Ann Magnuson
Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories
© 2006 Ann Magnuson (641444999125)
CD permanently out of stock. Sorry!
Baroque pop, psychedelic spoken word, lush melodic madness
tracks
- 1 Falling For An Actor
- 2 Art Professor
- 3 Disassociation
- 4 I Met An Astronaut
- 5 Sky's a-Cryin'
- 6 The Picture on My Dentist's Wall
- 7 Hey There Little Miss Pussy Pants
- 8 Full of F**k
- 9 Just A Guy
- 10 Whatever Happened to New York?
- 11 Old Enuf 2 B Yer Mom
- 12 Is This Heaven?
- 13 Cynical Girl
- 14 What is Pretty?
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Ann Magnuson is a singer, writer, actress and part time performance artist who has collaborated with producer and songwriter Kristian Hoffman on "Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories' her first full length musical CD in ten years! We've been told it was worth the wait!
reviews
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Ann, the Goddess of my little Psychedelia World!
author: GregSince Bongwater I followed,like a stalker, the traces of Ann Magnuson and Kramer and I was never dissapointed! Their music is like the thread running through all my stories and their are a lot of them! Musical Ann fulfilled all my dreams, as ever, it's a bit less psychedelia in it but therefore not worse! It is just her universe to express herself in her own language for a mediocrity world! The arrangements of the tracks are unique & well done. Maybe I miss a piece like.." You know what? Berlin Alexander Platz....And I really boomed out! For me to be the odd one out from Mainstream it is an enrichment for my swimming brain, my inanity, urbanity, mundanity, profanity, paganity, organity, volcanity, gigmanity, immanity, humanity, insanity. Oh Ann I missed you as I met Kramer and John S. Hall in the Netherlands yeeeeeaaaars ago! On with the show Ann, on!
Amazing musical journey from start to finish!
author: John HillPretty Songs & Ugly Stories is a glimpse into Ann Magnuson's brilliant & cynical mind...The music is quirky, beautiful & dark...it's a fun musical expierience!
Stunning.
author: Gerald L'EcuyerIf I had to associate a sound to Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories, it would be the sound of nylons ripping. Filled with longing and often hilarious insight, Magnuson's stunning new CD ping-pongs brilliantly between the truth [and other musical instruments] and those things we dare not think or say. Thank God she says them. From the terrifying dangers of Falling For An Actor, to the bittersweet attraction of Disassociation, Magnuson invites us on a psychic road trip and then wonders if we should ever go home. You won't want to. What Ever Happened To New York is a masterful piece of writing and musical composition; it's a Requiem for a city hidden inside a forgotton jingle. The effect, like the entire album, is powerful, unsettling and ultimately transcendent.
Textured and full of imagination and wit
author: Steve RoblesIt's not an insult to say that partway through the second track on this CD, I was declaring Ann the female Meatloaf! She really puts herself into this album, peppering it with things that can only happen to someone on the inside of a large, interesting and dynamic field of entertainment- with a healthy dose of true theatricality. I feel like every track is a stylistic insight into a world few people know. Plus, the artwork evoking the spirit medium photos of the 19th/early 20th century - awesome, though some of the ectoplasm shots are creepy :) My favorite track : Old Enuf 2 B Yer Mom, since I've always had a little crush on the artist :)
This is NOT for people who think Jessica Simpson is a musical "artist!"
author: Jackie Beat (Dirty Sanchez)Beautiful, complex, cinematic, eerie and hilarious. But enough about Ann! Seriously, her new CD is all of the above and more. Remember when listening to a particular album could transport you to other places, allowing you to escape from your mundane life? Well, prepare to swim, skip and soar to many exotic locales, including the moon! I adore this CD and listen to it often. It inspires me as an artist and, more importantly, as a person. Kristian Hoffman is beyond talented, he is truly gifted, and the combination of Ann Magnuson and himself is simply brilliant.
Hark! Nothing short of electrifying, Ann Magnuson slays again . . .
author: Michael LorisHark! Nothing short of electrifying, performance artist/actress/singer/songwriter/writer/thinker/creator Ann Magnuson slays again with yet another mellifluous gem that's sugary sweet to one's ears with PRETTY SONGS & UGLY STORIES. Originally written and performed for the stage in various arthouse venues and galleries nationwide in 2002, PRETTY SONGS & UGLY STORIES captures the broad range for which Ms. Magnuson is known. The album opens with "Falling For An Actor" in which our storyteller bleeds her heart and soul out, wrenchingly, into her lyrics ("Daddy always said I should stay away from thespians") while dragging the listener through a funhouse of warped thrills and emotions. This song does anything but set the tone for the remainder of this treasured work as it is greatly varied. Whether this was by the artist's design or not is unknown but the variations fit marvellously with this vehicle as it is still as much of a show as it is an album. It is a frolicking romp into Ms. Magnuson's world - a world full of euphoric highs and despondent lows. In "Disassociation" we hear something which very mildly echoes a hybrid sound between Richard O'Brien and The Go-Go's. Perhaps it has a cozy, familiar sound which moves the listener to follow suit. Throughout the album Magnuson finds herself inhabiting and embodying various characterizations and provokes one to wonder if any of her material is semi-autobiographical. Her attack is relentless in "Little Miss Pussy Pants" and leaves you in stitches afterward begging someone to sop up the happy tears. She creates beautiful mutations through her words and her voice. "The Picture On My Dentist's Wall" is presented abstractly and somewhat hauntingly. The dulcet tones of such tra-la-la's as "Just A Guy" and "Cynical Girl" are light, soft, appeasing numbers. There is no brief or simple encapsulation of PRETTY SONGS as it is a magnificent showcase of but a few of Ms. Magnuson's many talents. Multi-faceted and well worth the investment, PRETTY SONGS struggles and strives into many needlenose dives and takes the listener on one hell of a journey. Fasten your seatbelts kids, Ann Magnuson has done it again! After The Bleecker St. Incident, Vulcan Deathgrip, and Bongwater, and a long and interesting career in show business (stage, television, and film) Ms. Magnuson is bringing some of her ripest fruit to the table and delivering it with that familiar Magnuson honeybee sting. And why not let her sting you as you eat of her fruit? After all, it's really sweet.
- author: randy focazio
In an alternative universe Ann Magnuson is probably the equivalent of Jennifer Lopez...meaning someone who has acted as well as put out albums.Of course that universe would have pink fluorescent skies and music for the masses would be quite different.What I love about this album (as well her other albums)is that there is a keen intellect of truisms behind the absurdity and surrealism which are in actuality social commentary on human issues which some could not dream of expressing;or at least in her signature style wit of a cartoon character folk singer who has seen it all.This album is in ways dare I say mature and even a bit melancholia than her past effort on The LUV Show.Yet it inhabits that same beautifully deranged world. My favorites and ones I identify wih are disassociation and Picture on My Dentists Wall.....as well as the heart breakingly What is Pretty..?
Magnificent Magnuson
author: Doug Prinzivalli, Velvet Candy EntertainmentDictionary.com defines "magnificent" as "making a splendid appearance or show; of exceptional beauty." This could easily describe Ann Magnuson's long-awaited second solo effort. The songs are smart, funny, touching and beautifully arranged. Clever lyrics, splendid storytelling and great pop tunes channeled through the voice of an angel...or perhaps some other magical spirit. This disc is so amazing that I recently bought a multitude copies to give out as Christmas gifts. Let's hope we don't have to wait another ten years to hear from the fabulous Miss Pussy Pants again!
Genius!
author: Roger Padilha, editor in chief MAO MAGWe have followed Ann Magnuson's career since the mid 80's and could not be more thrilled to say that this new CD was worth the very long wait since her last album. A combination of her strong vocal talents, her irreverant wit, and her visionary insight makes Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories a must have addition to the hipster's CD collection.