dark(wave) week

For lack of any one artist that I particularly want to write about yet wanting to write something @.@, I thought I'll attempt a Weekly Top Artists round-up (of last.fm chart). It should be interesting since some of the weekly tops may not make it to the more permanently visible Top 50 chart in a long time--if ever, but they are certainly no less worthy to put forward and recommend. And I don't always have an more varied chart than this...

UPDATE: download a ten-track selection here, link valid for a week.

1. All my faith lost
An Italian neofolk duo that makes quiet, pensive and somewhat dark (some label it 'goth') music and takes their subject from enchanted world of fairies, folklores, and lot more--my favourite track for example, An early fright from The Hours, muses about existence and Kierkegaard. Try a free track here (courtesy of last.fm).

2. Marissa Nadler
Melancholic and strange but perhaps not so appropriately grouped into the 'New Weird America' folk movement, Nadler exudes a rather more traditional and mystic aura than her contemporaries. She sings airy and slow, with simple and delicate guitar backing, and it totally charms me. Recommended Ballad of Living and Dying for a start.

3. Jewel
Do I have to write about Jewel? Really?? Well, let's try tags: folk, pop, rock, singer-songwriter. Ever since she releases the latest Goodbye Alice in Wonderland I have been ignoring it--gave it a listen, thought it unremarkable and never touched it again. This week I dug it up and listened alongside her earlier efforts, and may I say, it's actually good. Maybe the music is not as intense and so-honest-it-hurts (or apparently embarrasses, as some reviews evidenced) as before, but the life she continues to narrate...is more than some tracks in some album. Way to go, Jewel.

4. The Beatles
I'm not a fan, not by a long shot. I could never quite understand the strong emotions the mere name excites in some people (especially those born long after Beatles disbanded--John is not your personal god! Nor is George, for that matter..*prepares invisible cloak*) Alright. But quite needless to say, they are a great band, especially on the last few albums (my fav: Revolver), truly genius stuff.

5. Black Tape for a Blue Girl
Another darkwave/ambient band--the name was what attracted me first, gotta admit. I still don't quite get what 'gothic' exactly means--it's so musically vague and unilluminating, so I'll just forget that and quote wiki: "their sound could be described accurately as an ambient soundscape of analog synth and old world instruments (both real and synthesized), mixed with vocals of poetic and melancholy themes."

6. Nightwish
Nightwish is probably the one of the most famous and representative of the symphonic metal genre. I remember hearing 'Wish I had an Angel' (youtube) years ago and how the powerful and expansive soundscope stunned me. It had since had its lead vocal fired and replaced, and the new Dark Passion Play album is still very awesome.

7. Green Day
Green Day is a popular American (pop) punk band, and I'm imagining an disapproving stare from Jeremy our residential punk boy as I am writing this, but I have to say: the music is just...sweet! For a long time I was just listening to American Idiot--and never got tired of it, but now I'm starting to go back in time and begin from the beginning, and it's been thrilling.

8. The Ditty Bops
Quirky and playful indie pop band of two girls from California, they play a blend of folk, bluegrass, jazz, swing music, ragtime and musical theater. The eponymous first album is a gem.

9. Norah Jones
I was just indulging myself...I should know better than voluntarily sinking myself in that Sultriness...again... lol.

10. Explosions in the Sky
Someone asked me if I was listening to some violent metal stuff and I asked why. Oh no, this is not a loud metal band. Quite the contrary actually, it's an instrumental band (I still don't like the non-instructive post-rock tag) that makes ambient, experimental music, with equally long and idiosyncratic album names like Suddenly I Miss Everyone or The Earth is not a Cold Death Place.

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Now playing: Lisa Germano - After Monday

an update

(blogging out of pure frustration that I am in no shape to attack a congested desk of work right now..) Finally got this blog into the post-beta version, which looks pretty much the same as before except for the hierarchical archive list (which does not load and expand well in firefox, just this single case. I am investigating) and the ability to rank tags—I don’t like it in this case as the numbers are not very helpful excepting indicating this blogging circle is primarily into north American and Japanese music scene—so I put that at the bottom of the sidebar, in case you still want to know the stats.

In other news, two other albums that I noted in the upcoming release list of ’07 have come out-- Air’s Pocket Symphony and Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy—zhu still owes a sweet mini-review on Norah’s latest Not Too Late released in January. Well zhu, you know the saying, and you are not too late if you cough it up about NOW. B-) Back to the new stuff, I'm look ing forward to hearing them, especially Chinese Democracy. With the complete line-up change and this long of hiatus and no studio album I wonder where GNR stand now, and if they have gone entirely obsolete for that matter. That’s a sad nagging thought, but I’ll hold off my doubts for now.

Put on old Grammy compilation music all afternoon, they made up a long playlist and I didn’t bother to change—it was just…mindlessly easy on the ears, and a lot of them remind me of the times when I still bought cassettes (a lot), and recorded radio programs and trading with friends…good old days. And after this revision of pre-Britney pre-hip pop music I have to say they were almost too sweet…melodious sometimes to the point of being formulaic. Is it a thing of the late 90s or has it more to do with whoever voted for those Grammies…just a thought, I have not been following the award for years..

and Last.fm keeps recommending me stuff that either I already own but have yet to scrobble, or stuff that I went to try and really liked, gotta love this brainy music bot…

Musicovery

Chanced upon this piece of goodie from folkfurieuse’s blog. In a nutshell it’s an interactive webRadio that picks music for you based on your mood, energy, and the genres and eras of your choosing. Pretty fun to toy around with, streams fast too…and I am settling on Dark and Calm for now…= d

Singer-Songwriters

(kicking off with this first...wanted to clump all the artists I wanted to but never got around to rave about under this one...almost. ^6^)

I remember a rather amorphous discussion on singer-songwriters I had with someone I encountered (a Belgian, if it is of any relevance); amorphous because he was constantly straying—jumping—from one point of argument to a next and I was trying—in confusion and quite in vain—to tie up all the points along the way if not actually bring the conversation back to where it started, which was the merits and demerits of singer-songwriters and their music. As a high enthusiastic of many a singer-songwriter of our time, mostly Western but also an emerging crop of Asian artists, I could not (and can’t) find a major intrinsic flaw with the tradition, let alone a reason to shun it, and so I was rather surprised to hear the older man’s preference for non-ss artists. It was probably only indifference towards it, but when he said ‘oh that so-and-so (when I mention some favourite musicians), so you like those singer-songwriters!’ it sounded rather scornful. So I asked him what he liked. He ummed and hmphed and beat around the bush and quantum tunneled through various points, and after a rather tiresome rabbit chase nothing much came out, except for a vague remark somewhere that a singer per se is probably purer and thus better at the craft than someone who so unnecessarily wants to do it all. ???

I mean, what era do you live in, man? Even regular oldtime rock bands pen their own songs! With the perhaps perpetual exception of jazz and blues (which loves to be nostalgic and never stops covering old classics), and then pop (thinkin'...Britney) everywhere else I look I see the brilliant parts of any genre to be singer-songwriters. The whole indie scene is very much them (thanks to technology for once). I think it’s an exceptional gift to be able to write music and interpret and express it all by oneself, and when such artists come along the result is often vivid, sincere, and profoundly moving if one happens to be on the same frequency. For me, to listen to the congruent beats and lyrics that grows out of the contemporary artists through time is an amazing experience of witness, as they sing eloquently or privately, of the world we live in now, personal crises and exultations, or sentiments and small moments of life. Personal is the what feels so special about it, I guess, and so good.

Wikipedia has a pretty nice entry on the evolution of the singer-songwriter tradition, and also a list of singer-songwriters in the world, both focusing primarily on Western countries. (The absent Chinese part has a lot of catching up to do...)

Upcoming releases '07 - the more comprehensive list

On second thought I’ll just highlight those that interest me, and put up the whole list for your scrutiny. I am sure there are plenty others that you’d be happy to see (and tell us about it). =d. Source: Metacritic.

6 Jan Tuesday
The Autumn Defense	The Autumn Defense
23 Jan Tuesday
Arbouretum	Rites Of Unconvering
The Brokedown	I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
Clinic	Visitations US release; already out in UK
Deerhoof	Friend Opportunity
Julie Doiron	Woke Myself Up
The Earlies	The Enemy Chorus
Exploding Star Orchestra	We Are All From Somewhere Else
Fujiya & Miyagi	Transparent Things US release; already out in UK
Ghost	In Stormy Nights
The Good, The Bad & The Queen	The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Kristin Hersh	Learn To Sing Like A Star
David Kilgour	The Far Now
Menomena	Friend And Foe
Of Montreal	Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
The Shins	Wincing The Night Away
Six Parts Seven	Casually Smashed To Pieces
30 Jan Tuesday
Lily Allen	Alright, Still US release; already out in UK
Bracken [Hood's Chris Adams]	We Know About The Need
Busdriver	RoadKillOvercoat
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah	Some Loud Thunder
Hella	There's No 666 In Outer Space
Norah Jones	Not Too Late
Skinny Puppy	Mythmaker
Youth Group	Casino Twilight Dogs
6 Feb Tuesday
Aereogramme	My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go
Apostle Of Hustle	National Anthem Of Nowhere
Apples In Stereo	New Magnetic Wonder
Bloc Party	A Weekend In The City
Fall Out Boy	Infinity On High
Rickie Lee Jones	The Sermon On Exposition Boulevard
L Pierre	Dip
Sondre Lerche	Phantom Punch
Loney, Dear	Loney, Noir
Yoko Ono	Yes, I'm A Witch
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter	Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls Of The Soul
13 Feb Tuesday
High Llamas	Can Cladders
Lucinda Williams	West
20 Feb Tuesday
Calla	Strength In Numbers
Bobby Conn	King For A Day
Jill Cunniff [of Luscious Jackson]	City Beach
Dolorean	You Can't Win
Explosions In The Sky	All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Field Music	Tones Of Town UK: 22 Jan
Magic Numbers	Those The Brokes US release; already out in UK
Trans Am	Sex Change
27 Feb Tuesday
Dean [Wareham] & Britta [Phillips]	Back Numbers
6 Mar Tuesday
!!!	Myth Takes
Air	Pocket Symphony
Arcade Fire	Neon Bible
Ry Cooder	My Name Is Buddy
El-P	I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Guns N' Roses	Chinese Democracy source
Albert Hammond Jr.	Yours To Keep US release; already out in UK
Gruff Rhys	Candylion US release; already out in UK
RJD2	The Third Hand
Sevendust	Alpha
Son Volt	The Search
Maria Taylor	Lynn Teeter Flower
Wheat	Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy And Made A One Inch Square
Wolf & Cub	Vessels
13 Mar Tuesday
The Fall	Reformation Post T.L.C.
20 Mar Tuesday
Adult.	Why Bother?
Andrew Bird	Armchair Apocrypha
Good Charlotte	Good Morning Revival
Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid	Tongues
I'm From Barcelona	Let Me Introduce My Friends US release; already out in Europe
LCD Soundsystem	Sound Of Silver
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists	Living With The Living
Low	Drums And Guns
Willy Mason	If The Ocean Gets Rough
Panda Bear	Person Pitch
The Ponys	Turn The Lights Out
Joss Stone	Introducing Joss Stone
The Stooges	The Weirdness
Tracey Thorn	Out Of The Woods
The Willowz	Chautauqua
The Zincs	Black Pompadour
27 Mar Tuesday
Kaiser Chiefs	Yours Truly, Angry Mob UK: 26 Feb
Grant-Lee Phillips	Strangelet
3 Apr Tuesday
Fountains Of Wayne	Traffic And Weather
Kings Of Leon	Because Of The Times
Maximo Park	Our Earthly Pleasures
Partridge-Andrews-Barker Project	Monstrance
10 Apr Tuesday
Blonde Redhead	23
Bright Eyes	Cassadaga
Grinderman [new Nick Cave band]	Grinderman UK: 5 Mar
Love Of Diagrams	Mosaic
17 Apr Tuesday
Joseph Arthur	Let's Just Be
Bill Callahan [of Smog]	Woke On A Whaleheart
24 Apr Tuesday
Mando Diao	Ode To Ochrasy
1 May Tuesday
Dungen	[Title TBA]
8 May Tuesday
Mystery Jets	Zoo Time
Dolores O'Riordan [of The Cranberries]	Are You Listening?
15 May Tuesday
Satellite Party [new Perry Farrell group]	Ultra Payloaded
Wilco	Sky Blue Sky

Anticipated Future Releases
Note: If an artist appears multiple times, that means multiple albums by that artist are forthcoming.
50 Cent	Before I Self Destruct	Spring 2007
Aerosmith	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Aesop Rock	None Shall Pass	2007
Akron/Family	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
The Aliens [ex-Beta Band members]	[Title TBA]	February 2007
Alkaline Trio	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
Ambulance LTD	[Title TBA]	2007
Angels Of Light	We Are Him	April 2007
Animal Collective	[Title TBA]	Fall 2007
Annie	[Title TBA]	2007
Architecture In Helsinki	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
India.Arie	Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics	2007
Art Brut	[Title TBA]	2007
Joseph Arthur	Abwoon	Late 2007
Ash	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
Auf Der Maur	[Title TBA]	2007
The B-52s	[Title TBA]	2007
Babyshambles	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Bad Brains	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
The Bees	Octopus	2007
Beirut	[Title TBA]	Fall 2007
Big Boi	[Title TBA]	2007
Bjork	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Black Eyed Peas	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club	[Title TBA]	Feb/Mar 2007
Blur	[Title TBA]	2007
The Bravery	The Sun And The Moon	Early 2007
The Breeders	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
British Sea Power	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
Ian Brown	The World Is Yours	Late 2007
Built To Spill	[Title TBA]	2007
Isobel Campbell	[Title TBA]	2007
Cannibal Ox	[Title TBA]	2007
JC Chasez	[Title TBA]	March 2007
Clem Snide	Lose Big	2007
The Clientele	God Save The Clientele	April 2007
Coldplay	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Common	Finding Forever	2007
The Concretes	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
The Coral	[Title TBA]	2007
Cornelius	Sensuous	2007
Chris Cornell	[Title TBA]	2007
The Cure	[Title TBA]	May 2007
Cursive	[Title TBA]	Fall 2007
Britt Daniel [of Spoon]	[Title TBA]	2007
Dido	[Title TBA]	2007
Dinosaur Jr.	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Dntel	Dumb Luck	April 2007
The Donnas	[Title TBA]	2007
Doves	[Title TBA]	2007
Duran Duran	[Title TBA]	May 2007
The Eagles	[Title TBA]	2007 source
Earlimart	[Title TBA]	2007
Editors	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Eisley	[Title TBA]	2007
Elbow	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Electrelane	No Shouts, No Calls	April 2007
Feist	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Bryan Ferry	Dylanesque	March 2007
Lupe Fiasco	The Cool	2007
Final Fantasy	Heartland	2007
Neil Finn	[Title TBA]	2007
Fridge	[Title TBA]	May 2007
Fugees	[Title TBA]	?? 2007[delayed]
Gang Of Four	[Title TBA]	2007 source
Gnarls Barkley	[Title TBA]	2007
The Go! Team	[Title TBA]	August 2007
Jose Gonzalez	[Title TBA]	2007
Adam Green	[Title TBA]	2007
Hard-Fi	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
PJ Harvey	[Title TBA]	2007
Hot Chip	[Title TBA]	2007
Hot Hot Heat	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Idlewild	Make Another World	February 2007
Interpol	[Title TBA]	2007
Iron & Wine	[Title TBA]	August 2007
Islands	[Title TBA]	2007
Michael Jackson	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Jimmy Eat World	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
Damien Jurado	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Talib Kweli	Ear Drum	Early 2007
Ladytron	[Title TBA]	2007
Avril Lavigne	The Best Dam Thing	April 2007
Annie Lennox	[Title TBA]	2007
Les Savy Fav	[Title TBA]	March 2007
Jamie Lidell	[Title TBA]	2007
Linkin Park	[Title TBA]	2007
LL Cool J	Todd Smith, Part 2: Back To Cool	2007
Courtney Love	[Title TBA]	2007
Madvillain	[Title TBA]	2007
Magnetic Fields	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Maroon 5	[Title TBA]	2007
Massive Attack	Weather Underground	2007
Mercury Rev	[Title TBA]	2007
Metallica	[Title TBA]	2007
Metric	[Title TBA]	2007
MF Doom & Ghostface	Swift & Changeable	February 2007
M.I.A.	[Title TBA]	2007
Midnight Movies	Lion The Girl	March 2007
Moby	[Title TBA]	Fall 2007
Modest Mouse	We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank	March 2007
Mandy Moore	[Title TBA]	April 2007
Travis Morrison	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Bob Mould	[Title TBA]	June 2007
The National	[Title TBA]	Spring/Summer 2007
N.E.R.D.	[Title TBA]	2007
New Pornographers	[Title TBA]	Summer 2007
Nine Inch Nails	Year Zero	April 2007
Oakley Hall	[Title TBA]	August 2007
Oasis	[Title TBA]	2007-2008
Okkervil River	[Title TBA]	2007
Panic! At The Disco	[Title TBA]	2007
Pinback	Autumn Of The Seraphs	Summer 2007
The Pixies	[Title TBA]	2007 source
Robert Pollard	Silverfish Trivia	Fall 2007
Polyphonic Spree	The Fragile Army	2007
Portishead	[Title TBA]	2007
The Postal Service	[Title TBA]	2007
Prefuse 73	[Title TBA]	2007
The Prodigy	[Title TBA]	2007
Queens Of The Stone Age	[Title TBA]	2007
Radiohead	[Title TBA]	2007
The Rakes	[Title TBA]	2007
R.E.M.	[Title TBA]	2007
Rilo Kiley	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Kelly Rowland	My Story: Kelly Rowland	Early 2007
Roxy Music [original lineup including Brian Eno]	[Title TBA]	2007
Rush	[Title TBA]	2007
Savath & Savalas	[Title TBA]	2007
Ulrich Schnauss	[Title TBA]	2007
The Sea And Cake	[Title TBA]	May 2007
Shellac	Excellent Italian Greyhound	2007
Sigur Ros	[Title TBA]	2007-2008
Smashing Pumpkins	[Title TBA]	May 2007
Britney Spears	[Title TBA]	2007
Spiritualized	[Title TBA]	2007
Spoon	Stroke Their Brains	Spring 2007
Stars	[Title TBA]	2007
Stereolab	[Title TBA]	2007
Stereophonics	[Title TBA]	2007
Super Furry Animals	[Title TBA]	2007
Tegan & Sara	[Title TBA]	2007
Three 6 Mafia	[Title TBA]	2007
The Thrills	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Martina Topley-Bird	[Title TBA]	Early 2007
Tortoise	[Title TBA]	2007
Travis	Open	Spring 2007
U2	[Title TBA]	2007
Underworld	[Title TBA]	2007
UNKLE	War Stories	Summer 2007
John Vanderslice	[Title TBA]	2007
Suzanne Vega	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
Velvet Revolver	[Title TBA]	Spring 2007
The Vines	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Rufus Wainwright	Release The Stars	May 2007
Chris Walla	It's Unsustainable	Fall 2007
Ween	[Title TBA]	2007
Gillian Welch	[Title TBA]	2007
Kanye West	Graduation	Late 2007
Andrew WK	[Title TBA]	2007
Patrick Wolf	The Magic Position	2007
Wolf Parade	[Title TBA]	Summer/Fall 2007
The Wrens	[Title TBA]	Late 2007
Wu-Tang Clan	[Title TBA]	2007