lumen's Last.fm Journal

Musical discoveries 2008: May

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 17:12:27 +0000

Discoveries in May 2008.
Artists whose albums became a part of my music collection marked with bold text. The rest I've yet to fully check out.

*******************************************

VOCALS
* Afterlife
Tags: downtempo, chillout, lounge

* Airlock
Tags: trip-hop, electronica, female vocalists

* Claire Voyant
Tags: darkwave, ethereal, gothic

* Endless Blue
Tags: trip-hop, female vocalists, ethereal

* Hector Zazou
Tags: ambient, downtempo, electronica

* Lunascape
Tags: trip-hop, female vocalists, electronica

* Lunik
Tags: female vocalists, trip-hop

* Mandalay
Tags: trip-hop, electronica, downtempo

* Moya Brennan
Tags: celtic, irish, female vocalists

* Nicola Hitchcock
Tags: trip-hop, female vocalists, downtempo

* Olive
Tags: trip-hop, electronica

* Orbient
Tags: ambient, electronica, experimental

* Portishead
Tags: trip-hop, female vocalists, electronica

* The Silk Demise
Tags: trip-hop, downtempo, electronica

* Stellamara
Tags: ambient, ethereal

*******************************************

INSTRUMENTAL / AMBIENT
* Bola
Tags: electronica, idm, experimental

* Cardamar
Tags: electronica, chillout, ambient

Musical discoveries 2008: April

Thu, 1 May 2008 20:22:50 +0000

Artists discovered in April 2008 (in alphabetical order):

* Aereda
Tags: new age

* Amethystium
Tags: ambient, electronica, new age

* B-Tribe
Tags: new age, chillout

* Balligomingo
Tags: ambient, electronica

* Bola
Tags: idm, electronica, ambient

* Celtic Cross
Tags: ambient, psychedelic

* Darshan Ambient
Tags: ambient

* David Arkenstone
Tags: instrumental, ambient, new age

* Elend
Tags: dark ambient, neoclassical, darkwave

* Entheogenic
Tags: ambient, psychill

* Global Communication
Tags: ambient, electronica

* Jello
Tags: idm, electronica

* Jens Gad
Tags: ambient, downtempo

* Karunesh
Tags: ambient, new age

* Luminary
Tags: trance, vocal trance

* Magna Carta
Tags: folk, folk rock

* Mysteria
Tags: new age, ambient

* OceanLab
Tags: trance, vocal trance

* Olive
Tags: electronica, trip-hop

* Science For Girls
Tags: electronica, chillout

* Sleepthief
Tags: ambient, ethereal, electronica

* Sleepy Town Manufacture
Tags: idm, ambient, electronica

* Solar Fields
Tags: ambient, electronica

Out of these Amethystium, Balligomingo, Entheogenic, and Sleepthief have become a permanent part of my collection; the rest I've yet to fully check out.

Musical discoveries 2008: January -- March

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:49:03 +0000

Recently discovered artists (January - March 2008): basically a list of artists I am working on checking out.
Tags from artist pages.

January

Alexander Blu
Tags: ambient, electronica, chillout

Marcomé
Tags: ethereal, female vocalists

--------------

February

Ab Ovo
Tags: ambient, electronica, idm

Architect
Tags: idm, industrial, electronica, experimental

Asura
Tags: ambient, electronica, chillout

Attrition
Tags: Darkwave, ethereal, industrial, gothic

Boards of Canada
Tags: electronica, idm, ambient

Hungry Lucy
Tags: Darkwave, electronica, ethereal, female vocalists

Mystical Sun
Tags: ambient, electronica, psychedelic

Nebulo
Tags: idm, hymen, electronica, ambient

--------------

March (so far)

All About Eve
Tags: 80s, alternative, gothic rock, female vocalists

Atomica
Tags: trip-hop, female vocalists, chill

Darkhalo
Tags: drum and bass, electronica

Faith and the Muse
Tags: darkwave, ethereal, gothic

Sense
Tags: idm, electronica, ambient

Musical discoveries in 2007

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 17:55:56 +0000

The absolute top of my musical discoveries in the past year:

* Kattoo (instrumental)
* Zero 7 (vocals)
* Dead Can Dance (vocals)
* Heroin and Your Veins (instrumental)
* Conjure One (vocals)

Other important discoveries in alphabetical order:
* Claude Debussy (classical)
* Celestial Aeon Project (instrumental)
* Cousin Silas (insrumental)
* Frozen Silence (instrumental)
* Matti Paalanen (instrumental)
* Project Divinity (instrumental)
* Rhea's Obsession (vocals)

Artists discovered that I am yet to fully check out:
* Dargaard
* Hooverphonic
* Husky Rescue
* Jazzanova
* Loreena McKennitt
* Nuspirit Helsinki
* Secret Garden
* Thievery Corporation

Long quiz thing

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:38:17 +0000

Time for one of these things again...

1. What are you listening to right now?
Kattoo - Oddly Space

2. What song makes you sad?
I'm going to go with the song I thought of first:
John Williams - The Birth of the Twins and Padme's Destiny

3. What is the most annoying song in the world?
Uhh. I can't think of anything specific. Anything that plays for 59786487 times on TV or in the radio and then gets stuck in my head. :P I'm pretty good at avoiding the songs I find annoying, though.

4. Your all time favorite band?
But there are so many! I'll go with Eric Brosius.

5. Your newly discovered band is?
Kattoo ftw!

6. Best female voice?
Goodness, there are so many of them. Lisa Gerrard, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone... And the past & present female singers in Lumen Valo, of course.

7. Best male voice?
Let's see... Sting, Marko Saaresto of Poets of the Fall...

8. Music type you find yourself listening to most?
Ambient, ambience, instrumental, downtempo.

9. What do you listen to, to hype you up?
Hans Zimmer, something off the Wipeout osts maybe. :S

10. What do you listen to, to calm down?
Lumen Valo, Kattoo, Troels Brun Folmann, Project Divinity and the other projects by Michikawa & similar artists.

11. Last gig/concert you went to?
Lumen Valo

12. Bands you find yourself listening to the most right now?
Kattoo, Zero 7, Troels Brun Folmann

13. Most hated band?
Il Divo. I don't hate them; it's just that operatic pop makes me squirm and cringe before I have to run out of the building, screaming. I have no idea why; I passed that "omg I haet *insert band name here*!!1 lol" phase fifteen years ago.

15. Band that you think the world should love as much as you do?
Zero 7 and Kattoo as they are pure awesome.

16. Coolest music video?
Believe by The Chemical Brothers scared the shit out of me when I saw it the first time. :D

17. Music video with the most babe watch?
Uhh, being straight I don't pay attention to babes at all. :P

18. What "do you play/would you play" in the bedroom to spice things up?
Probably nothing as music tends to capture my full attention. Shame on me!

19. Can you play a musical instrument?
I can't even read music notes, woe is me.

20. Ever been in a mosh pit?
What's that?

21. Are you in a band?
No. Not even as a mascot! :(

22. If yes, what kind of music does your band play and what is your role in it?
n/a :(

23. Ever dated a musician?
Nope. I wonder what that'd be like?

24. If yes, what kind of music did he/she/they play/instrument/band?
n/a :(

27. If no, would you consider?
Why not?

28. Do you wish yourself that you were a musician?
It'd be fun.

29. Best chick band you know of?
Uhh... I can't think of any chick bands. The Pussycat Dolls? Haha. Sigh... :S

30. Best guy band you know of?
Zero 7, Poets of the Fall etc.

31. Last song that you heard on the radio/cd...etc?
Since I don't know where I put my radio and even my CDs are still in a box somewhere, I'm going to go with a song I last heard: Kattoo - You don't know me

32. What do you think of Classical music?
Love it in small doses. It's on most part too powerful for me to listen all the time.

33. What do you think of Country music?
Can't say I'd listen to it, but I don't have a problem with it either.

34. What do you think of Death metal?
I don't listen to it although I was into metal a long, long time ago. Not interested in it anymore, but it did leave me with fond memories.

35. Last BIG band that you saw live?
Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen a BIG band live.

36. Are you a groupie?
Nah.

37. Do you listen to music in foreign languages?
Sometimes.

38. What famous musician would you like to fuck!?
I'm not into famous musicians, sorry. :S

39. Worst concert moment?
None.

40. Funny Concert moment?
None. :(

41. Sad Concert moment?
Can't think of any sad moments either.

42. Best local act you can think of?
Lumen Valo

43. If you were a musical instrument what would you be?
An old broken piano.

44. Do you listen to the radio?
Not really.

45. Do you watch music TV?
Not really.

46. Do you follow the music charts, like the top 40?
No. I wouldn't find anything I'd like on it anyway.

47. Have you met any famous musicians?
Not really.

48. Are any of your friends/family etc musicians?
My sister is in a choir, does that count? :P

49. Song that best describes your feelings right now?
Kattoo: Equilibration

50. Song that describes your life?
Masashi Hamauzu: Wandering Flame

51. Do you know the names of all the band members that you listen to?
No. Not only am I bad at remembering names, I'm usually more interested in the music itself.

52. Does a musician's physical attractiveness play a role in the music that you listen to?
Not in the least bit.

53. What famous musician do you want to marry?
Still not into famous musicians :D

53. Favourite movie sound track?
Hm, too many to mention... Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings soundtracks are all classics, but then I also like Marco Beltrami's work on I, Robot etc.

55. Any musician pet hates?
None that I can think of.

56. What do your parents listen to?
Classical, jazz, soul, even some country.

57. What are you listening to right NOW?
Kattoo: Megrim 03

58. Do you wear band etc T-shirts?
No, but I do often wear ThinkGeek stuff at home. Does that count? /hopeful

59. What do you think of people who do?
I don't really pay attention to what people wear in general. As long as you feel comfortable in your own skin, do what thou wilt.

60. What music sub-culture do you feel like you belong to?
I don't even know what sub-cultures there are!

61. What song is stuck in your head right now?
I'm listening to music, so I'm free of sticky songs right now.

62. Do you sing in the shower?
No.

63. If so, what? If not, why not?
My shower's not very comfortable, and I'm almost always in a hurry anyway.

64. Would you rather marry a musician or be one yourself?
Be one myself!

65. What is in your walkman/discman right now?
Does iPod count? Loads of stuff.

66. How important is your partners taste in music to you?
Not very as long as our taste in music is not too far a part. And as long as he wears headphones, dammit. :P

67. Hanson moves in next door to you, do you go introduce yourself, or do you arrange to beat them up?
Neither.

68. Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll, you dig?
No wai! Sex, music and umm... err... Hmm, let me get back to you on that.

69. Do you cook to music?
No. I try to avoid cooking as much as I can.

70. Do you sing in the toilet?
Wtf! I've heard of reading in the toilet, but singing is new. :D

Musical Discoveries July 2007 and real life news

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:22:18 +0000

Musical discoveries in July 2007:

* Dead Can Dance
* Dargaard
* Rhea's Obsession

Rhea's Obsession is really hard to find. :<

Eric Brosius ambient (Thief, System Shock 2)

Fri, 18 May 2007 18:13:13 +0000

Worth noting about tagging Thief/SS2 music
Avoid tagging your Thief or System Shock 2 ambience/Ambient music "Ion Storm" or "Looking Glass Studios".
Thief 1/2/3 music was created by Eric Brosius; Ion Storm and Looking Glass Studios were publishers, not artists. Even if you'd listen to non-official, ripped ambience tracks, crediting the actual artist is a good idea.

Onto the music!

* * * * *

SOURCES FOR THIEF: THE DARK PROJECT & THIEF II: THE METAL AGE MUSIC
There was very little music in the original Thief game(s). What little there is has been scraped together by the incredibly devoted Thief fanbase, but there are some in-game rips, recordings and fanmixes available as well.

1. Discover the media archive at Thief: The Circle
Check the the media section at the Thief: The Circle website for Thief fan mixes, rips and other files. This should keep you busy for a while. :D

2. Read the Through the Looking Glass forums
Dig into the "Thief 1/2 soundtrack" thread at TTLG forums. Reading or downloading the fan soundtrack does not require membership.
Make sure to read the entire thread to get a working download link. Be careful when you run these files through your mp3 tagger -- many songs in this fan soundtrack are either mistagged or not tagged at all. There are songs in it that are not related to Thief: they just sounded "Thief like" to the person who created the collection. Read the thread to find out which songs have not been composed by Eric Brosius.

3. Notable Thief 1/2 fanmixers not available at the Circle
Andrea Aleotti has put together a couple of atmospheric Thief fanmixes that are very true to the Thief 1/2 games. His Thief site seems to be down, but the free mp3s are still floating around somewhere. I'll update this post with a link if I can find them; in the mean time, feel free to send me a note if you want them now.

* * * * *

SOURCES FOR THIEF: DEADLY SHADOWS (aka "Thief 3") MUSIC
Check MusicBrainz for the semi-official TDS track listing.

1. Visit Thief: The Circle
Once again, do check the the media section at Thief: The Circle website. There is an "official" TDS soundtrack at the Circle, which was apparently released by one of the devs who had worked on the game. There are also some in-game rips available.

2. TDS music by the Do-It-Yourself method
It is possible to extract all audio files (including conversations, sound effects and music) from TDS by using a program called DXIW Sound Drone (aka Deus Ex: Invisible War sound modding tool).
You will of course need to have the game in order to rip anything. Finding a working download link for this fairly old program may be challenging; register to TTLG forums and search for it if you can't find it elsewhere. I'm not a member at TTLG, so I can't do it for you.

Though finding the program can be tedious, it is actually worth the effort as it lands you with over 50 ambience tracks instead of the 15 or so mixed tracks in the "official" release.

* * * * *

SOURCES FOR SYSTEM SHOCK 2 MUSIC
Check MusicBrainz for the current SS2 soundtrack listing.

1. TTLG to the rescue!
Visit SS2 Multimedia Databank for your musical needs.

2. TTLG to the rescue! ...Again
Dig into MysteryDev's System Shock 2 Official Soundtrack thread at the TTLG forums. The thread is long, but you can probably find a working download link in there somewhere.
The Keep of Metal and Gold currently has a working download link for this soundtrack; the file should be up at least for a while.

* * * * *

And that's it for now. :)

New musical discoveries

Thu, 17 May 2007 15:45:50 +0000

New artists / projects by the same artist I've discovered as of late:

* Project Divinity
* Frozen Silence
* Celestial Aeon Project
* Matti Paalanen
* Cousin Silas.

The first four are all projects of our fellow Last.fm user, Michikawa.

Feel free to recommend me ambience, ambient music, and sounscape artists. I'm very fond of Eric Brosius' works, mainly the soundscapes in the Thief series. :)

Newly acquired albums / May 2007

Fri, 4 May 2007 17:15:56 +0000

1. Giuseppe Verdi: AIDA
(New Philharmonia Orchestra feat. conductor Riccardo Muti).

2. Giacomo Puccini: TOSCA
(The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House feat. conductor Sir Colin Davis)

3. Various Artists: Night Music #19
Classical favourites for relaxing and dreaming.

I'm not all that fond of Naxos' collections, but the selection of artists (Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Chopin, et al) seemed too intriguing to pass.

I'm currently looking for (classical) music, either instrumental or with vocals that I could listen to while I'm studying heavily theoretical material. Music, when used consistently, works as a good "lead in" cue for the brain.

The Last.fm Pants Quiz

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:30:48 +0000

1. Put your media player on shuffle.
2. Press play
3. Type the song that's playing and add "in my pants" to the title.
4. List ten songs.

* * *

1. Nobuo Uematsu: Harvest in my pants
2. Johnny Mathis: To be in Love in my pants
3. Shiro Hamaguchi: One-Winged Angel in my pants (yes please!)
4. Nobuo Uematsu: Sandy Badlands in my pants (ouch. And Sephiroth swore he was clean. :x)
5. Koji Kondo: Lethal Lava Land in my pants (oww, this is getting worse by the minute!)
6. Yoko Shimomura: Having a Wild Time in my pants (Now we're talking! \o/)
7. David Arnold: Daniel and Sha'uri in my pants (it's getting a little crowded in here...)
8. John Williams: Grievous and the Droids in my pants (seriously, will some of you please leave?!)
9. Madonna: Something to Remember in my pants (You bet!)
10. Nobuo Uematsu: Nightmare's Beginning in my pants (Sephiroth, I'll get you for this!)

I am too easily amused.