Digging in the dirt + Album Review: She & Him - Classics

Digging in the dirt

Have you ever found yourself flipping through radio stations trying to find something worthy to listen to? Well trying to find content to produce a radio show works much the same way. We (Sasha and I) listen to literally hundreds of releases trying to find something that catches our ear or make us turn our seat. Add to this the fact that, with this particular show, there has to be some kind of connection between all the artists we are playing and you’ll find that it can be pretty darn hard work at times. (Is that Violins I hear?) This being said when we do find something that grabs us by the ears and makes us want to sit up and take notice it makes it all worthwhile.
You may well ask, does it really matter what makes you like a particular song or album so long as it gets you singing along and tapping your foot? And the answer is most probably no. I have even heard it said that trying to dissect a song is a bit like trying to dissect a live frog in that it dies under the scalpel! Even so, in this column i’ll be going through a handful of my favourite new discoveries and try to define what it is about them that I enjoy so much.  



Artist: She & Him

Release: Classics

Style: Vocal Jazz

Ahh the age of the crooners was a fine one was it not? An age where men dressed in well tailored suits and women wore pretty gowns and everyone said "please" and "thank you". Well i'm guessing this is how it was seeing as I was little more than a glint in my fathers eye when these songs were originally released and that's how it looks in those old Hollywood movies starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and the likes.
If you have ever watched any movies from the golden age of Cinema, odds are you have heard these tunes before. If you have heard these songs and enjoyed them but have never gone out of your way to seek them out or find out who sung them then there's certainly worse places to start than with this album.
This collection of covers is unapologetically corny, romantic and it could even be said unadventurous. However this is not in any way a put down, Zooey Deschanel (yes that Zooey Deschanel) & M. Ward quite obviously have an affinity for these tunes and it shows. Essentially this album is a great springboard to the discovery of the great Artists who have previously recorded these songs and if it does lead to one more person discovering Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & their contemporaries then it has served it purpose.