Pretty Little Head

Nellie McKay - Pretty Little Head

Pretty Little Head
Our Price: $15.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.23 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Artist: Nellie McKay
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-10-31
Music Label: Black Dove
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Cupcake
  2. Pink Chandlelier
  3. There You Are In Me
  4. Yodel
  5. The Big One
  6. G.E.S.
  7. I Will Be There
  8. The Down Low
  9. Long & Lazy River
  10. I Am Nothing
  11. Beecharmer
  12. Swept Away
Music CD 2
  1. Real Life
  2. Tipperary
  3. Gladd
  4. Food
  5. We Had It Right
  6. Columbia Is Bleeding
  7. Lali Est Paresseux
  8. Happy Flower
  9. Mama & Me
  10. Pouncce
  11. Old Enough

Free Music Notes for Pretty Little Head

Free Music Review: Promising Potential
Hit: 4 Stars

Very, very witty rapid-fire personal and social satire, wrapped in catchy melodies and a vocal style that would win the 1950s and could be great for the occasional retro musical. If one *must* compare to other artists, one might imagine Elvis Costello with a Doris Day style.

But I think one looks at this artist's material thusfar as promising potential rather than perfection in and of itself.

One looks forward to the compositional choices becoming more inviting and more meaningful.

Inviting: When Nora Jones popped onto the scene, her music had something for everyone and very few turn-offs. The lyrics did not require a highly particular sense of humor to appreciate, and the musical style was even-tempered. In contrast, Nellie McKay's choices have resulted in sort of a potpourri, a bit of a jumble -- very musical but idiosyncratically whimsical and very hard to settle into a groove for the entire album. Some individual tunes are similar to the overall style of her albums, which seem to insist on including everything. The cost is what could be a better outcome if a few elements/numbers were better resolved for the context of the overall effect, or left aside for refinement or some later project. In addition, in some cases individual lyrics might be focused to more powerful effect, while mitigating ways in which they might be a turn-off to some listeners.

Meaningful: While truly witty satire is not all that common, it is far more common than the power to make advantageous observations. Assassinations of social norms or obscure individual characters, cleverly done, can be amusing, but are typically not elevating or lasting. In listening to Nellie McKay, one gets the feeling that this person is capable of much more -- of evolving subject matter to beneficially address real-world issues and root causes; that this person's near-focus social commentary reveals a natural aptitude for musical activism or elevation, should she choose. In any case, the artists who stay vibrant are those who are willing to re-invent, who take passionate interest in different approaches at different times (Bob Dylan, Sting, David Bowie, etc., etc.) -- who leverage their versatility to create deep wells of their music and/or who seek to elevate the human soul and condition.

I enjoy "Pretty Little Head" and "Get Away From Me" for their own sakes. However I probably would not have bought them if I did not have a sense that I might be investing in a long, rewarding evolution. If these songs are the results of late teen / early-20s angst, then how wonderful might be the results if their source turns herself to deeper matter! Regardless of that, if Nellie McKay continues to evolve, to follow her evolving her musical and intellectual interests, it should be a thrilling ride!

So far, so good!

Pretty Little Head Poster

Few recording artists follow their double-disc debut with another double-disc collection. Nellie McKay isn't the typical recording artist. The singer/songwriter/activist is a restless talent--with a steely backbone. When Columbia refused to release this 23-track set, McKay took a hike and put it out on her own Hungry Mouse imprint. (The song "Columbia Is Bleeding" isn't about her?former label, rather the treatment of lab animals?at the Ivy League institution.) McKay's creative restlessness brings to mind Robert Pollard and Matt and Eleanor Friedberger, not so much in sound, but in the sense that--for better or for worse--there's nothing she won't try. In?"G.E.S." and "Mama & Me," she raps. In the latter, she quips, "See I been livin' with my mama/since I was an embryo/never had Nintendo/saw a lot of Brecht though." In "Tipperary," the British-born New Yorker torches up the joint music hall-style. Then in "Yodel," she, well,?yodels. What holds it all together is McKay's flexible, appealing pipes. There's a reason she was cast as Polly Peachum in the Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera--the petite blonde oozes charisma. McKay's actress mother, Robin Pappas, served as executive producer on Pretty Little Head, which features charming duets with fellow iconoclasts k.d. lang ("We Had It Right") and Threepenny co-star Cyndi Lauper ("Beecharmer"). As with Get Away from Me, the album is like a seven-course meal; overwhelming if taken in all at once, but there's a little something here for pretty much everyone. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Jazz Music CDs

Music Genres
Top music charts in Sunday Morning Oggcast, June 10, 2007
Pretty Little Head ImageNellie McKay - Pretty Little Head
Release date: 2006-10-31; Music CD
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: $15.98
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ImageMidnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $36.75
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast ImageMatmos - The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
Release date: 2006-05-09; Music CD
Best price: $12.68
Price in other shops: $18.98
Call Me Irresponsible ImageMichael Bubl? - Call Me Irresponsible
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops: $18.98
Modern Times ImageBob Dylan - Modern Times
Release date: 2006-08-29; Music CD
Best price: $6.44
Price in other shops: $18.97
Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album ImageAndy Partridge - Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album
Release date: 2006-11-07; Music CD
Best price: $61.98
Price in other shops: $79.98
Ten Years of Tears ImageArab Strap - Ten Years of Tears
Release date: 2006-12-12; Music CD
Best price: $15.12
Price in other shops: $29.49
Promiscuous ImageNelly Furtado - Promiscuous
Release date: 2006-09-05; Music CD
Best price: $2.73
Price in other shops: $9.49
There Goes Rhymin' Simon ImagePaul Simon - There Goes Rhymin' Simon
Release date: 2004-07-13; Music CD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: $18.98
Paris ImageParis Hilton - Paris
Release date: 2006-08-22; Music CD
Best price: $6.82
Price in other shops: $18.98
Top Rated Albums
Ys ImageJoanna Newsom - Ys
Release date: 2006-11-14; Music CD
Best price: $10.86
Price in other shops: $15.98
Get Away from Me ImageNellie McKay - Get Away from Me
Release date: 2004-02-10; Music CD
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops: $11.98
One More Drifter in the Snow ImageAimee Mann - One More Drifter in the Snow
Release date: 2006-10-24; Music CD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops: $15.98
Beauty & Crime ImageSuzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
Release date: 2007-07-17; Music CD
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops: $17.98
Release the Stars ImageRufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
Release date: 2007-05-15; Music CD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: $13.98
Get Away from Me ImageNellie McKay - Get Away from Me
Release date: 2005-03-29; Music CD
Best price: $13.49
Price in other shops: $18.98
Under the Blacklight ImageRilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Release date: 2007-08-21; Music CD
Best price: $9.58
Price in other shops: $13.99
Alright, Still ImageLily Allen - Alright, Still
Release date: 2007-01-30; Music CD
Best price: $6.86
Price in other shops: $12.98
Get Away from Me ImageNellie McKay - Get Away from Me
Release date: 2004-02-10; Music CD
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops: $11.98
Obligatory Villagers ImageNellie McKay - Obligatory Villagers
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops: $16.98
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles