the 31 best of 2007 – 29: Tracey Thorn – Out Of The Woods at duanemoody.com

As a long time fan of Everything But the Girl, I was really pumped to find out Tracey was releasing a solo record. Her voice is extremely beautiful and haunting, and I was curious to see what direction she would take with her solo effort.

After getting Out of the Woods,I wasn’t initially impressed; there were few songs that I liked, but nothing that really stood out as fantastic to me. However, after several listens, and after paying this record the attention it deserves, I fell in love with the nuanced performances Tracey delivers.

She manages to transform the trip-hop/electro sound that made Everything But The Girl a favorite of mine into her own statement. Her voice guides you through a story-telling landscape that speaks to sadness and longing; and paints a portrait that only her voice could. She is like a more sullen Annie Lennox; and it totally works.

If you are a fan of the later stuff Everything But the Girl did, especially the record Temperamental, I think that you will find that Tracey was obviously involved with crafting that sound. On Out of the Woods, she takes what she learned, and crafts her own melodic fairytale, and brings down mood quite a bit. The result is an almost rain-soaked journey through a trip-hop inspired storybook. If this is what Tracey can do on her own, I am looking forward to future solo efforts.

Favorite songs from Out of the Woods:
Here it Comes Again, Grand Canyon, Nowhere Near, and By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down and Wept, Raise the Roof.

Rating:

categoricalness

seen recently

time traveler's wife 4/5

2010-03-14 16:17

I liked this movie a lot, but it also really bothered me. They really got the sense of what it must feel like to be married to an unpredictable man, but seriously, so much heartache, and lack of control in that lady's life. Yeesh. Overall, very pretty, romantic, and well, sad.

0.3

precious 3.5/5

2010-03-14 16:12

I refuse to write out all that nonsense that the author of the book made them attach to the title. Anyway... I thought this movie was gripping, and powerful with the performances, but overall, it was kind of dull. It was extremely disjointed, and even veered off track at times, and then, just as the story reached its climax, the credits rolled without any solid ending. I can see why it got so much praise, but to be honest, there are girls that find themselves in this situation in real life every day, and they don't get the praise that Precious got. Why not take this example, and make a better system that would deal with these issues and actually help people; rather than just tout it as a good movie that shows the horrors of some people's lives?

0.3

zombieland 4/5

2010-03-11 16:11

A quirky, cute, and fun take on a tried and true franchise; zombies! This movie is full of quotable material, and surprises that had me chuckling more than a few times. Great fun!

0.3

2012 3.5/5

2010-03-10 16:09

I enjoyed it for exactly what it was; a mindless end-of-world thriller that relied solely on special effects to fill what the plot certainly could not. Overall, completely unrealistic, but fun on blu-ray.

0.3

race to witch mountain (2009) 3/5

2010-03-10 16:07

Entertaining, but obviously predictable. I thought it was a little too intense for kids though; if I were a parent, I probably wouldn't have been happy if I'd just taken my kids thinking it was a kids movie.

0.3

4 Responses to “the 31 best of 2007 – 29: Tracey Thorn – Out Of The Woods”

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1 BooBoo Dec 4th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

I was just checking her out last night. She has a lovely voice. Indeed.
2 deb Dec 8th, 2007 at 7:12 am

#29! This album is so hot, I can only cringe and double up in pain when you rank it lower than Hilary Duff. You have such a sense of humor!
3 duane Dec 8th, 2007 at 11:28 am

Deb, you should read that post that I wrote about the “rankings”. I am not ranking these against each other; if something gets a higher number on the countdown, it doesn’t mean anything other than I chose to put it there. The star rankings are what really matter; and in this case, they are the same!
4 deb Dec 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

Ug…the same…

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