Weblog:2005-August-06

From Craig

August 6, 2005 - Music

I don't listen to much radio anymore. The only time I'm likely to have the radio on is when I'm driving. And since I try to drive as little as possible, that doesn't leave much for listening to the radio.

Having said that, there have been 2 songs I've been hearing a lot of lately. (Not to the point of being overplayed, mind you). I really like the two songs but I didn't really pay too much attention to who was singing them.

Then, during Live 8, I got to see who sings them. The songs were White Flag and Thank You and the singer was Dido. I decided that I had to get the album which contained these two songs. Much to my surprise, the songs are from 2 different albums, one of which was published in 1999. I was shocked to learn that Thank You was 6 years old and I had not heard it until just recently.

The albums are No Angel (1999) and Life for Rent (2003).

I cannot believe how much I love both of these albums! The music is well written and produced and the lyrics are excellent. Dido seems to really enjoy deeply emotional themes (usually sad). Her writing is very "matter of fact" so she doesn't come across as trying to beat you to death with what she has to say. Her style also helps her to avoid appearing self-indulgent.

I can't say enough good things about these albums. I think Life for Rent is a better album and that bodes well for anyone who is a fan of Dido. An artist's second album is often not as good as his/her first album. This is usually because the first album has the best of 5-10 years of writing where the second album is usually produced quickly (within 1 year) because of demand generated from the first album. Given that there was 4 years between No Angel and Life for Rent, it doesn't appear as though Dido just wants to get stuff out there. It seems that she is willing to take the time to make the music the best that it can be. As a music fan who has felt let down by the last 15 years of music, this is a very good sign indeed!