Real Life

Joan as Police Woman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Cheap Lullaby Records
• ASIN: B000NVIGJ8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,768 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Real Life

2. Eternal Flame

3. Feed the Light

4. The Ride

5. I Defy

6. Flushed Chest

7. Christobel

8. Save Me

9. Anyone

10. We Don't Own It

Disc: 2

1. Show Me the Life [*]

2. Broken Eyes [*]

3. Sweet Thing [*]

4. Happiness Is a Violator [*]

5. Endless Supply of Poison [*]

6. We Don't Own It [Solo][*]

Editorial Reviews

2006 debut by this band, who have been receiving rave reviews since their UK live debut at the end of 2005. Joan herself has quite a bit of musical history as a member of The Dambuilders, Black Beetle and Those Bastard Souls as well as backing Rufus Wainwright and being a key member of Antony's Johnsons. Joan's voice has been compared to Dusty Springfield, Chrissie Hynde and Annette Peacock, while the shimmering, melodic music encompasses everything from torch songs to basic Rock 'N' Roll. Contains the singles 'The Ride', 'Eternal Flame', 'Real Life' and 'Christobel'. Reveal. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REAL LIFE, June 26, 2007

By 

Aya C. Peard "Pi 314" (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Life (Audio CD)

Real Life is the kind of album that makes you think and wonder about it days after the last time you heard it, and makes you kick yourself when you want to hear it right now all the way through and you can't find the cd in your car, or when you realize you haven't uploaded it onto your ipod yet (what?! impossible!). . . There isn't an artist that sounds close, or even close enough to stand in for joan's honest and effortless voice soaring through a mood, liberated from any pedestrian linear storytelling, intimate and timeless. Real Life is the kind of album that you have to listen to at least twice, and after that, it's like a great movie that keeps giving you something new every time you watch it. I thought I'd make comparisons: she's like Laura Nyro-cross-PJHarvey-cross-Chrissy Hines-cross-Nick Drake (the Pink Moon album) -- but it feels lame to me, probably because none of it is really true. It's an either-you-get-it-or-you-don't album -- if you're reading this, get it :).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new discovery, February 6, 2007

By 

Deanokat (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Real Life (Audio CD)

I discovered Joan As Police Woman after hearing a track on Uncut Magazine's "Best of 2006" compilation CD. The song stuck in my head. So I ordered the whole CD. And I wasn't disappointed. Joan is like a conglomeration of Cat Power, Beth Orton, Hem, and a bunch of other female singers/groups. I can't really describe it beyond that. But the songs and lyrics are great. And the vocals are so ethereal. I'd recommend this CD highly. But buy it for less from a third-party seller rather than paying the high import price.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Real Life-affirming, January 19, 2007

By 

Stephen Doig (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Life (Audio CD)

Joan Wasser is well known in indie circles as a talented violinist who has worked with the likes of Rufus Wainwright and Antony & The Johnsons. She also happened to be Jeff Buckley's longtime girlfriend at the time of his tragic passing. No longer content with a supporting role or playing second fiddle, (if you'll excuse the bad pun), Joan steps out of the musical shadows for Real Life, her singer/songwriter debut as Joan As Policewoman.

Real Life has a dynamic, soulful, 70's feel not unlike recent records by Cat Power or Feist, yet defiantly of Joan's own creation. It features 10 pop songs of rare grace and beauty, by turns tender and sassy, sparse yet detailed, all of which combine to form a supremely satisfying and consistent debut. The sort which lodges in the mind and refuses to leave. Within the space of Real Life's first four songs the material ranges from intimate and confessional (`Real Life') to heady, insistent pop (`Eternal Flame') to swooning and transportive (`Feed The Light') to breezy ('The Ride'). Throughout, Wasser's adoration of soul music is clearly evident, with Al Green and Roberta Flack surely two key influences. I think it's also fair to say that her former bandmates Rufus and Antony have left a lasting impression on her musical stylings - with piano, voice and intricate string arrangements very much to the fore. It's Joan's delightfully distinctive sulty/tart vocal style that is the real selling point here though, it weaves through everything with a captivating intensity - as though she's singing to you, and you only.

Each and every track is like consuming the ripest of fruit, the sweetest of berries, the darkest of chocolate. Exquisite. It leaves you craving more. Joan is a major talent in the making, and Real Life is balm to these jaded ears.

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