Fancy Blue

21 monthly listeners on Spotify, ~500 views on Youtube, literally no info on the artist or album anywhere on the Internet except for like two sites clearly not updated in the last 20 years. Alright you win the "most obscure album on the list" challenge. We've had some ultra obscure stuff on here already, but this is the first one where I'm like 90% sure it has to be a submission from somebody directly related to the artist. Interested in the backstory. Lo-fi folk. Very whispery vocals. Has a certain "Outsider artist" quality to it, vaguely reminiscent of like a female Daniel Johnston I guess. Even if it's not really all that musically interesting, the weirdness of everything surrounding this album and submission kind of elevate the vibes it's going for, if that makes sense. Makes me feel like I'm listening to something from a different dimension. 3/5 maybe? Hard to rate.

This is that specific style of singer-songwriter that can sometimes appeal to me, and can start to grate a bit at times. Today I was squarely in the middle. Not my favorite, and not a style I'm up for a full album full of today, but I did see a lot of the cleverness and at times very pleasant.

Absolutely stark raving bonkers but there's a lot more music on the list which is worse than this.

Rating: 5/10 Best songs: Happiness and misery

Fancy Blue by Tywanna Jo Baskette is an acquired taste. The music and songwriting most of the time fine to good, but the problem is the vocal performance. The whispery vocals are something that can really get on your nerves. For a few songs it's ok, but after ten, it gets annoying (and the album has 19 tracks). Also, the album contains several acapella (or almost spoken word) songs and sketches of songs that are not nearly completed. All this makes the album sound very pretentious and the quality of the music is not good enough to justify it.

I want to be a supporter of anyone who does art of any form but some people just take the piss. Ok, so I may be in a bad mood this morning. I found the style annoying and I didn’t enjoy listening. But she has an album on the list and I don’t so who’s the real winner.

Ugh, how do I find more of her?

A little mystery, though likely the very ordinary one of just not breaking through and having to return to the unstoried muddle must of us are finding our way through. A brief media splash when this released. Reminding me of other "where did they come from" stories, Daniel Johnston, Jack Logan, Roky Erikson's return after vanishing into mental illness. The articles suggest stage fright approaching pathology, a second album in production. A holiday track released a few years later, then she vanishes, other than this singular work being dutifully logged in the various aggregates. Somebody is adding it to all the major services. But no active online presence I could find. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, my children.

Why is the goat cheese the most listened? 4 Thought this was speed 3

It's not bad, sort of interesting. It seems she only did this one album, that's too bad. 3 stars.

Wow a dive into musics very long tail. If they ever want to make “Marcel the Shell with shoes on - the musical” this kind of breathy childish but not childlike vocals would be good. Held my interest but not sure I’ll be going back

Emo-psych folk lullabies with nursery rhyme lyrics – sure, why not? The vocal style is like Tiny Tim meets Betty Boop or something – perhaps TJB is the lovechild of Joanna Newsom and Vic Chestnut. No doubt there are partisans (likely some of them pervy) of the whispery baby talk, which seems ungodly twee and like Sabrina's Carpenter's artier (and squarer) sister or something. The playing and production are quite smooth and professional at times, even well thought out, like non-oustider art. But the vocals and lyrics dominate and are the determining factor – and not always to the good. "Pinky" is cute and clever and works. "Howdy Howdy" suggess the upside possibilities of playing it straight. But the name song and the one about cancer and the one about goat cheese ... well, these seem like spoken word performances from a high-school diary and mighta better been left on the demo reel or the basement tapes. Probably best not to think about how some of the songs that soiund lke Chelsea Girl (e.g., "Jelllyfish") compare to Nico. Didn't realize this was from early aughts, woulda guessed much later. Sorta interesting to hear what kids might be listening to (except that they're not, not in 2003, it would seem, and not any more so now), so thanks recommender, but this does little to ease one's concerns about what kids are listening to.

Sounds like a load of demos

Is she trying to sound weird on purpose? This is some modern day Paula Cole stuff

Didn’t do it for me

Odd, and not in an enjoyable way. Baskette’s craggly vocals did not appeal to me, and the threadbare instrumentals did nothing to help them. Kind of a surreal listening experience to be honest, felt at times like the songs you would hear emanating from a cursed child’s toy in a horror movie.