Camera Obscura

I acquire a lot of music. I am constantly looking for new stuff. Going through Pitchfork Media's top albums of the year, (I think it was their list from 2006), I came across Camera Obscura. I read their entry at allmusic.com and they looked interesting enough so I got a few of their records. As is typical for me it took me months to get around to listening to them. The first song to make an impression was "Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" from the album "Let's Get Out Of This Country". It's a great pop song. Tracyanne Campbell's voice sounds particularly good on this song. It has a melancholy quality that contrasts very well with the popish upbeat sound of the music. It turns out melancholy is kinda their thing. I then checked out the album "Underachievers Please Try Harder". The first song "Suspended From Class" is excellent. The second song "Keep It Clean" is almost as good. Unfortunately the rest of the record doesn't live up the expectations set by these first two songs. That's not to say that it's a bad album. It's not, it's really great. It just climaxes early. I went back to "Let's Get Out Of This Country" and found a few more gems there. The title track is great. I love "Tears For Affairs". It's got a this great 60's feel to it, (is that a Hammond organ?). A lot of their music has a 60's or even a 50's sound to it. "A Sister's Social Agony" could easily pass as a song from 1958; it's got some great Doo-wop elements.


After spending some time with those two albums I then checked out "My Maudlin Career", their most recent record (2009). That's when I really became hooked. I just can't get enough of the first track "French Navy". It approaches pop music perfection. On it's most basic level it's just another bitter-sweet love song, but it manages to transcend the notion of a typical pop song by successfully communicating ideas that are far more complex than those often found in popular music. Most music is like a Jennifer Aniston movie. In her films, her boyfriend leaves her and she's sad. Her boyfriend asks her to marry her and she's happy. Her characters have the emotional depth of a lump of shit. In "French Navy" the character from whose point of view the song is sung is in love with the person she sings about, but at the same time it's implied that she's the architect of their love's demise. That sounds a lot more like how the world really works than, "I was happy and now I'm sad". The song implies a complex and interesting psychology that is rare in rock and roll. Also, great video.

Ms. Campbell has a great voice. One thing I especially like about it is how you can hear hints of her Scottish accent if you listen carefully to certain songs.

Overall I'd say that Camera Obscura has two kinds of songs. OK songs and great songs. It's hard to decide which is better, Ms. Campbell's voice or her song writing. The only criticism I can make concerns the mix on certain songs. Sometimes the vocals are a little buried and too much compression is used for my taste. This of course isn't unique to Camera Obscura but something that's been destroying good music for about 30 years.