CocoRosie @ King Cat Theater in Seattle 9/15/09

I have been anticipating seeing these two sisters and their backing band for so long I had a lot of expectations about what I was going to see and hear. Most of those expectations were ripped apart by the reality of what faced me at the King Cat Theater last night.

I knew it would sound different from their studio recordings, but I was pleasantly surprised that in many places their live show was an improvement upon their studio sessions. I especially like how they’re doing “Rainbow Warrior” these days (it appears to have morphed into a song called “Black Rainbow"). The only real negative for me was that at times the kids’ toys were a little too high up in the mix.

I wish I could find some current tour footage, but this material from 2008 will have to suffice:

I expected them to just stand up there and act weird, arty and pretentious. So I was pleasantly surprised at their expressive energy…Rosie and Spleen (the beatboxer) seemed especially keen on reaching out to the audience.

I expected them to put on an entertaining show, with lots of variety, crazy get ups, and visual effects. And that…I definitely got!

This video below was a bit of a surprise for me, because it is a blend of two of their songs, one of them ("Happy Eyez") wasn't released when this video came out.

The Great Silkie

I love the melody of this song. I first heard it sung by Judy Collins as "The Great Silkie of Skule Skerry" and Joan Baez does a version as well, both lovely. The lyrics, however, always disappointed me. They are mostly nonsensical to anyone who doesn't know the legend behind the song. I wanted a version that even a modern American could understand, without the benefit of folklore study.

Here's an mp3 file of me singing my version. If you'd like to record it with me, let me know!

By an Orkney shore there stands a maid

Waves at her feet on a midsummer's eve

And from her eyes there fell seven tears

But don't think that her heart did grieve

From the sea so deep the grey silkie came

Cast off a seal skin upon reaching land

And then he spoke to the yearning maiden

As they walked along hand in hand

"I am a man upon the land

I am a silkie on the sea

And when I'm far and far from land

My home it is in Sule Skerrie"

That night they spent on a bed of flowers

And when they awoke to a fine morning

Her lover gave her a bright golden chain

Saying, "It's for our child who'll be born next spring"

"And it shall come to pass on a summer's day,

When the sun shines bright on every stane

I"ll come and fetch my little young son

And teach him how to swim the waves."

It was seven years till she saw the man

Unearthly father of her dear son

The boy was wearing his golden chain

As he swam to sea in the evening sun

And she did marry a seal hunter

With two grey seals he one day came home

And around the neck of the younger one

Was the golden chain still wet with foam.

"Alas it hurts," the mother cried

"To feel the pain of a son who has died

If only I had not beckoned the silkie

With the seven tears of yearning that night."

The Lake

I've been enjoying this song immensely and thought I'd share. It's kind of a goth-flavored piano ballad with meandering vocal melodies and a string quartet. Lyrics are by Edgar Allan Poe.

The Lake by Antony & the Johnsons

In youth's spring, it was my lot

To haunt of the wide earth a spot

The which I could not love the less;

So lovely was the loneliness

Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,

And the tall trees that tower'd around.

But when the night had thrown her pall

Upon that spot -- as upon all,

And the wind would pass me by

In its stilly melody,

My infant spirit would awake

To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright --

But a tremulous delight,

And a feeling undefin'd,

Springing from a darken'd mind.

Death was in that poison'd wave

And in its gulf a fitting grave

For him who thence could solace bring

To his dark imagining;

Whose wild'ring thought could even make

An Eden of that dim lake.

Testing!

This is a test to see if I can use Blip.fm to put links to complete songs on my blog. Here's a song I've been digging a lot lately.
XTC - Rocket From a Bottle (2001 Digital Remaster)

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Post-rock: (Mostly) Instrumental Soundscapes

Years ago when I first heard the Album Leaf, I felt like I was discovering a whole new genre of music. I know there has been plenty of instrumental music over time, but the Album Leaf was different to me. It was like new age for indie rockers.

Since discovering the Album Leaf a whole new raft of instrumental rock (sometimes called post-rock), has come to my attention.

Much of what I enjoy from this genre sounds like a hybrid of 90’s emo core and shoegaze music.

Here are a few of my current favorites:

Joy Wants Eternity make crushingly beautiful music with dense and evocative soundscapes.

Hard-rocking Gifts from Enola impressed me with their live show at the Sunset recently. Three guitarists!

A bit more mellow, and replete with strings, is the music of Yndi Halda.

If you just want a sampler of this music, Silent Ballet webzine (devoted to instrumental and post-rock music) has a series of free compilations you can download. I’m especially digging the tracks by Hermitage and Immanu el on Volume V. Joy Wants Eternity, Gifts from Enola and Yndi Halda have tracks on these compilations as well.

And of course there’s Sigur Rós, one of the few post-rock bands to have a vocalist. But I’ve written about them in an earlier post.

Ambient Music: It’s not just New Age Fluff

Some play music to set a mood, but I usually prefer listening to music that reflects the mood I’m already in. Playing angry music when I’m angry or stressful music when I’m stressed calms me faster than trying to sway my mood into the happy zone by force-feeding it sweet fluffy “marshmallow music.”

Likewise, ambient music can either set a mood or reflect the mood you’re already in. Or simply provide background music so you can think or work.

As the mother of a four year-old, I really appreciate calm, peaceful stretches of time when I can get them, and ambient music is part of my current game plan to retain my sanity while feeding my soul. And for me, any music with a touch of melancholy is what’s for background.

Thanks to Victory Rose Music and Last.fm, new sources of ambient music are coming my way faster than I can process them. Here are a few of my current favorites:

Ah, the beautiful slow drone sounds of Stars of the Lid, including their string trio. Don’t let “explicit” song titles likes “December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface” fool you into think this music is at all brash. I think if I ever saw this bad perform live I would cry.

David Beans is one of the few performers I’ve found who can utilize spoken word without it being too overbearing or annoying to me. Listen to “Dream” all the way through and give this man a job scoring your next epic movie.

Five years in the making, Jónsi & Alex created their music with found sounds from their house, as well as a choir, a string quartet, and animal sounds. It is perhaps not true ambient music since the sounds are all organically derived instead of electronic, but they manage to create a wash of sound and texture that’s not quite like anything else I’ve ever heard. And I mean that in a good way.

I'm also keeping my ear on Josh Varnadore, who is an up and coming musical artist with some lovely soundscapes.

Cooking Shows for a Brave New Audience

Most people enjoy eating, but not everyone enjoys cooking. Of the people who enjoy cooking, few manage to get filmed working their magic in the kitchen. To see yourself grace a TV screen or computer monitor you either have to be a celebrity chef or have some kind of shtick going for you. It also helps if you are the lead singer of a famous rock band.

Brand new today is installment 1 of the Jónsi and Alex Recipe Show. Jónsi is the lead singer of Sigur Rós, and Alex is his boyfriend and art partner. Meant as an accompaniment to their new cookbook (available in PDF format on their site), the first episode shows you how to make what they call Macadamia Monster Mash. I tried it and it's delicious. I can also vouch for their Thai Coconut Curry and Strawberry Pie recipes: top-notch.

If watching Jónsi and Alex look awkward and shy in front of the camera is too painful for you (and you’re not into raw vegan food), you might appreciate what has to be its polar opposite: Coupla Fat Guys Cooking Show. With their witty banter, devil-may-care attitude and mise en place in Ziploc bags, they are totally the Cartalk of cooking shows. They have numerous episodes taking you through the not-so-fine details of making everything from Tuna Casserole to Bananas Flambé.