KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza

Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall’s 2005 debut album *Eye to the Telescope* polished up the young troubadour for the radio market and sacrificed a bit of her intimate side. This has been corrected with 2006’s *Acoustic Extravanganza*, a casual collection of b-sides and acoustic demos recorded in two days with her backing group in a small Scottish recording studio that gives listeners an idea of what Tunstall’s like behind the scenes before the producer’s hand turns on the pop glitz. A dark, exemplary cover of Beck’s “Golden Age” leads the way, while “Universe & U” and “Miniature Disasters” from the debut album are reworked in smaller versions that better expose Tunstall’s vulnerable side, making her less a pop diva than a rustic soul singer — and therefore truer to her musical beginnings as a street singer. “Boo Hoo” works up a bluesy lather. “Gone to the Dogs,” with its active stand-up bass, and “Ashes,” with its angry intonations, best accentuate her folk n’ country side. If Tunstall ever turns her back on the pop world, she could make a strong run in the folk world.

Recorded after a relentless touring schedule, the tracks here were done in a small, remote Scottish studio with KT Tunstall's band.