Guardian music blog article on Janice Whaley's Smiths Project
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A nice article about this achievement starts off:
"Fans of the long-defunct British band the Smiths are an extraordinarily dedicated bunch. They bear large-scale tattoos of group leader Morrissey on their backs, attend annual conventions featuring look-alike tribute acts and, in Brooklyn, there's even a Smiths-themed speed-dating event called - what else? - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.
But last year Janice Whaley took her adulation for the band to another level. The 35-year-old single mom spent countless hours in a closet-size space in her San Jose home recording every single song the Smiths released during their lucrative run between 1984 and 1987, using nothing but her own voice. She posted the results of her experiment every week on her blog, the Smiths Project (thesmithsproject.blogspot.com).
Between tending to a full-time job and her 4-year-old son within the 52-week deadline, she managed to make it through 71 songs in the band's official catalog, refashioning them dramatically by layering her alternately earthy and ethereal vocals between 30 to 50 times for each track.
She doesn't just sing Morrissey's words in majestic songs like "I Know It's Over" and "How Soon Is Now" but re-creates Johnny Marr's shimmering guitar effects, the timeless bass and drums - all without digital effects - plus the overwhelming sense of optimism and dread that consumes the music..."
The rest is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/15/PKJB1H4O42.DTL
"Fans of the long-defunct British band the Smiths are an extraordinarily dedicated bunch. They bear large-scale tattoos of group leader Morrissey on their backs, attend annual conventions featuring look-alike tribute acts and, in Brooklyn, there's even a Smiths-themed speed-dating event called - what else? - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.
But last year Janice Whaley took her adulation for the band to another level. The 35-year-old single mom spent countless hours in a closet-size space in her San Jose home recording every single song the Smiths released during their lucrative run between 1984 and 1987, using nothing but her own voice. She posted the results of her experiment every week on her blog, the Smiths Project (thesmithsproject.blogspot.com).
Between tending to a full-time job and her 4-year-old son within the 52-week deadline, she managed to make it through 71 songs in the band's official catalog, refashioning them dramatically by layering her alternately earthy and ethereal vocals between 30 to 50 times for each track.
She doesn't just sing Morrissey's words in majestic songs like "I Know It's Over" and "How Soon Is Now" but re-creates Johnny Marr's shimmering guitar effects, the timeless bass and drums - all without digital effects - plus the overwhelming sense of optimism and dread that consumes the music..."
The rest is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/15/PKJB1H4O42.DTL
The Seeker of Good Songs
Well-Known Member
Janice Whaley’s The Smiths Project 6CD box set
Midway through last year, we posted an item about Janice Whaley’s ambitious and inspired plan to record vocal-only covers of every single song The Smiths ever recorded — 71 different tracks, which she indeed managed to complete and post on her The Smiths Project blog over the course of 2010.
Now the project has taken on new life, as Whaley went to her fans to help fund a lavish 6CD box set that includes her front-to-back covers of The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow, Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead, Louder Than Bombs and Strangeways, Here We Come.
The project was funded pretty quickly via Kickstarter — the rights alone to release the covers are $24 per song, or $3,500 — and now Whaley is just about done taking pre-orders for the box set. For $60, fans who pre-order the set by March 1 will receive the 6CD collection, a poster signed by Whaley and a download code for all 71 songs. After March 1, the price will go up and the extras no longer will be available.
To learn more about or to pre-order the Smiths Project box set, check out Whaley’s Kickstarter page. You can also hear samples of some of Whaley’s recordings below.
Ask by blackpiano
A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours by blackpiano
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby by blackpiano
from: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/20...-6cd-box-set-—-vocal-only-covers-of-71-songs/
Midway through last year, we posted an item about Janice Whaley’s ambitious and inspired plan to record vocal-only covers of every single song The Smiths ever recorded — 71 different tracks, which she indeed managed to complete and post on her The Smiths Project blog over the course of 2010.
Now the project has taken on new life, as Whaley went to her fans to help fund a lavish 6CD box set that includes her front-to-back covers of The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow, Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead, Louder Than Bombs and Strangeways, Here We Come.
The project was funded pretty quickly via Kickstarter — the rights alone to release the covers are $24 per song, or $3,500 — and now Whaley is just about done taking pre-orders for the box set. For $60, fans who pre-order the set by March 1 will receive the 6CD collection, a poster signed by Whaley and a download code for all 71 songs. After March 1, the price will go up and the extras no longer will be available.
To learn more about or to pre-order the Smiths Project box set, check out Whaley’s Kickstarter page. You can also hear samples of some of Whaley’s recordings below.
Ask by blackpiano
A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours by blackpiano
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby by blackpiano
from: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/20...-6cd-box-set-—-vocal-only-covers-of-71-songs/
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