The ever-popular "Currently Listening" thread

Good stuff to get stuck on, indeed, Alrik.

Got a new discovery for y'all today. While they list the Cocteau Twins, Smiths, and Cure as their influences, I only hear hints of the Cure in one song (One Open). The signpost that fits best IMO is the Sundays. Chanell is no Harriet Wheeler, but her vocals are pretty solid. While I expect "One Open" would be most popular here, I'm going with the tune I prefer:
"Silver" by Honeybreath

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I'm currently having almost all songs from the new Enya album in my head - which is a good thing, quality-wise.

Yep, was humming 'Oh Come Emmanuel' yesterday … which is fine since it was snowing quite heavily so I felt quite in the season …

Yes, we already had snow here, too.

Lights and Music by Australian band Cut Copy. Doesn't remind me of any other band I usually listen to but pretty good anyway (the instrumental parts at least…). Maybe some of our Aussie members know more about them, are they any famous, any related bands, etc?

I've really gotten into Procupine Tree these days, especially their early works.

The sky moves sideways (part 1)

There are 3 more parts (it's a loooong piece).

Mourning Beloveth

More doom, love it

New-to-me tunes just put up by Siddal!!! They're Christmas songs, but Richard and Elizabeth could play "99 Bottles of Beer" and make it achingly beautiful. "Blue Christmas" was on Bedazzled Records' 1997 Xmas collection (which I'd love to track down), but I don't know where "In the Bleak Midwinter" came from.

Siddal, via MySpace

'Blue Christmas' First popularised by Elvis Presley in the mid-50's - it was written and first sung by Ernest Dale Tubb about a decade? before.
………………..
'InThe Bleak Midwinter' appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906, though it first appeared in poetry form written by Christina Rossetti, prior 1872.

I used to sing this "hymm" in the juniors assembly school choir.
there are many artists versions….
http://www.last.fm/search?m=all&q=In…leak+Midwinter
………………..
Currently listening to Siouxsie's "Sea Breezes"
http://www.last.fm/music/Siouxsie+an…/_/Sea+Breezes

I'm comparing the differencies with Ferry's original version.
http://www.last.fm/music/Roxy+Music/_/Sea+Breezes

I'ts the endings that get to me….
Ferry's melancholic final verse reflection is 'quiet' and in effect perfect, whereas Siouxie sustains the finale' to a fade-out, also perfect. Very male v female oriented i suspect!

I always play Blue Christmas this time of year, Wulf—and I'm not a big Elvis fan, but he has a way with that one. I tried to listen to dte's Siddal version but only got a few bars before my NoScript shut the site down for 'clickjacking'—but nice voices on what i was able to hear.

Presently revisiting the Lost Years of my misspent youth with Live Rust, in particular:
Out of the Blue Into the Black

That must be a general block against MySpace. I haven't noticed any problems with the band pages that I visit. I could see where that sort of silliness could be going on in the "social areas" of MySpace, though. Rich sent me a message that "Midwinter" was released on a Projekt sampler many years ago. So neither song is new, just new-to-me. The exciting part is that he said that they've upgraded their home studio recently and started recording. Color me thrilled.

Some fun brit-pop-ish stuff for today courtesy of Vertigo:

"New Year" by The Go Find

Listening to Huun-Huur-Tu, CD: The Orphan's Lament.
http://www.amazon.com/Orphans-Lament…/dp/B000000E3E

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=bVkJ1Bf-QzU
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=DtnMmYx0vLU
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3SrxCAxhs


O, how I love that low voice. Goose Bump.

After reading on NPR that it was the 'best jazz recording of 2008' I had to take a look myself …

Ahmad Jamal - It's Magic

It is pretty good stuff, but not as good as his 'Live at the Pershing' from '58 … and his stuff never seems to stay for long on my iPod. But so far it is pretty solid … not the best of the year.

Been listening to a tape I made years ago made up of songs that that have "The River" or a river as their main theme—gads, what a bunch of depressing stuff—like the slickly godforsaken Richard Marx, or the Boss here.

Sting isn't too bad but even that normally perky popmeister Billy Joel has got a river down.

Does anyone know any cheerful songs about a river or is it just a great venue for suicidal 80's musicians??

CCR/Tina Turner would seem to fit the bill. (Do I get credit for a subtitle?)

How about Tina Turner / Erasure

Curtain Society "Riverful" (sorry for the crappy clip)

Talking Heads

"Pain Lies on the Riverside" by Live

@magerette

Originally Posted by magerette
Does anyone know any cheerful songs about a river or is it just a great venue for suicidal 80's musicians??

Who needs words?:

Nitin Sawhney - Tides:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvMm00B1YY

But if you insist on words:

Nitin Sawhney - The river:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=tnoqQs5MOdw
(Pulse of Mother Nature, acc. to me. Hm, maybe luring to suicidals?)


One of my Nitin favourites by the way:
Nitin Sawhney - Falling
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=w6aPeiz7TOI

HTH

Forgot to mention this one:
Nitin Sawhney - River Pulse - Rain Mix:
http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artis…lse+-+Rain+Mix

@dte—thanks for the ..invigorating…cover by Erasure. Pretty cool. And you do get credit( though not extra credit) for Proud Mary, and also for making me think of Green River even though both songs have sadly lost their zing over the years. (And while by hard-core rocker standards maybe not, I realize that that Riverfull/Curtain Society clip is pretty cheery for Gazer stuff.)
Can't believe I missed the Talking Heads one—though again, I'm not sure how cheerful it is; at least it presents 'the river' as a place of renewal and not somewhere to commit suicide or murder, so that's an improvement.

My favorite was the last clip, though. Definitely fits all the criteria I had in mind for positivity, plus rock n roll cred and lyrics. If he is saying "You've got to learn to live until the end.." you get a plus 4 on that one.


@Omega
Thanks for playing. My first exposure to that artist/group—it's interesting indeed and the vocals are excellent. I think "The River" qualifies on all fronts—as it seems to be equating said River with Life and stuff.
Appreciate the turn-on.

Originally Posted by magerette
My favorite was the last clip, though. Definitely fits all the criteria I had in mind for positivity, plus rock n roll cred and lyrics. If he is saying "You've got to learn to live until the end.." you get a plus 4 on that one.

As rockers go, Ed Kagiufdahglkajdfghifuahgskicekivich (singer for Live) writes some pretty deep lyrics. His overall "bent" is decidedly hippie-esque, so you might enjoy it.
http://www.friendsoflive.com/lyrics/awake.html#14
There's the lyric sheet for their greatest hits collection, which is excellent even if there isn't so much as a hint of gazer to be found.

Found three more that may qualify as well:


Enya - The river sings:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=w9flGqz3Jgw
lyrics:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.n…2570A000066522

Katie Melua - Moon River:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=bRC0PxufcVg

Enigma - rivers of belief:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYc3I5siaM

Hope you'll enjoy listening to them.