#324: Beth Orton - Central Reservation (1999)

Emily: I turned on this album and about 30 seconds in, I really wondered why Zack stuck it in the electronic category. Central Reservation is primarily an indie-folk album, with acoustic guitar and Beth Orton's smoky-sweet singing voice that reminded me of another singer-songwriter woman whose name still hasn't come to me. It's far from a dance record, or a chillout record, or a house record, or pretty much anything that I would normally classify as electronic. As I listened more, I kinda understood the electronic bit. The Wikipedia page for Central Reservation classifies it as "folktronica," which I guess is like the 2000s version of being a little bit country and a little bit rock & roll. Even so, the electronic elements are minimal and mostly in the form of synthesized percussion tinkling in the background. The less-than-even split between the genres totally works, though I would drop the combo-genre label and just call it folk - albeit with a modern, unique twist.
Favorite Tracks: Stolen Car; Couldn't Cause Me Harm; Stars All Seem to Weep

Zack: Central Reservation sounds like it could be the soundtrack to some indie-ish romcom featuring a quirky, but overall shallow female lead, most likely starring Michael Cera. Which is fitting, since the album cover looks like a still of any one of the multitude of movies with a manic pixie dream girl. Beth Orton works in one of those weird portmanteau genres (this time it’s called folktronica) that I have so often expressed mild loathing for. Consider Central Reservation one of the exceptions. I found the album different enough that it avoided the pratfalls of being generic that so often accompanies the first adjective that came to mind once I finished listening: pleasant. The quirks to the blending of two genres that really don’t seem like they should get along were there, but the mixture was overall smooth. I couldn’t imagine diving in to the album, but it was fitting for background music.

Favorite Tracks: Central Reservation; Stolen Car; So Much More