Beth Orton : Releases >>

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Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man >>

Already an accomplished poet and novelist before he ambled into the music business in his mid-'30s, Leonard Cohen has remained as musically influential as he is publicly enigmatic for four decades. This celebration of Cohen's songbook began as a free concert that quickly mushroomed into a star-studded live tribute film shot at Sydney's famed Opera House and Brighton Dome. Musically supervised by Hal Willner (who's produced similar recorded tributes to Mingus, Monk, Rota and Weill), it recasts Cohen's evocative, emotionally uncompromising songs in compelling performances by singers who range from fellow cult heroes Nick Cave and Beth Orton to energetic newcomer Teddy Thompson and even rock gods U2. The latter's powerful collaboration with Cohen himself on the signature "Tower of Song" bookends Martha Wainright's solo opening rendition of the composition, deftly underscoring the project's eclectic artisanship in the bargain. Cave somehow channels the title track through Chicago's South Side via Weimar Berlin, while Teddy Thompson ponders "The Future" with exuberance and The Handsome Family informs "Famous Blue Raincoat" with elegant melodrama. Other standouts include Rufus Wainwright's nouveau Tango work-up of "Everybody Knows," Perla Batalla's gorgeous, Norteño-seasoned "Bird On a Wire" and her collaborations with Cave and Julia Christenson on "Suzanne" and "Anthem." A collection that's both a savvy primer to Cohen's catalog and impressive artistic achievement in its own right. --Jerry McCulley

Central Reservation >>

There's no way to offer a shortcut description of what Beth Orton sounds like. There are so many musical styles pulsing through Central Reservation--jazz, folk, pop, rock, and dance--that the album could easily have ended up an empty exercise in genre-hopping. Instead, it's a bracing example of mongrel music at its best as Orton carves out a new musical vocabulary with deep roots in familiar sounds. --Keith Moerer

Trailer Park >>

Beth Orton is the rare vocalist who exists between disparate worlds; she is a singer with a folkie soul who is as comfortable accompanied by an acoustic guitar as by electronic rhythms. Indeed, most people first heard her on William Orbit's Hinterland album and on the Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust. Likewise, her slightly askance vocal style seems to betray naiveté, while lyrically there is a world-weary depth that the latest spate of tough-talking Lolitas cannot muster. Each song's closely observed details create small ripples that grow to substantial emotional waves by album's end; this very promising debut should be the harbinger of great things to come from Orton, with or without the help of a Lilith Fair or anything beyond the integrity of her songs and the wise lilt of her voice. --Alan E. Rapp

Comfort of Strangers >>

Few vocalists equal the expressive subtlety of Beth Orton, whose fourth album is both her most musically spare and artistically complex to date. Not only does the production and backing by Jim O'Rourke (known for his work with Sonic Youth and Wilco) capture Orton's vocal style at its most unstudied and unvarnished, the lack of embellishment focuses all the more attention on her songwriting. From the jazzy phrasing on the deceptively jaunty "Worms" through the haunting "Feral" and the amazing grace of the closing, hymnlike "Pieces of Sky," Orton's songs give voice to the sort of knotty, prickly emotions that are as hard to define as they are deeply felt. Most of the musical dynamic features piano or guitar over an elemental, insistent rhythm section, making the coloring of an occasional string section ("Conceived"), harmonica ("Absinthe"), or accordion ("Safe in Your Arms") all the more striking. As an indication of the emotional range of this musical minimalism, the title cut is soothing enough to please fans of Norah Jones, while "Heartlandstruckstop" is as edgy as Patti Smith. --Don McLeese

Daybreaker >>

Like Beth Orton's previous offerings, her third album makes a slight first impression. Sure, the jangly acoustic guitars, drifting melodies, and robust voice are pleasant enough, but it is only after a while that the true potency of the songs becomes apparent. "Nobody can keep you from the one you know you are," she sings quietly on "Mount Washington." Fueled by her mother's early passing, each of Orton's songs is accordingly anchored by a deep sense of sadness and loss. Despite the occasional electronic flourishes at the hands of collaborators such as the Chemical Brothers and Everything but the Girl's Ben Watt, and the beaming West Coast harmonies she shares with pal Ryan Adams, Daybreaker is a supremely personal record. "There's a concrete sky falling from the trees again and I don't know why," she muses on "Concrete Sky." And like Tim Buckley and Nick Drake--the hopeless folk icons that came before her--there seems to be a sublime urgency in her work that suggests a seemingly innocent song like "Thinking About Tomorrow" is not so much about optimism as fate. --Aidin Vaziri

Pass in Time: The Definitive Collection >>

'Pass In Time' is a collection of songs taken from Beth Orton's three previous albums. Most noted for her subtle vocals reminiscent of 70's singer/songwriters such as Carole King & Carly Simon. Her music is a fusion of graceful acoustic folk, melancholy country-blues, down-tempo trip hop & dubby electronica. Includes the singles 'She Cries Your Name', 'Someone's Daughter' & 'Touch Me With Your Love', alongside B-sides, remixes, collaborations, & rarities. 24 tracks. Heavenly. 2003.

Comfort of Strangers (with Bonus Disc) >>

The Other Side of Daybreak >>

Best Bit EP >>

Best Bit isn't the revelation its predecessor, Trailer Park, was. With that eye-opening debut, Beth Orton was marked as an uncommonly promising newcomer. Best Bit represents a rest stop between records. That said, the five-song EP is of value, if for no other reason than it unites the Londoner with American folk-soul stylist Terry Callier, who duets with Orton on his own "Lean on Me," as well as a cover of Fred Neil's "Dolphins." The title track provides another highlight; just as with the strongest tracks on Trailer Park, Orton here reinforces the notion that she's the long-sought offspring of such rich-voiced '60s thrushes as Bobbie Gentry, Jackie DeShannon, and Dusty Springfield. --Steven Stolder