Wicked Little High

I totally knew that Crash was going to win best picture. I know, yay for me. I\'m not saying it deserved to win or not because as the saying goes, "Deserve\'s got nothin\' to do with it." One of the weirdest things about the 2006 Oscar ceremony was the Crash dance pantomime. That was just bizarre. I don\'t know if slow- motion people moving in front of flaming cars was what Bird York was picturing when they played her Oscar nominated song "In Too Deep."  It\'s a decent song, but like a lot of Oscar nominated material, it\'s a little light - nothing amazing. York\'s sexy smoky voice plays with a simple piano. Sort of a "Tori Amos-on-a-good-day" feel. If you were thinking a whole album of her music would be in that style, you\'re in for a nice surprise. It\'s not.

There are a few tracks in that fashion ("Have No Fear" and "Save Me") but shows York shows she has wider song range than that on her album Wicked Little High. Many of the pieces are much more upbeat ("Had a Dream", "Freedom") while others go moody and sexy ("Up in Flames"). The instrumentation is an organic mixture of guitar, piano, strings with various ambient/electronic counterpoints reminiscent of mid-90\'s groups like Poe ("Remedy", "Up in Flames") with a little U2 in there ("Open Wider"). It\'s an easy, comfortable sound to enjoy but not particularly distinctive a decade later. York\'s voice is what holds it together. Her voice is soulful and little sad but unlike many of the people I could compare her to, she emits an understated optimistic tone. It is easy to see how she\'s been making the rounds on TV show soundtracks and other films. If she gets a unique sound to go along with that voice, she could be a \'contenda\'.

As a whole, album is not my cup of tea, but it\'s very good for that particular type of tea. The best way to recommend this album is to take a listen at the iTunes music store. And no, I don\'t get a kick back from saying that… yet…  When you hear it, you\'ll know immediately if it\'s the right tea for you.