i think I'd cut Jericho and Off Night Backstreet. To
me they don't belong on this album. I know I heard
Joni sing Jericho at a concert, but don't remember
which. Not too many choices - I've only seen her
twice; once at Massey Hall (Toronto) between Blue and
FTR (whenever that was); again on the WTRF tour
(Toronto again), so it must have been WTRF. I knew I
had heard it before and was wondering when she would
put it on an album, but I didn't have DJRD or MOA at
the time, so I didn't realize it was on not one, but
two. It was only recently I realized I had in fact
heard it before because my sister had MOA so I had
heard it at her place. I like the song, but somehow,
to me, it doesn't fit on DJRD. Off Night Backstreet
just doesn't do much for me. I don't care for it as a
song and somehow, again, it just doesn't fit.
I do like the 10th world - I agree it can be a bit on
the long side, but that kind of music kind of has to
be. It's trancy kind of music, dancin' fool music
without the goofy lyrics. I agree with whoever said
it makes a good segue between Otis and Marlene and
Dreamland. With Otis and Marlene, you start out in a
pretty banal situation - a couple of tourists in
Florida, but you're already in the tropics; with 10th
world, you're not just in the tropics, you are IN THE
TROPICS. It's like Voodoo dancing or something, very
dreamlike and trancy - lots of chanting and repetition
and those jungle drums. Then you're into Dreamland
which takes you back out of the jungle, slowly out of
the dream. Like Joni, you're not really ready to get
out altogether, but you've got to wake up to reality -
winter, the ice and cold and the 6-foot drifts on
Myrtle's lawn and so on. I don't think you should
mess with that; otherwise, you're likely to go into
shock. ;) Sometimes I'm tempted to skip over the
10th world because it's so long, but necessarily so.
If you just heard "Baila mi rumba" (sp?) a couple of
times, it wouldn't work - it needs to be chanted like
that. I get drawn into it, waiting for a certain drum
pattern.
I suppose you could cut some of Paprika Plains, but I
hear this one as a symphony, and you can't cut one of
the movements without sacrificing something.
"Talk to me" is so exuberant - she just sounds so
excited and happy. Just like a yacky chick.
What can I say about "Cotton Avenue"? I wish it were
longer!
And "The silky veils of ardour" - beautiful.
DJRD really is one of my favourites. It may be
flawed, in some people's view, but I love Joni's
singing voice on this one. It's girlish, yet mature;
sexy, jubilant, lots of range vocally and emotionally.
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