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Holly Cole - Romantically Helpless (2000)

Posted By: tirexiss

Date: 5 Mar 2023 17:10:37

"If you find me interesting/you won't be disappointed…" So sings Holly Cole on the title track of her seventh album, "Romantically Helpless," and truer words were never spoken. Since her first release in 1990 Holly's acclaimed career has been one of relentless reinvention, giving followers a chance to witness her as torch singer, trippy jazz cat, and progressive pop diva. In fact, the only thing that has stayed consistent in her work is the fact that she's one of the bravest and most original singers alive, as willing to recklessly experiment with her voice as she is able to take one artist's material and turn it completely inside out. "Romantically Helpless" visits all of her past incarnations and proves her artistic merit once more.
Whether she's singing Gershwin or Tom Waits, Cole's interpretations have always been stunningly original; it's almost unfair to call them covers. "Romantically Helpless" is no exception in this instance, and we're treated to more songs that are so reworked they're barely recognizable. The Frank Sinatra standard "Come Fly With Me" is given a gently grooving pop arrangement ready for modern radio, and the Mamas and the Papas smash "Dedicated to the One I Love" is given a strikingly dark arrangement and vocal; the song morphs from its original dewey-eyed reputation to a nearly sinister tale of obsessive desire. The real magic is the fact that the lyrics aren't changed a stitch; the nuances are uncovered by Cole's performance alone…the mark of a truly gifted singer.
Paul Simon's "One Trick Pony" is given a bluesy, Cassandra Wilson-ish arrangement; the song is slightly and thankfully reminiscent of Holly's monumental achievement "Temptation" (a collection of Tom Waits songs). And even when Holly sticks to a more traditional realm ("That Old Black Magic" and "Don't Fence Me In" are given classic swing arrangments), her vocal flourishes and trademark accents -a low moan here, a slide from one octave to another there- take the material to a new and distinctive level.
Of course, the challenge with an artist like Holly is writing material especially for her. How, in a new song, do you nail the personality of someone who hears things in the work of others that no one would ever dream of? "If I Start to Cry" gives it a respectable try, and its pensive tale of having it all and still missing something does seem to fit her persona; however, the music sounds much more optimistic than its lyrics, and while that contradiction may fit the lyrical theme, it keeps the song from being a catchy, singalong hit. "I'll Be Here" is a pleasant enough marriage of country and pop, and its lyrics are clever (the story of a lighthouse dweller is either a quirky character study or an analogy for being someone's friend and touchstone) but melodically it's less than special. Much better is "Make it Go Away," a spectacular track from her "Dark Dear Heart" album, here brushed up with slicker production and a new vocal to be the album's first single. Then of course the tropical-flavored title track is sheer joy; the offbeat lyrics, written by her bassist David Piltch and taken directly from personal ads, suit Holly perfectly…as she sings "I'm just lookin for someone to have a good time with" over Carribean-tinged horns, the song's tongue-in-cheek come-ons are pulled off like no other singer could manage. Furthermore, the song's party feel makes you want to mix a giant Margarita, take your innertube into the pool, and bask in a midday sun, which would almost be as bright and beckoning as this track.
In the face of such varied and spirited work, the album's only glaring misstep is forgiven: Randy Newman's "Ghosts" sounds lovely, a stark duet for Holly and guitar, but the lyrics don't make a lick of sense. When Holly sings near the end, "I just want to know what it was all about," we can agree wholeheartedly. But little matter…Holly Cole proves once again that the music world is her oyster, giving the thinking man sounds to revel in and forward-thinking singers plenty to learn from. It's pretty hard to think of such a strong character as being "romantically helpless," as Holly Cole yet again emerges artistically fearless.

AllMusic

Track List:

01. One Trick Pony (4:41)
02. Romantically Helpless (3:31)
03. I'll Be Here (4:36)
04. Ghosts (2:12)
05. Come Fly With Me (3:55)
06. Dedicated To The One I Love (2:53)
07. That Old Black Magic (3:27)
08. If I Start To Cry (4:02)
09. Loving You (3:01)
10. Make It Go Away (3:58)
11. Don't Fence Me In (3:16)
12. Same Girl (3:30)

EAC Log

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC Auslese-Logdatei vom 7. September 2009, 17:39

Holly Cole / Romantically Helpless

Benutztes Laufwerk : HL-DT-STBDDVDRW GGC-H20L Adapter: 2 ID: 7

Lesemodus : Sicher
Benutze Accurate Stream : Ja
Audio Puffer abgeschaltet : Ja
Benutze C2 Fehlerinformationen : Nein

Leseoffset Korrektur : 667
Ьberlesen in das Lead-In und Lead-Out : Nein
Fьlle fehlende Offsetsample mit Stille auf : Ja
Lцsche fьhrende und nachfolgende stille Blцcke : Nein
Null Samples gehen in CRC Berechnungen ein : Nein
Benutzte Schnittstelle : Natьrliche Win32 Schnittstelle fьr Win NT/2000/XP
Pausenbehandlung : Hinter dem vorigen Track angehдngt

Benutztes Ausgabeformat : Benutzerdefinierter Komprimierer
Gewдhlte Bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Qualitдt : Hoch
Fьge ID3 Tag hinzu : Ja
Kommandozeilen Komprimierer : C:\Audio Compression\flac-1.2.1-win\bin\flac.exe
Zusдtzliche Kommandozeilenoptionen : -5 -T "Artist=%a" -T "Title=%t" -T "Album=%g" -T "Date=%y" -T "Tracknumber=%n" -T "Genre=%m" %s -o %d

TOC der ausgelesenen CD

Track | Start | Lдnge | Startsektor | Endsektor
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:41.15 | 0 | 21089
2 | 4:41.15 | 3:31.05 | 21090 | 36919
3 | 8:12.20 | 4:36.07 | 36920 | 57626
4 | 12:48.27 | 2:11.65 | 57627 | 67516
5 | 15:00.17 | 3:55.15 | 67517 | 85156
6 | 18:55.32 | 2:53.05 | 85157 | 98136
7 | 21:48.37 | 3:26.58 | 98137 | 113644
8 | 25:15.20 | 4:01.67 | 113645 | 131786
9 | 29:17.12 | 3:00.50 | 131787 | 145336
10 | 32:17.62 | 3:57.58 | 145337 | 163169
11 | 36:15.45 | 3:16.05 | 163170 | 177874
12 | 39:31.50 | 3:29.62 | 177875 | 193611

Track 1

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\01 - Holly Cole - One Trick Pony.wav

Pausenlдnge 0:00:02.00

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC 0C03A1A0
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [9BF69F7D]
Kopie OK

Track 2

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\02 - Holly Cole - Romantically Helpless.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC 48C231C4
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [648F176F]
Kopie OK

Track 3

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\03 - Holly Cole - I'll Be Here.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC D5B73D82
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [0748359D]
Kopie OK

Track 4

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\04 - Holly Cole - Ghosts.wav

Pausenlдnge 0:00:02.02

Spitzenpegel 84.7 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC 581636BB
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [1068F075]
Kopie OK

Track 5

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\05 - Holly Cole - Come Fly With Me.wav

Pausenlдnge 0:00:02.17

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC 7141987F
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [4E886E75]
Kopie OK

Track 6

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\06 - Holly Cole - Dedicated To The One I Love.wav

Pausenlдnge 0:00:01.70

Spitzenpegel 95.3 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC FB1AF055
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [E506A172]
Kopie OK

Track 7

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\07 - Holly Cole - That Old Black Magic.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC D3773E7E
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [3C1FE7D1]
Kopie OK

Track 8

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\08 - Holly Cole - If I Start To Cry.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC C2BD5D8C
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [649C6CB9]
Kopie OK

Track 9

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\09 - Holly Cole - Loving You.wav

Pausenlдnge 0:00:01.10

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 99.9 %
Kopie CRC 3ACE9C41
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [6F7D0AF7]
Kopie OK

Track 10

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\10 - Holly Cole - Make It Go Away.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC 31801EC6
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [2314F3D5]
Kopie OK

Track 11

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\11 - Holly Cole - Don't Fence Me In.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC DA6C2CA3
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 16) [649246FF]
Kopie OK

Track 12

Dateiname F:\EAC.Auslesen\12 - Holly Cole - Same Girl.wav

Spitzenpegel 98.8 %
Track Qualitдt 100.0 %
Kopie CRC A5F36914
Akkurat gelesen (Zuversicht 15) [8FAA0DCB]
Kopie OK

Alle Tracks wurden akkurat gelesen

Keine Fehler aufgetreten

Ende des Statusreports

Thanks to the Original ripper (unknown)!

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Holly Cole Jazz Vocal Jazz FLAC CD-Rip Alert Records 2000