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▓█▓▓█ Artist.....[ Ann Magnuson ▀████▄█▓
██▓▀ Album......[ Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories ▀▓██
▄ █▓█ █ Label......[ Asphodel Records █ █▓█ ▄
█▒█▓█▄▀ Catalog #..[ ASP2036 ▀▄█▓█▒█
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▓█▀ ▀▀█▓█▒ Source.....[ CD ▒█▓█▀▀ ▀█▓
▓█▄ ▀▄ ██▓ Genre......[ Pop ▓██ ▄▀ ▄█▓
▓▓█▓▀ ██ Language...[ English ██ ▀▓█▓▓
▀ ▄████ Rip Date...[ 2007-07-03 ████▄ ▀
▄ ▀ ▓█▓ Store Date.[ 2007-05-09 ▓█▓ ▀ ▄
█▀▀ ▄▓█▀ Rip Tool...[ EAC ▀█▓▄ ▀▀█
▓█▄████▀ Encoder....[ LAME 3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ▀████▄█▓
▀█▓▀ Quality....[ 166 kbps AVG VBR 44.1/Joint Stereo ▀▓█▀
▄ █▓█▄▓█▓ Url........[ http://www.annmagnuson.com ▓█▓▄█▓█ ▄
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█▓ 01 Falling For An Actor 4:29 ▓█
█▓ 02 Art Professor 2:23 ▓█
█▓ 03 Disassociation 3:07 ▓█
█▓ 04 I Met An Astronaut 6:29 ▓█
█▓ 05 Sky's A-Tryin' 4:16 ▓█
█▓ 06 The Picture On My Dentist's Wall 5:05 ▓█
█▓ 07 Hey There Little Miss Pussy Pants 2:52 ▓█
█▓ 08 Full Of Fuck 5:10 ▓█
█▓ 09 Just A Guy 3:55 ▓█
█▓ 10 Whatever Happened To New York? 3:27 ▓█
█▓ 11 Old Enuf 2 Be Yer Mom 4:35 ▓█
█▓ 12 Is This Heaven? 3:07 ▓█
█▓ 13 Cynical Girl 5:29 ▓█
█▓ 14 What Is Pretty? 8:06 ▓█
█▓ ----- ▓█
█▓ 62:30 ▓█
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█░█ "Each song is a little gem, with the form █░█
█░█ embracing the content, like a Harry Winston █░█
█░█ setting embraces a three carat diamond. You must █░█
█░█ buy this record if you have any hope for the █░█
█░█ advancement of comic literacy." █░█
█░█ -Glenn O'Brien on www.men.style.com █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "(It's) like a wonderful Dadaist trip through the █░█
█░█ cabarets of Weimar Berlin, a decadent 1930s █░█
█░█ burlesque club, 70s glam orgies, 80s downtown █░█
█░█ NYC, and the hyperreal Los Angeles of today. All █░█
█░█ at once." █░█
█░█ -Boing Boing █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "Sequins on the outside, punk inside: Ann █░█
█░█ Magnuson wears irony well. She makes it sparkle █░█
█░█ and shimmer - seductively, seditiously." █░█
█░█ -Daryl H. Miller, L.A. Times █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "Ann's as sharp as ever...the first lady of █░█
█░█ post-punk social commentary long before Miss Cho █░█
█░█ or Sarah Silverman came along" █░█
█░█ -BUST magazine █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "Excellence Abounding. So instrumentally █░█
█░█ grandiose! Such exquisite melodic tension! You'd █░█
█░█ better be impressed, or I simply shan't speak to █░█
█░█ you any longer. NEW intelligent adult pop." █░█
█░█ -Greg Burk (music critic for the L.A. Times, L.A. █░█
█░█ Weekly and Village Voice) on MetalJazz.com █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "A wildly experimental mischief maker, █░█
█░█ (Magnuson's) schizophrenic career has explored █░█
█░█ the edges of both alternative performance art and █░█
█░█ mainstream media. (In one of her more infamous █░█
█░█ moves, she once staged a five-hour "Tribute to █░█
█░█ Muzak" in a Whitney Museum elevator.) Magnuson █░█
█░█ teams up with talented musical director Kristian █░█
█░█ Hoffman Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories. Billed as a █░█
█░█ "cabaret performance," Magnuson exercises her █░█
█░█ token razor-sharp wit in her ever-evolving █░█
█░█ one-woman show." █░█
█░█ -Flavorpill █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Ann Magnuson has a way with words and she isnt █░█
█░█ afraid to use them. She introduces Pretty Songs & █░█
█░█ Ugly Stories, her latest treatise on love and █░█
█░█ relationships in her usual pithy manner: Pretty █░█
█░█ Songs & Ugly Stories is a joy ride, with a few █░█
█░█ hairpin turns, that aims to take everyone on a █░█
█░█ musical journey from Seduction to Infatuation to █░█
█░█ Disassociative Hallucination. Navigating the █░█
█░█ ecstatic High Highs and the traumatic Low Lows █░█
█░█ that the world dishes out leads us to █░█
█░█ self-medication, self-delusion, self-examination █░█
█░█ and self-revelation. Then, with luck, release █░█
█░█ from that pesky bondage of self." █░█
█░█ Ann Magnuson is an actress, singer, writer and █░█
█░█ performance artist with a feral imagination █░█
█░█ unfettered by convention or decorum. Pretty Songs █░█
█░█ & Ugly Stories combines Magnusons formidable █░█
█░█ musical, theatrical and lyrical instincts with █░█
█░█ the compositional and production muscle of █░█
█░█ Kristian Hoffman. (Hoffman was the keyboard █░█
█░█ player and songwriter of seminal punk band the █░█
█░█ Mumps. He wrote and arranged Klaus Nomi's pop █░█
█░█ hits, and led two infamous NYC bands - the █░█
█░█ Swinging Madisons and Bleaker Street Incident. █░█
█░█ He's also worked with Lydia Lunch and Dave Davies █░█
█░█ and as musical director for Rufus Wainwright, and █░█
█░█ has 3 acclaimed solo CDs in release.) █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ I wanted this album to be very melodic which is █░█
█░█ why I wanted to work with Kristian, Magnuson █░█
█░█ explains. He wrote most of the music; a lush, █░█
█░█ Baroque pop sound that echoes the bands of the █░█
█░█ Sixties with a healthy dash of glam. His unique █░█
█░█ style helps to underscore the hallucinatory █░█
█░█ quality of the lyrics." █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories is swirling █░█
█░█ confection of agitated pop and psychosexual angst █░█
█░█ sprinkled with sly humor and hard won wisdom. █░█
█░█ Theres a lot of pain in the lyrics but the █░█
█░█ narrative runs on two tracks, Magnuson says. The █░█
█░█ darker moments are hopefully vanquished by the █░█
█░█ more pleasant aural aspects of the trip. Yet much █░█
█░█ of the excursion is implied. I like people to █░█
█░█ think for themselves. I dont want to impose a █░█
█░█ meaning that robs the listener of the ability to █░█
█░█ bring his or her own experience to it. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ On Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories Magnusons vocals █░█
█░█ are never less than compelling; her voice is rich █░█
█░█ with arch humor, able to dip into a simmering █░█
█░█ lower register or jump to a jubilant cry of █░█
█░█ girlish delight. The songs tumble out in a █░█
█░█ luxuriant cornucopia of pop styles. Theres the █░█
█░█ Queen meets Left Banke swoon of Falling for an █░█
█░█ Actor, the ethereal twangy guitar waltz of I Met █░█
█░█ An Astronaut and the disturbingly sinister █░█
█░█ psychedelia of The Picture on My Dentist's Wall. █░█
█░█ Full of Fuck is snarling and funky, with █░█
█░█ girl-group-on-belladonna harmonies. The breezy █░█
█░█ Burt Bacharach homage Just A Guy is complimented █░█
█░█ by the melancholy music-box lament Whatever █░█
█░█ Happened to New York with guest harmony vocals by █░█
█░█ Rufus Wainwright. Old Enuf 2 B Yer Mom is an ode █░█
█░█ to younger men and their ephemeral delights, █░█
█░█ delivered with a bouncy Motown backbeat, while █░█
█░█ Skys a-Cryin is an old-fashioned torch song with █░█
█░█ a wailing musical saw adding to its otherworldly █░█
█░█ ambience. The set wraps up with the hidden track █░█
█░█ What Is Pretty? Accompanied by a harp playing an █░█
█░█ Eric Satie-like melody, this spoken word piece █░█
█░█ tackles the big questions our societys queasy █░█
█░█ ballet of sex and violence; beauty and its █░█
█░█ meaning in a culture obsessed with youth; █░█
█░█ spirituality and aging in a world that values █░█
█░█ neither. And as promised, Magnuson emerges from █░█
█░█ the other side of the looking glass with her soul █░█
█░█ and sense of humor intact. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories is constructed █░█
█░█ thematically to mirror the ups and downs of █░█
█░█ romance: discovery, evolution, devolution and █░█
█░█ recovery. It walks the fine line between desire █░█
█░█ and abstinence, pleasure and pain; visiting all █░█
█░█ the twists and turns and triumphs of lavish █░█
█░█ excess on its way to maturity. Guest artists █░█
█░█ include: D.J. Bonebrake (X), drums, vibes; █░█
█░█ William Bongiovanni, bass; Jonathan Lea (The █░█
█░█ Jigsaw) guitars, sitar, banjolin, mandolin; Earle █░█
█░█ Mankey (Sparks) guitar; Lisa Jenio (Candy Pants), █░█
█░█ flute and The Chapin Sisters, backing vocals. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ The music is complimented by the phantasmagoric █░█
█░█ artwork designed by Andrew Campbell and Doug █░█
█░█ Prinzivalli, with photography by Rocky Schenck. █░█
█░█ At the turn of the last century, when photography █░█
█░█ was young and spiritualism was on the rise, many █░█
█░█ people claimed to have photographed ectoplasm █░█
█░█ the stuff of the soul - entering and/or leaving █░█
█░█ the human body. Ive been obsessed with pictures █░█
█░█ of ectoplasm since I was a kid, Magnuson says. █░█
█░█ The idea of free-floating ectoplasm connects well █░█
█░█ with the various ghosts and demons that haunt the █░█
█░█ protagonist who tells the ugly stories attached █░█
█░█ to these pretty melodies." █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ http://www.asphodel.com █░█
█░█ http://www.annmagnuson.com █░█
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▄▀▀██ 1way AMOK BCC BUTT CMS EGO ██▀▀▄
▀▓█ ESC FNT FTD gF HiT2000 iTS █▓▀
▄▄ ▀▓█ JUST MTD NuHS pyt rH RNS SDR █▓▀ ▄▄
▓▓█████▓▄ SER soup SSR twee UKi WUS ▄▓█████▓▓
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▄ ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ASCii By AyL!cRO 2oo5 ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ▄
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