reverancepavane | one serve of fox envy coming up (Reply)

Has it really been a month already?

I never did get back to correcting the last music acquisition listing after my brain stopped.* Or cleaning up under the table for that matter, which what I was procrastinating to avoid doing. [The stuff has been "temporarily stored there for at least the last five years. Another year won't hurt it. After all, I don't think I'll be using my sewing machine soon, anyway.]

It's interesting to see how chaotic my tastes in music are. At the moment I'm wondering why I thought the stuff I put aside last month was worth putting aside (let alone questioning some of my purchases). I knew I felt there were redeeming qualities to the music, but at the moment I can't really see it. No doubt I'll be back to appreciating it in a month or two, but if anyone wonders why I seem to like widely divergent pieces of music, this is probably the reason. I do like them both, but not often at the same time.

Anyway, here are the purchases of music so far (primarily for my records so I know what I've gotten recently).

Physically it's been a slow month, especially after the excesses of last month. The only physical CD I've bought was the self-titled album by The Loneliest Monk. Like most bands using Bandcamp it came with a free set of mp3 too, which is much appreciated whilst I wait for the physical CD to arrive. I heard about this band from Eliza Rickman, who discovered them in Chicago whilst working on her upcoming new album (must get!). I've already posted their video for Ghost and the silhouette. What can I say. Cute girl with a cello. The masquerade masks and ethereal quality just clinch the deal. [Although I'm worried about the cello bondage portrayed in the film clip.]

Speaking of Eliza Rickman, Galanis thanked Eliza for recommending the company she used for her film clip to them. So I went to look at the new film clip (posted previously as "a cute fish") and quite liked the music, so I also grabbed a copy of their album Dimes. Nice viola,** and Bridget Shack adds a good harmony that fills out the music nicely. And a viola played by a semi-cute violist (Amy Noonan) is almost as good as a cute cellist in my books. After all the viola is a better instrument than a violin. More wood. It burns longer.

Now I have absolutely no memory of where I discovered Zora, but it was more than likely because of sepiachord. Anyway, I discovered one morning that my friendship request was approved and so I went to listen to the music and liked it enough to pick up a copy of her EP Cognitive Dissonance. Did I mention I have gaps in my memory if I push myself too hard? Oh well. I probably forgot. Anyway, nice driving electronica with excellent vocals. I'm glad I made a friend request even though I don't remember doing so.

In an attempt to reduce my backlist of stuff I saved for later I picked up a couple of albums from The Machine in the Garden. Namely One Winter's Night and Veils and Shadows. I'll probably need to swing back into a more metal appreciative phase before I pick up the earlier albums, which are very rock inspired darkwave, but I do like the later ones, which tend to be rather more melodic. Whilst I like excellent vocals, I also love complex backing harmonies, that you don't get with a standard rock setup. The vocalist, Summer Bowman, is half of Mirablis, which is one of my all-time favourite darkwave vocal duets. Half of brilliant is still very very good. Incidentally Mirablis done a piece with Justin Elswick (aka Sleepthief).

Speaking of electronica with a strong vocal component, we have 70's avant-garde French jazz band Magma who apparently invented all the words on their album Mekkanik Destructiw Kommandoh. So I thought it might be a nice refreshing palate cleanser. This is actually quite excellent. Surprisingly so, in fact. The backing music is very 70's prog rock (think Rick Wakeman etc), but it is fronted by rather complex vocals. Being nonsense words it's the Pnakotic Manuscript of the music world. Intriguing. Apparently they are still around and still playing. Their other albums seem to be more reliant on the electronica at the time, but this one does show potential. Perhaps looking at more than the snippets might be warranted.

Penultimately we have Rasputina and Frustration Plantation. How can you go wrong with two cellos? [Again, kudos to enkorvaks and motokomaharet for their wonderful Solstice gift of Thanks For The Ether.]

Finally the orphan song (one of the problems with a subscription service is a quota which may not fit neatly into full albums), which this month shall be The path of decay from the EP of the same name by Sirenia. This is a Norwegian metal heavy rock group with pop sensibilities, with an excellent classically-trained lead vocalist (Ailyn) who actually sings rather than shouts. Again, an observable classical background gives them a melodic depth that most similar metal groups simply can't approach. You have to know the forms (and more than four chords), before you can break them successfully. I picked up their two albums last month and enjoyed them muchly. No cellos, but a cute female vocalist in leather corset will do in a pinch, won't it?

On the new music front I've just remembered to grab a copy of James Semple's latest opus, that being the soundtrack for the Trail of Cthulhu adventure Eternal Lies. He's done a few mini-CDs for other Pelgrane games which I've quite liked, so I'm looking forward to this one. Now I just have to wait for the postie.

Additionally it looks like Within Temptation will have a new album out soon. Plus Clare Maguire has a new album out at the end of the month. And I might try and chase down that new Sirenia album (The Enigma of Life). I might have to even <gasp> walk into a CD store. It's been sooooo long.

And we have the Fringe and Womadelaide coming up soon. Although I definitely won't be Womading this year ($300 is just too expensive for what you get, even putting aside health considerations****). But this means that there will be a few performers I'll be wanting to catch live. Such as a capella group Aluka, avant-garde violin/drum duo The Twoks, Lily La Scala (doing those old classics rather than popping balloons), The Idea of North (in St Peters Cathedral again), Sacred Weird Little Guys, and The Axis of Awesome.***** And then there is a lot of new music to discover (a lot of a capella this year). And some might have CDs for sale. Come to think of it, Lily promised that her CD would be available next year... <evil grin>

* I've been rather ill over the last few years, and as it's a progressive disease I've slowly been getting a lot worse. It hit the rather serious phase about six months ago, where combinations of neurological degradation and metabolic dysfunction really have hit me hard. Especially with the various medications that keep me going, I only get a couple of minute warning** before my brain literally stops and I collapse if I push myself too far. No real damage to me as I wake up fine afterwards, apart from not laying down long-term memory, but it still means I have to be rather careful.

** Actually this is an exaggeration. The effects are noticeable early enough for me to realise it's time to flee (especially if I'm conversing with someone). It's just when I'm safe at home I might have a tendency to push the envelope to the very edge in an attempt to prove something to myself.

*** At least I think it is viola. It's been a few years since I've had to tell the difference by ear. Why yes, I went to a special music school. I also passed Music I using a soldering iron and a multimeter. Why do you ask?

**** OK. It's almost worth it for the one hour of Afro Celt Sound System that we will actually be getting, but...

***** And maybe if I pay them enough they will take Bird plane out of my head. If I ask nicely. Pleeeaaaaasse!!!!