I have continued to work through my Not Recently Played playlist, in my ongoing quest to play everything in my musical collection at least once this year. Right now I’m spread out between the letters L and O, which has had the happy side effect of letting me play several new purchases roughly where they appear in the alphabet. (Although several of these were actually earlier in the alphabet so I had to go ahead and play them too.)
One of the first notable ones of these was the new album by Danielle Spencer, who y’all may or may not remember is Russell Crowe’s wife. She’s a musician in her own right and I first heard about this when the Grunts were on tour in 2001; I bought the first album she had out at the time. Now her new one, Calling All Magicians, is available on iTunes. Her voice is still very strong and she’s got some nice work on here.
Second up, I picked up the new two deluxe 2-CD editions of a-ha’s first two albums, Hunting High and Low and Scoundrel Days, and have finished listening to the former. These have been put out as part of a-ha’s final push before they retire, and they’ve put all sorts of extra material on here, including demo versions of stuff and a bunch of things never released in the States. I’ve now listened to the 2-CD version of Hunting High and Low, and it was odd and enlightening to hear all the demo versions of every track on the original released album–and how Morten Harket clearly hadn’t nailed his own style down yet when those demos were cut. He’s a lot more wavery and wobbly in his delivery; thinks he may have been trying to channel Bowie some, or perhaps Klaus Nomi. All the material never released in the States is fun to listen to, too.
‘s new album Mischief is delightful and well worth your listening time. I already knew “Ravens in the Library” from live performances of hers and Tricky Pixie’s, but I also quite liked “Neptune”, partial as I am to Greco-Roman mythology.
Gaelic Storm’s new album Cabbage is a nice strong addition to their discography overall; it’s their usual mix of lively instrumentals and songs with lyrics about whiskey, sex, or death. In other words, traditional Celtic music. ;>
Last but not least I must mention that I’ve finally listened to an album by the Storm Weather Shanty Choir, heartily recommended to me by ! These guys are great fun, and the particular album I chose, Off to Sea Once More, has versions of “Rolling Down to Old Maui”, “Leaving of Liverpool”, “Leave Her, Johnny”, and “South Australia”, all of which were familiar to me from other artists and groups. But most importantly, this album has a version of “General Taylor”. Which is of course sacred–SACRED, I TELL YOU–to me in my GBS fandom, and it was really cool to hear an alternate take of this song, with a whole bunch of other verses I hadn’t heard before. Lots more stuff in here about Santa Ana, and their chorus is different from GBS’ as well. Thanks, , for recommending them!
Still on the “Not Played Yet” playlist: a recording of Daphnis Et Chloe, picked up after I heard the Seattle Symphony and Chorale perform it live (although the recording is the Boston Symphony); the 2-CD version of Scoundrel Days; Karan Casey’s Ships in the Forest; Benjamin Doerr’s Sketches of a Real Life; Shanneyganock’s Volume VII; Jane Siberry’s When I Was a Boy; a 2-hour Marian Call performance I picked up as a freebie from her mailing list; and La Volee d’Castors Y a Du Monde À’ Messe!. And oh yes, a whole bunch of Doctor Who podcasts, as well as the next chapter of the second book of the 7th Son trilogy by J.C. Hutchins.
Lots to listen to!