From super deluxe edition dot com: Tanita Tikaram / Ancient Heart limited edition 30th anniversary clear vinyl LP.
I discovered her from Twist in My Sobriety as many others and continued to buy her albums through the 90s. Last one was Cappuccino Songs from 1998. Then I lost track of her, looks like it was 7 years until her next album, so haven't checked out the last 3. Really love the 1st two albums, but I'm also a big fan of this one from Cappuccino Songs:
It's nice they are reissuing the debut album, but they could have done a bit more with it to include bonus material. It's too bad that Tanita doesn't really get the respect she deserves for making some terrific music. All of her Warner albums recorded between 1988 and 1995 were stellar. However her albums after that -- especially "The Cappuccino Songs" from 1998 and "Sentimental" from 2004 were brilliant, but sadly overlooked. Her latest two albums from Ear Music in 2012 and 2016 showed she hasn't lost her knack for writing catchy, yet introspective tunes -- and I must say that over the years, Tanita who appeared overly serious at the beginning of her career (but hey, she was only 19 and I'm sure it was a lot to take in at the time) seems to have lightened up some in recent years. I sure would love to see all of her discography released on vinyl, especially since some of the albums were released in the format before.
My CD re-release arrived today and it is underwhelming, to say the least. Ten out of eleven tracks are identical (or nearly identical) to the standard CD, but a DR 9 (formerly DR 16) „Twist In My Sobriety“, apparently pasted in from a different source, sticks out. It is lowered in volume by 4 dB but is (at least in my perception) still considerably louder than the rest of the album. The booklet is a sub-standard reprint of the original with the fine print blurred and sometimes hardly readable. On the other hand there are some hand-written notes by Tanita and the two extra tracks are quite nice.
I'm reviving this thread as I recently bought her compilation on vinyl, and it's increased my interest. Much of her material is very subtle, and takes a little while to really like.
This is a great vinyl reissue. I don't know what source was used, but it sounds as good as the original to me.
I have the compilation on my wishlist and will be ordering it at some point before the end of the year! It is a bit odd it doesn't include her biggest hit, but I guess it's a "compilation" not a "greatest hits"!
Yes, it hasn't gone the predictable way. The selections are good though, and it's annotated by the artist.
Tanita's first record was an essential late eighties great production must have female singer songwriter debut ,Several great tracks , with my favourite being 'Cathedral Song' [ that contains the 'Ancient Heart lyric] The second record has several winning tracks including the very affecting 'Little Sister Leaving Town'
She was last month for a concert in Hamburg. For 2020 she plans to record a new album with jazz influences: Google Übersetzer
I just got the anthology as a Christmas gift to myself and it's quite nice. I had forgotten just how lovely her track featuring Jennifer Warnes ("Only The Ones We Love") was. I do wish that two of the underrated albums in her discography would get a first-ever vinyl release: "The Cappuccino Songs" (1998) and "Sentimental" (2005).
Agree, especially 'Sentimental' which is probably my favourite TT album, complete with Nick Lowe contributions.
This is good news. My impression from her FB page is that much of the new album was recorded earlier this year.
I've been listening to Tanita Tikaram's first two albums tonight, and enjoying them. I'm not normally big on straight-up, emotionally direct singer/songwriters unless they have a lot of harmonic inventiveness (see: Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake), but it helps a lot that TT is pretty much the antithesis of the cookie-cutter singers you hear at endless coffeehouse open mics. Her voice is instantly recognizable, with appealing rough edges. She sings with conviction and, for the most part, restraint; occasionally she pushes the envelope and borders on overwrought, but it's never off-putting, partly because her voice is so husky. Her songs are understated, often opaque and a bit weird, and the arrangements are tasteful and spacious. Overall, it works for me to a surprising degree. That said, now I'm listening to one of her newer albums (Closer to the People), and her voice, songs, and arrangements seem blander and smoother and very NPR-friendly -- I preferred her earlier, less genteel sound. I'd like to hear her do something sparser and more experimental, but that doesn't seem like her thing.
Thanks for this post. I'm in a similar position with TT. I like songwriters, quite a few of which are female, but they have to have something special, like Joni Mitchell for example. TT has a very distinctive voice and many of her songs are subtle and involving. I look forward to what she does next. I also wish her back catalogue would get sorted out. I like the compilation which came out last year, but many of her titles are hard to find.
Thank you for articulating so well why she’s worth listening to. Your points about the later albums are appreciated. I haven’t tried those yet.
I saw her playing a club gig in a former church here in Cologne last year. Wasn't exspecting much, but it turned out to be a rather great performance. She was playing acustic guitar most of the time and brought a lttle band with her, mostly on acoustic instruments like mandolin, fiddle and double bass backing her up in a tasteful manner. Twist in My Sobriety was the second to last song and was only played as one of several encores. She's definitely not a one hit wonder (neither chartwise, nor in tetms of passion and skill) and she's also a great simpatico performer, I must say. Maybe a bit too mellow and MOR for my taste but it still was a great evening for me.
I Might Be Crying is one of her best singles. I do wonder if maybe having Good Tradition as the first single and it being a hit (in the UK) might have made people think that she was more pop like and upbeat than she actually was, hence why her first album was her biggest seller.
In her first flush of publicity, the music mags were raving about her, and she did the rounds of the summer festivals that year, playing solo, with just an acoustic guitar. The following year, she went out with a band, and, in the venue that I saw, she was clearly struggling with the on-stage volume. Quiet, breathy vocals which she'd recorded in a controlled environment in the studio were clearly more difficult to achieve with the drummer and co. actually thundering away behind her. I drifted away after the second show, might have given her a third chance if she'd still been going out solo.