Mark Lanegan- Imitations

Well, this new one proves at least one thing- I mean it when I say that he could sing the phone book, and I would be riveted.  Briefly, the idea is that Mark sings covers of various songs in a "crooner" style, like Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra ( mid sixties version. mind you). This goes all the way to the production which is flattened out to something that seems pretty close to mono. Likewise, the arrangements feature strings, with guitars. Now, while I'm not one to hate things for musical idiom- I like everything from Guy Lombardo to Merzbow, so believe you me, it's not just that the crooner style isn't my thing- it's the specific type of crooner, coupled with the arrangements, coupled with some of the choices of song to use- if this were anyone but Mark Lanegan, I would hate this. It's like Elvis in 1966, and Mac Davis, just about any time, and Paul Anka... what I am saying is that, aesthetically, this is as close as it comes to Mark literally singing the phone book or a Chinese menu as it gets for me- and I still like it. Unless you're like me, and really could hear the man sing anything, you don't need this.  I don't completely understand why I like his voice so much, but I do. So, that's all I can say, I love his delivery, even if the songs mean absolutely nothing to me.