The Mushy Debut Of Bird York Underwhelms

The Good: Wonderful vocals, Some good lyrics
The Bad: Short, Musically indistinct, Very repetitive
The Basics: The eponymous debut album of Bird York illustrates the artist's wonderful voice and decent skills for writing lyrics, but does not have much musical substance.


I am fascinated by how people get where they are in life; how their careers and personalities develop to make them the person they become. I am particularly interested in celebrities; not in the salacious, gossipy, intrusive details that are presented in tabloids, but in the stories of how some develop careers and make successful transitions between different projects. I am always impressed by people who have multiple talents - actors who successfully direct or musical artists who turn out to have a great theatrical sense for performing as actors, etc. Sometimes, there is a person whose works I am interested in that I find myself wondering how they managed to get their big break and others whom I am baffled never became more popular. Ever since buying and listening to the Bird York album Wicked Little High (reviewed here!) many years ago, I have wondered how it is that Bird York never became much more popular as a musical performing artist.

After finally getting my hands on Bird York's self-titled debut album, Bird York, I no longer wonder.

Bird York is not bad, but it is not remarkable. Bird York has an amazing voice and the songs she wrote clearly illustrate that she has something to say. . . but Bird York makes it clear that she is not entirely sure how to say what she wants to sing. None of the songs are terribly distinctive on the music front (I could probably only pick two of them out by their tune after listening to Bird York on replay eight times and those two would be the two York used later on Wicked Little High) and most of the songs are incredibly repetitive. York has some good lines, but she is unable to make them into fully-developed songs, so she just keeps repeating the one stanza over and over and over and over again.

With only ten songs, clocking out at 43 minutes, Bird York is incredibly short. York wrote all of the songs and provides all of the lead vocals on Bird York. York is also credited as a co-producer on the album, so it seems like she had a fair amount of creative control over the album.

Bird York has a fairly generic mellow, pop-rock sound. The songs showcase York's voice ahead of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, depending on the song, but none of the tunes truly stands out. The instrumental accompaniment is the medium to present York's vocals without truly standing out on its own. The songs are all fairly slow, which allows Bird York to sing in such a way that she can show off her lung capacity as well as her range.

Vocally, Bird York is undeniably impressive on Bird York. Virtually every word is sung clearly and can be understood. York sings high on "Breathe Deeply," but most of her songs have her traversing registers and she seems most comfortable in the lower ranges. This gives Bird York a beautiful, smoky sound and her sultry vocals are enough to hook the ear. York makes wonderful transitions and has impressive capacity to hold notes; whatever else Bird York is, it is beautifully performed.

On the lyrics front, Bird York offers a glimpse at the potential of Bird York as an artist, but also illustrates that she has some way to go before she might be considered one of the greats. On the plus side, Bird York has an impressive sense of metaphor in her songs; she makes comparisons that are very vivid, illustrating that she has profound experiences she wants to sing about and that she wants to make impressive statements in her songs. When Bird York sings "You any closer to the spotlight / Now that I'm gone / Are you still living life distracted / From all the things you need to do / That promise you fame and power from the masses / All the things love can't get you / And the jobs keep coming like Cuban refugees / And the crowd is loving / Your success at any price disease" ("What Are You Running After"), the listener does not confuse the song with anything else they have ever heard.

Bird York is also impressive with her ability to make social commentary musical. Her lines "Gonna fire off a weapon like those guys in movies can / By the time I'm eleven / I'll be cool like them / Saw that Bruce Willis movie / He's my Man / Used an AK 47 like a magic wand / All those bodies falling just like bowling pins / Bullets flying, gets me psyched up / Can't wait to get my hands on one" ("Bought A Gun") are sharp and political and perceptive. But "Bought A Gun" is also a great example of how Bird York fails to develop her premise. After a couple of wonderful lines, York just keeps repeating them and that is disappointing.

In a similar fashion, "Strange Chemistry" becomes incredibly repetitive. There are only so many times one can hear "I am burning with strange chemistry / I am falling so deliciously / I am catching / Your divine disease" ("Strange Chemistry").

I went into Bird York excited; I have been waiting almost a decade (it turns out!) for new (to me) music from Bird York. So, to get an album that has songs that come close to landing but not quite making it is disappointing, to say the least. But Bird York is not bad, it is just never quite breaks out. After eight listens to Bird York, I couldn't even call a best track, but "Prozac Day" didn't grab me, so it's probably the low point.

For other impressive female vocalists, please visit my reviews of:
Nikki - Nikki Yanofsky
The Way It Feels - Heather Nova
Emerald - Dar Williams

4.5/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Long AIDS P.S.A.: True Blood Works For “Karma!”

The Good: Decent message, Moments of plot/character
The Bad: No stellar performances, Thematically heavy-handed, Continuity issues
The Basics: In “Karma,” True Blood devotes an hour to pounding viewers with the AIDS-analogous Hep-V . . . and makes for an obvious and tormented experience for the characters in Bon Temps.


Fans of True Blood are familiar with their show utilizing metaphor in addition to being a literal narrative. The entire premise of True Blood is steeped in metaphor; vampires in True Blood are analogous to homosexuals in American society, whatwith the entire premise of the show being that vampires have recently “come out of the coffin.” The fifth season of True Blood (reviewed here!) was an entire unsubtle mapping of how a political organization can be overcome by a religious fringe group, cleverly mirroring how U.S. politics have been hijacked by the evangelical Christians. So, as the series nears its end, it is not surprising that some of the episodes would work much better with the metaphoric story the writers are telling than as a literal story. Such is what happens with “Karma.”

“Karma” is an episode that beats viewers over the head with the way that the season’s viral adversary, Hepatitis V is an analogy to AIDS. While prior episodes have featured vampires who are infected with Hep-V being treated as maniacal adversaries, “Karma” is a slower, more contemplative episode that looks at the human aspect of the Hep-V infection. “Karma” picks up seconds after “Lost Cause” (reviewed here!) and it is important to note that there is no way to discuss “Karma” without revealing spoiler-ish aspects of the prior episode. Because “Karma” is so saturated with moody scenes that chart characters reacting to Hep-V and its spread, it cannot be evaluated without revealing how the prior episode ended.

Captured by the Yakuza, Pam and Eric are silvered and stuck in a room where they await dawn and their true death. When Jessica returns home, she overhears Bill talking on the phone, where he admits that he is Hep-V positive. James takes refuge at LaFayette’s house while LaFayette keeps an eye on Lettie Mae. Both humans are surprised when James offers to give them his blood to “elevate their consciousness,” with Lettie Mae using the excuse that Tara has a message for her from beyond the grave. Jason returns home where Violet seduces him (knowing full well he just cheated with Jessica). While Bill waits in his lawyer’s office, Pam and Eric meet the head of Yakonomo North America (the makers of Tru Blood in the U.S.). As the sun rises, they strike a deal with “Gus Jr.” over how to find and kill Sarah Newlin.

Sookie and Jessica meet and when Jessica reveals that Bill is infected with Hep-V, Sookie fears she might have infected Bill. As Bill deteriorates at an accelerated rate while waiting at the lawyer’s office, Sookie waits on pins and needles for the results of her Hep-V test. As Sam’s relationship with Nicole falls apart and Andy and Holly fight over Adilyn and Wade hooking up, LaFayette comes to believe that Lettie Mae might actually be right about Tara reaching out from beyond the grave when the two share a vampire-blood inspired vision. As it looks like Hep-V might be the end of vampire life on Earth, Sarah Newlin reveals to her sister how she might be the only hope for vampires!

The bulk of “Karma” focuses on the internal conflicts of Bill and Sookie as they struggle with how they relate to the spread of Hep-V. Sookie’s angst while waiting for the Hep-V test is a not at all veiled embodiment of what people go through while waiting for an HIV test. Sookie fears that she is inadvertently responsible for infecting Bill and that fear comes from her belief that she conveyed the disease to him through (analogously) a transfusion. “Karma” captures her angst, along with the frustration Bill feels as a new victim who has an accelerated version of the disease, perfectly.

Unfortunately, continuity is not a top priority for writer-director Angela Robinson. From the fact that Pam and Eric are not nearly as scarred by silver as vampires have been the entire rest of the series to how the analogy of Hep-V plays poorly comparatively, “Karma” is something of a mess in-context. While “Karma” takes a sympathetic look at the spread of the infection and makes it into an AIDS analogy without any subtlety or veil, the idea that the Hep-V infected vampires until now have been craven lunatics makes the analogy a poor one. “Karma” reframes the Hep-V vampires as demoralized instead of violent and desperate. As a result, the nature of the infection seems radically changed and that works less-well for the series than for the individual episode.

While I am always thrilled to see Kathleen York in projects, her brief role as the lawyer Madeline Kapneck is overshadowed by the performance Deborah Ann Woll delivers as Jessica. While Anna Paquin is good as Sookie, Woll’s silent emoting of Jessica in angst realizing that her maker is infected plays much more powerfully. Robinson captures her facial expressions wonderfully to sell the internal conflict Jessica feels and that emotionally lands the episode.

The rest of “Karma” is not a wash, but is in no way extraordinary. Anna Camp’s Sarah Newlin seems emotionally flat (especially for a character whose family was just decimated) and Pam and Eric seem to be going through the motions more than being truly motivated by vengeance. The result is that “Karma” is more average than bad or good and the viewer is left feeling browbeaten as opposed to entertained.

For other works with Gregg Daniel, please check out my reviews of:
Hancock
Spider-Man 3
”Live Fast And Prosper” - Star Trek: Voyager

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into True Blood - The Complete Sevent Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of the supernatural show here!
Thanks!]

5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Aimee Mann's Reincarnation Is Bird York With Her Wicked Little High!

The Good: Excellent voice, Good lyrics, Moments of musical composition
The Bad: Often musically overproduced.
The Basics: Bird York's sophomore album (she had a prior indy release!) is a decent outing that will please anyone who likes pop-rock from mature female artists.


Every now and then, I will be watching something and someone will just leap out at me and rattle me because they have so completely captivated me that I cannot do anything but watch them when they are on the screen. One such actress I have recently come across is Kathleen York. Kathleen York erupted to my attention when she did a guest starring role on The West Wing as Congresswoman Wyatt, Tobey's ex-wife. She was so impressive that she had her own arc in the fourth season (reviewed here!). Kathleen York so impressed me with her performance in the fourth season of The West Wing that I looked her up and had to rewatch Crash (reviewed here!) just to see her lone scene! Now Kathleen York has a music career, but she goes by Bird York for her professional name.

Bird York's debut c.d. on a major label, Wicked Little High is a twelve-track, fifty minute c.d. that is best characterized as adult contemporary pop. All but one track is written by York. As well, she plays gopichand, acoustic and electric guitars, squeeze box and programs the drums, on many tracks. She is the primary vocalist on the album and she receives a production credit on many of the tracks. In other words, this album is very much the artistic vision of Bird York.

And it's an auspicious outing. Bird York has a wonderful voice. She has a distinct, smoky alto voice that is able to articulate clearly through both fast songs and long, slow held notes. She has an interesting vocal style which stays primarily within her range and she has a beautiful voice.

She does, however, keep the listener guessing with her performance, putting in rests at surprising intervals. So, for example, on the title track, "Wicked Little High," when she sings those three words as part of one of the most beautiful melodic progressions of the album, she cuts out in the middle of "little," so it sounds more like ". . .such a wicked li'[gutteral u]l high." It's intriguing and the first time I heard the song it threw me off so much I didn't like it. Upon multiple listens (I'm on listen number seven as I write this), that type of musical surprise becomes a delight, especially among such other traditional pop melody progressions.

Vocally, Bird York is not in any way traditional or typical. She has a sultry voice that she stretches over notes in songs like "Open Wider" in a very seductive way. She mixes up the passionate, light rock ballad by inserting a voice-over and it works wonderfully. She has a gorgeous voice and while she does draw out a lot of notes and sequences, she is perfectly articulate throughout.

Moreover, York's vocals have the ability to overcome lyrical insufficiency on the lone track that York did not write. On "Hold On, I'm Coming," the title is repeated over and over in a way would normally be boring, overstated and flat-out repetitive. York makes it new each time she sings it, making the four simple words into an erotic throbbing that leaves the listener aching to have the song continue. Yes, Bird York may well have created the ultimate "get laid in the backseat" theme for any show daring enough to use the whole thing. It has a very visceral rhythm and her vocals are just oozing with sensuality over the simple lines.

Lyrically, Bird York has a nice outing with Wicked Little High, which includes the song she wrote for Crash (and was nominated for an Oscar for!) "In The Deep." Her songs are generally about relationships and are preoccupied with freedom and a sense of spirituality regarding love and loss. She tackles relationships with a very adult perspective, like on "Come Be With Me," which she opens with the wonderful evocation, "Funny how your eyes keep wandering / Everytime I speak of deeper things / My love has no walls, it has no strings / So if you want to go, if you want to leave . . ."

York clearly has the ability to write and whatever disappointment I might have felt when I opened the c.d. and discovered that York's "Save Me" was not a cover of Aimee Mann's song from Magnolia dissipated when I listened to her lines. With beautiful imagery, York writes about a woman losing her love and it is heartbreaking. Instead of some stupid inanity about "baby I miss you" coming out of the young pop stars (or those who write for them), York pens the gorgeous lines, ". . . she cries into the hollow air / Her lips are trembling now / Can't hear the voice she needs to hear / she says 'Save me, save me, why don't you save me from the pain of losing you . . .'" ("Save Me") and it is heartwrenching.

Wicked Little High's weak point is the music. Frankly, I would love to hear Bird York perform live (come to the East Coast!) because I believe an acoustic set of hers would be amazing. She has a wonderful voice and great lyrics, but virtually every track sounds assembled, produced, manufactured. There is a very assembled quality to the sound of the songs and that left me initially put off by the album.

Nowhere is the assembled quality more evident than in the percussion section. The drums and sampling has a very manufactured feel. The drum machines sound like drum machines, there's an unreal perfect quality to the drumming that leaves the listener feeling like they are a tool to the music or that the drum machine was just left running and it endures over a few tracks in a way that is more tiring than creative.

The guitarwork is good, but nothing especially audacious, so even the songs that sound good musically do not push the limits of our expectations. In other words, musically, Wicked Little High sounds familiar to anyone who likes female pop-rock artists. Indeed, in many ways, Kathleen York on Wicked Little High reminds the listener of Aimee Mann on the Magnolia soundtrack (reviewed here!). There is a kind of generic soundtrack quality to the album. It's a decent soundtrack, but every song feels like it could be supporting a visual piece in the background.

On the balance, though, this is a good, adult-oriented album presented by an adult and it works well for fans of pop-rock who are tired of hearing the same prefab young folk churning out immature drivel. York sets her lyrics to music with her great voice and keeps the attention of the listener for many, many listens.

The best track is the lonely musical story "Save Me," the weak link is the unmemorable closing track "Have No Fear."

For other vital female artists, be sure to check out my reviews of:
@#%&*! Smilers - Aimee Mann
300 Days At Sea - Heather Nova
Tidal - Fiona Apple

6.5/10

For other music reviews, please be sure to visit my index page!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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