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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 16:11:57 GMT -5
Hear: Close to her PULSE DOCTOR listened to a Karen Carpenter sound-alike and found her quite like the '70s songbird when singing signature hits like Close to You. FOREVER CARPENTERS Jenny Sinclair (EQ Music) THE front cover screamed “Karen Carpenter vocal sound-alike”. When this CD was handed to me, I was going to avoid it like the plague. But, as wise men proclaim, rollicking from their grave, “never judge a Carpenter by its clone”, or something in similar vein. A peek into the inlay, and I was completely shaken out of my marbles that DJ extraordinaire, Carl Cox, was the puppeteer behind this project. He’s roped in Jenny Sinclair, who has been widely proclaimed in the United Kingdom as a decent genetic copy of the late Karen, and conjured up some credible dance contemporary tracks. Picture a nice mocktail of disco grooves, electronica beats and house. Close to You, Only Yesterday, We’ve Only Just Begun and Please Mr. Postman are some of the stand-out numbers in this double album that features 10 tracks on Disc 1 and a non-stop DJ party megamix version of all the hits on Disc 2. As much as I hate to say this, a second spin of the CD had me humming along, bobbing my head from left to right and almost (yes, almost) twirling in the room with utter glee. Enuf said! Selected Tracks: Only Yesterday, Close to You Performance: *** www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Features/20080328234024/Article/indexpull_html |
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Post by beaner on Mar 28, 2008 16:40:10 GMT -5
Yes, I am very familiar with Jenny Sinclair. She does a fine job and sounds the closest to Karen Carpenter that I've ever heard.
I wrote her once and we talked of when she met Richard at one of his Top of the World functions. At the time, she sent a lovely picture of she and Richard.
Beaner
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Post by carpentersgermany on Mar 28, 2008 19:26:49 GMT -5
Thank you WJ7 for posting this article. I never heard of Jenny Sinclair before. According to Beaners words she seems to be a nice person.
I checked her on MySpace and yes she sounds pretty close to Karen's voice.
But I just don't understand the sense in such sound-alikes in general.
Referred to Jenny Sinclair: she might get pretty close to Karen's voice, but will always be 1000 miles away from her. It seems to me as if "artists" like her somehow try to deny that.
Again, I don't know nothing about her background etc. and what she's aiming at with her music.
I'd never say, that no one should "touch" Carpenters music or anything, but I prefer artists who not aim to copy another artist because they know and accept the fact that they just can't (and why should they at all?!).
I think it's better to adopt the original and then try to create an own interpretation.
Like various artists did on the "If I were a Carpenter"-Album for instance. Most of it did not correspond to my personal taste in music, but from an objective point of view I feel much respect for this project.
Back to Jenny Sinclair and the Forever Carpenters CD. I just checked out some of the songs and I have to say that I don't like it.
I listen to (pretty much) all kinds of Dance and Electronic music, since 1995 and especially a lot of house and vocal house, but those songs did not please me at all.
I was kind of surprised that Carl Cox, who is an excellent DJ and producer should be involved in this project. The songs I listened to seemed pretty outmoded, cheap and just off-key somehow. But it's not Carl Cox the well-known DJ, it's Carl M Cox a producer from the UK.
"I won't last a day without you" is one of the better songs on the album, but all in all I don't need anything like that.
Jenny seems to be a huge Fan of the Carpenters, obviously puts a lot of love and effort in to the whole thing and many people seem to like it, which is wonderful, but I just can't relate to it at all..
But maybe I'm totally wrong and see things from a wrong perspective.
I'm really interested in your opinions! What do you think of this project?
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 20:02:10 GMT -5
Like you, CG, I don't really like 'copy artists', but I know a lot of people like Jenny Sinclair. This article is for their pleasure.
To me, there was only one Karen Carpenter. It's fine for an artist to do their own take on the songs, but I don't like it when artists try to 'be' the artist.
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Post by carpentersgermany on Mar 28, 2008 20:13:04 GMT -5
Like you, CG, I don't really like 'copy artists', but I know a lot of people like Jenny Sinclair. This article is for their pleasure. To me, there was only one Karen Carpenter. It's fine for an artist to do their own take on the songs, but I don't like it when artists try to 'be' the artist. To me it was quite interesting, too, because I never heard about her. So, thank you again! You just put my thoughts in a few words. That's exactly how I feel about it.. |
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 20:13:09 GMT -5
Yes, I am very familiar with Jenny Sinclair. She does a fine job and sounds the closest to Karen Carpenter that I've ever heard. I wrote her once and we talked of when she met Richard at one of his Top of the World functions. At the time, she sent a lovely picture of she and Richard. Beaner Beaner, what was your impression of Jenny? Everything I've read about her portrays her as a pretty nice person. I agree she sounds Karen-esque at times. |
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 20:15:25 GMT -5
Like you, CG, I don't really like 'copy artists', but I know a lot of people like Jenny Sinclair. This article is for their pleasure. To me, there was only one Karen Carpenter. It's fine for an artist to do their own take on the songs, but I don't like it when artists try to 'be' the artist. To me it was quite interesting, too, because I never heard about her. So, thank you again! You just put my thoughts in a few words. That's exactly how I feel about it.. You're welcome ; ) |
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 20:39:52 GMT -5
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Post by beaner on Mar 28, 2008 21:11:46 GMT -5
My impression of Jenny Sinclair was that she seems like a very nice person and I know she wrote a beautiful song for her then young son who I believe was ill. Very touching.
Some parts of some songs she sang she sounds incredibly like Karen but no one, I repeat, NO ONE will ever sound like our Karen. She was the best. Karen's beautiful voice would come out and without any effort at all sound as smooth and easy as can be. She sung with so much ease.
I think Jenny did a nice tribute to the Carpenters though!
Beaner
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on Mar 28, 2008 21:41:50 GMT -5
Very true, wj7, Akiko definitely has Karen-esque qualities. I recall the first time I heard her, I was knocked-out. Our honorary member Jim Hutchinson kept taunting me about this singer that sounded a lot like Karen, and asked me if I'd ever heard Akiko. I had not. He would ask me once a week if I'd heard her CD yet. One day, boom...it was in my mailbox...another gift from our friend, Jim. He was like a kid at Christmas....when I told him I got the CD, he got really excited and told me he wanted me to listen to "ONLY THE ANGELS KNOW" first. When I did, I truly had to just sit down. For the first listen, I couldn't get over how MUCH like Karen that Akiko sounded. Jim of course chose the song she most sounds like Karen, on. He laughed when I told him my reactions. I love this CD, and listen to it often. Although Akiko doesn't sound so much like Karen after that first listen (oh sure, the alto voice is reminescent), and there ARE times I still think she sounds incredibly like KAC...but one reason for that is that Richard wrote all the harmony/backing parts just like he wrote them for CArpenters - lots of maj7 chords, and well, the arrangements are Carpenter arrangements. I can easily hear them written for Karen. The CD is really good, and a fun listen. Do you have it? Let me know.....   Oh yeah, I have listened to Jenny Sinclair, through her website - ran across it one day. At that time, I was not impressed in the least, and didn't think she sounded a bit like Karen. Perhaps I just heard a bad track - and I should give her another try? Can't hurt, eh? Thanks for the info. Tim  |
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 28, 2008 22:08:19 GMT -5
Jim was a treasure!
I just really started to listen to Akiko, so no I don't have the CD.
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Post by Rick Henry on Mar 28, 2008 22:25:12 GMT -5
Yes, Jenny's "Forever Carpenters" is a pretty good recording. Jenny sent me a download of her version of "Only Yesterday" before it was released and I liked it pretty much from the first listen. I emailed Jenny telling her the song has hit potential and sure enough it was a hit (on the dance club circuit). The song recently topped the Dance Club charts. "Please Mr. Postman" is the album's other standout track... this one should also be released as a single. When I listen to Jenny Sinclair, I listen to her from a somewhat different angle. I do not listen to her as a Karen Carpenter sound-a-like... because to me her voice does not sound like Karen Carpenter's... there are several similarities but overall Jenny does not sound like Karen to me... and for the most part I do not care for sound-a-likes. So, when I listen to Jenny, I listen to her as Jenny Sinclair an independent artist who does cover versions of Carpenters song... I never compare her to Karen Carpenter. In listening to Jenny Sinclair, I found she is a credible artist in her own right. She has a pretty good voice and she's actually a very nice person. She's sent me copies of her last few works before they were released. My final consensus on Jenny... I like her voice for her own vocal style (which, at times does bare a slight resemblance to Karen Carpenter's). I like her "Carpenters Forever" CD. I think the dance club arrangements are excellent (*and to the untrained ear... they might actually think they're dancing to Karen Carpenter). I don't care for every song on the disc. such as I feel both "Rainbow Connection" and "I Need To Be In Love" fall flat. But overall, she has a hit with me. And, I will always be a friend and supporter of Jenny Sinclair. She's good blood! Now, as for Akiko... I do not care her voice at all. Again, she does not sound like Karen Carpenter to me. I can hear some similarities... but that's it. To me she does not sound natural, it sounds like she's putting too much effort into sounding like Karen Carpenter. *side note on my comment about the untrained ear... thinking they might actually be dancing to Karen Carpenter. This might actually (and I'm sure it has) ignite an interest in people to go out to their local music store and look for the Carpenters' dance remix album... maybe Richard needs to do a remix album... as Jenny proved dance clubs will pick up and play a Carpenters tune remixed... anyway "Only Yesterday" was recently a huge dance club hit for Jenny. I wonder what would happen if Richard were to hire the right remixers and release a CD Single with "Only Yesterday" and "Please Mr. Postman"... I think it would go through the roof.  |
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Post by carpentersgermany on Mar 29, 2008 13:17:46 GMT -5
Yes, Jenny's "Forever Carpenters" is a pretty good recording. Jenny sent me a download of her version of "Only Yesterday" before it was released and I liked it pretty much from the first listen. I emailed Jenny telling her the song has hit potential and sure enough it was a hit (on the dance club circuit). The song recently topped the Dance Club charts. "Please Mr. Postman" is the album's other standout track... this one should also be released as a single. When I listen to Jenny Sinclair, I listen to her from a somewhat different angle. I do not listen to her as a Karen Carpenter sound-a-like... because to me her voice does not sound like Karen Carpenter's... there are several similarities but overall Jenny does not sound like Karen to me... and for the most part I do not care for sound-a-likes. So, when I listen to Jenny, I listen to her as Jenny Sinclair an independent artist who does cover versions of Carpenters song... I never compare her to Karen Carpenter. In listening to Jenny Sinclair, I found she is a credible artist in her own right. She has a pretty good voice and she's actually a very nice person. She's sent me copies of her last few works before they were released. My final consensus on Jenny... I like her voice for her own vocal style (which, at times does bare a slight resemblance to Karen Carpenter's). I like her "Carpenters Forever" CD. I think the dance club arrangements are excellent (*and to the untrained ear... they might actually think they're dancing to Karen Carpenter). I don't care for every song on the disc. such as I feel both "Rainbow Connection" and "I Need To Be In Love" fall flat. But overall, she has a hit with me. And, I will always be a friend and supporter of Jenny Sinclair. She's good blood! Now, as for Akiko... I do not care her voice at all. Again, she does not sound like Karen Carpenter to me. I can hear some similarities... but that's it. To me she does not sound natural, it sounds like she's putting too much effort into sounding like Karen Carpenter. *side note on my comment about the untrained ear... thinking they might actually be dancing to Karen Carpenter. This might actually (and I'm sure it has) ignite an interest in people to go out to their local music store and look for the Carpenters' dance remix album... maybe Richard needs to do a remix album... as Jenny proved dance clubs will pick up and play a Carpenters tune remixed... anyway "Only Yesterday" was recently a huge dance club hit for Jenny. I wonder what would happen if Richard were to hire the right remixers and release a CD Single with "Only Yesterday" and "Please Mr. Postman"... I think it would go through the roof. I have to say, I was kind of surprised about your positive estimation on the "Carpenters Forever"-CD. But you seem to know much more about her than I do. I visited her homepage and her site on MySpace to get some more information about her purposes. As I said before, she seems to be a really nice person with a lot of love for the Carpenters music and she wants to pay tribute to them her own way. Paying tribute to the Carpenters (or anything/ anyone else) is always worth respecting to me, whether I like it or not. Many people seem to like her musical tribute, that makes it even better. Nevertheless I can't relate to her music at all and I think her Dance versions of the Carpenters songs are rather weakly produced. But Rick, I absolutely agree, a project with Richard and some good Remix-Artists could be amazing. I reckon Soulwax/2 Many DJ's would be perfect for the job. They did outstanding Remix-Albums where they featured all kinds of artists, from Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Velvet Underground to Dolly Parton and Destiny's Child. It's thrilling to think about what they would do to the Carpenters songs. |
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Post by GoodOldDreams on Mar 29, 2008 20:16:51 GMT -5
Yes, on her collaboration with Richard on the song "How Can I Ask for More," Akiko Kobayashi sounds remarkably like Karen, especially in the chorus and the lower register notes. I like the way how she glides effortlessly over the melody. In the Asian songs that she usually sings, however, Akiko's voice tends to be a bit higher and does not sound really like Karen's at all, as the singing style is different (less focus on hitting the lower registers and creating fat vocal harmonies in the chorus). It is to Akiko's credit that she is able to adapt her voice to this special occasion of working with Richard. |
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Post by wisejester7 on Mar 29, 2008 21:03:36 GMT -5
Good information, Tim And Dreams. Thanks.
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Post by Rick Henry on Mar 29, 2008 22:03:46 GMT -5
Yes, Jenny's "Forever Carpenters" is a pretty good recording. Jenny sent me a download of her version of "Only Yesterday" before it was released and I liked it pretty much from the first listen. I emailed Jenny telling her the song has hit potential and sure enough it was a hit (on the dance club circuit). The song recently topped the Dance Club charts. "Please Mr. Postman" is the album's other standout track... this one should also be released as a single. When I listen to Jenny Sinclair, I listen to her from a somewhat different angle. I do not listen to her as a Karen Carpenter sound-a-like... because to me her voice does not sound like Karen Carpenter's... there are several similarities but overall Jenny does not sound like Karen to me... and for the most part I do not care for sound-a-likes. So, when I listen to Jenny, I listen to her as Jenny Sinclair an independent artist who does cover versions of Carpenters song... I never compare her to Karen Carpenter. In listening to Jenny Sinclair, I found she is a credible artist in her own right. She has a pretty good voice and she's actually a very nice person. She's sent me copies of her last few works before they were released. My final consensus on Jenny... I like her voice for her own vocal style (which, at times does bare a slight resemblance to Karen Carpenter's). I like her "Carpenters Forever" CD. I think the dance club arrangements are excellent (*and to the untrained ear... they might actually think they're dancing to Karen Carpenter). I don't care for every song on the disc. such as I feel both "Rainbow Connection" and "I Need To Be In Love" fall flat. But overall, she has a hit with me. And, I will always be a friend and supporter of Jenny Sinclair. She's good blood! Now, as for Akiko... I do not care her voice at all. Again, she does not sound like Karen Carpenter to me. I can hear some similarities... but that's it. To me she does not sound natural, it sounds like she's putting too much effort into sounding like Karen Carpenter. *side note on my comment about the untrained ear... thinking they might actually be dancing to Karen Carpenter. This might actually (and I'm sure it has) ignite an interest in people to go out to their local music store and look for the Carpenters' dance remix album... maybe Richard needs to do a remix album... as Jenny proved dance clubs will pick up and play a Carpenters tune remixed... anyway "Only Yesterday" was recently a huge dance club hit for Jenny. I wonder what would happen if Richard were to hire the right remixers and release a CD Single with "Only Yesterday" and "Please Mr. Postman"... I think it would go through the roof. I have to say, I was kind of surprised about your positive estimation on the "Carpenters Forever"-CD. But you seem to know much more about her than I do. I visited her homepage and her site on MySpace to get some more information about her purposes. As I said before, she seems to be a really nice person with a lot of love for the Carpenters music and she wants to pay tribute to them her own way. Paying tribute to the Carpenters (or anything/ anyone else) is always worth respecting to me, whether I like it or not. Many people seem to like her musical tribute, that makes it even better. Nevertheless I can't relate to her music at all and I think her Dance versions of the Carpenters songs are rather weakly produced. But Rick, I absolutely agree, a project with Richard and some good Remix-Artists could be amazing. I reckon Soulwax/2 Many DJ's would be perfect for the job. They did outstanding Remix-Albums where they featured all kinds of artists, from Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Velvet Underground to Dolly Parton and Destiny's Child. It's thrilling to think about what they would do to the Carpenters songs. |
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Post by GoodOldDreams on Mar 30, 2008 2:42:35 GMT -5
My impression of Jenny Sinclair was that she seems like a very nice person and I know she wrote a beautiful song for her then young son who I believe was ill. Very touching. Some parts of some songs she sang she sounds incredibly like Karen but no one, I repeat, NO ONE will ever sound like our Karen. She was the best. Karen's beautiful voice would come out and without any effort at all sound as smooth and easy as can be. She sung with so much ease. I think Jenny did a nice tribute to the Carpenters though! Beaner I think the appeal of Karen's voice lies in her unique combination of vocal clarity, range, pronunciation, timing and phrasing that cannot be easily imitated or duplicated by others. Otherwise, those who have tried to emulate her as a sound-alike or tribute band would have already enjoyed equally successful careers, if not more so, over these past three or four decades. Even Richard, who understands Karen's gifts firsthand and foremost, cannot duplicate and extend this success by working with other new or established artists, himself included. With the growing of number of people who have just discovered or rediscovered Karen's fantastic drumming skills, it seems almost guaranteed that it would be hard to find another "Karen" substitute who has all these vocal and musical talents combined. |
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Post by carpentersgermany on Mar 30, 2008 12:06:07 GMT -5
I have to say, I was kind of surprised about your positive estimation on the "Carpenters Forever"-CD. But you seem to know much more about her than I do. I visited her homepage and her site on MySpace to get some more information about her purposes. As I said before, she seems to be a really nice person with a lot of love for the Carpenters music and she wants to pay tribute to them her own way. Paying tribute to the Carpenters (or anything/ anyone else) is always worth respecting to me, whether I like it or not. Many people seem to like her musical tribute, that makes it even better. Nevertheless I can't relate to her music at all and I think her Dance versions of the Carpenters songs are rather weakly produced. But Rick, I absolutely agree, a project with Richard and some good Remix-Artists could be amazing. I reckon Soulwax/2 Many DJ's would be perfect for the job. They did outstanding Remix-Albums where they featured all kinds of artists, from Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Velvet Underground to Dolly Parton and Destiny's Child. It's thrilling to think about what they would do to the Carpenters songs. I absolutely agree, I love the "9 to 5" Remix they did. The whole album is perfect for parties and this song was always a highlight. I also think a Remix album could not harm the originals. The Remix-Albums of Giorgio Moroder and Cerrone for instance made me listen to the originals, that I really love. So I think, a Remix Album together with artists like Soulwax could be a chance to see the originals in a different light and could at the same time get a new generation interested in the originals. I'm sure that would work! Concerning Karen's solo work: yes, it would be great to hear some good remixes of her song. But I think, her songs are so up to date, they could be played in a club in the original version. I'd love to hear that! |
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