with the animals, birds and trees.
A truly unique talent, no matter the kitsch. Can you imagine someone trying to make a similar career today? I don't think it's possible.
Mikey Ramone
Happy Halloween to the entire MOGiverse from the Knife – and those bone-chilling Ramones!
Now, Joey and the gang insist that you go down to the basement (touch the ominous red button above, if you dare) - or hie thee to a pet cemetery (watch the creepy video clip below, and shiver in fear)!
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Great write up Mike, as you know I'm a big fan of M Ward here but havne't really listened much to the She and Him project. I will give it more airtime after this... I'm not a big fain of the Grease type of music but I do like the chemistry I'm hearing from you on thier duet. Thanks!
god I love these two, and the clip is one i have watched a million times
eloquently put m the k
love this record
anything m ward touches is gold in my book
seeing him live is a must
a true vintage original, if that is possible and whirlwind on guitar
and zoey was fantastic in that m. night shyamalan film last year as well as on weeds
grease type music you say, huh indy