Music Review: A Vegan, Jazz Singer and She’s not afraid to say what’s on her Mind

The Convergence Cafe has their first user submitted post! This one comes from MT (I only use initials), and is a great music review of a great CD. Check it out:

Nellie Mckay first burst onto the music scene in 2004 when there was an abundance of jazz singers, such as Norah Jones and Michael Buble. But, she was obviously different from other nouveau jazz singers, titling her CD “Get Away From Me,” while Norah Jones titled her album “Come Away From Me.” Her first CD is filled with tongue-in-cheek songs about the war and Iraq and her longings to get married.

Finally, two years after “Get Away From Me” graced the music world Mckay’s sophomore album “Pretty Little Head” finally debuted. The album is still filled with sarcastic lyrics and funny lines, but there is a maturity present in “Pretty Little Head” that was not there in “Get Away From Me.” Instead of lamenting about the political world on a global scale, Mckay makes the political personal with the song “Columbia is Bleeding,” about the animal testing that still goes on at Columbia University.

This album as a whole seems more personal than “Get Away from me,” with autobiographical touches and two guest appearances by Cyndi Lauper and K.D. Lang. In the song “Mama and Me” Mckay sings about the relationship that she has with her parents and in “There you are in me” Mckay sings about the interconnectedness of life.

Mckay’s voice is dream like and blends well with Lauper and Lang. In a 2004 interview with NPR Mckay was compared to both Dorris Day and Eminem. These seem like strange musical influences, but they have produced a genius protégé.

Here is a great performance of her song "Happy Flower," which originally aired on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this year