The orchestration is interesting, (and I'm glad to hear) not quite as lush as
BSN! I think it could be more minimal in its arrangement--maybe just with
strings or a quartet with some reeds for decoration. What really bugs me is
this: what purpose does the light percussion serve? Why have that faint
high-hat tapping out the beat and the delicate brush of the snare drum? One
of the things that is so inspired on the Hejira version is that this song
which has the theme of flight, has an arrangement that soars as well, with
instruments that provide space and air--the icy vibes, the slide guitar and
the rumbling of joni's guitar seem to echo the sense of flight! Add to that,
the odd measure of 3/4 time to punctuate the 4/4 further provides a rootless
quality. If I'm not mistaken, there's no percussion whatsoever in the Hejira
version, and the inclusion of it in this new version takes the tone poem
quality of the work and attempts to put it into a traditional song format.
And the plodding tempo adds to the frustration for me on a tune that should
float. Don't get me wrong--I adore Joni and I'm sure I will listen to this
new work over and over. But I feel about this arrangement the way I felt
about the muddy VG8 on TTT--it could be so much better.
My guess is that the tunes that are going to fare the best on this outing are
the Wild Things Run Fast offerings.
Feeling like an asshole critic of all expression, but wanting to start a
discussion and hear other lister's comments,
Ken
PS-Happy Birthday Joni! Today was my 40th. Scorpios Rule!
