Published on Feb 18, 1997
There are too many Asians playing violins.
And don’t bother contradicting me because I should know; playing
a brass instrument in an ocean of strings at my city’s youth
symphony orchestra, I’ve noticed that not only Koreans like me but
Asians of all nations gravitate towards string instruments, in
particular the violin. Though very few artists like Sarah Chang or
the incomparable Midori actually catch the public’s eye, it is
still quite noticeable that the Julliard School of Music is clogged
with Asians playing string intruments.
But amid this cacophany of feline vocal cord material (though
sheep has become a more affordable substitute), there is one artist
whom everyone refers to as “Different.” I first saw her on MTV,
wearing a sexy tanktop and playing an even sexier electric
violin.
She was an Asian and she played violin, but convention stopped
there. Her violin had to be plugged in, she wore a pair of
not-tacky huge sunglasses, and the music video was classically MTV
(meaning anything but classic). But the music was what took my
attention (after wondering how those sunglasses would look on me,
of course).
The music was familar; “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Bach,
but played in what Mae herself calls “techno-acoustic fusion”,
which basically boils down to Yanni-Enya type new age music
centered on the violin. The most daring piece of violin work I’ve
heard before Mae was a couple of classically famous artists playing
popular tunes and they haven’t sold very well, to my knowledge.
Unlike those so-called “crossover” artists, Mae goes all the way;
I’m quite surprised EMI gave her access to her rosin after hearing
what she was doing in the studio.
Non-Koel numbered titles like “Contradanza”, “Classical Gas” and
“Jazz Will Eat Itself” accompany the richly textured dimentions of
the pieces themselves. Of course, fully capturing a complete mood
is common nowadays in new age music, but it’s something different
when hearing it from an instrument with an old, old history; the
super-synthesized atmosphere riddled throughout the genre is much
subdued. In a piece like “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”, the
computer is so obvious that it made me wince; not to mention the
fact that it was overlong. But it gives a certain point: Vanessa
Mae ain’t no crossover artist.
“Contradanza” which follows is a signature to the entire album
and a major turning point in All Things Violin. The lyrics coming
from Mae make actual statements that could not be expressed better
with words. It’s such a good mix, sometimes it’s hard deciding
whether that was a violin or a guitar; and which ultimately has a
cooler sound.
It’s followed by an I-Can-Be-Heartfelt-Too “Classical Gas”, the
piece I will always remember as “The single with the funky
haircut.” The promisingly ethereal intro is taken away by
monotonous repetition of the same themes and corny percussion, but
it’s relief for the disgusted classic-philes in the audience, as
long as they didn’t walk out during “Contradanza”‘s bridge
section.
“Theme From ‘Caravans'” is a piece that constantly gives the
impression of going somewhere, from the title to the continuously
flowing percussion. The main theme is the only impressive part on
behalf of Mae; the rest could’ve been jazzier. Why go through all
that trouble setting the piece up and cut it halfway?
By the time “Warm Air” comes up on the playlist, I’m beginning
to notice the name Mike Batt who seems to be one of those slash
collaborators (conductor/arranger/writer in Mae’s case) who wrote
seven out of ten pieces in the album, and arranged “Toccata and
Fugue in D Minor”. It works against the album because it lacks
diversity overall, but one can’t expect many collaborators on one’s
debut. Besides, she’s jarring as it is; “Warm Air” is an elegant
piece without Mae’s usual raw edge. But it’s really a spice added
for the next piece.
Despite its promising title, “Jazz Will Eat Itself” has a
tedious theme and ends in a very non-jazzy way; if that meant that
it had finally eaten itself, maybe Batt and Mae went slightly
overboard with that one. And the drum machine doesn’t help much
either; instead of instilling a good moving rhythm, it hinders the
speed of the song and contributes to the monotony.
“Widescreen” suffers the same fate. Different is one thing, but
this piece teeters on the edge of going alternative to going crazy.
The sound is random, and Mae’s violin is tired.
“Tequila Mockingbird” (hilarious title by classical standards)
makes a quick recovery using a more thoughtful main theme. It’s
bridge section is irrelevant but forgiven when the life-giving
theme reappears right after. This piece could’ve gone higher if not
for the lack of improvisation, this spontaneous thingamajig that
happens in studios everywhere.
Wait a minute here … I’ve just noticed; there’s not a single
cadenza in the entire album, which is a small window of opportunity
in classical violin where you could play your own variations.
Techno-acoustic fusion, apparently, does not give room for this
tradition. So she had restricted herself … by not restricting
herself.
Batt returns to his experiments with T-AF with “City Theme”.
Such an endless line of messy notes (played clean by Mae) making
hardly a blip from the main body cannot be called “alternative”;
it’s basically a classical piece with another random theme (does
the composer in question think “random” means “alternative”? Think
again.)
The final piece “Red Hot” sums it up; the Edge, the Rebel in
Mae, and also basically announces that I’m done so you can now
pounce on me or worship me or whatever. There’s a big question mark
right out of “The Blob” after this piece.
To answer her question: good album. But only after considering a
coupla points. Considering that it’s a debut piece, considering
that it’s so different from what is out there today, and
considering that Mae had only a small choice of collaborators. The
experiment worked, but there are bugs to work out. It has to be
more diverse, less coherent. Potential is written all over this
album, and it should teach those stuffy violinists what a Real
crossover artist sounds like.