main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph Music More People Should Hear

Discussion in 'Community' started by poor yorick, Sep 15, 2013.

  1. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Here's your chance to publicize music and artists you think deserve more public attention.

    My first choice is David Francey, a Scottish-Canadian singer/songwriter. He tends to get classified as a folk artist, but I don't think he sounds particularly like most modern folk singers. His stuff does sometimes sound like traditional Scottish music, but without the bagpipes. I swear, I wouldn't inflict bagpipes on you without a big red warning sign.

    His lyrics tend to be about working class life in Scotland and Canada, especially the life of sailors on the Great Lakes. Sometimes his lyrics are like gorgeous, image-rich poetry, especially when he writes about nature.

    Here are some of my favorites:



    "Nearly Midnight" is a beautiful song detailing the apparently simple act of driving home on a Canadian winter's night. Francey manages to find evocative imagery everywhere, even in the crooked telephone poles of a rural road.



    "Red Winged Blackbird" is about as classically folky as Francey gets. I think he sounds a little like a Scottish John Denver here. This is an awesome live version--I like it better than the album version. Fair warning--whether you like this song or not, you WILL be humming it in 3 hours. Oh yes. You will.



    "Broken Glass" is a heartbreakingly accurate picture of remembered high school love. No hyperbole or shmoop--it's an adult's take on adolescent romance. The tune is effortlessly lovely, characteristic of Francey at his best.

    He's won a lot of music awards in Canada, and does get some airplay on specialty programs in the States, such as the Folks Like Us program in Detroit, which is where I first heard him. However, I think his music has broader appeal than just to Canadians and folk music fans. Give him a listen and see what you think!
     
    Yoda_S, Chancellor_Ewok and tom like this.
  2. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    People need to hear more Life Cried. They don't even have a wiki article. :(





     
  3. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    good stuff, ophie. i particularly liked 'nearly midnight' and 'broken glass'. a bit of a nick drake feel.

    i listened to half of the first life cried song. just not my thing at all.

    i've posted brown bird in the song thread a few times, but i'll post them here as well. i think they're actually starting to get a bit of a following, but i think it's mostly through word of mouth as it's not really the kind of thing you read about on pitchfork or wherever. if i had to describe their sound i guess i'd call it dark bluegrass. enjoy!





     
  4. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Listened to all 3 Life Cried songs (getting to tom's) . . . not bad. My only complaint is that Life Cried sounds a bit derivative in the first two . . . "Rage" was pretty good, but it reminded me a LOT of early 90's Ministry. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" had more of a unique sound to it . . . sort of gothy-doomy-witchy-gloomy. (tm) I didn't fall in love, but I could definitely see myself dancing to this stuff at one of the clubs I used to frequent . . . back before I got old and boring. :p

    Where are Life Cried from? Do you know anything else about them, Vivec?

    Edit: Wow, tom! Brown Bird is fascinating . . . they seem to have a ton of disparate influences that I'm enjoying teasing out. There's definitely blues in there, and some of the bluegrass sound you mentioned, but there's something Old World about "Nothing Left" . . . their site says they have Middle Eastern influences, maybe that's it. I haven't heard anything quite like them.

    Nice find!
     
  5. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004


    This guy should definetly be more widely known.

    You should listen to his cover of The Bear and the Maiden Fair.

     
  6. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    A GoT fan band . . . very interesting! I couldn't find much information about "Tall Like Tyrion" on the web . . . do you know much about them, C_E? That song was absolutely eerie, btw . . . I liked it.
     
  7. Only-One Cannoli

    Only-One Cannoli Ex-Mod star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 2003
    I was actually just listening to this new album and thinking about how unfamous Sopor is... it's definitely for if you're in a certain kind of weird mood, too experimental for lighthearted listening. I'm really loving this album more than other ones though just because it's all Poe and relaxing, great to work to.

    Bandcamp for full album hurr, not on youtube yet
     
    EmpireForever likes this.
  8. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    They're from the US. Definitely not the authentic German/North European industrial group.

    They make great walking music. If you ever see me walking with a lot of purpose I'm probably listening to them in my earphones. :p
    Dreamland makes me think of a horror circus.
     
  9. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Yeah. I haven't been able to find very much either, but their cover of TBATMF is a track an album called Six Songs from Seven Kingdoms, on which they perform songs of ASOIAF, unfortunately only The Bear and the Maiden Fair, The Dornishman's Wife, Last of the Giants and Mother's Hymn have complete lyrics. I would love to hear them do a complete rendition of The Rains of Castamere.
     
  10. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    I'm pretty musically illiterate so I can't offer much, but I have discovered these folks who I quite like (for obvious reasons)

     
  11. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Great thread Ophelia! As usual.

    I'll contribute properly tonight after work, but bands/acts I would probably draw on are Rosetta, Palms, Ocoeur, Mono, and Kaki King.
     
  12. Aytee-Aytee

    Aytee-Aytee Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2008
  13. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Wow, Aytee, what a powerful voice she has! And the language is gorgeous . . . I had to look it up. Apparently it's Xhosa. She definitely deserves exposure outside her native South Africa!

    SLG: I can see how Sopor Aeturnus would be good music to work by . . . it's a little hypnotic. I can imagine getting into the creative zone with it. I listened to most of the album, and my favorite track is probably "Eldorado."

    Jelloz: I think you introduced me to Daemonia Nymphe before . . . don't they sing in ancient Greek? Or rap in ancient Greek? Whatever they're doing? :p Either way, that song is very you.

    Also, thx, Enders! Looking forward to what you present.
     
    Sith-Lord-Gunray and Ender Sai like this.
  14. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Ancient Greek rappers. There's an....interesting fusion. :p :D
     
  15. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    I love Irish music like the Chieftains.
     
    Bor Mullet likes this.
  16. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    https://soundcloud.com/sloe-t/alpha-beta
     
    ophelia and Ramza like this.
  17. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    Definitely this.



    Also "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" but I can't find a good recording online.
     
    Kiki-Gonn and Juliet316 like this.
  18. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Sorry Wocky;

    1) It's hard to argue that either Etta James or Christmas music need more attention/exposure, and
    2) Juliet likes it and has the worst taste in music ever, automatically invalidating your selection. I'm sorry mate, I know that's not fair on the actual music but I don't make the rules.

    Ophie, as promised, here are the ones I was thinking of:

    1. Ocoeur

    https://soundcloud.com/ocoeur

    Ocoeur is the work of producer/composer Frank Zaragoza of Belgium. The music is hard to slot into one specific genre; it's electronica but so minimalist and with nods to ambient that you can tell he's listened to a lot of Richard D James (aka Aphex Twin) and William Orbit in his time. It's just a totally chilled, soothing melody that suits a number of moods. The first track on the Soundcloud, Light as a Feather, is a good springboard into his music. Lovelovelove this.

    2. Rosetta

    Rosetta have been around since 2005 or so but have stayed firmly in the post-metal scene of which ISIS are - were - the dominant players. To explain; post-metal eschews usual metal song structured for a usually cleaner sounding, minimalistic and layered composition that shares much with post-rock (think Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono). The vocals are typically harsh-growled (more raspy than the cookie monster style of death metal) and they're buried in the mix resulting in a less abrasive, though still intense, sound.

    Rosetta self-define as "space metal" or "music for astronauts" and this is probably fair and accurate. The music has a vastness to it that suggests a wide, infinite nothingness. The track I'd recommend is Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin ("I do not know the end" in English) from their 2010 album A Determinism of Morality.



    The track just climaxes at this beautiful, intense moment at 5:50.

    3. Palms

    The fusion of three members of the aforementioned post-metal kings ISIS with vocalist Chino Moreno of deftones lead to Palms, who also defy genre classification. Despite both ISIS and 'tones being metal, Palms are not. Released on Mike Patton (!!!!)'s Ipecac label, their debut album is not far from the dreamier segments of Moreno's other-other side project, Team Sleep. Slow, languid, breathless and with the kind of dark sensuality that only Moreno can bring, Palms are something special.



    4. Kaki King

    I have something of a huge crush on Kaki King, which will do me no good whatsoever since she's completely into girls. Damn. Kaki is short, very charming and funny on stage (I've seen her maybe 3, 4 times) and ridiculously talented on guitar. Her fingers were seen onscreen in August Rush, and some of her songs - including my favourite, Doing the Wrong Thing, were featured in the film Into the Wild.

    She creates some gorgeous sounds with unconventional playing, so I'm going to put up two recommendations:



    Bone Chaos in the Castle off the album Dreaming of Revenge. Just because.



    Doing The Wrong Thing from Legs to Make us Longer. This piece is my favourite of Kaki's - I just love how heartfelt it is. It's not overly technical or showy-offy but it just sounds beautiful.

    Enjoy.

     
    Abbiegalie, spicer and tom like this.
  19. Eeth-my-Koth

    Eeth-my-Koth Jedi Grand Master star 9

    Registered:
    May 25, 2001
    Kaki King? Take it to fecal force!
     
  20. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
  21. Lazy Storm Trooper

    Lazy Storm Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 18, 2012
    Hipster thread... :)
     
    Jarren_Lee-Saber and Kiki-Gonn like this.
  22. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Ah, lazy in thought as well as name, lovely.
     
    Master_Jacen and Zapdos like this.
  23. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    Hey remember that time where we all ended passive-aggressive comments with a " :) "

    Yeah let's not do that again.
     
  24. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Just because people have the courage to listen to music that's not plastered all over television and radio... wait, I'm not sure where i was going with this.
     
  25. Lazy Storm Trooper

    Lazy Storm Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 18, 2012
    It was meant purely as a joke. I like music that not everyone listens to because it is different and not the same old crap that is on the radio usually. Lot of this stuff is good.