Stegzy's Music Project

A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

Nov 5

Eurovision Song Contest: Helsinki 2007 – Various Artists [#437]

by stegzy

500px-Eurovision_Song_Contest_2007_logo.svgPicture the scene. It’s 2006. Outsider, Lordi, have won the Eurovision Song Contest. Confused and out of touch officials around Europe scratch their heads in bewilderment. How can something as noisy as Lordi’s Hard Rock Hallelujah win by a land slide? Do the public know something others don’t? What ever the reason, imitation wins hearts and minds so let’s goth up our acts for 2007.

Which is exactly what happened. Especially with Switzerland.

The United Kingdom went all cheesy sleazy and failed.

Finland tried to win again (and this was my favourite)

But when it seemed that outsiders were going to win again, Plan B was put into action and Serbia’s entry won with Molitva.

After that, I lost interest in Eurovision for a few years…..

 

2007 compilations Eurovison Various Artists

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Nov 4

Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006 – Various Artists [#436]

by stegzy

For those not familiar with European traditions and culture, every year since 1956 European public broadcasters get together to find a song to unite Europe in culture.  In the UK, Eurovision is seen as a bit of a joke while the rest of the European Union see take it quite seriously. As a result it is often the case that the UK’s entry gets a low score while serious music producers across Europe are able to showcase a variety of talent which will never see the light in the UK because of inherent taught resistance to euro-culture, but will proliferate across more receptive mainland Europe.

Eurovision 2006 was possibly the most enjoyable Eurovision in the past 30 years.  2006 was the year that Goth and Rock culture broke onto the Eurovision stage with such ferocity that many returning countries in 2007 tried to mimic the whole scene too.

Unusually the contest started with quite sedate, run of the mill songs like:

Sense Tu Jenny (Andorra)

Je t’adore Kate Ryan (Belgium)

 

Other entries were more up beat such as Tornero (Romania)

and Congratulations Silvia Night (Iceland)

But while the tweeness of Switzerland’s Six4One’s If we all give a little was trying to capture the zeitgeist of peace and love arising from the conflict plagued noughties.

The shockingly bad UK entry, Daz Simpson and Teenage Life was like Timmy Mallet or Keith Harris trying to capture the gangsta culture.

But it was the winning entry, Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi (Finland) that resulted in the landslide victory that Eurovision needed to bring it back to centre stage.

 

2006 compilations Eurovison Various Artists

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Nov 3

European Tour 2005 – Dead Can Dance [#435]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 12.51.27In 2005 an announcement was made to the effect that Dead Can Dance would tour again after several years of hiatus. Tickets for the few gigs that were to be played in the UK sold out like hot cakes.

I was unable to go.

What followed was months of people I knew saying how they were looking forward to going to the gig, followed by years of the same people saying how mind blowing the gig was. Yet all I have to remember the experience I never had is this “bootleg” featuring highlights of Dead Can Dance’s European tour in 2005.

Occasionally I listen to it from afar while sitting in an uncomfortable seat for full effect.

2005 best of compilations Dead Can Dance Lisa Gerrard Live Pieter Bourke

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Nov 2

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (OST) – Various Artists [#434]

by stegzy

Eternal_sunshine_CD_coverThis will be the last week of Music Project entries before a two week hiatus unless someone comes forth offering to write for two weeks while I’m on the other side of the planet.

While not a great lover of  Michel Gondry’s 2004 rom-com starring Jim Carey and Kate Winslet, the soundtrack does have some nice songs on.

Which is, in part, why I keep the album in my collection. Happy Twee-rock and pop abound, with the likes of Polyphonic Spree, ELO and Lata Mangeshkar interwoven with Jon Brion’s equally twee romantic soundtrack.

Great for feeling twee.

 

2004 compilations ELO Polyphonic Spree Soundtracks

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Oct 30

Essential Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan [#433]

by stegzy

Bob_Dylan_-_The_Essential_Bob_DylanEssentially I want to like Bob “Moped starting up” Dylan. Essentially I have tried and really tried. I tried so hard to like Bob “Hair Drier” Dylan, to see why so many people put him on a pedestal, why so many people think he’s the best thing to have ever happened to music since Mozart. I tried. I tried so hard I have strain marks on my ears.

Essential is the “best of” Dylan, not that I’ve been able to distinguish any mind blowing tracks apart from the surprise that Dylan was responsible for a number of songs I had attributed to other artists.

Legend has it the young Dylan mooched about Liverpool before he hit the main stream.While there he met a young bloke who had just started to learn how to play music who was called John Lemon or something or some such bollocks. This is, of course, utter shite,  just like Dylan’s placement on the pedestal of musical greatness.

I’m sure I’ve upset a great deal of people with that last sentence but don’t misunderstand my supposition. Dylan certainly has his place in the hall of music history but the way many people, including my contemporaries, insist on placing the guy on this heightened throne of greatness has become irritating of late. The likes of Presley, Ray Noble and even Glen Miller who came before Dylan and equally had a prolific change on musical culture should also enjoy the same platform. Indeed, let’s be fair about the whole throne thing, let’s turn it into a musical SOFA of greatness. Dylan, Morrison, Presley, Noble, Gallas and whoever else deserves recognition can sit happily on the Sofa of musical greatness and entertain us all with their jostling for the pouffe.

2000 best of Bob Dylan compilations

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Oct 29

Essential Jean Michel Jarre – Jean Michel Jarre [#432]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 11.55.04<sigh> I really could re-use the “Essential/Essentially” gag here too as Essential is, essentially the first Jean Michel Jarre Best of Compilation. But I won’t because re-releasing old material as new stuff is so 1990s it’s unbelievable.

And lazy.

Aero, Essential is a kind of “Best of” revisited. Nice if you want to relive the cardigan wearing, garish carpeted childhood of the 1970s. Nicer still if you just want to pop some acid with your hipster friend while staring at their Mathmos glooping and shlooping about on the table.

It’s kind of thought provoking that this music evolved into Air.

 

1983 best of compilations Jean Michel Jarre

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Oct 28

Essence of the Deep Forest – Deep Forest [#431]

by stegzy

Essence of the deep forestThis week, it seems, we will mostly be listening to French and Belgian artists.

Today, Deep Forest. Essence, is essentially Deep Forest’s Best of album, though arguably they really only have a couple of songs that they remix continuously. Never the less, Deep Forest remain a firm favourite of the music project. I’m kind of interested to hear what Steelrattus has to say about the band as I know he is a fan.

Anyway, take Enigma to the rain forest, add some indigenous tribal chants and add a sprinkle of wholesome “I’ve seen the world and its colourful diversity” world  traveller and you have, in essence, Deep Forest. Indeed, you probably have the best of. Which, in essence is, Essence. But I’ve already said that. Kind of like how Deep Forest, Enigma and Era take the same theme and remix it over and over again. Remixing works in music I suppose, but not in prose. Which in essence, is Essence of the Deep Forest.

2003 best of compilations Deep Forest

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Oct 27

Era – Era [#430]

by stegzy

Era_Era_CoverEra are another of those bands jumping on the nu-age Enigma bandwagon complete with choral and world music overtones. Indeed, Era (or +ERA+ as they like to stylise themselves) sit nicely between Enigma and Deep Forest.
Not typically a band you’d want to listen to on repeat though. Nice for a bit of a “chill-out” session maybe, or perhaps one of those dinner parties where you intend to show off your collection of African masks and world music to bemused, easily impressed work colleagues. Or perhaps you’re looking for some music for a film set in the gritty hauntological Miami Vice  era of the eighties beset with pink neon, white linen suits and moody beach shots.

1996 Era

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Oct 26

Équinoxe – Jean Michel Jarre [#429]

by stegzy

Equinoxe_Jarre_AlbumHaving been brought up in the nineteen seventies and having two older brothers who had been brought through the future yearning decade of the nineteen sixties on a diet of Doctor Who and the promises of holidays on the moon and jet packs, it is no wonder that Jarre features heavily on the music project.

Having listened to Équinoxe for the first time since possibly 1988 I was struck by how Jarre’s music still causes ASMR in me.  From remembering the feeling of the sofa of my childhood, to recalling the scent of my father’s aftershave and the nu-electriconicz smell of the 1970’s record player. All these memories came flooding back. Moreover by the time part IV had started I was already considering nipping upstairs to put on some orange or brown clothing to fully immerse myself in 1970s popular culture.

Equinox was Jarre’s fourth studio album fresh on the heels of Oxygene. While it appears to not have been received well by music critics of the time, the album has proliferated itself into generation X’s collective subconsciousness having, in part, been featured on every futurism, “science” and schools and colleges related television programme between its release and 1986. In fact, I challenge anyone between the ages of 35 and 45 to listen and not think of the likes of Jonny Ball or video sequences of robotic production plants.

 

1978 Jean Michel Jarre

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Oct 23

En Vivo En Obras – Nightwish [#428]

by stegzy

imagesThe only remaining bootleg I have of Nightwish although bootleg is a bit of a misnomer as it is actually a recording from a live radio broadcast with a few interviews chucked in at the end.

The recording appears to be of the band in Buenos Aires in 2004 and includes a number of my favourite Nightwish tunes.

2004 Nightwish

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Oct 22

Empire – Queensryche [#427]

by stegzy

Queensryche_-_Empire_coverFirst of all, let me thank my good friend Jim Ellis for his contribution to my musical development. It was he who introduced me to the wonders of eighties/nineties big hair stadium rockers Queensryche and their albums Empire and Operation: Mindcrime.

Delicious hairy rock with a strong cheese flavour akin to a musical version of parmesan.

Empire is Queensryche’s fourth studio album and arrives on the back of their successful Operation:Mindcrime album. Sadly, the magic the band brought to the world wasn’t as strong in Empire as it was in Mindcrime but conceptually, Empire does stand well on its own and obviously points to the band’s golden era. Sadly, despite regular reshuffles, leavings and rejoinings, subsequent albums fail to reach the dizzy heights Empire’s aural swan song brings. But, of course, this didn’t stop me foolishly seeking out the band’s entire back catalogue.

1990 Queensryche

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Oct 21

Embrace the Storm – Stream of Passion [#426]

by stegzy

440px-Stream_of_Passion-Embrace_the_Storm-1Regular Music Project denizen, Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon), wanted to take his unique conceptualised music on tour. No mean feat when you regularly invite established musicians to join you in making records. So in order to ensure the sounds from his album were not too lost, Ayreon got together with a gang of session musicians and formed Stream of Passion.

Stream of Passion went on tour with Lucassen until he got bored and moved off to other things. However the behemoth he created continues on, storming Dutch and mainland European rock festivals with a mix of their own stuff and Ayreon covers.

Embrace the Storm is their first album, still with Lucassen and lead singer Marcela Bovio, as a result it sounds a lot like an Ayreon concept album, but it isn’t.

2005 Stream of Passion

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Oct 20

Elyria – Faith and the Muse [#425]

by stegzy

FatM_-_ElyriaElyria is Faith and the Muse’s first album. You might remember Faith and the Muse from their previous appearance on the Music Project, Annwyn, Beneath the Waves. Influences of Dead Can Dance and Ordo Equituum Solis can be heard.

Had I been twenty years younger I’d have probably really enjoyed this album. It’s the kind of sound I was looking for when I was in my twenties and looking for something more etherial and mysterious to fill a spiritual hole in my life. Sadly, I’m not in my forties and listening to this album while sitting in a corner on a massive bean bag sniffing joss sticks is not entirely practical.

1994 Faith and the Muse

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Oct 19

Elizium – Fields of the Nephilim [#424]

by stegzy

Fon_front_elizium_smallI’ve talked about Fields of the Nephilim (FON) before on the music project so I won’t over egg the pudding. Feel free to dig around in the music project archives.

Elizium is FON’s third studio album and features a number of tracks from the Cassette given to me by Chris Herbert back in 1996. As everyone knows, home taping killed music back in 1998. As a result little real music has been made since around that time.

This is why I hardly listen to this album. It is my way of preserving some good music in a  sort of digital bottle. As in, each time music from it is listened to, air gets to the contents and slowly turns the contents to vinegar.

 

1990 Fields of the Nephilim

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Oct 16

Elephant – The White Stripes [#423]

by zoefruitcake

UnknownLike most albums, this album is a snapshot of a time for me.  If I think of it I remember that it is one of the last albums I had in a particular format – cassette. 

Naturally I didn’t actually buy it on cassette.  No, my best friend taped it for me (remember: home taping is killing music) and I listened to it on my Sony Walkman walking to and from work, tramping along in time to Seven Nation Army. 

Fun fact kids: It is actually my second favourite ‘get-somewhere-quickly-when-walking’ song, my favourite being Sheriff Fatman by Carter USM.

Once I upgraded to my iPod I had just that one song left and I never listened to the album any more.  Such is life.

2003 White Stripes (The)

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Oct 15

Elegy – Scream Silence [#422]

by stegzy

UnknownOften during this project  I have had feelings of regret that I am no longer the spritely free spirited young adult I was. Being unemployed meant I had ample time to sit around and listen to music. Being single meant I could listen to music whenever I wanted. Living in a flat on my own meant I could crank up the volume to annoy the neighbours with nobody to tell me off. But also because there was little in the way of access to new music for me meant that I could invest time in any new stuff that I was presented with by friends.

Sadly, Scream Silence weren’t around when I was in my twenties. Had they been so, I may have invested the same amount of time in listening to their music as I did with the likes of Dead Can Dance and Chris Issaak. Instead, in my early forties, I find it difficult to focus on an album in its entirety. Usually I have to put myself in a situation where I can’t skip tracks or turn it off but with Scream Silence I listened to the album in its entirety and, surprisingly, enjoyed it while yearning for those days where I could listen to whatever I liked whenever I liked, free from employer and commitments.

It’s crucial to remember from previous Scream Silence appearances on the Music Project, that I had only been keen on one song prior to obtaining their entire discography so that must say a lot about them. I really wish the singer would take some elocution lessons though; his accent is quite distracting.

Elegy is Scream Silence’s fourth studio album.

2004 Scream Silence

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Oct 14

Electric Warrior – T Rex [#421]

by stegzy

220px-Electric_warrior_albumAnother tragedy, another electric album.

I was surprised to see Electric Warrior appear into the view of my iTunes. I’ve never really been a big fan of T Rex or, for that matter, Hendrix but it seems that this week we have had two goliaths of twentieth century popular music with more to follow over the next few weeks.

Electric Warrior is T Rex’s 6th studio album on which, Bolan and chums experiment with a new style of folky rock which seemed quite a glamorous thing to do at the time. Of course, this spawned a whole raft of imitative music and gave life to the Glam Rock movement of the seventies to which bands like Sweet and Kiss owe a great deal.

I can take or leave T Rex. I certainly wouldn’t have gone out of my way to obtain this album so I can only assume that it is in the music collection because someone “harvested” it for me or Previous-Mrs-Gnomepants (probably Gay Jamie). Still, there are a couple of songs on the album which seem to feature on TV whenever the producer is trying to send the viewer back to the nineteen seventies. Which isn’t a bad thing if you think about it.

Apart from the pollution and political incorrectness.

1971 T-Rex

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Oct 13

Electric Shocks – Roger Ruskin Spear [#420]

by stegzy

R-2236186-1271590213.jpegFormer Bonzo Ruskin Spear, with his first solo LP.

Clearly audible are the influences of the Bonzos, Python, Milligan and the era’s dadaist comedy mixed with the familiar popular big band songs of a hauntalogical pre-war era such as All by Yourself in the Moonlight and Make Yourself a Happiness Pie.

This is another album that, had there been no music download free-for-all in the noughties, I would never have known existed. I was already a fan of Bonzo, but it would have been unlikely I’d have been standing in Church Street’s HMV  flicking through the R section looking for this gem.

1972 Roger Ruskin Spear

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Oct 12

Electric Ladyland – Jimi Hendrix [#419]

by stegzy

220px-Jimi_Hendrix_-_Electric_LadylandDespite dying in 1970, Hendrix has this reputation for being an innovation if not the best guitarist in history. I’ve asked several respected musicians the “Who would you invite for dinner?” question and most of them say Jimi Hendrix.

But hey, guess what, I don’t agree. There are other far more talented non-mainstream guitarists around at the time and in present day who people seem to forget about. In my opinion, if it wasn’t for the whole Woodstock thing, Hendrix would still be seen as a mediocre artist with little but a couple of songs to see him into retirement.

Electric Ladyland is Hendrix’s third and final album. This is the one with all the tracks everyone associates with Hendrix on it, Voodoo Chile, All Along the Watchtower and Crosstown Traffic to name but a few.
At one point in the late sixties/early seventies, to own this album would have held you in high regard amongst your music loving friends, much like how owning a copy of Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds or Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells shows you’re part of an elite music loving club. You might have gathered with friends in your new town home wearing your cheesecloth and manly moustache like some sort of cast line up for the musical Hair or porn film. While congregating with your associates, you might have popped Electric Ladyland onto your gramophone with a mayonnaise like smoothness and smoked Woodbines, talking about socialist politics.

Just before the power cut.

 

1968 Jimi Hendrix

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Oct 9

Electric Dreams – OST [#418]

by stegzy

Unknown-1A film ahead of its time was the little known eighties film Electric Dreams. Possibly more familiar is the song from the closing credits performed by former Human League and car stereo buyer Phil Oakey.

Electric Dreams tells the story of Miles (Twin Peaks’ Lenny von Dohlen), a geeky architect nerd who happens to fancy his new neighbour Madeline (played by Dune Princess Virginia Madsen) just at the same moment he buys himself a home computer and accidentally makes it sentient by spilling wine all over it. As you do.

The music is a perfect eighties music time capsule with songs by Culture Club, ELO’s Jeff Lynne and P.P.Arnold (currently doing the Caribbean Cruise circuit).

I love this soundtrack. I love the film too. It’s such a shame that it’s hardly ever shown on TV these days and it’s pricey on DVD.

1984 Soundtracks Various Artists

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Oct 8

El Duende Flamenco – Paco de Lucia [#417]

by stegzy

Elduende“I feel like we should be eating tapas”, New-Mrs-Gnomepants said to me during the research part for today’s album.

Of all world music, I find Spanish, specifically Flamenco music, the most dynamic, passionate and hauntological. My first introduction to classical guitar music and flamenco came from the time in my early to mid-twenties when I used to go round to a friends house and chat shite.

I’d met Min, a keen guitarist, when I was doing A Level music at Liverpool Community College in the nineties. We had similar interests and would frequently hangout to listen to music together. Sometimes Min would practice or show off his guitar skills and frequently this would include renditions of Asturias (Albania) and  Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Tarrega) which would please me no end.

Further to this, I think Spanish food is possibly the best cuisine there is in the world, especially tapas. So when I began entertaining guests in my suburban hacienda I would endeavour to recreate Spanish food such as paella and gambas pil-pil while setting the scene by providing a Spanish theme musically, which certainly helped with the presentation and the taste.

El Duende Flamenco is an album of traditional flamenco music played by leading flamenco artist, Paco de Lucia who died last year. Four minutes into the album, if you’re not stood in the middle of the room clapping your hands rhythmically, or swirling an imaginary skirt like a flamenco dancer, then there’s something wrong with you. I love this stuff it’s sharp, neatly timed and perfect. Not like the sickly margarine of modern music, which is manufactured, well greased and bad for your health in large doses.

1972 Paco de Lucia

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Oct 7

Ege Bamyasi – Can [#416]

by stegzy

EgebamyasialbumcoverIf you like your music a bit weird or maybe if you’re looking for that ideal album to pop onto your gramophone before you start passing round the extra strong skunk you have which will no doubt result in a really bad trip, then look no further. This lovely album is a blend of krautrock and experimental oddness.

All Can albums are odd and Ege Bamyasi is no exception as I found out after my discovery of Can’s Tago Mago. Idly discussing the band with a work mate one day resulted in the same chap bringing a shed load of Can albums for me to listen to. Eye opening stuff if a lot weird ,it’s no surprise the band isn’t very main stream but like with all bands that appear on the music project, I’ve tried the best out and kept them.

So if you’re in a situation as described in the opening paragraph to this entry, or perhaps you just want to expand your mind with sound, I suggest you try Ege Bamyasi as a taster to lure you into the deep dark realms of Mr Suzuki’s mind.

1972 Can

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Oct 6

Editor’s Recommendations – Half Man Half Biscuit [#415]

by stegzy

HMHB-EditorsRecommendationJust to reassure you, I’m not, by any means, channelling John Peel here but we did have similar tastes in music it seems. Anyway, those four lads who shook the Wirral take centre stage on the music project once more. This time with a cheeky little EP and a wink at Granada TV.

Now, let me tell you a secret about the music project. I don’t usually include EPs on the music project unless they’re exceptionally significant or relevant to the whole story I have to tell over 4000 plus posts. If I had included EPs from the start, we’d be still in the Bs or worse, and nobody wants to be in the Bs. Especially as we have the Gs to get through and boy, is that going to take the best part of next year.

So it is with pride and honour that I welcome Half Man Half Biscuit’s cheeky little EP, Editor’s Recommendations to the music project. With a sly dig at former Granada TV news anchor, Bob Wilson, Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow and an absurd trad. arr. song about Slipknot visiting the Pope, twelve minutes of dry scouse  acerbic wit nicely nestles between the release of Trouble Over Bridgwater and Cammell Laird Social Club. Lovely.

2001 Half Man Half Biscuit

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Oct 5

Ecliptica – Sonata Arctica [#414]

by stegzy

SonataArctica_EclipticaFinnish metal heads rejoice! Sonata Arctica are here to add power metal tones and poorly pronounced English lyrics to the music project. Hurrah!

I first came across Sonata Arctica when they were included in a compilation I’d sourced from Usenet. Suitably impressed by the one song, I did what I usually do on such occasions, download their entire back catalogue. This was a foolish move as I ended up with a hard drive so full of Scandinavian  metal it was hard not to think I was some sort of visiting viking.

Anyway, as is usual in such situations, I ended up liking about 2 albums by the band. This one and another, which is a live set featuring many of the songs that are on this album anyway. I’m sure they’ve got better over time, frankly I’m too busy to care….They do have a distinctive sound and possibly have faster fingers than Steve Vai. Though I’m sure many might argue otherwise.

 

1999 Sonata Arctica

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Oct 1

Eclipse – Love is Colder than Death [#413]

by stegzy

Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 20.05.46The problem with downloading music illegally is you are at the mercy of the person who uploads it in the first place. Moreover, you are also at risk of downloading something that isn’t what it says it is, facing the grim potential that the music you have just obtained has been tagged incorrectly.

And that is what happened to me when I came across Eclipse.

Back in the day, when the internet was young and free, the internet was a lot less commercial. People who had an interest in things would upload unfounded facts and files or post tiled pictures of dancing hamsters to self hosted pages without the desire or need to have it create fame or fortune. And so, at some point, a misguided person uploaded a compilation of Love is Colder Than Death tracks retagged as a long lost Dead Can Dance album.

Of course, with only the fledgling Wikipedia to hand and still a great deal of poor information on important matters like “Who did perform this track” available, I was hoodwinked into thinking that it was a complete change in direction for Dead Can Dance.

It wasn’t.

It wasn’t even Dead Can Dance. Eventually though, I managed to work out what the songs were by using a combination of lyric searches and Musicbrainz Picard, and this is the album that 70% of the songs came from.

Unfortunately, the isn’t much out on the internet about Love is Colder Than Death. They’re from Germany, they have a website [http://www.lictd.com], they have seven albums and they’ve been going since the nineties. Which might sound contradictory, but in the UK it has always been difficult to access European  originating non-mainstream art be it film, television, music or the like despite the Television Sans Frontiers or the Audiovisual Media Services directives, which is a shame because mainland Europe is a vast treasure trove of great stuff, though access to it is getting better.

As well as this, lyrically, they’re still a bit sparse on the internet in that their lyrics are difficult to come by, which is a problem because they’re often difficult to decipher or make out. For example, on the song Ideals and Pains  I still have no clue what it is he’s singing about. It’s the accent I suppose.

Anyway, it’s easy to see why someone might confuse the band for Dead Can Dance sans Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. Stylistically, this album is very similar to DCD’s Into the Labyrinth and it does feel like a natural progression. Unfortunately, because of the difficulties in obtaining preview copies (to see if I like their other stuff) and unwillingness to part with money in these cash strapped times just to find out I don’t like an album, this is the second of the only three LICTD albums I have and it is unlikely that I’ll dabble with any of their other albums. Especially with the likes of the Aural Apocalypse being off air these days….

2003 Love is Colder than Death

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