A blend of trip-hop, funk, cinematic ecstasy and poetry, ZIPLESS is probably one of my favorite concept CDs of the last three decades. Six years after its release, it still sounds fresh and vital, and it baffles me how this gem remains overlooked by the mainstream (well, I take that back - look at the thoughtless, whiny, mindless junk they are buying and watching). Just last night I pulled this one of the collection and slid it into the CD car player and took a spin through the countryside with the sunroof down under the stars. Vanessa and her piano-wizard husband Peter made the 40 minute ride almost as good as sex.
Vanessa and Peter sustain a pulsating, shimmering, funk-laden cosmos for almost 40 solid minutes. The "songs" are tight and well-conceived, hummable, even the ones with spoken lyrics. Vanessa adapted the poems of 70s feminist/writer Erica Jong into an infectious, moody song cycle; husband Peter supplies the instrumentation...a swirling, thumping, driving, undulating mix of synths, saxes, piano and infectious percussion.
Highlights abound, but "Becoming a Nun" "Sunday Afternoons", and "My Love is Too Much" are about as steamy as mod pop gets. I only wish Peter had extended Erica Jong's reading of her own "Smoke" beyond its tease of 2:15. When I get some techware, I'll remix it myself to last 7:00. It's a superb groove.
SLOW TO BURN, Vanessa's followup funk-and-jazz based CD went largely ignored, also, and remains out of print, which is startling. I've heard her dismissed as a modern day Claudine Longet, which is [not true]. Vanessa is an artist, a lover, and in modest ways, a visionary. It's a shame Krasnow Records couldn't sustain her initial forays, and if there is any justice in LabelLand, a big outfit will eventually reclaim her.
Listen in: this is the lonnnnnnnnnnnng tunnel of wanting you.