Musical conclusions for today

[annathepiper]

I need Altan's album Another Sky. They're on the queue today in Rhapsody, as I go through the seven or eight albums Rhapsody has available for listening, and yeah, that album's good.

Also, I think the voice of the lead singer chick is really rather growing on me. Possibly to the tune of being one of the few female singing voices that can actually make me swoon a bit. It's hard to do, since I'm generally so heavily distracted by the male singers I like (mmmmmmm ALAN ^_^), but it CAN be done! Two words: Heather Alexander. Her version of "Witch of the Westmereland", closely followed by "Tomorrow We Leave for Battle"? Yeah, those actually make Anna swoon a bit.

I'm thinking the lead singer chick in Solas may be joining that club too, though I'm bummed that she's actually left the group. I'm trying to decide whether I want to check out her solo work.

Also, I think it behooves me to look at Gaia Consort. solcita, you guys sound like a group I think I could like. :)

Comments

[grian-ruadh.livejournal.com]

Another utterly swoony female voice is Origa. She's a Russian singer who has transplanted to Japan and is now mega-famous there for J-Pop and umpteen anime soundtracks. I think some of her best work to date has been with composer Yoko Kanno on "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and "Ghost in the Shell: 2nd Gig". "Inner Universe" from the first CD and "Rise" from the second are not to be missed. :)

[annathepiper]

Huh, cool. :) Kind of outside my usual realm of music--solarbird is more into the anime soundtracks than I am, since she watches more anime than I do. (Though I must admit that the soundtrack for Cowboy Bebop IS bitchin' cool...)

[grian-ruadh.livejournal.com]

Oh, then you've already been introduced to Yoko Kanno. She composed the "Bebop" soundtrack too. :D

[annathepiper]

Oh cool! I didn't know the composer's name.

[me-fein.livejournal.com]

Y'mean Karan Casey? Yeah, she's spiff - but Karan left a while back...after...oh, darn it.... after The Hour Before Dawn, I think. I have The Words That Remain, but I seem to recall that actually has Deirdre somebody-or-other in it, who replaced her...but don't quote me. :) I like Solas, but I don't know too much about them, just a few albums and such. The band has done a few people swaps since.

[annathepiper]

Huh, I don't have too much Solas yet--I have The Words That Remain, Another Day, and now Waiting for an Echo. But I'm confused about the history of the involved parties here. Karan Casey is the name I recognize, but the voice I was specifically talking about is whoever sings lead on "Pastures of Plenty" on The Words That Remain.

Checking the album insert on that one, I see Karan Casey still listed, so she must be the voice I'm admiring. Deirdre Scanlan is listed as lead vocals on Another Day, though!

[solcita.livejournal.com]

Woot! =D Well, I do have a few samples uploaded...

Evolve (http://www.kekkai.org/calatea/mp3/Gaia%20Consort%20-%20Evolve.mp3) (title track off our latest CD)
Family (http://www.kekkai.org/calatea/mp3/Gaia%20Consort%20-%20Family.mp3)
The Scythe (listen for the viola solo, that's me!)
Christmas In The Southland (http://www.kekkai.org/calatea/mp3/Solstice/GaiaConsort-ChristmasInTheSouthland.mp3) (not yet released on CD. It is also VERY VERY DIRTY. But subtle.)

I'd have more, but my domain is down at the moment. Grr, argh.
(http://www.kekkai.org/calatea/mp3/Gaia%20Consort%20-%20The%20Scythe.mp3)

[annathepiper]

Bitchin'! I'm downloading these as I type. Thank you very much!

Turns out spazzkat has heard of Gaia Consort, too! ^_^

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

Whoa, me too! I downloaded a song from Witches' Vox that I love, Drawing Down the Moon.

[annathepiper]

Whee, small LJ world. ^_^

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Speaking of music, when's the next jam?

[annathepiper]

A very good question, which reminds me that I need to post a POLL on that very topic!

[kieri.livejournal.com]

I saw Heather live at the WA Ren Faire in August. It was fun.

(How many of them can we make DIE! Woo!)

Oh! Which reminds me, to add to your book pile (sorry, I know, it's evil) -- there's a trilogy-in-progress of books where one of the main characters is based on Heather Alexander. The author called her up and asked, "Say, how'd you like to save Oregon?"

They're pretty good stories - the premise is that for some unexplained reason, some force has changed the laws of physics on earth so that gunpowder and electricity no longer work. The end result of that is that society collapses with a really big thump, as food transportation and sanitation basically evaporate and people die of starvation and plague and such.

The story is about the few lucky people who make it through the crisis and start forming their own communities - there are two primary good guy POV groups, one of whom is led by a Wiccan Celtic musician.

:) They're called "Dies the Fire" and "The Protector's War" with a third book out in September, and they're pretty good reads and set in the Willamette, so they're local-ish. The author's SM Stirling.

(I have a bit of Altan, but I've kind of gotten out of Celtic of late, aside from a foray into New England/Nova Scotia stuff by way of Nightengale's 'Three'.) :)

[annathepiper]

Huh, the name S.M. Stirling sounds vaguely familiar--I wonder if I've seen that name around? Thanks for the tip, though! And while yes, yes you are evil, I don't think I can resist a character based on Heather. I'll have to see if I can find these books. ^_^

As for Nightingale, I presume you're talking about these folks? Sounds like I might like them!

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Yep, that'd be them. I caught one of their songs on Salon's free audio blog and really liked it, so I ordered their CD. I'm not sure they're available on Rhapsody or iTunes, but their site lets you listen to the music ahead of ordering it, I think. :)

I think the books are only in hardback at the moment, though Dies the Fire might've made it to paperback by now, but the first 10 chapters of each book are up at http://www.smstirling.com

He usually writes kind of alt-history stuff, but these books have a considerably more mythic feel to them, IMO. :) Good stuff.

[annathepiper]

Amazon says that Dies the Fire is out in paperback. A few mixed reviews, but some positive ones as well. I'll see about whether I can buy it any time soon. I'm still on a bit of a book budget, and over the next couple of months some of my high-priority authors are about to come out with new ones. :)

iTunes has a group called "The Nightingales" on its Music Store, but that's a different group. I'll have to check Rhapsody when I get to work tomorrow (I haven't installed it on this machine), but I suspect they won't be there. From what I've seen so far, a band or artist gets onto the system only if they're licensed to be there, and that seems to be something doable only by groups with national-level followings.

I'll see what I can find in terms of listenable samples, though if I can only get CDs by ordering, they'll have to go onto my queue after the Paperboys. :)

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

I always really liked the album Harvest Storm. I haven't heard Another Sky yet. I'll have to look out for it. :)

[annathepiper]

Harvest Storm was actually next on the Rhapsody queue, when I left off at work yesterday! I got only about a song and a half in, but liked what I heard! ^_^

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

As I'm sitting here listening to Young Dubliners, I remember you saying the Dubs opened for GBS at least once, and I find myself wondering if GBS are Dubs...ish? Is it the same sort of semi-folk-rock style? I was kinda thinking I'd like to expand my repetoire of this kind of music, and maybe GBS would fit into it...

[annathepiper]

They did indeed open for GBS once, along with Seven Nations, in 2002--on the Uprooted tour. Fun trio of bands to have playing together. ^_^

GBS and the Young Dubs are in the same general musical neighborhood, I'd say, yeah--"folk rock". Though I think the Young Dubs are a touch more slanted towards "rock" and GBS is usually slanted just a touch more towards "folk".

See my comment to howlinhobbit on this post for what specific GBS tunes to look for, if you'd like to sample a song or two, and where to get them. :)