Not Going Anywhere

Amazon.com
There's something foreign, and disturbing about Keren Ann Zeidel's fourth album. The Israeli native doesn't so much sing, as inhabit her moody compositions, creating haunting soundscapes that are as unsettling as they are beautiful, lingering in the memory long after you've put the CD back into its case. The multi-instrumentalist combines a hushed fragility with a fierce poetic austerity--with odd, truncated, inner rhymes--beginning with her rather severe confessional "Not Going Anywhere," to the ghostly specter and strategic awkwardness of "End of May" extending throughout the eleven songs that make up this disquieting collection. The chanteuse has abandoned her former trip-hop posturing that earned her early comparisons to Beth Orton and Portishead's Beth Gibbons, and instead has adopted an almost hesitant fatalism that chills the listener to the bone. --Jaan Uhelszki

Not Going Anywhere,Keren Ann,Blue Note Records,Pop,Pop Vocals,Rock/Pop

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Not Going Anywhere

Average customer rating: English Incomparable Melanchonly life Like finding a gold nugget in a box of rocks I got hooked

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: Blue Note Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Classic | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music Blue Note Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Nolita La Biographie de Luka Philipsen Keren Ann La Disparition Fisherman's Woman ASIN: B0002OOUY6 Release Date: 2004-08-24

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit in the Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By the Cathedral
11. Ending Song

Amazon.com

There's something foreign, and disturbing about Keren Ann Zeidel's fourth album. The Israeli native doesn't so much sing, as inhabit her moody compositions, creating haunting soundscapes that are as unsettling as they are beautiful, lingering in the memory long after you've put the CD back into its case. The multi-instrumentalist combines a hushed fragility with a fierce poetic austerity--with odd, truncated, inner rhymes--beginning with her rather severe confessional "Not Going Anywhere," to the ghostly specter and strategic awkwardness of "End of May" extending throughout the eleven songs that make up this disquieting collection. The chanteuse has abandoned her former trip-hop posturing that earned her early comparisons to Beth Orton and Portishead's Beth Gibbons, and instead has adopted an almost hesitant fatalism that chills the listener to the bone. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews:

English.......2006-03-13

I had bought Keren Ann's French album "La Disparition" and when I listened to this album, a couple of the songs are the same as her French album, but English version.
Overall, it's a mellow CD and I would recommend those who enjoy Keren Ann's music to check out Carla Bruni.

Incomparable.......2006-02-23

There's no one like Keren Ann - in this century anyway. Her singing style might be best described as "softspoken", pun intended, but the overall effect is mesmerizing, soothing... I slightly prefer "Nolita" over this effort, that CD is darker, haunting, but this is also very very good. The title track, with its ironic but key "This is why I always whisper" lyric (it really is like listening to a whisper to a scream) sets the tone and the rest of the disc just sails along. Other standout tracks that keep the mellow spell intact - By The Cathedral, Polly, Sit In the Sun... heck, theyre all good, if in pretty much the same mode (except Sailor & Widow, which seems destined for an off-Broadway musical somewhere).

Having seen her live I got the feeling I was in Paris in 1935, listening to a sexy lounge singer coo her way through a series of unfamiliar torch songs, accompanied by an antique guitar, a piano, a french horn and 2 strings. That description might not sound all that great, but somehow, in todays world of WT hip-hop and screaming death metal, it really, really works.

Keren Ann is a talented musician who definitely has carved a niche of her own in the music landscape.

Melanchonly life.......2005-09-30

This is a bit on the melancholy side. I liked it. I like to expand my horizons and I truly cherished the uniqueness in this piece. On a lonely night, or a dark and dreary day this will extend the mood into infinitum

Like finding a gold nugget in a box of rocks.......2005-07-11

One listen to this disc tells you the "goods" are here. Describing Keren Ann (Zeidel) is difficult: This feels almost like a good movie soundtrack in that each cut has a different sound and feel but it still all coheres into a nice whole. "Not Going Anywhere" sounds Nick Drake-ish. "Sailor and Widow" sounds like Suzanne Vega on the verses, Aimee Mann on the choruses. "Right Now and Right Here" has the lilt of a musicbox melody with words added to it. "Seventeen" could be a Disney outtake.

This is Keren Ann's 1st release in English. (Previous albums have her singing in French.) Vocally, if I have to compare her, I'd think about Nina Persson (Lead singer for Swedish pop outfit The Cardigans) crossed with Suzanne Vega. With the right promotional "push" she could really be big.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The wispy cadences of the title track let you know you're in for a wonderful ride here as she proclaims "This is why I always wonder/I'm a pond full of regrets/I always try to not remember/rather than forget") "By the Cathedral" is enigmatic. It paints a beautiful word picture but leaves you wondering what exactly DIDN'T happen (the chorus is "I wasn't able/I was unable") there. "Polly" seems to be a tender ode to a daughter who died young. ("There were so many ways to hide/in the hours of waste/And I will be/more than it takes/to you") "End of May" is a spine-tingling mixture of beautiful (the delicate tinkling keyboard part) and eerie (the children's choral and Ann's own voice) ending in an ethereal acappella coda. "Sailor and Widow" combines staccato nearly limerick style singing on the verses into the charging pop hook ("all the children played/around the neighborhood..") It's a tale of a woman who kills her husband by torching her houses with them inside, once again combining the lethal and the sublime.

BOTTOM LINE:
Safe to say if you're locked into a single genre collection, this probably won't be for you. If you're not in that category, give this a listen or borrow it from your library if they have it. She's so good I can't believe she's so unknown in the U.S. still. In fact, I considered giving this 5 stars but I don't like to do that until I've "lived with" a CD for a long time. Suffice to say, I'm giving this a hearty recommendation.

4 1/2 stars

I got hooked.......2005-05-03

I literally bought this album because of the first song 'Not Going Anywhere'
When I bought it I listened to the whole CD and found only a few other songs that I liked...but after the second time I listened to it all the way through I was totally hooked.
I don't know if I can express how excellent this CD is. Her songs are soft and endearing while still having a strong and clear presence. A very good balance of slow and more upbeat songs.
The lyrics are fantastic, very original and quirky without being difficult to listen to.
I don't even know what genre to describe this as but I like it.

Average customer rating:

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: EMI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Pop | Box Sets | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: La Biographie de Luka Philipsen Lady & Bird La Disparition Nolita ASIN: B00022LDZM Release Date: 2004-06-07

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End Of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit In The Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By The Cathedral
11. Ending Song
12. Beautiful Day
13. I Was Born To Love Magic
14. Fingertips
15. By The Cathedral (Unplugged)
16. Spanish Song Bird (Unplugged)

Album Description

French collectors' edition of the world music singer/songwriter's 2004 English language album includes a bonus CD with five tracks, 'Beautiful Day', 'I Was Made to Love Magic' (Nick Drake cover), 'Fingertips', 'By The Cathedral' (Unplugged), & 'Spanish Song Bird' (Unplugged). EMI.

Album Details

Asian Version featuring a Bonus CD with Five Tracks: 'beautiful Day', 'i was Born to Love Magic', 'fingertips', 'by the Cathedral (Unplugged)', and 'spanish Song Bird (Unplugged)'.

Average customer rating:

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: Universal ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Keren Ann ASIN: B0006B7JI4 Release Date: 2004-10-18

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End Of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit In The Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By The Cathedral
11. Ending Song
12. Le Sable Mouvant - Bonus Trax
13. Jardin D'hiver - Bonus Trax
14. Ailleurs - Bonus Trax
15. L'illusionniste - Bonus Trax
16. Decrocher Les Etoiles (With Benjamin Biolay) - Bonus Trax
17. Beautiful Day
18. I Was Made To Love Magic
19. Fingertips
20. By The Cathedral (Unplugged)
21. Spanish Song Bird (Unplugged)

Album Description

Limited Asian edition of her sophomore album features a total of 10 bonus tracks, five on the first disc; 'Le Sable Mouvant', 'Jardin D'hiver', 'Ailleurs', 'L'illusionniste', 'Decrocher Les Etoiles' ( with Benjamin Biolay ) and five additional tracks on the bonus CD; 'Beautiful Day', 'I Was Made To Love Magic' (Nick Drake Cover), 'Fingertips', 'By The Cathedral' (Unplugged) and 'Spanish Song Bird' (Unplugged).This is the most complete version of this album available anywhere!. Standard Jewelcase and slim line jewel case packaged in a slip case. EMI.

Album Details

Limited Edition Issue of the Israeli-born French Resident Singer's 2003 Full Length Album. This Edition Combines all the Tracks from the International Edition, the USA Edition and the Special French Edition on this Very Special Double CD Set.

Average customer rating: summer nights Buy her French albums first

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: EMI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Classic | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000060K0F Release Date: 2003-10-07

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit in the Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By the Cathedral
11. Ending Song - Bardi Johannsson, Keren Ann,

Album Description

English language album from popular French artist compared to Karen Carpenter & Joni Mitchell. Standard jewel case.. Copy Controlled. EMI. 2003.

Album Details

2003 Release from the French Star. This Album is Recorded in English and Includes Seven Debut Tracks and Four Songs from her French Release " La Disparition".

Customer Reviews:

summer nights.......2004-06-16

This album is really sweet. It's the perfect music for a glass of wine on a long summer evening, that's about the only way I can describe how it feels. The songs seem old, something you'ld expect from an old french movie, and the texts are really nice.

Buy her French albums first.......2003-11-22

I had high hopes for this album, having heard an English version of "La Corde et Les Chaussons" on a plane a year ago, but found this very disappointing. I'd recommend that you get her two albums in French first ("Biographie De L. Philipsen" and "La Disparition".)

This album has some new songs but the 'stars' are English versions of songs from those two. The big problem is that the lyrics are ho-humm, which I find distracting. I've no idea whether the lyrics in French are any good, but without understanding the words I just hear her voice, which is astonishingly beautiful. She sings very quietly, so quietly that you can hear every mouth movement sometimes, superbly intimate. This works much better in French, the sounds just roll off her tongue more naturally.

Oh yes, and the beautiful English version of "La Corde et Les Chaussons" (which had the refrain "...need to know, if you love me... if you love me") is not on this CD.

Average customer rating: Beautiful thoughtful ambient pop-folk

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: EMI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0001NBL7W Release Date: 2004-12-28

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End Of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit In The Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By The Cathedral
11. Ending Song
12. Le Sable Mouvant (End Of May) (Bonus Track)
13. Jardin D'Hiver (Bonus Track)
14. Gilleurs (Bonus Track)
15. L'Illusioniste (Bonus Track)
16. Decrocher Les Stoiles (Bonus Track)

Album Description

Asian pressing of 2003 English language album from popular French artist compared to Karen Carpenter & Joni Mitchell features 16 tracks including five bonus tracks previously released on her earlier French albums - 'Sable Mouvant (End Of May)', 'L'Illusioniste', 'Jardin Dhiver', 'Ailleurs', & 'Decrocher Les Etoiles'. EMI. 2004.

Album Details

Asian Release featuring Five Bonus Tracks: "Sable Mouvant (End of May)", "l'illusioniste", "Jardin Dhiver", "Ailleurs", and "Decrocher Les Etoiles".

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful thoughtful ambient pop-folk.......2005-01-12

Basically if you loved Simon and Garfunkel or Joan Baez or Happy Rhodes or Fiona Apple or Norah Jones etc...or if you are simply a touch too old for the loudness and disco tempos of contemporary bubblegummers like Britney and the rest of the media circus queens - go get this album and enjoy. It's very unpresuming and will not kill your eardrums even when you have your headphones on... and the music itself is very very good, slow and thoughtful. IMHO, this is better than Norah Jones, and I am not kidding you. Title track, "End of May" and "By the Cathedral" are a bit similar but beautiful songs, "Sailor & Widow" has some very catchy and jumpy funk to it.. only a couple of songs do not immediatley grab your listening attention and this is an extremely high percentage from my point of view which deserves five stars.

Average customer rating:

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: EMI Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Classic | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0000DBK8O Release Date: 2003-11-25

Tracks:

1. NOT GOING ANYWHERE
2. POLLY
3. ROAD BIN
4. END OF MAY
5. SAILOR & THE WIDOW
6. SIT IN THE SUN
7. RIGHT NOW & RIGHT HERE
8. SEVENTEEN
9. SPANISH SONG BIRD
10. BY THE CATHEDRAL
11. ENDING SONG

Average customer rating:

Not Going Anywhere Keren Ann Manufacturer: EMI ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD France | Continental Europe | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music French Pop | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0002VL894 Release Date: 2004-10-26

Album Description

Japanese pressing of the world-pop vocalist's 2003 album, scheduled to include eight bonus tracks. Details TBA. To.

Album Details

Japanese Release from the French Singer and Songwriter. Includes Eight Bonus Tracks.

Average customer rating: Stark and sweet

Nolita/Not Going Anywhere Manufacturer: EMI MUSIC en EDI standard order ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000A2ACJ2 Release Date: 2005-09-20

Tracks:

1. Not Going Anywhere
2. Polly
3. Road Bin
4. End Of May
5. Sailor & Widow
6. Sit In The Sun
7. Right Now & Right Here
8. Seventeen
9. Spanish Song Bird
10. By The Cathedral
11. Ending Song

Tracks:

1. Que N' Ai-Je
2. L' Onde Amere
3. Chelsea Burns
4. Midi Dans Le Salon
5. Nolita
6. Roses & Hips
7. One Day Without
8. La Forme Et Le Fond
9. For You And I
10. Song Of Alice

Album Description

Import only coupling of her albums, Nolita and Not Going Anywhere ( that includes a bonus disc with two tracks, Beautiful Day and I Was Born to Love Magic. Two standard jewel cases housed in a slipcase. 23 tracks in all. EMI.

Customer Reviews:

Stark and sweet.......2005-11-19

Keren Ann Zeidel began her career with trippier pop songs, which got her compared to artists like Beth Gibbons of Portishead. But if Gibbons sounds haunting in her trip-hop cage, then Keren Ann sounds as much so when all the extra sounds are stripped away.

This two-pack includes her fourth and fifth albums, "Not Going Anywhere" and "Nolita." While these albums have differing sounds, they share a sultry, slightly creepy atmosphere, wrapped around the French singer/songwriter's fragile little voice.

"Not Going Anywhere" opens with a soft guitar and a little song musing on goodbyes and how "people come and go and walk away/but I'm not going anywhere." Music-box melodies, folky ballads, thumpy pop, gothic piano-pop and angelic-sounding choruses all add to the vaguely dream-like quality of this album. This isn't your parents' folk-pop.

There's a somewhat different sound in "Nolita," where Keren Ann stretches her wings a bit. It opens with an eerie-sounding pop number, before blossoming into wistful love songs, guitar pop, delicate pianos and strummed guitars, cheery little bouncy songs, and a country-folk number with a trippy edge.

With her trip-folky music and sad, soft vocals, Keren Ann sounds a little like Hope Sandoval. And like Sandoval's music, Keren Ann's music is full of peace, beauty and a sort of airy drowsiness. By the time the bewildered spoken-word "Song of Alice" hits, you will probably be mellow enough to melt.

Keren Ann's vocals are what really stand out -- she whispers, but not to cover up lack of vocal ability. Rather, it brings out an alluring melancholy in her voice that louder singing would not reveal, and allows her to sing angelic harmony with herself.

The music itself is in tune with her vocals, tending to gentle, folky guitar, delicate piano, electronic flourishes, violin and the occasional grinding bass. It's too delicate to be folk, too low-key to be pop. The only downside is "Nolita's" harmonica. It just doesn't fit in -- it's too grating and loud, and it drowns out the subtler instruments.

This French singer/songwriter reaches her pinnacle (so far) with the enchanting "Not Going Anywhere" and "Nolita," creating unique classical-folk-pop. Happy daydreams.

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