Pink & Noseworthy

This is another song that engages me before the singing even starts. Here we have the often agreeable acoustic guitar and piano combination, and listen to this piano in particular--how slyly unconcerned with the beat it can be, just floating its gentle notes here and there, in and around the guitar's structured picking. And it's also another song with a very engaging male-female duet going on, in this case via Shanee Pink and Mark Noseworthy (yup, the band is simply named after people; and there was me intially trying to figure out what the name meant). I really like the vibe here: while there's a quiet late-night feeling going on, it's not simply loungey-jazzy; instead we get a nice and yet subtly unusual sense of movement--the unusual part the result of the unexpected 7/4 time signature. I can't remember hearing a song centered around fingerpicking in 7/4 time like this, although of course there may well be some. Another nice touch is how the acoustic instruments each pick up an electric counterpart as the song develops--we get both a dreamy electric guitar and an atmospheric keyboard filling out the original piano-guitar combo, plus some simple percussion (mostly just an egg shaker). And the percussion really disguises the unconventional beat, managing to keep what sounds like a regular pulse even with those odd-beated measures. All in all both a lovely tune and a spiffy accomplishment. "Loud and Clear" is a song from Pink and Noseworthy, the duo's debut CD, which was released in March on North Street Records. The MP3 is available via the North Street site.
--Jeremy 9:31 PM - Fingertips

Vintage. Dreamy. Sultry.

These are all characteristic of Pink & Noseworthy, comprised of Shanee Pink and Mark Noseworthy, as well as Shanee's brother Ran. Their music is heavily dependent upon Pink's distinctive and mature voice, which varies from deep and sultry to sweet and innocent across the span of 2006's Pink & Noseworthy, always maintaining a combination of inflection and tone that recalls music of decades past. Instrumentation is simplistic throughout, but always complementary to the overall mood of the song. I find it particularly effective on "Light Feather," which features an opening that reminded me of a stripped-down, less orchestral My Brightest Diamond when I first heard it last week. The song then deviates from that sound, heading in the direction of hand claps and hollow piano.

Lyrics are often repetitive, but generally not annoyingly so. Nothing is necessarily profound, particularly the refrain of "Balls," which reads, "If I had the balls, it would be easy; believe me." I find the colloquialism of the lyrics somewhat at odds with the style of the music, but I suppose that could be character-building; I'm not sure yet. (I find it to be one of the most melodically and vocally entertaining, so I'm forgiving for now.)

Also, did I mention there are finger snaps? Hand claps and finger snaps? Listen. - Counting Stars on the Ceiling.