Evelyn Evelyn

I've been listening to the Evelyn Evelyn album since its release, and with each play, I love it more.

I'm aware of the controversy surrounding the album, and I just don't care. This project is heartfelt, and I'm getting something quite different from its meaning than the naysayers who feel that Amanda Palmer is promoting stereotypes about disabled people that keep them marginalized.

I disagree.

The key to Amanda Palmer's brilliance is less about her theatrics (even though they're lovely) and more about the way that she captures the many facets of human emotion within her songs. She's an artist who isn't mono-dimensional, and in one album, she's captured loneliness, anger, joy, compassion, love, abuse, irony... It's not always "feel good," but art doesn't have to be. It tells a story, outrageous or mundane. It paints a picture. It stirs something within. It makes you remember that you're alive and that you have emotions, both dark and light.

There are a large number of stories that show disabled people overcoming obstacles, and they're generally received positively. In my not so humble opinion, the negative reaction to this album has more to do with style than anything else. It doesn't have the subtle, room with a view in a house by a pond feeling. You can whisper, but you should never scream.

Ampersand - Amanda Palmer

Constant fixture in my head this week...

Halloween is the new Christmas

I adore Halloween, and even though it's not quite October, I'm already getting excited. Music sets the mood, and Grimly Fiendish is always a part of my Halloween soundtrack.

And, of course, Karen Black...

Faun Fables

Stina Nordenstam - Dynamite

The Innocence Mission - Bright As Yellow

This song has been playing in my head all week long. It makes me feel happy, so I'm sharing.

One Apartment and Six Drummers

The Circus March

I fell asleep and woke from dreams to the sound of Christoph cooking dinner and humming the circus song...and I wondered exactly who wrote that creepy song in the first place.

Wikipedia is my friend.

The song is called Entrance of the Gladiators, and it was written by a Czech composer as a military march.

Imagine falling backwards in time to a vision of Czech soldiers marching to battle with that song as their soundtrack. And people wonder why circuses are sinister...

Zoe Keating

Zoe Keating is my current musical obsession, and I just wanted to share.

There's actually a better version of this particular video available via itunes under the Pop!Tech podcast, and you can link to it directly from www.zoekeating.com

Kristin Hersh - Your Ghost

The work of Kristen Hersh has always resonated with me, and this song has recently been a fixture in my playlist.

Tearwave - Lotus Flower

The Decemberists

On Sunday night, I saw the Decemberists play at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, and it was beyond delightful. Their live performance is even better than their studio recording (which is very good, indeed), and they interact well with their audience...in fact, interactive would be the key word.

Their music is difficult to describe. Words that come to mind are: sepia-toned, fanciful, nautical, folkloric, and thoughtful. Primarily, The Decemberists are storytellers, and they compliment their tales with music that's often reminiscent of sea chanteys and/or beautiful folk compositions.

I'll admit that when I first heard the band, I was taken by the lyrics, but I had a difficult time adjusting to Colin Meloy's unique vocal stylings. I kept listening because the pictures painted are so vivid that they've made their way into my fantasies, and now I'm fond of every aspect of the music including the vocals. There's an honesty and passion here that I find endearing, and it's become a part of the musical fabric that helps to define my world.
...

As an aside...I rarely go to a concert where someone doesn't manage to spill a beer or some other alcoholic beverage on me, and this was no exception. In this case, it happened while I was sitting in a toilet stall (for which I waited in the longest line that has ever existed). At the very moment that I saw the splash of vodka and lime penetrating my shoes, I heard a very passionate cry of "Noooooo!!!!!!" Honestly, I don't blame the girl for being upset. The drinks at the Fillmore Auditorium were $7.00, a price tag that I didn't discover until after I ordered a beer for myself.

Seriously...Fillmore folks. This is highway robbery, especially for a beer served in a plastic cup. If I'm going to spend enough money to buy the whole six pack, I'd like to cradle the bottle for a little while. I promise not to hit anyone with it. Honest.

And to the cute indie girl who kept touching my ass: Thank you for the titillation...even if it was an accident.

How do you like my featherbed?

I think this would be a good time for a music meme...killer of boredom and all that...

List seven songs you are into right now, no matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to

1) "Delilah"- Dresden Dolls
2) "Sinister Grains"-Anoushka Shankar
3) "Seeing Red"-Edward Ka-Spel
4) "Hospitalistische Kinder / Engel der Vernichtung"- Einsturzende Neubauten
5) "L'echange"-Attrition
6) "Matty Groves"-Fairport Convention
7) "There is a Ghost"-Marianne Faithfull

If you've taken the time to read this far, consider yourself tagged...you know, if you want to. I'm not into forced surveys.

Oh...and in case you were wondering about the featherbed thing in the title...it's from the lyrics to Matty Groves...a traditional English folk ballad that I love which also happens to be playing on my myspace profile at the moment. (Yes, I've succumbed to the evil of myspace...my nearest and dearest friend is there. What's a girl to do?)

That is all.

Mr. Vincent Price

This video of Vincent Price makes me unbelievably happy.

Also, did you know that he wrote cookbooks? This is one of several, and the recipes don't even require a cauldron.

Legendary Pink Dots

If I had to choose one band to listen to for the remainder of my days, there's no real question regarding who I would choose. I'm an avid Legendary Pink Dots fan, and I have been for years. It's bordering on an obssession.

I just noticed that there are Pink Dots MP3s available for download on Epitonic.com which means that my only option is to proselytize.

Specific Recommendations:
Citadel
Spike
Dissonance

And I'll leave it at that because if I don't, I'll end up listing every song on the page.

The Glass Armonica

About a month ago my husband and I watched Mesmer and became completely infatuated with a musical instrument that appeared in the film. It was composed of nested cylinders of glass which were rotated on a spindle, and at the touch of human hands, vibrated in much the same way that a wine glass vibrates when you run a wet finger along the rim.

At the time, we didn't realize that this instrument is called the Glass Armonica, and it was invented by Ben Franklin in 1761. He had heard another artist playing the wine glasses, and he decided that he could devise an instrument that would have the same qualities but with greater functionality.

The instrument became very popular in its day, and it's history is nearly as interesting as the sound that it creates. Several artists, including Mozart and Beethoven, composed pieces for the Glass Armonica, and Marie Antoinette took Armonica lessons, however, the instrument began to lose its popularity when rumours began to spread inferring that the instrument was a cause of insanity.

According to the German musicologist, Friedrich Rochlitz:

There may be various reasons for the scarcity of armonica players, principally the almost universally shared opinion that playing it is damaging to the health, that it excessively stimulates the nerves, plunges the player into a nagging depression and hence into a dark and melancholy mood, that it is an apt method for slow self-annihilation… Many (physicians with whom I have discussed this matter) say the sharp penetrating tone runs like a spark through the entire nervous system, forcibly shaking it up and causing nervous disorders.

As these types of rumours continued to spread, the popularity of the instrument waned, but it's still possible to purchase one, and there are still composers such as William Zeitler who claim the Glass Armonica as their primary instrument. I definitely recommend checking out Mr. Zeitler's site, as it's filled with interesting historical information about the instrument.

Also, if you'd like to hear the glass armonica, there's an article at PBS.org that has a soundclip.

There's also an interactive “virtual armonica” that you can play.

Thank you to hardrockzombie in the darkvictoria community for shedding some light on this enigmatic instrument! This is the kind of thing that I adore.

Gothic Americana

The Denver Post recently ran an article, The Denver Sound and more, and it discusses some of the more interesting bands that have formed in this city.

"Whether it is called Gothic country, American Gothic or Gothic folk, the sound is dark, plainspoken and often morose. Sometimes it's morbid, yet it's also often uplifting - and always thoughtful."

My personal favourites are Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots, Woven Hand, and Sixteen Horsepower which make frequent rounds in my CD player, but the others a worth a listen as well.

Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots
Woven Hand
Sixteen Horsepower
Lilium
Denver Broncos
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
Tarantella
Denver Gentlemen
DeVotchka