JILL BARBER — Mischievous Moon (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The first notes of the first song on this album fill you with foreboding: brushed drums, a simple string bassline, and even simpler piano chords played in pulsing eighth notes, Fats Domino style. Sweet Mother of Claudine Longet, you wonder, what have I gotten myself into? Then Jill Barber's voice comes in, with that unmistakable mid-century blend of little-girl timbre and orotund vowels, and you have your answer: you've gotten yourself into a mess of nostalgia, and the only thing that will deliver you to the other side of these 41 minutes with your sanity intact will be the quality of the songs. Luckily for you, these are great songs. Also luckily for you, Jill Barber and her co-conspirators recognize no functional difference between torch ballads, Patsy Cline-era country music, and cocktail jazz. Best of all, if their love of these various musical anachronisms is ironic, it's impossible to tell -- the wordless background vocals, the plinking pianos, the string sections, and Barber's little-girl-about-town singing style all combine to create what sounds like a purely and sincerely loving pastiche of musical elements that, for anyone under the age of 60, will sound both eerily familiar (from movies your parents like) and utterly foreign. From the decorous cha-cha of "Took Me by Surprise" (with its unbelievably cheesy horn chart) to the torchy orchestral pop of "Tenderness," the music is certainly gimmicky, but the pleasure is real. And this is pop music, people: pleasure is pretty much all that counts. Rick Anderson
Tracklist :
1    Mischievous Moon 4:12
Arranged By [Strings] – Drew Jurecka
Vibraphone – Michael Davidson
Written-By – Drew Jurecka, Jill Barber, Les Cooper
2    Took Me By Surprise 4:08
Arranged By – Les Cooper
Flugelhorn – Bryden Baird
Flute – Joseph Shabason
Harmony Vocals – Emma-Lee
Percussion [Additional] – Rosendo (Chendy) León
Vibraphone – Michael Davidson
Vocals [Additional] – The Good Lovelies
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
3    Tell Me 4:09
Arranged By – Les Cooper
Flugelhorn – Bryden Baird
Harmony Vocals – Peter Elkas
Percussion [Additional] – Rosendo (Chendy) León
Trombone – William Carn
Trumpet – Chris Whiteley
Vocals [Additional] – Allison Outhit, Emma-Lee, Les Cooper, Matthew Barber, Robbie Grunwald
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
4    Daydreamin' 3:03
Arranged By [Horns] – Drew Jurecka, Les Cooper
Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Alto Saxophone – Drew Jurecka
Recorded By [Strings] – Drew Jurecka
Strings – Drew Jurecka
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
5    A Wish Under My Pillow 2:07
Clarinet – Drew Jurecka
Harmony Vocals – Drew Jurecka
Percussion [Additional] – Rosendo (Chendy) León
Vibraphone – Michael Davidson
Vocals [Additional] – The Good Lovelies
Written-By – Drew Jurecka, Jill Barber
6    Steal Away 4:09
Arranged By – Les Cooper
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
7    Any Fool Can Fall In Love 3:15
Arranged By – Les Cooper
Flugelhorn – Bryden Baird
Flute – Joseph Shabason
Percussion – Rosendo (Chendy) León
Vocals [Additional] – The Good Lovelies
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper, Ron Sexsmith
8    Tenderness 3:51
Arranged By [Strings] – Drew Jurecka
Written-By – Drew Jurecka, Jill Barber
9    If It Weren't For Loving You 3:28
Accordion – Robbie Grunwald
Arranged By [Strings, Horns] – Les Cooper
Percussion [Additional] – Adam Warner, Rosendo (Chendy) León
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
10    Lullaby 1:48
Arranged By – Les Cooper
Lap Steel Guitar – Les Cooper
Vocals [Additional] – Adam Warner, Les Cooper, Robbie Grunwald
Written-By – Drew Jurecka, Jill Barber
11    Dis-moi 4:09
Translated By – Jean-Sebastien Boies, Simon Wilcox
Written-By – Jill Barber, Les Cooper
Credits :
Bass – Steve Zsirai
Cello – John Marshman, Lydia Munchinsky
Cello, Soloist – Rachel Pomedli
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Drew Jurecka
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar – Les Cooper
Piano, Electric Piano [Rhodes, Wurlitzer], Accordion – Robbie Grunwald
Viola – Johann Lotter, Karen Moffatt, Yosef Tamir
Violin – Bethany Bergman, Erika Raum, Kathleen Kajioka
Violin, Soloist – Drew Jurecka

JILL BARBER — Homemaker (2023) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jill Barber returns to her folk roots with her new album, "Homemaker", delivering ten quietly profound songs about the complexities of motherhood, marriage, and the struggle to feel at home in one's own identity. Having spent the last 20 years playing nearly every folk and jazz festival in Canada and captivating audiences across the globe, touring Japan, Europe, Australia, Mexico, South America, the USA and the Middle East, It was over the past few years that Jill began to feel an increasing disparity between her public image and the reality of her domestic life as an exhausted wife and mother. Whereas her most recent albums have been bathed in lush string arrangements, "Homemaker" sees emotions laid bare, with a stripped-down production style reminiscent of her acclaimed debut Oh Heart and double Juno Award nominated follow-up For All Time.
Written and recorded in her adopted hometown of Vancouver where she lives with her husband and two children, Homemaker is the first record that sees Jill in the role of a producer, co-producing with Erik Neilsen, and features some of Vancouver's top session players.
'Homemaker" is an intentional push-back against the worn-out notion of what it means to be 'just a homemaker'. It is a statement about the humility and strength that it takes to do the meaningful work of creating a home for others, while still holding space for your own dreams." web
Tracklist:
1. Instant Cash for Gold (3:07)
2. Beautiful Life (3:22)
3. Homemaker (4:14)
4. Joint Account (feat. Slow Leaves) (3:07)
5. Woman of My Own Dreams (3:41)
6. Hell No (3:27)
7. My Mother’s Hand (3:41)
8. Big Eyes (3:12)
9. Helium (3:50)
10. Still in Love (3:20)