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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite her roles in mainstream musicals like Cats and Chicago, Ute Lemper has never been a typical Broadway baby. Her long association with the works of Brecht and Weill, and her one-woman shows based on the repertoires of Piaf and Dietrich, have always marked her as a maverick in a world over-populated by bland belters and cute ingénues. Her distinctive voice isn't an instrument for easy listening. At full tilt it's dangerous and edgy. In subdued mode, it's dark, ironic and despairing. The cruelty that runs through many of her interpretations is taken on the chin. She deals in defiance rather than submission. With just one Weill song ("Tango Ballad") and a host of contributions from Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, Punishing Kiss is a modern, bleak look at love in the 21st century. At times the tone is murderous, even apocalyptic ("The Case Continues"). The duet "Split", sung with Hannon, is a grimly humorous riot of punches and counter-punches in a disintegrating relationship. There's also fleeting, poignant beauty in tracks like Waits's "Purple Avenue". Punishing Kiss is essential listening for anyone who likes their torch songs blood-stained, not just dampened by a few tears. --Piers Ford
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Darkly dramatic but (only slightly) flawed,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ute Lemper- Punishing Kiss (Audio CD)
This album invites you not only to experience Ute's unique voice but also the talents of the songwriters involved. "Little Water Song" is formula Nick Cave, evocative of his duet with Kylie Minogue of a few years ago "Where the Wild Roses Grow", but Ute sings it with such touching simplicity it transcends the formula. "Tango Ballad" is a good violent dirty bitchy love song, but suffers from over-production. Hannon's voice is powerful and rich too, although the song is amillion miles away from any Weillian conception. "Passionate Fight" is a high point, a big flouncy ballad with plenty of bite and a great chorus. Quiter moments, like the voluptuous "Purple Avenue", the poignant "Couldn't You Keep that to Yourself", are exquisite little moments of reflection, countered well by the gaudy title track and splendidly overblown "You Were Meant For Me" (an example of The Divine Comedy in full swing).Most of the songs on this album are amazing. some of them ("Streets of Berlin", "The Part You Throw Away" and "Split" are forgettable but adequate album-filler. One of the songs is absolutely dreadful ("Scope J"). My advice: buy this. Then transfer the 'good songs' on to MiniDisc and "Punishing Kiss" is a perfect album. Worth it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
dumbfounded,
By
This review is from: Ute Lemper- Punishing Kiss (Audio CD)
As with many one star reviews the one below leaves me dumbfounded could not disagree more....... as a vehicle for her talent this new take on chansonnier is the perfect vehicle for her voice and it is a cd I've played consistently since it first came out. Saw the show in manchester and was enraptured. The stuff with Divine comedies joby Talbot and neil Hannon is a brilliant homage to Brecht. little water song is one of the most haunting things I've ever heard and the album as a whole is a joy for the brain as well as the ears, intelligent lyrics well constructed songs and superb delivery.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every song a cathartic and exhausting pleasure!,
This review is from: Ute Lemper- Punishing Kiss (Audio CD)
Lemper is at her very best here. She is constantly saying that she enjoys playing the roles of the 'lonely' and the 'dissasociated', therefore this collection of songs gives her a platform for her finest body of vocal work yet. Most reviewers talk about the collaborations with 'The Divine Comedy', and rightly so! The twinning of Hanonn and Lempers voices are a stroke of genius - probably the only man that can compliment her amazing vocal quality. However, people are managing to forget the amazing collaborations with Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Philip Glass - these names are synonymous with songs of pure theatre and the irreconcilable nature of 'being' and 'living'. Lemper as usual tackles these songs with the empathy and understanding of a woman who has lived a thousand lives. Each song is a cathartic and exhausting pleasure. Look out for the 'contemporary stalker' in "You were meant for me" - joyous and tragic all at once, with more than a little touch of 'camp' that only improves, and never cheapens this particular favourite of mine
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