| Gildan's Guide to Good Music
The world of music is a vast ocean of crap - join me on a voyage to the tiny isolated islands of excellence. As the tagline not so subtly suggests, it's really easy to find terrible music - you have but to turn on your radio, and lo, bad music abounds. The good stuff though, well that's rarely quite so easy to find, and while some popular music actually deserves the accolades it receives, most excellent music languishes in comparative obscurity. And that's where I come in!
For those readers unfamiliar with my charming, handsome, and not at all rampantly egotistical personage, here are a few relevant factoids you might want to know: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 What I aim to accomplish with these articles is to showcase quality albums from bands you've never heard of, in the hopes that at least one of the comparative handful of people who actually read my rambling and rampantly egotistical definitely quite humble reviews has found them useful.
Today's edition of the guide is showcasing a band I (sort of) ran across via my streaming radio channel - more on that in a moment.
The Romanovs
...And The Moon Was Hungry...
Musical Genre: Indie/Alternative/Classical
Running Time: 43 minutes
# of Tracks: 10
Particularly noteworthy songs: King, Fever Pitch, Kiss
How to describe The Romanovs to someone unfamiliar with them... it's actually kind of tricky! Probably the best way would be to ask the reader to engage in a brief thought experiment: Picture if you will, that we are in Victorian times. Now imagine that they had MTV back then.
And that's basically what The Romanovs sound like - they're a 5- member ensemble consisting of a vocalist/writer, cello, piano, violin, and percussion, and they infuse a Victorian feel to much of their music - at their most straight forward "pop" moments they still have a wonderful classical vibe thanks to the instruments they use. Oh yeah, they also dress like this.
...And The Moon Was Hungry... is really the evolution of an EP released back in 2003 by lead vocalist/writer Morgan Kibby, entitled Beggar's Alchemy, which was largely a solo effort where she provided the vocals, cello, and piano herself. Soon after that was released she started performing with various musicians who became the initial line-up of the band proper, initially calling itself Morgan (and a bit later "Morgan and the Hidden Hands"). They released an LP under that name in 2005, also called ...And The Moon Was Hungry..., which combined 7 recordings from the earlier EP with several new studio recordings and live tracks.
The album this article is about is the remix/remaster of that earlier LP, with new percussion, cello, violin, piano and vocals added to the original tracks, and a couple of new studio recordings ("Fever Pitch" and "Mr. Okada"), which they released in 2007 under their new name The Romanovs. I mentioned I encountered this via an online radio station but added a qualifier - that was because the album Pandora had was the original version, but they had the artwork from this one. Gave me a bit of confusion when I tried tracking down the album and noticed the discrepancies in the track names/covers, heh.
So what do you need to know about this group besides their neo-Victorian feel thanks to use of classical instruments? Morgan's vocals are exceptional! She has an impressive range, switching from clear and sweet delivery in the upper registers to a throaty growl (not literally, I just couldn't think of a better word - there is no growling!), from breathy and desperate to languid and serene. Combined with her at times abstract, always poetic, and often quite odd lyrics and the stellar instrumentals, it makes for some fascinating music that will never ever get any radio play, even though it really should.
In a pretty clear indication of how obscure this band is, YouTube doesn't have any videos purporting to be songs from this version of the album. I was able to find one video that just happened to use one of those tracks though (which has so far received less than 200 views, heh), and somebody uploaded a couple of tracks from the previous version of the album (mentioning that they were frustrated with being unable to find any themselves!), but apart from some recordings of live performances that have crappy audio quality, that was it. So here's all two of the songs I tracked down: "The King", and "White Flag".
And with that, it's time to bring this article to a close. Thanks for reading this segment of the ongoing Gildan's Guide to Good Music, wherein I'm always right (also, awesome) I use my knowledge of obscure music to a better end than simple snobbery (though I still get in plenty of that). If you're one of the handful of people who actually read these articles of mine, hopefully you found this one useful.
Want to be notified whenever I post a new Guide to Good Music article? Well now you can join the Guide to Good Music notification service group, and receive a notification whenever I post a new Guide to Good Music article! Huzzah. |
| This is actually... pretty damn good. The King reminds me of a lot of Evanescence's stuff, actually White Flag one does too. I'll definitely be checking these people out, even if I'm slightly off put by the Victorian thing. Anyway, great review as ever.
EDIT: I'm listening to the album now and it's insane! Thanks for showing me this. |
| Stranger of Sorts:
This is actually... pretty damn good. The King reminds me of a lot of Evanescence's stuff, actually White Flag one does too. I'll definitely be checking these people out, even if I'm slightly off put by the Victorian thing. Anyway, great review as ever.
EDIT: I'm listening to the album now and it's insane! Thanks for showing me this.
You're quite welcome, and now it's my turn to thank you for putting an end to the unbroken string of reviews I wrote that prompted no comments whatsoever. It's always nice to get actual confirmation somebody is finding these useful - I know people read the other ones (or at least click on them), but I'm not really sure how to interpret the silent treatment. I like to imagine people just couldn't think of anything interesting to say or anything to critique though, because that imaginary scenario involves the most ego-stroking, ha ha.
Anyways, now that you've been listening to ...And The Moon Was Hungry..., you can probably tell how annoyed it made me that I couldn't use songs like "Fever Pitch" or "Kiss" because I couldn't find them anywhere, grah! Which is not to say that "King" and "White Flag" are bad songs of course, I love those tracks, but they both trend towards one side of the spectrum of styles The Romanovs use, and yeah, there is a definite "pre-Fallen Evanescence" vibe to those songs, with their more prominent use of the piano and percussion - not a bad thing certainly, as I rather like Evanescence's early music, but it does lead to the listener drawing conclusions about the other tracks that aren't strictly true.
Still, compared to the luck I've had finding music from one particular artist I plan on covering at some point in the future, I hit the proverbial jackpot - beggars can't be choosers!
Now go review The Odyssey already, so I can determine if I should bother telling you about the 'Tunisian version' of Symphony X or not! |
| Gildan Bladeborn:
snippedy
You know, part for the reason for starting writing all of my music reviews in one place is that I'd convinced myself that no one actually read them at all. But nowadays I find that people read the reviews, they find them useful but music isn't a topic that many people have strong opinions on unless you directly insult their preferred genre. Or even if you review something they are familiar with, for some reason people like reading peoples' opinions on things that they've already experienced, take the last review I did, it was on Enter Shikari and it's the only one that's generated a sizeable amount of comments.
One song that I quite like is Nice Day, for some reason the lunacy and insanity of it really get to me, even if it is rather weird. Even if the line "I will get myself to the moon and eat myself a stranger" does slightly scare me. Fever Pitch is definitely up there as well. Oh and iTunes tells me the genre is Dark Cabaret, which kind of makes sense.
Oh god I may actually have to get round to reviewing The Odyssey, but it's the weekend so I should find time, even though I desperately want to review The Macabees and slaughter Lonely Island. It's my 50th review (minus miscounting and re writes) soon so I should start working on that some time, even if I'm not even sure what I'm going to do, besides from have some cake. |
| Stranger of Sorts:
for some reason people like reading peoples' opinions on things that they've already experienced
It's an effect known as "Confirmation Bias" - we go looking for opinions/information to confirm what we already think/have concluded about something, rather than to help form our initial opinions/conclusions. It's why so many people read reviews for games/albums/movies that they've long since watched/listened to/played and therefore shouldn't really need to be reading reviews for, given they've already consumed the product in question - we get a sense of validation from reading opinions that mirror our own (and a sense of righteous indignation from those that don't). The more people we see agreeing with us, the better our decisions to like things were - it's science fact!
Pretty silly, but that's the human brain for you.
One song that I quite like is Nice Day, for some reason the lunacy and insanity of it really get to me, even if it is rather weird. Even if the line "I will get myself to the moon and eat myself a stranger" does slightly scare me.
You too eh? It's not often you run into such cheerful and quirky songs about murder and cannibalism! It's not so bad, once I get past the taste.... |
Gildan's Guide to Good Music
The world of music is a vast ocean of crap - join me on a voyage to the tiny isolated islands of excellence.
As the tagline not so subtly suggests, it's really easy to find terrible music - you have but to turn on your radio, and lo, bad music abounds. The good stuff though, well that's rarely quite so easy to find, and while some popular music actually deserves the accolades it receives[1], most excellent music languishes in comparative obscurity. And that's where I come in!
For those readers unfamiliar with my charming, handsome, and not at all rampantly egotistical personage, here are a few relevant factoids you might want to know:
rampantly egotisticaldefinitely quite humble reviews has found them useful[3].Today's edition of the guide is showcasing a band I (sort of) ran across via my streaming radio channel - more on that in a moment.
The Romanovs
...And The Moon Was Hungry...
Musical Genre: Indie/Alternative/Classical
Running Time: 43 minutes
# of Tracks: 10
Particularly noteworthy songs: King, Fever Pitch, Kiss
How to describe The Romanovs to someone unfamiliar with them... it's actually kind of tricky! Probably the best way would be to ask the reader to engage in a brief thought experiment: Picture if you will, that we are in Victorian times. Now imagine that they had MTV back then.
And that's basically what The Romanovs sound like - they're a 5- member ensemble consisting of a vocalist/writer, cello, piano, violin, and percussion, and they infuse a Victorian feel to much of their music - at their most straight forward "pop" moments they still have a wonderful classical vibe thanks to the instruments they use. Oh yeah, they also dress like this.
...And The Moon Was Hungry... is really the evolution of an EP released back in 2003 by lead vocalist/writer Morgan Kibby, entitled Beggar's Alchemy, which was largely a solo effort where she provided the vocals, cello, and piano herself. Soon after that was released she started performing with various musicians who became the initial line-up of the band proper, initially calling itself Morgan (and a bit later "Morgan and the Hidden Hands"). They released an LP under that name in 2005, also called ...And The Moon Was Hungry..., which combined 7 recordings from the earlier EP with several new studio recordings and live tracks.
The album this article is about is the remix/remaster of that earlier LP, with new percussion, cello, violin, piano and vocals added to the original tracks, and a couple of new studio recordings ("Fever Pitch" and "Mr. Okada"), which they released in 2007 under their new name The Romanovs. I mentioned I encountered this via an online radio station but added a qualifier - that was because the album Pandora had was the original version, but they had the artwork from this one. Gave me a bit of confusion when I tried tracking down the album and noticed the discrepancies in the track names/covers, heh.
So what do you need to know about this group besides their neo-Victorian feel thanks to use of classical instruments? Morgan's vocals are exceptional! She has an impressive range, switching from clear and sweet delivery in the upper registers to a throaty growl (not literally, I just couldn't think of a better word - there is no growling!), from breathy and desperate to languid and serene. Combined with her at times abstract, always poetic, and often quite odd[4] lyrics and the stellar instrumentals, it makes for some fascinating music that will never ever get any radio play, even though it really should.
In a pretty clear indication of how obscure this band is, YouTube doesn't have any videos purporting to be songs from this version of the album. I was able to find one video that just happened to use one of those tracks though (which has so far received less than 200 views, heh), and somebody uploaded a couple of tracks from the previous version of the album (mentioning that they were frustrated with being unable to find any themselves!), but apart from some recordings of live performances that have crappy audio quality, that was it. So here's all two of the songs I tracked down: "The King", and "White Flag".
And with that, it's time to bring this article to a close. Thanks for reading this segment of the ongoing Gildan's Guide to Good Music, wherein
I'm always right (also, awesome)I use my knowledge of obscure music to a better end than simple snobbery (though I still get in plenty of that). If you're one of the handful of people who actually read these articles of mine, hopefully you found this one useful.Want to be notified whenever I post a new Guide to Good Music article? Well now you can join the Guide to Good Music notification service group, and receive a notification whenever I post a new Guide to Good Music article! Huzzah.