MOG

Ever the latecomer to musical talent, I first heard Kirsty Maccoll's smoke-edged alto as it sauntered through her number In These Shoes during the credits for Kinky Boots. Which if you haven't seen, do! Rent, download, whatever. Quietly hilarious flick about lemons turning into lemonade, unwanted oxfords turning into four feet of heeled, red sex, and people who've never quite felt at home in the world turning into heroes, to themselves and others.

If you're looking for an artist who is relatively predictable in style or song material (cough bubblegum-popgirls like, hrm, Britney cough), Kirsty is not for you, I'd say. I haven't listened to all her offerings (some of which are finally on Napster), but each one has its own distinct flavor. From the quietly but unapologetically senorita-sexy In These Shoes (an indispensible party song) to the “I Shot the Sheriff” black humor-reality mix of Walking Down Madison (kudos and thanx to Augusts1 for that recommendation!), Kirsty doesn't fail to surprise and often delight.

As Augusts1 notes, a number of her pieces are indeed quite airy Brit-pop, though even those pieces vary widely in background treatments and how Kirsty massages her voice into the piece. But if like me you're more a fan of the quirky, lightly smirky and occasionally bizarre selections, check out Us Amazonians, a tongue-in-cheek tune about “modern” women that has touches of Frankie Valli and the musical South Pacific to it.

Fabulous Garden feels rather Simon and Garfunkel, but could just as easily be a DeVotchKa tune with the appropriate Polish additions. Can't Stop Killing You plays a reasonably light musical backdrop against occasionally almost nihilistic lyrics, though the instrumental section flirts dangerously if irregularly with the darker aspects of the song.

The remixes available on Napster, mostly for Angel, may be disappointing for folks expecting something more along the Paul Oakenfold line, but those who enjoy lighter electronica approaches that leave the song largely intact as is should enjoy some of them, particularly the slightly Tangerine-Dreamish Apollo 440 remix.

To hear In These Shoes?, you can visit one of two webspots: either the song listing at her main site or at mp3raid.com. If you go to the first site, you'll need RealPlayer to hear the song; the second site provides a built-in Windows Media Player.

Other songs mentioned are either available on Maccoll's MOG page or on her website (whose link is posted on her MOG page), with the exception of Can't Stop Killing You, which is available on Napster and iTunes.