Fusing folky twang and techno trappings, Beth
Orton has quickly become a favorite paradox
among music critics since releasing her debut
album two years ago.
First reaching ears as a guest vocalist on the
Chemical Brothers' "Dig Your Own Hole" LP,
Orton stepped out on her own and garnered
raves for her 1997 effort "Trailer Park." Writers
seemed to fall over each other clamoring to find
adequately heated verbiage for the singer,
dubbing her "a bummed out angel in the
badlands of love," "the clear eyed oracle of
London's breakbeat scene," and "queen of the
heartbreak vocal."
This year, the applause has only grown louder
with the release of Orton's sophomore effort,
"Central Reservation." Cranking up her more
earthy impulses a bit, yet still sprinkling
electronic flourishes throughout, Orton now
has the music press right where she wants
them... but what about the fans?
Orton managed to find her greatest level of
mainstream success yet with the first single
from "Central Reservation," entitled "Stolen
Car" [RealVideo]. The singer rode the Hal
Hartley-directed video for the track into heavy
rotation on VH1, and now the eclectic artist is
poised to hit the road as part of the final
go-round of the Lilith Fair tour in an attempt to
keep the momentum rolling.
Before hitting the road in an attempt to convert
the masses, Orton sat down with MTV News'
Robert Mancini to talk about the influences that
shaped the acclaimed "Central Reservation,"
how she landed Ben Harper and Dr. John for the
album, and why she doesn't like being called
"sad." You can find that as well as plenty of
RealVideo from the interview right here in our
MTV Online feature.
MTV News: How would you classify "Central Reservation?" Did
you learn some things from "Trailer Park" and think, "I should do
this differently next time?"
Beth Orton: See, it's like trying to judge one child against another.
You just can't do it. You just can't say, "'Trailer Park' [is] this, and
that's that." You just love 'em. I know I'd buy 'em for different
reasons. [Laughs]
There [were] things I wanted to do differently, but you know what?
Starting a new record, you go in, you think, "Yeah, I've learned about
this... and I've learned this... and I'm
on this plateau now..." and bang! You're down there again. You're
beginning. For me, making a new record was like starting again. My
experience is that, yeah.
MTV: You worked with Dr. John and Ben Harper on the new album.
How did that come about?
BO: [Dr. John] was really great. He was working in the studio that I was working
in... and I went into the TV room, and he was in there with his manager, and I was
just chatting to them, and Dr. John had wanted me to work on his record, but I
couldn't 'cause I was making my record. We just hit it off. It was like, "Yeah! You
should come play piano! Brilliant!" And two days later, he was in playing piano.
It was really spontaneous and great. All fair play to him. Ben Harper, too, was
very spontaneous and just up for it.
Like, "Yeah, I'm coming in and playing." They were both, like, really
magical to work with... kind of just into the music. Not a lot of
talking, but a lot of playing. A lot of music. Yeah, it was great.
I would say they're definitely happy accidents. Definitely. You
know, there's all kinds of things that make a record... that little bit
more exciting in the end.
MTV: What non-musical influences helped to shape the new
album?
BO: Well, those happy accidents helped to shape this record. I'd say
that my life has been quite a... what's the word... succession of happy
accidents. [Laughs] In my musical life, maybe. Lucky, happy accidents. When
I went in to make the record, I had sort of ideas that I'd do this and that... then,
you know, those are the [ideas] that kind of fall by the wayside when it
actually comes to it. Which is interesting. You don't get quite what
you expect.
MTV: Between albums, you spent a lot of time touring here in the
States. Do you think that influenced the new album?
BO:It's funny. A lot of American people say to me... "Where is this American
influence coming from?" I don't go out of my way to eliminate it....
Before I came to America, I've always loved American music, like Neil Young
[who is Canadian], things like that. So I suppose it's always sort of been there.
The thing I like about America and American people, if I can generalize for
one minute -- 'cause you're always asked, so you might as well [smiles] -- I
quite like the Americans, 'cause you know what you're dealing with,
that in general, you get what you see. It's like, you know what you're
getting. I don't know. I quite like that. It's kind of... takes some of...
um... um... what's the word... I don't know, just... whatever. [Laughs]
MTV: People always seem to label your music as being sad or
melancholy. Do you think that's an accurate assessment?
BO: That's, you know, fine. I mean, it's not "fine;" I don't like to make
people sad. I don't think I press sad buttons, necessarily. I hope I don't,
because I think that's kind of like a really crass thing to do, to just
deliberately go out there and be like [evil voice] "Ah, hmm, I know a good
way of getting to people, I'll make them saaad!" I just write from my
experience, and often I find that my experience is shared by a lot of other
people. Some people find it very uplifting. Some people don't.
I would say that some of my music is kind of miserable. I would say
that. I'll kind of listen to the album and it's like, "Yeah, you're a
miserable bitch... so live with it," you know. "Live it! And stand up
and be counted as the miserable cow that you are and..."
[Mock-sobs] But then I think [to] go around and talk to people who
listen to me, and they're like, "No, I don't get that, I really don't feel
that. I feel better for it." I don't know, that's what it is. It definitely is
different for different people. ***
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: 192.192.50.110