[ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Jill Barber — Oh My My
Log in above to post your comment
TerryS
(Another SW)
Posted: May 15, 2013 - 19:35
 
 endoboy wrote:

As a production artist, I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say the same thing to the clueless commenters of visual art. Just because you don't like something, don't discount the skill and planning that went into it. My favorite example is the photographer Joel Peter Witkin (Whitkin?). Some of the most disturbing, grotesque stuff Ive ever seen, and very grunge, before there really was grunge, but the man had mad photography skills, before the days of Photoshop, and no mater how sick the material, it was made just the way he wanted it to be, and with great skill.

So, say you dislike it, even hate it, but don't say it sucks if you don't know the history or skills it takes to make it.


 
For those who have any interest in exploring the World of Joel Peter Witkin, here is a portal
http://www.edelmangallery.com/witkin33.htm

davidfarmerie
Posted: Feb 19, 2013 - 07:09
 
Knock my socks off, drop my drawers and trip over myself... Wow! The song is a blast!

Grammarcop
(i've successfully infiltrated the 1% without being detected!)
Posted: Jul 27, 2012 - 07:04
 
Oh, my my! I turned on CBC-TV this morning to see if the Olympics were on, but instead I found Jill Barber singing a version of this to Mamma Yamma. (Hey, it's children's television!) Jill stepped in to buck up Mamma Yamma because the toothless yam in an apron was afraid to go to the dentist. (Hey, it's children's television!)

Here's the link:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Kids+Shows/Kids%27+CBC+Music+Videos/ID/1523563696/ 

You should know that when I went to view this just a few minutes ago, I received a message that said the video was unavailable. I have no idea why. But for your warped viewing and listening pleasure (and to satisfy your inner child), I hope it's back online soon. 

sarah_mae
(Cambridge, UK)
Posted: May 03, 2012 - 05:23
 

The video of this song is fantastic. Such a great tune!



Proclivities
(Carrboro, NC)
Posted: Apr 10, 2012 - 06:56
 
 fuzzy wrote:
You gotta see her live. She's so underrated.

Oh how she moves
When on the stage
Gets in a groove
She can't escape
Totally surrendered
To the spell rendered
By ghosts of lost love remembered
 

I'd like to see her, but it seems as if she rarely performs outside of Canada. 
*edit: Oh, she does have some shows scheduled in the Northeastern U.S. and Chicago.

ginniet
(Spokane, WA)
Posted: Mar 09, 2012 - 14:38
 
Just what I needed to wake me up and get me through the afternoon!



nicolewe
Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 21:37
 
Funsies!{#Angel}

ScottFromWyoming
(Powell)
Posted: Dec 28, 2011 - 09:30
 
 Businessgypsy wrote:
ScottFromWyoming wrote:

The fonts are fine. The cover's just half-finished is all. Maybe the two faces don't belong together, but there's nothing wrong with either of them. I'd actually like to know what the script is... seems like something Veer would put out but it's like finding a needle in a haystack, browsing thru font after font.

Thanks for the illumination, Scott. I'd also say the cover is as the designer, art director and publisher at http://www.outside-music.com/ intended. Obviously going for a period look, and the headline over photo block was often used in cover art from 1940 - 1960 - partly because (in the days of multiple plate stripped, masked and registered film negatives), it was less costly to do the mechanical art if you weren't dropping a lot of type out of a large four-color-process photo. The combination of a woodcut style sanserif masthead and brush font script was common in the era of hot (lead letterpress type fit into a chase) type when your choices were restricted to the sizes and fonts in the typesetter's cabinet.

This is what Barber had to say about the intended feel of the recording in an interview with the Brunswickian:

Her new album has a lounge singer aspect to it - the listener feels like they are transported back to the ‘40s in a smoky hotel bar. But more than just the era itself Barber wanted to recreate the feeling of romance in the music.

"I think I've always written songs that are pretty romantic and I think that romance has been lost in a lot of modern music so I look to the old classics. I just wanted to deliver it and bring that sound back to contemporary songs," said Barber.

Given that, the art director probably researched some classic torch and ballad cover art from the period as a reference for the finished piece. Absolutely no reason for a San Francisco company like Outside, with access to top level designers locally to just accidentally do something shoddy.

Maybe they overthought it and allowed the search for historical accuracy to overshadow mass appeal, but this is a certainty: The fonts aren't bad, as in thoughtlessly chosen. The cover's not half-finished, but finished to the standard set by Jill Barber's own concept. You may not like it from your own personal aesthetic perspective (I don't), but don't mistake the work that went into this as anything less than a professional effort to respect the recording artist's desired feel of the work.

Crikey, I thought I retired from being a Creative Director years ago. Much ado about nothing, but that's the biz.

 
Sorry to dredge this up 2 years later but I'm sticking with my "half finished" diagnosis. They may have gotten what they were after, but it falls flat for most of us so that means more work is needed. However, this larger version shows a little more subtle "aging" detail that in real life probably makes the art look better. I still think they needed a gothic font to balance out the frilly-ness of the two fonts they have. Or just maybe the song titles in Britannic Book.
 
 
 
Also, the art as I see it in the RP version knocks out the dirty white to just white, so that makes the layout seem off-kilter... slightly horizontal rectangle floating in a white square gives odd margins. Click it for larger version. 
 
Edit: If they'd just let that pink background flood the cover, or at least go up to behind the Chances title, I'd like it better. I agree that they probably scoured used record stores for period examples; I wonder if it's an homage to a particular album.
 




unclehud
(300 feet above the planet)
Posted: Dec 05, 2011 - 07:30
 
Oh my, my, indeeed!  Love this, and the 50s artwork on the album cover.

MiracleDrug
(Earth)
Posted: Dec 05, 2011 - 07:30
 
the album cover is fine...

the music is fun too...

steady.

Proclivities
(Carrboro, NC)
Posted: Sep 24, 2011 - 09:08
 
 endoboy wrote:

As a production artist, I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say the same thing to the clueless commenters of visual art. Just because you don't like something, don't discount the skill and planning that went into it. My favorite example is the photographer Joel Peter Witkin (Whitkin?). Some of the most disturbing, grotesque stuff Ive ever seen, and very grunge, before there really was grunge, but the man had mad photography skills, before the days of Photoshop, and no mater how sick the material, it was made just the way he wanted it to be, and with great skill.

So, say you dislike it, even hate it, but don't say it sucks if you don't know the history or skills it takes to make it.
 
A sizable portion of the members here are graphic designers and/or artists, including the poster to whom you were responding. "Clueless" would better describe a presumption that one is the only person here who knows about "production art" or its history and required skills.  I do share your frustration about uninformed criticism, however, but that seems to happen in every field.


annie_fannie
(Iowa)
Posted: Sep 24, 2011 - 08:57
 
 Businessgypsy wrote:
 endoboy wrote:
So, say you dislike it, even hate it, but don't say it sucks if you don't know the history or skills it takes to make it.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, endoboy, but I have to point out that ScottFromWyoming is also a working designer and always makes pretty well thought out points in his debate. The input from all concerned raises the level of consciousness concerning this sometimes arcane biz considerably, and is much appreciated.

 
oh please...who actually buys the album for the artwork anymore...who actually buys the album anymore, period?


SanchoPancho
(Santa Fe, NM)
Posted: Sep 01, 2011 - 17:50
 
Love this!

Businessgypsy
(Deepest, Darkest Florida)
Posted: May 30, 2011 - 07:08
 
 endoboy wrote:
So, say you dislike it, even hate it, but don't say it sucks if you don't know the history or skills it takes to make it.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, endoboy, but I have to point out that ScottFromWyoming is also a working designer and always makes pretty well thought out points in his debate. The input from all concerned raises the level of consciousness concerning this sometimes arcane biz considerably, and is much appreciated.


TerryS
(The other SW)
Posted: Apr 19, 2011 - 19:47
 
Now that JB has decided that the money likes her lower register, she's doing much more of it. I do approve FWIW.


Lazaerus
(Valley of the Giants - Oregon)
Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 16:18
 
Love it!  Just listen to that bass... Ohh my, my!

derekd
(Mudball called Earth)
Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 16:18
 
Great track.

Shesdifferent
(Just visiting this planet this is not my home)
Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 16:16
 
 macbags wrote:
Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me.
 
sometimes I think that only a daily basis

endoboy
(Santa Cruz)
Posted: Jan 24, 2011 - 10:02
 
 Businessgypsy wrote:
ScottFromWyoming wrote:

The fonts are fine. The cover's just half-finished is all. Maybe the two faces don't belong together, but there's nothing wrong with either of them. I'd actually like to know what the script is... seems like something Veer would put out but it's like finding a needle in a haystack, browsing thru font after font.
Maybe they overthought it and allowed the search for historical accuracy to overshadow mass appeal, but this is a certainty: The fonts aren't bad, as in thoughtlessly chosen. The cover's not half-finished, but finished to the standard set by Jill Barber's own concept. You may not like it from your own personal aesthetic perspective (I don't), but don't mistake the work that went into this as anything less than a professional effort to respect the recording artist's desired feel of the work.

Crikey, I thought I retired from being a Creative Director years ago. Much ado about nothing, but that's the biz.


 
As a production artist, I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say the same thing to the clueless commenters of visual art. Just because you don't like something, don't discount the skill and planning that went into it. My favorite example is the photographer Joel Peter Witkin (Whitkin?). Some of the most disturbing, grotesque stuff Ive ever seen, and very grunge, before there really was grunge, but the man had mad photography skills, before the days of Photoshop, and no mater how sick the material, it was made just the way he wanted it to be, and with great skill.

So, say you dislike it, even hate it, but don't say it sucks if you don't know the history or skills it takes to make it.


macbags
(atlanta)
Posted: Jan 15, 2011 - 16:50
 
Have I grown old, or has paradise? Don't telll me its me.

nicolewe
Posted: Nov 22, 2010 - 08:18
 
Oh, my, my...{#Yes}{#Motor}{#Notworthy}

Nat
(Toronto, Canada)
Posted: May 15, 2010 - 08:51
 
Great record! Congratulations to Jill, who is getting married today!!!

DeeCee1109
(People's Republic of A2)
Posted: May 15, 2010 - 08:48
 
Reminds me of Joan Osborne .....

Shesdifferent
(Just visiting this planet this is not my home)
Posted: May 06, 2010 - 14:04
 
Cant't Handle this...bleech....sounds like everyone favorite hate-Katie Meula and the Oh my my's.....can't take it....MUTE


brjoco
Posted: Apr 04, 2010 - 21:34
 
This is just plain fun to listen to!  I am always amazed at how great the selections are on RP.

Businessgypsy
(Deepest, Darkest Florida)
Posted: Mar 02, 2010 - 18:24
 
ScottFromWyoming wrote:

The fonts are fine. The cover's just half-finished is all. Maybe the two faces don't belong together, but there's nothing wrong with either of them. I'd actually like to know what the script is... seems like something Veer would put out but it's like finding a needle in a haystack, browsing thru font after font.

Thanks for the illumination, Scott. I'd also say the cover is as the designer, art director and publisher at http://www.outside-music.com/ intended. Obviously going for a period look, and the headline over photo block was often used in cover art from 1940 - 1960 - partly because (in the days of multiple plate stripped, masked and registered film negatives), it was less costly to do the mechanical art if you weren't dropping a lot of type out of a large four-color-process photo. The combination of a woodcut style sanserif masthead and brush font script was common in the era of hot (lead letterpress type fit into a chase) type when your choices were restricted to the sizes and fonts in the typesetter's cabinet.

This is what Barber had to say about the intended feel of the recording in an interview with the Brunswickian:

Her new album has a lounge singer aspect to it - the listener feels like they are transported back to the ‘40s in a smoky hotel bar. But more than just the era itself Barber wanted to recreate the feeling of romance in the music.

"I think I've always written songs that are pretty romantic and I think that romance has been lost in a lot of modern music so I look to the old classics. I just wanted to deliver it and bring that sound back to contemporary songs," said Barber.

Given that, the art director probably researched some classic torch and ballad cover art from the period as a reference for the finished piece. Absolutely no reason for a San Francisco company like Outside, with access to top level designers locally to just accidentally do something shoddy.

Maybe they overthought it and allowed the search for historical accuracy to overshadow mass appeal, but this is a certainty: The fonts aren't bad, as in thoughtlessly chosen. The cover's not half-finished, but finished to the standard set by Jill Barber's own concept. You may not like it from your own personal aesthetic perspective (I don't), but don't mistake the work that went into this as anything less than a professional effort to respect the recording artist's desired feel of the work.

Crikey, I thought I retired from being a Creative Director years ago. Much ado about nothing, but that's the biz.



ScottFromWyoming
(Powell)
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:44
 
 Leslie wrote:
Music = pretty good

Fonts used on album cover = pretty bad
 

 BillG wrote:


I'd agree pretty much, though I'd probably go with:

Music = very good

Fonts used on album cover = very bad
 
The fonts are fine. The cover's just half-finished is all. Maybe the two faces don't belong together, but there's nothing wrong with either of them. I'd actually like to know what the script is... seems like something Veer would put out but it's like finding a needle in a haystack, browsing thru font after font.

About Britannic Bold ...

Linotype usage sample for Britannic Com Bold
Designer: Wagner + Schmidt Foundry, 1901
Britannic Bold belongs to the Britannic Font Family which is part of the Assorted Collection.
Britannic was originally created at the beginning of the 20th Century, and comes by way of the old British foundry, Wagner + Schmidt. Today's digital version of Britannic includes five separate font styles, one of which — medium compressed — is an all caps design. Britannic is a sans serif face with a vertical axis and a high degree of stroke contrast, especially in the heavier weights. This typeface exudes a degree of elegance that has not often been matched in the century that has passed since it was first drawn.



3enny_3lanco
(Vancouver, B.C.)
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:17
 
Saw Jill last night at the Yaletown Live venue in Vancouver for the Olympics... She was a character and this was one of the last songs she played in a great set. If she's in town you should bring your sweetie and check her out.

jim1964
(british columbia, but use to ride the IRT to work)
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:15
 
She played a free show here in Vancouver on Sunday but I found out about it too late to go, oh well.

AvoidingWork
(Home of Big Boy #4004)
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:12
 
 sdn wrote:

Yeah.  Same here.

 
Are your Kidding!!!  The headphones are turned up and I'm doing the chair dance.{#Bananapiano}
(Bill we need a chair dancing smiley!)


ThePoose
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:10
 
Can you spell G-O-S-P-E-L?

sdn
(Philadelphia)
Posted: Feb 23, 2010 - 10:09
 
 michaelgmitchell wrote:
Too much for me.
 
Yeah.  Same here.


Felix_The_Cat
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Posted: Feb 09, 2010 - 10:27
 
Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!!! (and damn she got it)

sirdroseph
(Outer Mongolia)
Posted: Feb 09, 2010 - 10:26
 
I think it's perty kewl!{#Daisy}

michaelgmitchell
(Belleville, ON)
Posted: Jan 31, 2010 - 18:49
 
I know most of you love it. I can't get past the repetition. Don't bring up the obvious. Just this particular track. Too much for me.

Proclivities
(Carrboro, NC)
Posted: Dec 31, 2009 - 08:16
 
 lmic wrote:

Aw heck, please don't blame the poor, innocent typefaces for bad overall cover design. I'm not saying they're the most elegant ever, but they do support the '40s-standard theme of the music.

 

They suit the theme of the cover.  Thank you for correctly referring to them as "typefaces" instead of "fonts".

peter_james_bond
(The Burg)
Posted: Dec 22, 2009 - 15:10
 
 AvoidingWork wrote:
As long as you're at your computer...  http://www.jillbarber.com/
 
Seconded! You can listen to any and all the songs from Jill's albums on her site.


Mangoman
(Portland Metro Oregon)
Posted: Dec 22, 2009 - 13:49
 
I found the chorus repetitious and annoying...  After only the first go-around. {#Yawn}


michaelc
(Walnut Creek, CA)
Posted: Dec 22, 2009 - 13:46
 
that's something special

zipper
Posted: Dec 22, 2009 - 13:44
 
 200 wrote:

oh my my, i'm gonna have to let her go.
 
please someone do. {#Headache}

AvoidingWork
(Home of Big Boy #4004)
Posted: Dec 08, 2009 - 15:04
 
 avidfan wrote:
I'd LOVE to hear more of this.  Wow.
 
As long as you're at your computer...  http://www.jillbarber.com/



gekkosan
(Ithaca, NY)
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 - 04:17
 
Triplets of Beleville!

200
(ok bc)
Posted: Oct 29, 2009 - 13:53
 

oh my my, i'm gonna have to let her go.

derekd
(Just Visiting This Planet)
Posted: Oct 06, 2009 - 16:44
 
Oh my myyy....{#Bananapiano}

rtrudeau
(Bay Area, California)
Posted: Oct 02, 2009 - 23:37
 
 Wizzuvv_oz wrote:
alternates between cloying and cool for me at different times (different plays).  Lands at a six and I still can't make up my mind

 
I feel exactly the same way about this song.


lambyrossberg
(melbourne, australian)
Posted: Sep 23, 2009 - 21:53
 
This song makes me vomit. {#Puke}

Wizzuvvoz
(Land of Nod. East of Eden on Route 66.)
Posted: Sep 11, 2009 - 10:41
 
alternates between cloying and cool for me at different times (different plays).  Lands at a six and I still can't make up my mind


rickf
(Ottawa)
Posted: Sep 06, 2009 - 10:47
 
 peyotecoyote wrote:


sooooooooooo jealous!
 

Actually this is a song I didn't appreciate from the CD until I saw her play it live at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, QC this winter.

(maybe 100 or so people + Jill & her band - awesome)

She oooozes warmth & earthy sexiness and this song is really 'acted out' on stage.

This song is all about delivery & she really delivers live.



Jack_Jefferson
(Columbus, OH)
Posted: Sep 02, 2009 - 20:18
 
I don't mean this as an insult, but the cadence of this reminds me of a Leann Rimes song.  The one where she's in the women's prison in the 1920's.


EssenceLumin
Posted: Sep 02, 2009 - 20:16
 
I love this song. I think Measure for Measure is her best though.