and what do i think

OK. I've listened to all the music from last month. I highly recommend The Gypsy Nomads. Great music. Very infectious. I think, surprisingly, that I actually preferred them to their alter-ego Frenchy and the Punk, despite the fact that F&P includes Samantha Stephenson singing. Normally I'm a sucker for a female vocalist, especially a whispery French cabaret one, but in order to fit in the vocals they are having to suppress the energy of their instrumental performance. Not that she sings badly (it's actually quite good), it's just after the infectious energy of Thread & Stone Happy Madness is ... different. In any case all the songs rate as Most Excellent. Ghostfire comes from a solid rock background with driving rhythms. There are some good songs on THe Tyburn Gig (And Other Dances), particularly Smoke & Mirrors and Dance of Fate. Sophisticated rock, but not overly complex, with a tendency to the occasional power chord. Quite listenable to, but it's actually something you have to listen to to enjoy. Tune out and it's a bit discordant. Very vaudevillian in their themes, it is an interesting dichotomy. Rouge Fonce is heavy on the drum beat and stealth guitar. Get with the beat! Looking forward to more of their stuff. Empty World is a typical soundtrack, and given the title, full of haunting drawn-out melodies conveying great space and emptiness, with slow ponderous reveals. Excellent composer. Must try and get some of KK and the Steampunk Orchestra (I quite enjoyed their song The Time Machine). Inkubus Sukkubus is your standard darkwave goth band with a lead singer who likes getting Haigh chocolate frogs for her birthday from tall mysterious strangers. I like their music when played quietly. When you have to go sit on the steps of the building across the road then their performance might be a wee bit loud. Ceremonials is my favourite of Florence & The Machine's albums, mainly because of the heavy percussion in songs like Only If For A Night. If it didn't have to compete this month with Thread & stone it might have been my favourite album. The songs have a certain false complexity that is attractive. Catherine Joy is your typical folk singer with a guitar (although she is accompanied by violin and accordion and a few other instruments), so one shouldn't expect a great deal of musical complexity. However I definitely like Pyromaniac Romance thematically, and it has enough complexity to appease my essential chaotic nature.