KT Tunstall

I thought I'd take a little break from politics and science and write a music review.

KT Tunstall is a Scottish pop star who burst onto the scene with her debut album, Eye to the Telescope in 2004.  Her big hits from the album are Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and Suddenly I See.  In 2005 she won Best British Female Solo Artist.    She has a fresh, lively style, melding interesting rhythms, singable melodies, and a raspy, soulful voice.  Her newest album, Drastic Fantastic, was released this past September.

Most intriguing of all are her one-woman performances.  She uses a looping device to lay down rhythm and backgrounds, which she creates by pounding on and strumming her guitar, stamping on a tambourine, singing, and even making kazoolike sounds  with her hand and mouth. [Here is a post with KT explaining how it works.] The video above is KT doing a cover of the Jackson 5 song I Want You Back. 

There are various versions on YouTube of KT doing other songs by herself, notably Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, but there are no album versions of her I Want You Back cover at the moment.

 

Which brings me to an important point.  We all need to pay for music.  If you are sampling songs, or want a version that is not available from a paid music site, then by all means use YouTube or some free music site.  But if you want to keep listening to something which IS available from a paid site, such as iTunes, please lay out the 99 cents.  If you don't pay for it, you're either asking someone else to take up the slack, or you're saying the artist shouldn't get paid.  Imagine going to work, creating beautiful things that people appreciate, and then being told that you won't get paid for it after all because people found a way to take it for free.

Anyway, in summary, KT Tunstall rocks.