Review of Music In High Places: Shawn Colvin

Introduction

Shawn Colvin? Who she? This is probably the reaction of most people who are reading this review, and probably of all the people who just skipped past it as they didn`t recognise the name. If more than about 2 people other than me have heard of her, then I`m shocked and pleasantly surprised that not everyone is obsessed by chart dross.

And as with Mary Chapin Carpenter, the fact that so few people have ever heard of her is a crying shame, because she is another one of the best singer/songwriters in the business. Like Carpenter, she writes intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics, backed with beautiful music, with her roots in the country/folk scene. Those last few words are probably the killer, as they often provoke instant revulsion.

On this disc you get the music (solo acoustic performances) as well as the scenery of Bora Bora.

Video

A non-anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer, which while there`s little wrong with it (for an NTSC source) begs the question "why bother with widescreen if you`re not going anamorphic"? Particularly given some of the amazing scenery on show here (which is half of the point of the Music in High Places series!)

It`s all watchable enough with only the odd digital artefact along the way. It`s just a shame that they stopped at the halfway house of non-anamorphic.

Audio

A choice of DD2.0 stereo and DD5.1. Whilst the 5.1 soundtrack is a bit better than the 2.0, there`s not much in it as the only 2 elements in the mix are Shawn`s voice and her guitar. Nice to see they made the effort of 5.1, but you`re not missing out if you`ve only got 2 channels.

Features

Some brief extras, with some behind the scenes and interview stuff. It`s not all that interesting, and it would have been nicer just to see more music. Who really wants to see lots of TV spots with Shawn Colvin saying "Hi, I`m Shawn Colvin, tune into blah blah network to see blah blah"?

Conclusion

Another artist who I never thought would see the light of day on DVD has made it to the shiny disc, and I`m grateful even if most people will just ignore this title. Shawn is a great songwriter and performer, and the simple acoustic set on show here is the perfect showcase. Add to that the rather nice locations and this is a good package. Shame about the non-anamorphic transfer though.

My one gripe is that it`s far too short, and it would have been much nicer to see a lot more music. It`s bad value for money at £19.99 for about 40 minutes of music. If you`re a fan you might have to bite the bullet anyway (you`ll save at least £5 online though), but if you`re just curious then wait for it to turn up in a bargain bin or a sale somewhere. You might just be pleasantly surprised.