k.d. lang - Hymns of the 49th Parallel (Nonesuch, 2004)

On first listen, this new k. d. lang album sounds great. It's all songs by Canadian singer songwriters like Joni Mitchell (2 tracks), Neil Young (2 tracks), and Leonard Cohen (2 tracks). Also represented are Ron Sexsmith, Bruce Cockburn, and Jane Siberry (2 tracks), along with one co-written by lang. The production by lang and Ben Mink is perfect, and the vocal performance is impeccable. I'd always sort of appreciated lang's work from a distance until Dave sent a copy of her Tony Bennett duet album, A Wonderful World, which is just fantastic from start to finish. She's amazingly talented in any music form she chooses, from country to jazz & pop standards to folk and singer songwriter classics. Thumbs up.

Last Saturday (8/28/04) she appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition and did a nice interview with live performance segment. You can listen to it along with a bonus live track here:
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3870950

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