DVD/DTS Poll McKay, Nellie - Get Away From Me [DD DualDisc]

[Bob Romano]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations.......

 

[Cai Campbell]

I gave this a spin last night. Nice mix. Unfortunately, Nelly tries way too hard to be clever and she comes across as being smug and too cute for her own good. Her music is so overloaded with cliches that it borders on annoying. I can happily live without this.

 

[daved64]

I gave this a spin last night. Nice mix. Unfortunately, Nelly tries way too hard to be clever and she comes across as being smug and too cute for her own good. Her music is so overloaded with cliches that it borders on annoying. I can happily live without this.

The cd sounds pretty rich.....does the mix do it justice, Cai? There's a lot going on even in stereo.

I kinda like the music, but yeah, she is a bit too clever for her own good.

 

[Cai Campbell]

If you like the disc then I think you will like the surround mix. The musical bits (without vocals) are quite good and the surround soundfield is used to great effect. I actually would give this four points overall if it were not for the unfortunate choice to deliver the content in lossy Dolby Digital... not that it really matters since I don't know how soon I'll listen to this disc again.

 

[daved64]

If you like the disc then I think you will like the surround mix. The musical bits (without vocals) are quite good and the surround soundfield is used to great effect. I actually would give this four points overall if it were not for the unfortunate choice to deliver the content in lossy Dolby Digital... not that it really matters since I don't know how soon I'll listen to this disc again.

I'll trade ya my Crystal Method dvd-a for it !

 

[stormchaser]

I really like this one. While I think the surround mix is enveloping, no doubt people will like or hate this one solely on how they react to Nellie McKay herself. She can be a bit pretentious, but her sheer musical talent and wit keep her from falling off the cliff. Or at least that is how I see it.

 

[beached]

How could you not like this?. Nice looking chic, good voice, discrete mix, comes alive in surround (like Pink does), imaginative songs. quality musicians, well recorded. Solid 8. No DVD-A!!!!.

 

[elmer]

oops

 

[elmer]

I just picked this up today - "used" @ FYE for $9.99 ("not really used"). This one brings me back a bit - I first saw Nelly performing at an underground club in the Village (NYC) called the Fez. And when I say underground - it was 2 stories below street level - an old speakeasy - when the #6 subway train came rolling by, the entertainment had to pause until it passed. But I digress...Nelly was and still is a square peg. Even at the age of 20, she dressed like someone out of an old Ross Hunter 50's melodrama and in the blink of an eye could go from a Doris Day style torch song to throwing down (quite capably I might add) with the local street rappers she would invite onstage. She was definitely a stage brat and her smart-alecky, New Yorker attitude was worn with more than a little bit of ironic pride. She signed with Sony shortly after I first saw her, and at the time she was being groomed to be their Norah Jones (the album's name is a small swipe at Norah's "Come Away With Me") - complete with the big coming out party at SXSW in Austin, big ad campaign, etc - problem was, although Nelly was only 20 or so at the time - she had her own plan, and was not to be made over in anyone's likeness. She clashed brutally with the honchos at Sony and eventually was let go to make music on her own and in her own unique way. She put out a lovely Doris Day tribute album a year or so ago - and if that's your cup o' tea - you should check it out.

This album is kind of Nelly learning how to use a recording studio - remarkably enough, under the tutelage of long time Beatle's engineer Geoff Emerick - who co-produced and engineered the album ( a 2 CD set!) - not a bad pedigree for a debut album! She is a talented, multi - instrumentalist and plays and sings pretty much every keyboard (piano, vibes, synths, glockenspiel, vibes, etc) and vocal part on the album. This album definitely has one foot firmly planted in the Broadway/cabaret/singer-songwriter mode and adds contemporary jazz/rock touches when needed - perhaps an acquired taste, but a rewarding one nonetheless.

This DualDisc came out just as SonyBMG was starting to promote the doomed format - it even comes in the dreaded "push button" jewel case which was designed specifically for Dual Disc - but was so expensive and hard to manufacture in any quantity, hat it died even before DualDisc did. As Nelly was a "priority new artist" and DualDisc was the new thang of the moment, the album was released again (about 6 months later) in this format - not what you would call a likely candidate for the surround treatment, but as others here have noted, an excellent and discrete mix - albeit in DD 5.1 only. It also includes a live concert from SF featuring Nelly in her more natural setting. If you can find a copy of this, it is a worthwhile venture IMO. I'll give it a 9.

 

[Simon A]

For anyone wanting to grab a sealed copy for $18, there's one for sale now on sh.tv.

 

[TheAbsentMind]

For anyone wanting to grab a sealed copy for $18, there's one for sale now on sh.tv.

I saw that, too, and was reading this long dormant thread when you posted! This is an album that was high on my "want list" when it came out and for a year or so afterwards, but it slipped through the cracks and I moved on. I had no idea until tonight there was a 5.1 mix. Tempted as I am, I've over-spent this month. Uh, year. I have to bow out. Hopefully it finds a good home (or becomes too good a deal for my impulse control problems to resist!).

 

[humprof]

I'm a sucker for Nellie McKay (b/t/w, Mods: could we correct the spelling of her name at the head of this poll?): she may well try too hard to be (lyrically & musically) clever, just as Cai said all those years ago. But she also succeeds. And in the 17 years since this album appeared--one of her more ornately produced efforts, though she and Geoff Emerick clearly had tons of fun with it--she's become a great American eccentric. So I want to give her some love.

I think this is a great-sounding album, in spite the lossy DD 5.1; for me it's right up there with Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth. Smart repertoire, great wit, amazing voice (it was Doris Day's passing that made me dig out this disc for a fresh spin), and a creative and often subtle mix, with lots of little details in the rears. Way better than the only other Thom Cadley mix I've heard: Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love, from the same year. Plus it's got a concert video in 5.1, too. An overlooked gem. I gave this a "9."