Music I linked not that long ago that Alanis Morissette is releasing an accoustic version of her album Jagged Little Pill to celebrate the tenth anniversiary of the initial release of the album. It's an extraordinary idea; hearing her voice now, with its extra maturity wrapping around these earlier tunes will have the glint of an actor returning to a role later on in life when they know how it should be played. Although I'm not sure what she'll do with Your House the bonus track -- wigged out multi-layered wall of sound rock version would probably be most appropriate.
Just to make things really interesting, the album is only going to be available at Starbucks during it's first six weeks of release, no doubt to cash in on the cache which followed that Ray Charles duet album last year. According to The Guardian, this is annoying typical music retailers with the suggestion that when it finally does turn up in their stores it'll be buried out of spite. Apart from the childishness of this, I can see what their issue is. From supermarkets for online downloads, they're slowly seeing what has usually been their unique province being invaded. The idea that Starbucks would start getting 'previews' like this seems like another nail in the coffin.
If they wanted to be really facetious they could serve premium coffee from the counter of their stores for the duration of the initial release of the album. But to be more serious, it seems like moaning for the sake of it. Much as I love Alanis this doesn't feel like a premium release to me. Her sales have shifted downwards of late for various reasons. If it had turned up in record stores first, it's audience might have been the hardcore fans and the odd nostalgia junkies. In effect it would have been pretty buried anyway next to 10 Cents and whatever Christina Aguilera is doing that week. Starbucks are only going to ever be selling music which fits into their profile so HMV can be happy that Eminem will be staying on their shelves. What the record company are cannily refocusing this product's image by placing it in coffee houses on the counter next to those crunchy ginger things, releasing it into a much wider market, with the added bonus that Starbucks can have it playing in the shop while people sup down their Double Mint Chop Chip Mochaccino with Extra Whip Cream and Sprinkles.
It's also in a wierd way appealing to the very people who bought the album in the first place. I suspect one of the reasons I haven't completely loved some of her later albums is because my musical taste has changed. My ear is much lighter, I am listening to much more soul, jazz and folk. Alanis is still doing the rock thing and I'm not quite attuned to that anymore, sometimes it feels very harsh. I still love the original Pill, probably because I'm used to it. I would guess there are many people who've equally moved on, and this time the album recreates itself in an image our senses can understand. Although it's not new material as such, it's as though she's finally skipping on up to join us. And since we're exactly the kind of people who clog up Starbucks on a daily basis hoping for a Very Berry Scone it means we can buy the music we love, in the place that we love without having to dodge teenagers wondering what happened to Slipknot's latest release. Which makes me sound very, very old. But then those grey hairs are hear to stay.
No comments:
Post a Comment