The leaves are mostly gone from the deciduous trees around our house, many of them stuffed in the gutter. (Have to do something about that.) It’s still sometimes warm enough to hike with only a sweatshirt, but that’s one of the false, temporary good things about climate change.

But the temperature can’t fool me–it’s almost winter.

This morning, my husband put on a CD by Ulaan Kohl, one of the incarnations of Steven R. Smith. (Smith is also responsible for Hala Strana.) Perfect choice. For me, fallintowinter is the season of Dead Can Dance and Hala Strana. I love the introspection and moroseness in this music; it’s so clashingly rich. Along with warm sweaters, extra cocoa, and stout beer, music like this weaves the tapestry I can hang on through winter.

In my house, there’s an imagined scenario. It goes a little something like this: At a family reunion, or holiday party, Lisa Gerrard’s aged auntie says to her, “Lisa, can’t you write something a little more upbeat? You know, for the kids?” Lisa just looks at her.

These people will also be invited to teach in the department of Interdisciplinary Aesthetics. But only in winter.

The best album cover ever?

Last night on VH1 Europe they did a countdown of the top 25 albums of all time.  Prince made no. 3, and, inevitably, I guess, Thriller made no. 1.  But REM’s automatic for the people made no. 2.  What I found very weird about this, is that people since about the mid 90s have been intentionally forgetting that, between the period 1977-1995, ‘mainstream’ rock, or ‘establishment’ rock, was cosidered by the listening public to be entirely different from ‘alternative’ rock.  At least, that was the case in the US.  In britain, they always seemed to blur the line more, and ‘alternative’ acts often scored top 10 hits, which in the US happened much more infrequently.  But there was still a clear idea that alternative was alternative, and mainstream was mainstream.  And today, people realize this when shopping for music on Amazon:  i.e., “the killers” and DCFC are known to be ‘alternative,’ with ‘emo’ in the latter’s case being a subgenre of alternative:  and everyone has always known that Prince belongs in an entirely different category (of its own–file under ‘weird.’) 

So why are people conflating alternative and ‘pop’ music, to the point where I often hear people lump together alternative with ‘pop,’ so as to distinguish it from ‘R&B’ and ’Dance?’  To do so, I argue, is to entirely miss the point of the ‘altnertive’ movement.  In its heyday, every single person who listened to alternative was aware that it was ‘counter-cultural.’  In essence, alternative contiued the 1960s and 70s trend, which was anti-establishment, and went along with, in some form or another, the popular marxism of the day, which was highly suspicious of corporations, and thus, the record industry.  This of course, presupposes that its listeners have the mental apparatus to appreciate social complexity–to understand society as a system, and/or who are concerned to be articulate about their interation with the world.  Pop music proper, is therefore ‘for the masses,’, i.e., for the majority of people, who, unfortunately, do not have either the will or the IQ power to grapple with complex responses to their environment.  That’s why pop music, e.g. Elvis and Michael Jackson, is generally lyrically incredibly banal.  Both the 60s protest stuff, and, punk, and alternative, and now, things like emo, are thus distinguished by their more sophisticated lyrics.  So, what we are talking about here, then, is music for those who are fortunate enough to have the apparatus and desire to engage with lyrics.  Unfortunately, after 1995, lyrics went out of style (see below) and the entire culture’s level of articulateness, I would argue, has suffered since then.   

By the time that alternative came of age, however, I would argue that it had become much more personal.  While the 60s and 70s Woodstock stuff was decidedly public music – to be performed live, e.g., the doors–and often had impersonal lyrics (e.g. Bob Marley– cryin’ lion zion…. what the hey is that all about?), by the 80s, the goth movement brought music into the bedroom, i.e., into the personal minds of the listener.  Morrissey of course puts it best:  ’When I lay in awe on my bedroom floor,” etc. 

Many people put punk together with alternative, but I see a divergence from the beginning.  Groups like Joy Division and the Cure and Souxsie were always much more cerebral, sensitive, and appealed more to the introspective person, rather than punk, which was often so absurd as to be a simple testosterone fest, despite it’s often radical-marxist lyrics.  In short, I think that punk sucks, becasue though it was perhaps good that someone was doing it, i.e., being socially aware in their music, I believe that their methods, which were essentially violent and anarchist, are inherently self-defeating.  Thus I have never been drawn to it. 

Alternative, on the other hand, foregrounded the individal emotional and (crucially) intellectual response to the world, and thus, can be seen as a re-visioning of the eighteenth-century Cult of Sensibility, which was spearheaded by Goethe, and was then brought to fruition by authors such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Jane Austen, and Keats, who, for the first time in history, asserted that the experience of the individual (particularly of the sensitive individual) truly mattered.  The artist figure, the thinker, the solitary philosopher, was worth listening to, they argued, and this could be anyone–not simply the great.  This encouraged reading and thinking and sensitive people everywhere to stop being deferent to their social superiors, and to really take their own inner dialogue seriously.  This is arguably a very crucial step on the way towards mass democracy. 

And this is why I’m interested in alternative music, from the point of view of this site.  I belive that the 1970s and 80s saw a massive increase in the sensibilities of young thinking people–they grew up in households with more money, for one, and they had more opportunities to travel and to interact with other cultures than ever before.  And they had leisure, and many of them, in Britain and the US, studied the arts, even just in high school, this was done seriously, with an emphasis on text, on poetry and literature, and this encouraged many people once again to take this inner dialogue seriously.  Arguably, the 80s bedroom revolution was quite similar to the romantic revolution which emerged after the french revolution:  a public revolution went bust, and so artist figures, who had been so engaged and so inspired by the public’s prospects, now retreated into their own minds, and continued to hold the ideals of the revolution there, in their own private spheres, until such a time as they might once again find public times propitious for their goals of reform, and remaking. 

This is precisely what the 80s bedroom revolutionaries did, and more.  They saw that the 60s and 70s had failed in many ways to produce anything lasting and concrete, besides a welcome liberalization of society–which should not be underestimated.  But they saw instinctually (I did as a high schooler, and I know my alternative friends did), that the political aims of the hippie revolution were largely unfulfilled, swallowed up by the wave of conservativism brought about by reagan (and thatcher).  And so, we moved inward.  We still had ideals, we still cherished the idea of reform–very much so.  But we also began to realize, through introspecton, that our own selves really truly mattered:  our own emotions, thoughts, etc.  But what made the alternative age different from today, ‘the post alternative age,’ is that today’s emo people, I think, have grown up in an entirely self-serving society, which is almost devoid of the ideal of social reform.  In the 80s, there was still some of that public idealism left.  And it made us idealistic, in the best possible way.  We believed that, by reforming ourselves, we could reform the world, make it better.  (see this website–it’s basically proof that i’m still working in that mode). 

I believe that, after about 1995, these ideals basically died, in a big way, in popular culture, and what we’ve been left with is a culture devoid of public ideals.  It’s therefore all been about the desires of the individual, and thus, is essentially unsophisticated:  it’s all egotism.  Emo people are the intelligent version of the ‘gimme’ school.  But their lyrics are still essentially whining–with no underlying vision.  If you have no social dimension to what you do and think, it’s very difficult for this to be progressive–it is inherently centrifugal, I think.  And then, the less articulate version of this has been the triumph of hip hop, which, for reasons we’ll have to leave for elsewhere, has been almost entirely egotistical and self serving, especially after the few attempts in the 80s to make it political (in which case it was tied to the alternative music ethic– NWA and Public Enemy, e.g., did have much that was political in them–but after about ‘93, any impetus to put the political into music fell away, and hip hop returned to simple braggadocio, and glorification of violence, and domination of women–which, when one loses idealism, is all that’s left).

So, to put a time scale on it: i’d say

1950s:  rock invented, in US and britain.

1960s-early 70s:  protest rock– the first ‘alternative rock.’

1977-present.  Punk.  Angry marxist progressiveness.  Ultimately self-defeating.

1977-1995.  Golden Age of Alternative.  Lyrics were foregrounded, personal experience was foregrounded, but enough idealism remained from the 70s age of popular Marxism, that people genuinely wanted to make the world a better place.

1992- Grunge makes its debut.  Mixes alternative with testosterone rock.  Beginning of the end of alternative music.  After this, sensitive artists begin to avoid lyrics.

mid-1990s.  Age of ‘acid jazz’ ‘house’ – etc.  Club music draws the best and the brighest.  But it is a-lyrical, and so, essentially, the age of social engagement fizzles, quite rapidly.  And with it, idealism.  Idealistic music is no longer fashionable.  The only alternative bands who are still producing major albums are some of what we used to call B-quality bands:  i.e., Radiohead and Bjork.  They sucked compared with the giants of the alternative era, but their manneristic squeaking and shapeless music went well with the new anti-lyrical fashion, and so they became huge.

2000-present.  With internet, a great variety of musical styles, but, it’s still true that, when the lyric comes back into fashion, it is now almost entirely personal.  Political, social, progressive agendas are entirely out, and so the music never rises above the purely juvenile.  Whereas Morrissey and Ian Curtis’ poetry has the power of Wordsworth to engage us, and incite us, to think idealistically, the (admittedly good) lyrics of Death Cab for Cutie, or worse, the banal lyrics of the White Stripes, and the Yeah yeah yeahs, never rise above the purely personal of the high school student’s poetry:

‘yesterday i saw a couple/kissing by the train platform/they were so beautiful/i wondered where they were going.’

Etc.  This is drivel–because it’s purely of personal interest.  It has no idealism, thus, no universalism, and that is the essence of good poetry.

So, my argument, then, is that grunge killed alternative, and after that, we hear people talking of ‘rock being in the shitter’ (trent reznor, 1999–unfortunately his album of that year did nothing to rescue it–the inspiration had died–the age of idealism was largely over).  And until the culture once again recovers idealism, it will continue to stay in the shitter.  Read around on this site, and you’ll see how idealism and moving, real, gripping, engaging art have always been entirely intertwined with one another. 

Thus, all of the following albums, from 1977 to about the grunge era (let’s say 1995–though i do include some grunge), are filled with idealism, even if their lyrics do not explicitly sound that way at all.  And a few albums that come after this time have managed to keep some of that idealism, and so they are included here as well.  Even the industrial music which was a subgenre of alternative in the latter part of this period was not anything like ‘white zombie’ or ’tool’ which came later, and which are genuinely antisocial, antihumanist, and violent–and thus antidemocratic.  I would argue, then, that Skinny Puppy is highly idealistic and progressive, while Maynard what’s-his-name’s “Tool”, which dominated the 90s niche formerly held by bands like Skinny Puppy, replaced it with an entirely anti-idealistic, self-destructive, even psychotic atmosphere, which I argue, still holds the dominant position in our society today (see my post on violence condoning torture for more on this).   Ok, then without further ado (and knowing that we’ll have to discuss these choices at a future time):  here would be my top 25 alternative/industrial albums of all time (and it’s basically ridiculous to put them in order, I think):

Dead Can Dance-  Serpent’s Egg, or Spiritchaser; 10,000 Maniacs – Our Time in Eden; The Cure- The Top; Joy Division- Substance; New Order – Substance; Belle & Sebastian – Tigermilk; Depeche Mode – Violator; Pixies – Doolittle; Loreena McKennitt – The Visit; Smashing Pumpkins – Gish; Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes; The Smiths- Louder than Bombs; Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs; The National – The National; REM – Document or Automatic for the People; Skinny Puppy – Mind:  The Perpetual Intercourse; Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas; Sundays – Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; Ministry - Live:  In case you didn’t feel like showing up;  Moby – Play; St. Germain-St. Germain (a-lyrical, but idealistic); Coldplay – Rush of Blood to the Head; Death Cab for Cutie – Plans; Enya – Watermark; Sarah McLachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy; Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral or Pretty Hate Machine.  Lisa Gerard – The Mirror Pool.

Ok, that’s 27.  But what most of these have in common, is that they are beautiful, sublime, epic, and/or highly idealistic.  They are not essentially violent (even Ministry-I’d argue), but essentially the opposite–egalitarian, democratic, progressive, empathetic.  They strive for the good, the beautiful, the just.  And so they receive the Platonist’s seal of approval.

I need my conscience to keep watch over me

To protect me from myself

So I can wear honesty like a crown on my head

When I walk into the promised land

Brendan Perry

This is one of my favorite short songs of Dead Can Dance. Dead Can Dance is a band composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. Formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1981 and initially based there, it disbanded in 1998 but reunited temporarily for a world tour in 2005.

Though the band was formed in Australia, Gerrard and Perry moved soon after to London, where after one year it signed with alternative rock label 4AD Records, a legendary label on the alternative-music scene. The duo continued to work closely together until the late 1990s, when they started to grow apart. Gerrard returned to Australia, while Perry moved to Ireland, where he bought the old Quivvy Church in which he now lives and works. It is speculated that the distance between the members was an influence in the duo’s eventual break-up, although Perry himself said that distance helped in maintaining a certain individual freedom in creativity.

Assigning a musical genre to Dead Can Dance is difficult, as its style is particularly eclectic. However, its early work could be considered a mix between post-punk and goth rock. In its later work, starting with The Serpent’s Egg, Dead Can Dance would take ancient or various musics from around the world as primary sources, with Gerrard singing glossolalia, giving it a very distinctive style. As a result, the duo’s later albums sound quite different from the first three. Various sources have labeled those latter releases as neoclassical, ethereal, or dark world music.

Hello everybody,

Nothing like inspiring some debate from the get-go for the first legitimate post on this blog, and what better way to do so than with a list? Folks, this was a tough one, but here are my picks for my favorite bands of all-time. By the way, there will be a separate Top 10 for solo artists!

1. Echo and the Bunnymen. Number two on this list is pretty close to taking over this spot, but for now Echo and the Bunnymen still have a hold on things. Echo has been my fave since about 1987-88, a long time to have such a stranglehold on Number One.

No wonder. The first albums from Echo are in my mind the all-time best start to a career, four stunning records of post-punk and early Britpop mastery. What was most exciting about this band was how different each album was from the previous. Crocodiles was an incredible debut, full of energy and a melodic post-punk edge. Heaven Up Here added mysticism and power to the mix. Porcupine was a masterpiece, combining the elements from the first two albums into one unique combination. My favorite track from the band, In Bluer Skies, appears on the third album.

However, the 1984 release of Ocean Rain remains one of the top albums in music history. At least in Tfronky’s eyes. Nine breath-taking tracks of pure beauty, highlighted with the first track on side two of the album, The Killing Moon. This album has been reissued on a couple of occasions. Find the one with a second disc of a live concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1983.

Echo would make one more album with the original line-up. Once drummer Pete de Freitas was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in 1989, the magic was in many ways gone. Echo and the Bunnymen continue to tour and record to this day with vocalist Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant. They recently released their 11th studio album, entitled The Fountain. I will have to check it out.

Critical album = Ocean Rain

2. Elbow. My good friend Bobby Lerma has introduced me to some great music over the years. One day he handed me a disc he had burned from a band I was not familiar with by the name of Elbow. The next day I called him and when he answered, I immediately began cursing at him, pissed because he had waited so long to tell me about these guys!

If the next album from Elbow, which will be their fifth studio disc, is better than Echo’s fifth, self-titled album, then Elbow will slide into the Number One spot. Amazing to think that this foursome toiled for years in obscurity under the different moniker of Soft, because they have developed into the greatest band in the world at the present time.

That disc Bobby burned contained tracks from Elbow’s first three albums, Asleep in the Back, Cast of Thousands and Leaders of the Free World. Their fourth disc The Seldom Seen Kid was the album that finally gained them the commercial success they so richly deserve. These guys have yet to create a bad song, and more often than not have created some of the best music in the past 12 years. No one can touch Guy Garver for Top Dog in regards to vocals. Their show at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver May of 2008 ranks as the best concert I have ever seen, no mean feat when you consider how many shows I have been to over the years.

Critical album = The Seldom Seen Kid

3. Sugar. Sigh … what a shame that such an incredible band was only around from 1992-1995. Husker Du was incredible, the first two solo records from the legendary Bob Mould were very good, but when Sugar’s debut Copper Blue was released in 1992 I went nuts. The punk aesthetic of Husker Du was tempered with Mould’s melodicism from his solo work, but the structure of the music went far beyond what he had done before. Sugar possessed a delicate ferocity. Every song possesses brutal power, but the pop hooks each track possessed were absolutely incredible. I only had the pleasure of seeing this band perform once, at the Electric Ballroom in Tempe, AZ. No joke, my ears may still be ringing.

Thank God Bob soldiers on today, remaining one of the most crucial artists in music.

Critical album = Copper Blue

4. Agent Orange. My favorite punk rock band, although Agent Orange expands on the limits of that formula. Take melodic punk, add in a heavy surf rock element and you have the formula for some of the most dynamic music produced in the past 30 years. Guitarist/vocalist Mike Palm is the only original member left, but his presence alone still makes this trio a powerful force.

Critical  album = This is the Voice

5. Swervedriver. An original part of the early nineties U.K. shoegaze scene, Swervedriver pushed the boundaries on that genre of music and left a definite imprint as one of the best bands on the nineties. Swervedriver takes several of the characteristics of Britpop, mixes in some explosive power and one of the best vocal styles in rock and roll from Adam Franklin.

This band has gone through several hardships during its career, especially in regards to some terrible luck with its record labels. After the release of their fourth album 99th Dream in 1998, the band broke up a year later and were on hiatus for nine years. Then in April of 2008 Swervedriver reunited at Coachella and once again proved they are capable of creating some of the most beautiful damage when they play together. The show I saw at the Mason Jar years ago brings back some incredible memories.

Critical album = Mezcal Head

6. Juno. One day my friend Bobby Lerma walked in to the store I was working at back around 2001-2002. He handed me a disc, told me to put it in and fast forward to a track entitled Killing it in a Quiet Way. The song was from Juno’s second full-length album A Future Lived in Past Tense. I was immediately blown away. Juno was emo without all the horrible characteristics of that genre of music.This was emo reminiscent of the mid-eighties Washington D.C. Dischord Records era and Sunny Day Real Estate. Intense music, inspired and soaring vocals, and a three-guitar attack highlighted this incredible band that had far too-short a career from 1995-2001.

Few bands can create long instrumentals and keep them interesting. Juno had an amazing ability to do so, and their more standard tracks possessed immense power and a subtle tranquility. I wish I could have seen these guys live.

Critical album = A Future Lived in Past Tense

7. Band of Horses. I had been introduced to this band before, but for whatever reason had not made a huge impression on me. Then I had the opportunity to see them play at the second Monolith Festival at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO September of 2008.

There were several great acts during that weekend, but when Band of Horses took the main stage on Sunday evening, they put on a performance for the ages. The one band with a sound big enough to capitalize on the stunning acoustics of Red Rocks, Band of Horses played an incredible set that evening, highlighted by their signature song The Funeral. The cool weather, the wonderful scenery of Red Rocks and the outstanding delivery of that song provided in my opinion the highlight of the weekend, powerful enough to nearly move me to tears.

I had the pleasure of seeing them at Coachella this year, where Band of Horses unveiled two new tracks. I am stoked for the new disc, whenever it does finally come out!

Critical album = Everything All the Time

8. Dead Can Dance. The beauty of Gregorian chant mixed with ethereal dreampop is one way you could describe this duo. Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard combined their talents to deliver one of the more unique styles of music I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Typical of most 4AD bands from that time period, Dead Can Dance released a string of albums that were mellow enough for your parents to enjoy, but contained enough elements of alternative music to satisfy the indie crowd. For a great introduction to this band, check out their live release Toward the Within.

Critical album = Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

9. Gang of Four. The best, most powerful and most intelligent post-punk band of the late seventies-early eighties, Gang of Four released two incredible albums to commence their career, the landmark Entertainment! and my fave, Solid Gold. The Gang created music that makes you think. They also create music so powerful that it pummels you into submission.

He may not be the most technically correct guitarist in music history, but Andy Gill is a genius. There was an eighties concert film by the name of Urgh! A Music War. To this day I marvel at the band’s delivery of He’d Send in the Army, and the manner in which Andy Gill destroys his guitar while playing that song is incredible.

Critical album = Solid Gold

10. The Ramones. Without this band I never become a fan of the Sex Pistols, Agent Orange, M.I.A. or Social Distortion. The impact of the Ramones is still felt in rock music 35 years after they first formed in Queens, NY.

Now granted, the last five albums the band released were terrible, and only three of the previous five were worthwhile. However, the first four releases from the Ramones were so outstanding and so ahead of their time that I could still put Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia or Road to Ruin on today and immediately be brought back to my youth. I immediately recall how simple their music was, and how powerful that simplicity was in creating controlled chaos.

Do yourself a favor and rent the movie Rock and Roll High School if you get a chance, great stuff!

Critical album = It’s Alive

Let the debate begin!

Cheers,
Frank

Last Sunday, I was in church (I know … shocking) and we were remembering our departed beloveds. Usually, my mum is there to carry up my grandmum’s name on the altar in rememberance, but since she couldn’t make it, I took it on myself to do the honours. I don’t know if it was the hymns or the resurge of the memory of this wonderful woman, my grandmum, but I had barely made it past the congregation before I broke into sobs on the stairs on the way to the balcony. For some reason, throughout the entire week I couldn’t shake Dead Can Dance’s Severance in my head. Such as sad song:

Severance,
The birds of leaving call to us,
yet here we stand
endowed with the fear of flight.
Overland
the winds of change consume the land,
while we remain
in the shadow of summers now past.
When all the leaves
have fallen and turned to dust,
will we remain
entrenched within our ways.
Indifference,
the plague that moves throughout this land
Omen signs
in the shapes of things to come.
Tomorrow’s child is the only child.

I love you Grandmum. Will always miss you.

Disc One 

1. Nierika
2. Saffron
3. Yamyinar
4. The Ubiquitous Mr.Lovegrove
5. The Love That Cannot Be
6. The Lotus Eaters
7. Crescent
8. Minus Sanctus
9. Saltarello
10. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
11. How Fortunate The Man With None

│ DOWNLOAD ↓

Disc Two

1. Dreams Made Flesh
2. I Can See Now
3. Americab Dreaming
4. Sanvean
5. Rakim
6. Black Sun
7. Salems Lot
8. Yulunga
9. Hymn For The Fallen

│DOWNLOAD ↓

Serene and tranquil, Paul Avgerinos music has the ability to relax you completely without putting you to sleep! It enhanced my spa experience greatly. This music gives me energy and a feeling of peacefulness…now that’s the music they should play instead of that generic stuff!

The one thing that makes me not want to go to the spa, or for a massage is that they always play that same music with the waves and the seagulls. Yes, it’s nice to that it puts you to sleep but I didn’t go there to SLEEP in the middle of the day! When I leave, my day is shot as I’m so exhausted I can barely drive myself home!

So, I set out on a journey to find music that is calming and peaceful, without being TIRING and I found just that with Paul Avgerinos’ “Love”.
You can hear some tracks & get the CD here: http://bit.ly/RoundSky

Get Downloads here: http://bit.ly/qHz2P

Bueno como ya vimos en el post anterior la literatura Steampunk es muy amplia, hoy lo que toca, son los grupos de musica Steampunk. Parece mentira, pero hay grupos que la musica que tocan la denominan de ese genero o los fans los engloban en ese genero.

Vamos a dar un pequeño repaso por algunos de los más (y menos) conocidos de estos grupos. Empecemos pues…

Abney Park

Este no es un grupo novel, sino todo lo contrario pues ya tienen unos cuantos discos a sus espaldas, se llaman Abney Park (echadle un ojo a lo currada que está la web) y que son el grupo Steampunk más famoso del mundo. Tienen un vestuario y estetica muy currada y las canciones estan bien.

Web: http://www.abneypark.com/

Beat Circus

Aunque se les puede englobar en la corriente musical de Dark Cabaret, es una banda con ya unos cuantos años de antiguedad y que cuenta con muchos seguidores. Su musica es cuanto menos peculiar y es como poco bastante tetrica.

Web: http://beatcircus.net/

Dr. Steel

Su nombre completo es Phineas Waldolf Steel, y el es un musico americano residente en el sur de California, es bastante conocido en los ambientes goticos, Steampunk y Rivethead. Ademas de ser un cantante (ver mas adelante) tambien es un showman que hace sus gags. Para muestra un boton:

Otro de los puntos a destacar es su web, que a mi particularmente me gusto mucho y que me recuerda mucho a los menus del Fallout…

Web: http://www.doctorsteel.com/

Dresden Dolls

Los Dresden Dolls son un duo musical americano llegados desde Boston (Massachusetts). El grupo fue formado en el 2000, y esta compuesto por Amanda Palmer (voz, piano, armonica y ukelele (si, leiste bien)) y Brian Viglione (bateria, percusion, guitarra, bajo y voz). Ellos se describen como “Brechtian punk cabaret”, Forman parte de la corriente Dark Cabaret, pero tiene reminicencias steampunk, y la web tiene algo que me da escalofrios…

Web: http://www.dresdendolls.com

EZ3kiel

Este frances esta en la palestra steampunk desde 1999, y lleva 4 discos a sus espaldas. Su musica es instrumental y alguna que me parece más dance que otra cosa, y tambien mucho trip hop. Este grupo a mi entender es steampunk mas que nada por las portadas de los discos…

Web: http://www.ez3kiel.com/

The Faraway Tree

Este grupo llegado desde Nueva Zelanda (mira como los Kiwis xD), esta compuesto por Daniel Gifkins, Nigel Duncan, Hayden Gifkins y se definen como musica Indie, segun varias webs que consulte los catalogan como Steampunk, pero es mas instrumental que otra cosa…

Web: http://www.myspace.com/landofthefarawaytree

The Muse

¿Que es que alguien no conoce este grupo?. Muse es una banda inglesa de rock alternativo, originaria de Teignmouth, Devon. Está compuesta por Matthew Bellamy (compositor, voz, guitarra, teclado y piano); Dominic Howard (batería y percusión). y Christopher Wolstenholme (bajo eléctrico, teclados y coros). Tras el lanzamiento de su cuarto álbum, Morgan Nicholls colabora con la banda durante los conciertos, haciéndose cargo de teclados, samples y de algunos coros.[1] Su música cuenta con influencia de compositores clásicos, especialmente, aquellos de la era romántica, tales como Sergéi Rajmáninov. La banda es famosa por sus enérgicas actuaciones en vivo y los excéntricos intereses del líder Bellamy en la conspiración global, vida extraterrestre, teología y el apocalipsis.

Web: http://muse.mu/

P.d: Muy mal por la parte de Muse que pone unos videos en youtube a una resolucion de pena y encima con unos pixeles como barcos de vapor de grandes…)

Ben Houge

Más que un musico como Bisbal Abney Park, Ben es el encargado de de poner sonidos en muchos de los juegos a los que estamos acostumbrados a viciar, de hecho trabaja en Ubilol Ubisoft. Desde luego a trabajado en juegos tan miticos como: Tom Clancy’s EndWar, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, la saga Half-Life, SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle, King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity, entre otros. Y ya solo por trabajar para la mitica empresa de videojuegos Sierra (que el Diox de los jugones tenga en su gloria) ya se merece estar aqui. Toca generos tan dispares como Electro-Acoustica, Coral, Vocal, liturgica, orquestal, etc. Vamos un autentico crack, la pega que para trabajar en juegos tan chulos tiene una web digna del siglo XIX…

Web: http://www.benhouge.com

Sxip Shirey

El se define como compositor/diseñador de sonido/performer/cuentacuentos/”curandero”. Criado en Nueva York, este artista crea una musica inquietante y curiosa.

Web: http://sxipshirey.com/

Unextraordinary Gentlemen

Este trio crea una musica bizarra y muy barroca, mezclando instrumentos clasicos con cajas de ritmos y demas parafernalia futurista. La estetica es Steampunk abogan -habitualmente- por un punk-folk extraño con ciertas excepciones y a partir de ahí juegan mucho con el factor estético.

Web: http://www.unextraordinarygentlemen.com

Vernian Process

El grupo fue creado en el 2003 y segun ellos mismos cuentan su inspiración es el escritor frances Jules Gabriel Verne (1828 – 1905). Ellos dicen que la estetica Steampunk es genial. Ya cuentan con 5 albums a sus espaldas y una cosa que no os debeis perder es el video que os adjunto…
P.d: De este grupo pongo dos videos no porque sean especiales, sino para que se pueda ver su faceta instrumental y la vocal, eso si el primer video es imprescindible de ver…

Web: http://www.vernianprocess.com/

Emilie Autumn

Emilie Autumn (nacida el 22 de septiembre de 1979 en Malibu, California) es una cantautora, poeta, violinista y pianista, actualmente vive en Chicago. Se le diferencia por su estilo de interpretación teátrica y la mezcla de música clásica y música electrónica. Sus más notables instrumentos son el violín clásico, el violín eléctrico, el piano y la viola de gamba.

Web: http://www.emilieautumn.com/

Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails (abreviado NIN) es una banda estadounidense de rock industrial fundada en 1988 por Trent Reznor en Cleveland, Ohio, Estados Unidos. Como su principal productor, cantante, compositor e instrumentista, Reznor es el único miembro oficial de Nine Inch Nails y el único responsable de la dirección de la banda. La música de Nine Inch Nails abarca un gran número de géneros musicales, aunque mantiene un sonido característico utilizando instrumentos electrónicos y procesamiento en el estudio de grabación. Después de grabar cada nuevo álbum de estudio, Reznor forma una banda de músicos para las giras y conciertos. Esta banda suele ser cambiante y hace arreglos en las canciones para ajustarlas a las actuaciones en directo. En el escenario, NIN suele utilizar elementos visuales espectaculares para sus actuaciones, entre las que destaca el espectáculo lumínico. Los Videos como el que pongo aqui tienen claras reminiscencias al Steampunk.

Web: www.nin.com

Rasputina

Rasputina nunca dijo ser Steampunk, aunque realmente tiene ese aire.

Web: http://www.rasputina.com/

Voltaire

Se llama realmente Aurelio Voltaire Hernández y nacio en el 1967, en Cuba es un famoso cantante de la escena gotica americana. Tiene canciones muy pegadizas y ademas de cantante tambien hace animacion, dibuja comic y es profesor en la escuela de artes visuales de Nueva York.

Web: http://www.voltaire.net/

Tool

Tool es una banda estadounidense de metal progresivo surgida en 1990 en Los Ángeles, California. Ha vendido más de trece millones de discos en todo el mundo y ha ganado tres premios Grammy hasta la fecha; ha encabezado giras y prestigiosos festivales y ha producido exitosos álbumes que alcanzaron grandes niveles de ventas gracias a su estatus de culto en el mundo de la música. Está formada por el batería Danny Carey, el guitarrista Adam Jones, el vocalista Maynard James Keenan y el bajista Justin Chancellor, que sustituyó a Paul D’Amour en 1995. Sus videos tienen ese regusto steampunk…

web: http://www.toolband.com/

Nightwish

Nightwish es un grupo de metal sinfónico procedente de Finlandia, conocidos en todo el mundo por sus fuertes y melódicos riffs de guitarra, atmósferas de órgano y sintetizador, potente batería y claro sonido de bajo que hace un buen contraste con su apoyo filarmónico/orquestal. Nightwish es considerada una de las bandas más representativas de este género.

Su género musical es bastante discutido. Cabe señalar que son muy reconocidos por haber brindado una gran diversidad de cualidades de power metal llevándolo a un nivel muy potente, y a la vez combinando al género con metal sinfónico, algunos toques de folk y thrash metal siendo éstos los que ponen a debatir la etimología de su música.

Web: http://www.nightwish.com

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance es un grupo musical procedente de Australia, compuesto por Lisa Gerrard y Brendan Perry. Dead Can Dance se formó en Melbourne en el año 1981 estableciéndose inicialmente en Australia. Al no tener grandes perspectivas de éxito en ese país se trasladaron a Londres donde tras un año firmaron para el legendario sello de rock alternativo 4AD, convirtiéndose en una de sus bandas más importantes. Continuaron trabajando juntos hasta adentrados los ‘90, cuando comenzaron a trabajar por separado. Lisa Gerrard retornó a Australia, mientras Brendan Perry se fue a Irlanda, lugar en que compró una vieja iglesia, Quivy Church, en la cual vive y trabaja.

Web: http://www.deadcandance.com/

Regina Spektor

La artista nació el 18 de febrero de 1980 en Moscú en el seno de una familia judía. Su padre, Ilya Spektor, fotógrafo, fue también violinista aficionado, mientras su madre es profesora de música, y enseñó en un colegio de música en Rusia, y actualmente lo hace en una escuela pública básica en Mount Vernon, localidad ubicada en la misma ciudad en la que ellos residen.

La familia abandonó Rusia en 1989, durante la Perestroika, cuando a los ciudadanos rusos se les permitió emigrar del país. En su páis natal, Spektor tocaba el piano desde que tenía seis años, y escuchaba bandas de rock, como The Beatles y Queen. Cuentan que de pequeña Regina soñaba con ser concertista clásica de piano y que los primeros años de su nueva vida en Norteamérica, habiendo tenido que dejar su instrumento en su lejano país de nacimiento, los pasaba la niña practicando escalas en cualquier superficie plana, ya fuera el tablero de una mesa o el alféizar de una ventana. Sus videos son como goticos, pero molan las cancioncillas…

Web: http://www.reginaspektor.com/

Evanescence

Evanescence es una banda estadounidense de metal gótico fundada en Little Rock, Arkansas en 1998 por la vocalista Amy Lee y el guitarrista Ben Moody.

Después de grabar dos EP independientes, Evanescence EP, Sound Asleep, y Origin en el año 2000 con ayuda de la discográfica Bigwig Enterprises, la banda lanzó su primer álbum de estudio, Fallen, con la discográfica Wind-up Records en el año 2003. Fallen vendió más de 15 millones de copias alrededor del mundo y la banda ganó dos premios Grammy. Un año más tarde, la banda lanzó su primer DVD en vivo, Anywhere but Home, el cual vendió más de 1 millón de copias alrededor del mundo. En el 2006, la banda lanzó su segundo álbum de estudio, The Open Door que hasta la fecha ha vendido más de 5 millones de copias en todo el mundo. Y si amiguitos y amiguitas a pesar de que son un grupo conocido y famoso no me direis que tiene un aire Steampunk…

Web: http://www.evanescence.com/

Portishead

Portishead es el nombre de un grupo musical británico, de tendencia trip hop, formado en Bristol en 1991.Su segundo álbum Portishead, salió a la venta en 1997 e incluyó el sencillo “All Mine”. Además, grabaron un concierto con acompañamiento de orquesta en Roseland, Nueva York, donde fueron interpretadas sus canciones más famosas. Éste, salió a la venta en 1998 con un DVD del concierto. En 1999 colaboraron con Tom Jones en una canción de su álbum Reload. Y no me direis que el video es Steampunk si hasta sale un tio con una camara de carrete, tecnologia obsoleta xD.

Web: http://www.portishead.co.uk/

VNV Nation

VNV Nation es una agrupación de música electrónica originaria de Londres, ahora establecida en Hamburgo, que combina elementos de Electronic Body Music (EBM), Música Industrial y Synthpop, para formar lo que ellos llaman Futurepop. Los miembros son Ronan Harris y Mark Jackson. VNV Nation es la abreviación de Victory Not Vengeance (literalmente, Victoria No Venganza), un lema que hace alusión a la idea de que uno debe buscar el triunfo y no refugiarse en los lamentos. Temática que es tratada a lo largo de la discografía del grupo y que caracteriza su sonido.

Web: http://www.vnvnation.com/

Hannah Fury

Bien esta cantante solista es ideal para todos aquellos que quedaron enbelezados con la voz de Liv Kristine (exs theatre of tragedy y actual Leaves Eyes). Viene en esa apuesta lo de esta blonda cantante!. Se puede decir que esta englobada dentro del Gothic Rock.

Web: http://www.mellowtraumatic.com/

The Clockwork Quartet

The Clockwork Quartet es una banda de musica que mezcla elementos de, musica experimental,folk y neo-victoriana. Es una de las bandas que traigo que más me gustan. Claramente te los puedes imaginar tocando en un mundo Steampunk, y encima su musica no suena nada mal. Su musica esta caracterizada por los “sonidos steampunk”, esto es maquinas de escribir, relojes, etc, ademas actuan caracterizados…

Web: http://www.clockworkquartet.com/

Oingo Boingo

Este grupo tiene videos con claras reminiscencias a este estilo, y como nota curiosa “Danny” Elfman (antiguo lider del grupo), es conocido principalmente por escribir música para las películas de Tim Burton, con quien debutó en 1985 como compositor de bandas sonoras con su película La gran aventura de Pee-Wee y con quien mantiene una extensa colaboración hasta el día de hoy o crear el famoso tema de la serie televisiva Los Simpson que, entre muchos otros trabajos, le han otorgado un gran prestigio a lo largo su ecléctica carrera musical.

Web: http://www.boingo.org/ (Es una web de fans pues el grupo murio hace muchooooo tiempo)

Switchblade Symphony

Switchblade Symphony es un grupo estadounidense (san Francisco) formado en 1989, compuesto por Susan Wallace y Tina Root. El nombre de este grupo se debe a que es un grupo que mezcla muchos géneros, entre ellos; Gothic Rock, música orquestrada, Trip-Hop y Synthpop, creando un Darkwave bastante especial.

Este grupo es la leyenda noventera del Darkwave, creando el look de muñeca de trapo gótica (No confundir con las Gothic Lolitas, ellas emulan a muñecas de porcelana, no de trapo), al parecer inventaron o al menos popularizaron los Dread Falls (Muy utilizados por los Cybers), claro que ellas lo usaban para obtener el look de pelo de lana.

Web: http://www.myspace.com/30511393

Vermillion Lies

Aunque son un grupo de cabaret, Vermillion Lies es justamente uno de estos grupos conceptuales. Cuentan la historia de dos hermanas que se separan; en el 2004, después de años incomunicadas se reencuentran y al no tener nada más puro que decirse, se comunican por medio de música, la intercambian y mezclan, al darse cuenta que la batahola es lo bastante agradable, se fusionan en una misma sustancia y Vermillion Lies cobra vida: una arpía únicamente separada por el día de nacimiento.

Web: http://www.vermillionlies.com/

Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society

The Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society son Erica Roberts, Robert Hazelton, Robert Gardunia y Anastasia Oleinikov. La banda empezo a tocar en Agosto del 2007. El primer disco que sacaron fue, Clockwork Dreams.

Web: http://www.deadlynightshadebotanicalsociety.com

Bueno creo que ya estan los grupos que yo personalmente diria que son o tienen algun toque steampunk, aunque hay que aclarar queno existe ninguna banda Steampunk perse, son diferentes evoluciones del Pop y el Heavy Metal y en algun caso Folk, con una gran dosis de pura estética nada mas; para escuchar música Steampunk habria que realizar un pequeño viaje en el tiempo y remontarse al siglo XIX.

Entradas Relacionadas:
Recopilacíon Tematica Steampunk (I): Literatura

Fuentes:
Gothicba.com
Foro y Comunidad Steampunk Spain
Ilusiones a Vapor
Alrededor del Mundo Steampunk
Wikimedia Commons
Lastfm

” Grammy nominated, Avgerinos is one of the giants of Ambient music”
- All Music Guide
Paul Avgerinos is a Grammy nominated Composer and Producer whose music is broadcast all over the world. Paul’s New Age albums consistently reach the Top Ten in Radio and have won major awards Three years running.
He has worked on over One Hundred film and TV projects . Paul has been involved in a number of Platinum album productions and has collaborated with Aerosmith, Jewel, Run DMC, Willie Nelson & Deana Carter.
Currently, he lives and works in Redding, CT, where the deer pass by his studio windows and the hawks and eagles give inspiration from above. www.StudioUnicorn.net http://bit.ly/RoundSky
You can also get downloads here: http://bit.ly/qHz2P

Simplemente música exquisita del sello inglés 4AD, This Mortal Coil (Este colico mortal frase tomada de Shakespeare) es un multigrupo fromado con integrantes diversos del sello de vanguardia de los 80´s. Ivo watts Rusel fué no solo el jefe del sello sino el mentor de este proyecto creado con material humano de grupos como Cocteau Twins, Dead can Dance, The wofgang press, etc. Este video es muy hermoso desde su planteo visual, la estética, el cuidado de las imagenes cual poster pagsa dark. Aspera lo introduce en su página a modo de expandir los recuerdos, de llenar el blog de ese aire que nos da emociones, esperamos lo disfruten:

Oh my, oh my, OH MY!!! Luke Goss’ management posted a new pic of Luke as he appears in the movie Witchville that he was filming in China recently! It is AWESOME!!! :drooling: Yup! Luke looks good in red. Especially a red toga-style affair!!!

By the way, I’ve gone all the way through my CDs. Reached Z yesterday so ZZTop day was loud and raucous! Decided to listen to Dead Can Dance today. Just felt like I needed a bit of that special brand of ‘Oohhmm… Zonk’ that you get from them.

It’s been a strange and dramatic weekend! My son’s fiancee was rushed to hospital in an ambulance on Saturday with most of the symptoms of Meningitis! Thank The Gods it turned out to be a fast-onset throat infection that started it all off. It came on so suddenly and fiercely that it gave her a migraine and she was throwing up and unable to open her eyes because the light was too bright for her. Very scary moments!!!

She’s on high-dose antibiotics now and is recovering well.

On the lookout for a new laptop now. Waiting for my friend Tom to look over some specs and see what he can find for the best price. He’s the one to ask in all computer-buying situations. :lights candle in little Techy shrine to Tom:

Okay. I’m off to Luke Goss Forum now! Surprise, surprise!!! Need to see if any other new pics have come our way!!! :sighs wistfully, trying not to drown in own drool….:

The last couple of days have been very quiet and I managed to finish proof-reading and upload one of my new fanfic chapters, plus I’ve just finished the last details of another chapter too.   Quite happy with it, I’m pleased to say!

Have been trying to RP on Twitter with my friend but it’s been painfully slow going.  A new version of Tweetdeck came out and we all upgraded but my laptop still rather hates it!  And on top of that, Twitter itself wouldn’t update when we needed it to.  Left our scenes spread out erratically all over the place!  Ah well.  Hopefully today it’ll be more cooperative and we’ll get down to some ACTION!

I am SO impressed by the standard of some of the fic writers we have on Luke Goss Forum!  I am totally hooked on a large number of them, I can tell you! lol!  Better than Eastenders and Coronation Street any day of the week!!!

Still working my way through my CD collection.  Up to the D’s now, so listening to all my Dead Can Dance today.  There is no telling what I’ll be listening to tomorrow though as I have such an ecclectic mix of musical styles.  Could be anything from Enya to Fatboy Slim, depending on how quickly I get through the D’s onwards!

Madness, Bingo
The Decks, DTC
The Del Toros, Can’t Be Yours
The Nocturnes, Back Curran
Dear Nora, This Is Not a Test
Dealership, All the Kids
Liam Finn & Eliza Jane, On Your Side
Dead Can Dance, Ariadne
Dance Hall Crashers, We Owe
Florence & the Machine, Dog Days Are Over
Damone, Tonight
Tom Waits, Goin’ Out West
Cub, My Flaming Red Bobsled
Amy Millan, Finish Line
Damn Handsome and the Birthday Suits, Tainted Love
Julee Cruise, Until the End of the World
The Jezabels, Unmarked Helicopters
Cranes, Don’t Wake Me Up
The Concretes, Tjyven (The Thief)
The Woodlands, Until the Day Dims
Concrete Blonde, God Is a Bullet
Coralie Clement, Sono Io
Regina Spektor, Two Birds
Cocktail Slippers, Anything You Want
Club 8, Say a Prayer
The New Up, Dear Life
Cocteau Twins, Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops
Cock and Swan, Morning’s Window
The Shortcuts, Nothing New
COCO, Much to Learn
CocoRosie, Bloody Twins
Falcao and Monashee, Teleportation
Cibo Matto, Beef Jerky
Civet, Extra
Lightning Dust, Honest Man
The Muffs, My Awful Dream
Chop Chop, Fed
Jenny Choi, Driving
Polynya, Fields
Book of Love, Getting Faster
Blake Babies, I’m Not Your Mother
Cinnamon, A Northwest Passage
Chicklet, Threshold
Suddenly, Tammy!, Bound Together
Talbot Tagora, Solar Puppets
Neko Case, Margaret vs. Pauline
Royalchord, Too Easy
Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard, Barbarian Horde
The Rocking Horse Winner, Tomorrow