 | Nellie
McKay
Get Away from Me
label: Sony
released: 02.10.04
our score: 4.5 out of 5.0 | Nellie
McKay isn't an artist you would come across every day. Take the
piano skills of Tori Amos, the complex/feminist lyrics of Ani
Difranco, and the
style of any 60s female pop star, and you’ll still get someone
not anywhere close to as unique as her. A former Manhattan School
of Music student and
member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) this
nineteen-year-old wonder combines countless genre’s on her
debut, Get Away From Me. (a
play-off of Norah Jones’ mega-smash Come Away with Me
and Jane Monheit's Come Dream With Me).
Spanning
two discs, this eighteen track collection tackles a wide variety
of political and social issues sarcastically, ironically, and
often hilariously. (e.g. “Salute the Flag or I’ll
call you a fag”, “I like my coffee black/hey
look we’re bombing Iraq”) Not only are the lyrics
more thought provoking than anything you're likely to hear all
year, but her piano skills are impeccable. Tori Amos has nothing
on her.
The
main focus of the music is jazz, but she strays away from it often
and dives head first into country, show tunes, pop, rock, and
reggae. While her rapping (yes, you read right) on some of the
tracks is a bit too much, the
social commentary given by them more than makes up for it. “David”
explores a reggae vibe, while “Clonie” gives an ode
to the 60’s female pop icons that her image heavily relies
on. (Doris Day even comes to mind)
There’s
so much that can be said about this blast of freshness and originality.
It’s an album that comes around only once every couple of
years; something that goes into completely uncharted waters. She
sings with
such ambition, and is one of the few artists of whom you can tell
doesn’t care a thing of what you may think of her. She’s
a young teen prodigy with an unprecedented grip on reality, and
the numerous accounts of sarcasm and
tongue-in-cheek humor only add to her greatness. She is definitely
the first artist 2004 has seen that will eventually become a legend.
23-Mar-2004
9:15 AM
 If you
liked Get Away from Me... |
Tracklist:
Disc
One
1. David
2. Manhattan Avenue
3. Sari
4. Ding Dong
5. Baby Watch Your Back
6. The Dog Song
7. Waiter
8. I Wanna Get Married
9. Change The World
Disc Two
1. It's A Pose
2. Toto Dies
3. Won't U Please B Nice
4. Inner Peace
5. Suitcase Song
6. Work Song
7. Clonie
8. Respectable
9. Really |
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