AIPTO: The Vanity Project (Steven Page et al.)

Who? So we talked about Stephen Duffy yesterday, and how he and Steve wrote songs together. This is Steve’s solo project, on which all of the songs (except for one, but maybe not the one you’d think) are Duffy/Page songs. Which means, of course, that the entire album is brilliant. Such is life. Today, though, is our time to discuss Steve, front-man of the Barenaked Ladies. My instinct is to say that I love Steve, which is true, but redundant. He’s got another one of those voices that I want to just wrap myself in, but part of the reason I like it is the hardness of it. It's like Brie--soft and smooth and yet still really solid. That might not make sense, but I'm super tired tonight, and this post and a paper topic for Film Theory are the only things keeping me from being in bed so we're running with it. You can't compare anything that isn't completely first rate to Brie--that's how good Steven Page is. I feel like I should say more things--better things--about him, but I'm in a haze of exhaustion and still kind of buzzed from the poetry reading tonight. So long as you know that Steve's the dog of my dip, we're all fine.
Why it’s awesome: I said JMB's "Around the Year with…" was the album you should buy if you only bought one this season and I stand by that. You should own this one already, is the thing. This is the French Roast of cd’s; rich and dark and unabashedly itself with undertones so subtle they’ll make your head swim. Political without being obnoxious, ironic without being cliché, sentimental without being sticky—there’s a balance in these songs that’s almost haunting for me. It makes me want to be a writer, and at the same time makes me want to find another goal because I know I’ll never be this brilliant. If you can’t have talent, you can at least own a copy of this.
In One Word: Down
Song Rec: Wilted Rose. Not that you should need a recommendation because, again, you should own this one.
Link: TheVanityProject.com