Shine
Joni Mitchell
Engineer: Josh Blanchard, Chris Marshall,
Producer: Joni Mitchell
Hear Music, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: 7230457
EAN: 0888072304574
UPC: 888072304574
Personnel: Joni Mitchell (guitar); James Taylor (acoustic guitar); Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar); Bob Sheppard (alto saxophone); Larry Klein (bass guitar); Brian Blade (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion).
The world almost didn't get another Joni Mitchell album after she announced her retirement following 2002's TRAVELOGUE. Whatever her reasons for changing her mind five years down the line, the sheer inspiration behind SHINE is obvious. Her first album of new material in nine years, SHINE finds Mitchell adopting a more intimate approach (especially in contrast to the massive orchestrations of TRAVELOGUE), handling many of the instrumental duties herself. In fact, it's her unconventional approach to both acoustic and electronic instruments that gives the album much of its singular charm; unusually organic synthesizer stabs and skittering electronic percussion rub shoulders with oddball guitar tunings and spidery piano lines.
Lyrically, Mitchell melds poetic imagery with sociopolitical themes more seamlessly than she's done in some time, and even revisits one of her earliest songs in this mode, with a perky recasting of her chestnut "Big Yellow Taxi." Listening to the level of artistic urgency apparent on SHINE, it's difficult to imagine Mitchell could have ever really believed she had nothing left to say.
Tracklist
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell emerged as a darling of the late 1960s folk scene as a lyrically gifted songwriter and honey-voiced golden girl. In the '70s, she went on to incorporate jazz and confessional pop-rock into her musical vision, ultimately creating a poetic, earthy brand of art song that earned her a legion of admirers. While she has drifted in and out of fashion in her later career, she's among the most talented artists of her generation, and more than a few performers have her to thank for their careers.
