Search - Katharine Whalen :: Dirty Little Secret

It's smokey jazz eccentric pop at it's best!

J.Luna | San Francisco, California, USA | 06/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
You know, I'm not really sure what's with the dude from motor city, perhaps too much carbon monoxide in his hair, but this album bleeding rocks! Every tune on this album is full of surprise and I, for one (and few of my friends I've played it for), quite enjoy listening to "Dirty Little Secret"! The music is inventive and has a quirky, fun charm to it; her vocals are so smooth and seductive as they rub in sensuous contrast to the driving rhythm and stabbing horns of the music; the lack of corporate input on the production is refreshing and I most certainly would recommend this music to anyone who enjoys original contemporary pop music.



I'm actually mostly unaware of Katherine Whalen's previous stint with The Squirrel Nut Zippers or that of her collaborator, David "Camus" Sale. I'm a newer fan who found them about a year or so ago on myspace.com when they were calling themselves "The Kat'n'Mike Club" and offered up the first song "The Funnest Game"...and I've been a fan ever since! In fact, it's my humble opinion, that "The Funnest Game" alone is worth the price of the album!



I have since gone back and found some the old Squirrel Nut music and her previous solo effort, Jazz Squad, but can't say that I liked it all that much; too jazzy, too protracted and not engaging enough for this listener. I did pick up on the Camus' album, "The Sins of The Father", and enjoyed that music immensely (see that review), although I wonder why Sale hasn't garnered more attention. As for the production quality of "Dirty Little Secrets" and the heavy use of multi-layered effects, I do think it could have benefited from more of a live feel; then again, when and if Katherine Whalen goes on tour and comes to my little town (San Francisco), I am very much looking forward to experiencing these tunes live for a new sound.



Overall I would give this album five very solid stars. The songs are wonderfully crafted, the vocal performance is very powerful and the smokey jazz influence blends well with the eccentric pop tunes. I highly encourage you to give it a listen as well!

"

Something New

J. McLean Sloughter | 06/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Dirty Little Secret" is quite a change of pace for Katharine Whalen, no doubt at least in part due to it being her first recording without her former husband Jim Mathus and his southern jazz influence. There's quite a range of sounds here, from the Burt Bacharach-esque title track to the somewhat Gorillaz-like "You-Who."



Whalen's voice is, while still clearly hers, missing a lot of the more nasal qualities that in the past have evoked comparisons to Helen Kane and Billie Holliday. While I miss her more distinctive voice, her vocal stylings here do seem quite properly suited to the songs.



It's interesting to note that while this is listed only as a Katharine Whalen album, it appears that David Sale had at least as much influence on the record as she did, writing or co-writing all of the tracks as well as playing all of the instruments."

+1/2 -- Trip-hopping Squirrel Nut Zipper

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Eschewing the hot-jazz of her former combo, Squirrel Nut Zippers, vocalist Katharine Whalen brings her quirky singing style to an equally quirky modern context. Unlike her 1999 Jazz Squad outing, Whalen's hooked up with writer and multi-instrumentalist David Sale for a funky, trip-hop excursion into sounds that bounce like an amped-up version of Portishead's "Dummy." The production compellingly syncopates instrumental lines, multilayered background voices and danceable tempos beneath Whalen's vocals. There's an undercurrent of exotica that rises to the fore on the percussive "The Garden" and brass-lined "Want You Back." Whalen's voice still has the Billie Holiday edge of her SQN releases, but the impact is completely different in this most surprising and inventive context. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]"