46. Mary Lou Lord, Got No Shadow (Work, 1998)
Her full-length debut probably disappointed fans used to hearing this Boston subway busker in person performing with just an acoustic guitar and her sweet, thin voice. Whatever--that sort of shtick doesn't always translate well to record, and this one succeeds precisely because of the lush, polished, power-pop arrangements, courtesy of Lord's chief collaborator Nick Salomon of The Bevis Frond. Like peanut butter and chocolate, they complement each other splendidly: he cancels out her vocal limitations with his rich, hooky songcraft and she transcends his quirk and inaccessibility with her charm and naivete. From "His Latest Flame" and "Lights are Changing" to the self-referencing "Subway" (and a definitive cover of Freedy Johnston's "The Lucky One" in between), this is a well-sequenced set of songs that nails her amiable personality almost as well as her on-the-street performances.
Her full-length debut probably disappointed fans used to hearing this Boston subway busker in person performing with just an acoustic guitar and her sweet, thin voice. Whatever--that sort of shtick doesn't always translate well to record, and this one succeeds precisely because of the lush, polished, power-pop arrangements, courtesy of Lord's chief collaborator Nick Salomon of The Bevis Frond. Like peanut butter and chocolate, they complement each other splendidly: he cancels out her vocal limitations with his rich, hooky songcraft and she transcends his quirk and inaccessibility with her charm and naivete. From "His Latest Flame" and "Lights are Changing" to the self-referencing "Subway" (and a definitive cover of Freedy Johnston's "The Lucky One" in between), this is a well-sequenced set of songs that nails her amiable personality almost as well as her on-the-street performances.
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