Search

Search only in certain items:

Classic Kathleen Battle by Kathleen Battle
Classic Kathleen Battle by Kathleen Battle
2002 | Classical
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Now to get as far away from punk as you can get… Wynton Marsalis is a trumpet player, and Kathleen Battle is a soprano. “There’s a really good video of them performing this song and it kind of tells you everything you need to know about them as people. The combined ego of these two people is insane, you can see it on their faces. Again, it goes back to the idea that you don’t need to feel like you like the people singing to like the song, you can get positive emotions from egotistical people. “This song was played to me by Rachel from Cat’s Eyes. I got into classical music through her and it took me ages to a find soprano that I actually liked. I find listening to sopranos difficult sometimes, sometimes it feels so intrusive with that theatrical, over the top warble. But when the tone is pure I love it and Kathleen Battle is one of those sopranos. “The song is a baroque piece, but I find it quite hard to categorise. It’s so visual and so evocative; it’s almost psychedelic, because their music affects your perception of things. And it puts so many opulent and indulgent pictures in my head while I’m listening to it. Of all the soprano pieces and classical pieces that Rachel played me, this one is my favourite. I listen to it all the time, it’s probably one of my most listened to songs. “These two performers are so completely dedicated to their craft. They’ve been doing this their whole life and they’ve reached a level of control that most people will never get near. That’s why I love watching the video of it so much, despite their monumental egos you can’t help but admire and be inspired by the performance. The level of dedication and the level of musicality is unreal"

Source
  
Big Easy Busking
Big Easy Busking
2020 | Card Game, Music
Ahh New Orleans. If there ever was a city I NEED to revisit, it’s New Orleans. I love nearly everything about it. The history, the art and music, the architecture, and strolling down Frenchman Street at night listening to the hottest music I’ve ever heard live. But what is it like to BE a musician in NOLA? Or even a group’s manager? Well, I’ve never played in New Orleans (I am a professional trumpet player – don’t belive me? Check out the last photo in this review to see my axe and the box as proof), but I can imagine how it would go. Does Big Easy Busking capture the feeling? Let’s find out together.

Big Easy Busking is a card-based area control game with a sweet sweet music theme. Players will be taking turns learning charts, playing charts, and transferring energy from the musicians to the crowd and back. The winner of Big Easy Busking is the player who can score the biggest haul in tips for the weekend to become the hottest band in town.

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T


To setup, two “streets” in New Orleans will need to be populated with song cards, both standards and learnable tunes. Crowd cards will be placed under the streets to depict certain crowds and what the moods of those crowds are. Each player will receive some starting bread (money for those not in the biz), energy for their 3-piece band of sax, trumpet, and drums, a starting set list of three tunes, and a reference card that has nothing to do with the metaphor. Decide who can play the highest note (if you are all trumpet players) and the gig may begin!
A turn is broken down into a few different parts. The first thing to be done on a turn is to finish playing the song that had been started in the previous round. Obviously you need to START playing a song to be able to finish, so the primary phase of the turn would be to either learn a song from the song offer or start playing a song from those dealt during setup. To play a song, players will choose a song card, place it under a crowd card (hopefully matching their mood: masks, hearts, beads, fleur-de-lis), gather the required energy from the musicians appropriately, and add those energy cubes to the song card.

After a song is started or learned, the player’s turn is over. On the next turn the player will finish playing the song by moving the spent energy to the crowd in full and taking $1 or moving some of the energy to the crowd and some back to their band members to be used on future songs.

The middle step in a turn (yes, I know I am explaining it out of order, but you do have to start playing a song before you can finish it) is to optionally tip your band members by trading in money for energy at a 1:1 ratio.


Once all players have used up their energy cubes or simply wish to, they will announce that they are “taking a break.” In other words, they pass for the remainder of the round. As the last player takes their break the end of round activities begin. Printed on each crowd card are two important icons: payout amounts for majority of energy and payout amounts for energy reaching the threshold. Resolving each crowd card will determine the players that hold majority or shared majority in each crowd location. For the majority holders payouts will reflect what is printed on the upper left of the crowd card. The upper right of the crowd card displays the number of energy needed upon it to meet the threshold in order to be paid the amount shown. When all crowd cards have been scored players will setup for the next night (round) per the rules. Play continues in this way over three rounds with the winner being the player at the end of the game with the most money.
Components. This is a smaller box (not exactly the same size, but think Tiny Epic), but it is packed with some really amazing bits. First off, as you can tell from the photos the art and color palette used here is simply phenomenal. I absolutely love the color scheme and the art certainly reminds me of some paintings we purchased from an artist on Jackson Square last time we were able to visit. The cards are nice, but I think I will want to sleeve them eventually as I had them in my hands the whole game. The cardboard money and mood tokens are fine, and the wooden cubes reflect the colorful nature of this little gem. All in all, exactly what I would expect from components in a Weird Giraffe Games production. Stellar (see what I did there, Carla?).

I have not really enjoyed a ton of area control games in my gaming history. So this came as a little bit of a shock as I truly loved playing this game. Even the solo rules are engaging and DIFFICULT to win. I came close though – within $1. The game is super quick as you are trying to please the crowds and their distinct moods with your best charts, but having to be mindful of not overextending your musicians lest they be too exhausted to give you the gas when you need it. THAT part resonates with me personally. Being a musician myself, I can tell you that crowds that are into a tune or a band and give them all the energy they have will be rewarded with even more from the band. I definitely give it more when the crowd digs what we’re laying down.

In any case, this is a game review, not a nostalgic trip down my musical memory lane. But then again, a little card game just brought me back wonderful memories of my band, and of visiting New Orleans, and of the joy of live music. Does Big Easy Busking completely mimic what it’s like to be a musician? Well, no, I can’t imagine how any game truly could, but it certainly shows the cyclical nature of energy being exchanged between musicians and appreciative crowds. Oh, the names of the tunes are also pretty funny on some. This all said, I super love this game and will be kicking out something in my collection to make room for it. If you are needing a smaller card game that you can bring out with musicians or non-musicians that appreciate the theme but also want to start introducing area control in a more accessible form, please do check out Big Easy Busking. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a good-for-the-soul 10 / 12. Maybe once I get into video I will do a Dan King (Game Boy Geek) serenade for Big Easy Busking as it travels into my collection.
  
BB
Black Bird of the Gallows
Meg Kassel | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>The author/publisher provided a free copy of the book for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a review copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore do not affect the opinion or content of the review.</i></b>
"I'm going to sleep!” says reviewer, as she furiously types on the keyboard. The next time she looks up, an hour has passed, leaving her with one less hour of sleep and an 8 am class looming closer.

Obviously, I am a complete night owl because all of my decent reviews (aka my usual self and not some half hearted attempt of I THINK THIS IS A REVIEW BUT MY BRAIN IS CRYING SO I GIVE UP *presses schedule*) are all written after all the other souls in the house are sleeping soundly.

<b>There's only one other soul 99% of the time.</b>

Also, I read this weeks ago and completely forgot about the release date being last week, so I started writing other reviews and reading other books and poor Meg Kassel’s debut just sat there crying at me silently, “Are you going to review me?”
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><b>Five Things about Black Bird of the Gallows</b></h3>
At the same time, I had high expectations for Kassel’s debut novel, I also didn't, for some weird and odd reason my brain won't conjure up (the brain is strange, very strange). Here are some things to be aware of before/when picking up the book:

<b>Death is a theme, but used differently </b>- the few novels I've read with a death theme always have something in common: there's probably a grim reaper, and the grim reaper collects souls. Kassel uses a similar theme, but <b>it's not the exact same theme</b>. Honestly, I'm curious if this has mythology ties - is it okay if I kind of regret dropping myth and folklore senior year? I sacrificed it for college credit in speech instead (that's okay, right?).

<b>I am in love with gorgeous lines, and Kassel delivers</b> - I mean, they're not enough that I want to <i>draw </i>them (this is a rare thing to happen), but there are lovely lines and descriptions! And there's humor. I think I enjoyed the humor more often.
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Suddenly, I notice the light steam coming off his skin—the same coming from my mouth when I speak. It feels like I’m sitting next to an attractive, boy-shaped wood stove.</blockquote>
<b>There's a music aspect</b> - As a once upon a violin player, music is important! Okay, maybe not important in my life as much as books are, but music books are cute. Music plays a major role in <i>Black Bird of the Gallows</i> when it comes to character development. When we first meet Angie, she's not as confident with her music as she eventually becomes later in the book.
<b>
</b> <b>Birds! (Okay, Crows)</b> - It's probably a bad idea for me to read another book involving birds after <i>Shatter Me</i>, but I'm fine with birds in this one. The crows are also one of my favorite parts of the book - the crows aren't directly involved with death, but they play a role as well.

<b>It gets dark </b>- <i>Black Bird of the Gallows </i>might be less dark at the beginning, but it gets dark, VERY dark near the end. (Secretly my evil little heart likes this. I'm worried.)

Overall: <i>Black Bird of the Gallows</i> is perfect for those who enjoy books about death but are looking for something different than what we usually see.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/black-bird-of-gallows-by-meg-kassel-arc-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby by Girls Against Boys
Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby by Girls Against Boys
1993 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This was the record that sold me on that band. When I lived in Sacramento California I lived right next door to this little club called the Press Club, and they were playing there. I was sitting on my porch and their van pulled up and I started talking to them. That was when they were touring that record, and it was my favourite record at that time. It's heavy, but it has a lot of groove to it - I don't know if there were too many groups who were doing that kind of riff rock, but it had all these discord sounds to it, and then two bass players, one of them using distortion the whole time and the other guy holding down the low end, the keyboard player playing vibes. It didn't sound like anything else at the time. They were from DC, where a lot of my favourite bands are from, like Fugazi, Minor Threat, these bands who started a lot of scenes in music. I never got too into political rock and roll, obviously great lyrics are great lyrics, but what grabs me is the cadence of the singer, how they choose to deliver the words. And that dude, he had this raspy voice, this distinct voice, to me it was more sex, he has this loungy kind of vibe. Lyrically he seemed to talk about partying, drugs, and girls."

Source
  
40x40

Holly Johnson recommended Queen of Denmark by John Grant in Music (curated)

 
Queen of Denmark by John Grant
Queen of Denmark by John Grant
2010 | Folk, Pop, Singer-Songwriter
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Queen Of Denmark and the Irrepressibles album were kind of jointly on my CD player in the car and I played them both endlessly. I love John's voice and I absolutely love Jamie [McDermott, Irrepressibles founder]'s voice as well - they're completely different voices but both extremely natural. Some people I play The Irrepressibles to, they thought it sounded like Antony, but I didn't get that. Whereas John has a more masculine appeal and nowness that has been embraced by the gay community of bears and beards. His stories are of woe tinged with a sardonic sense of humour, which is one of the most important things about his songwriting, whereas Jamie has an extravagant vision - extravagance on a shoestring, I don't know how he does it - but lovely orchestral instrumentation and absolutely beautiful vocals. I went to see the Mirror Mirror show at the Barbican and it was amazing and it should've been written about and applauded by the likes of The Guardian and that, but for some reason Jamie still continues to do lovely work but it just doesn't get the press and the support from the music industry that John has had. John is great and deserving of it - this album's brilliant, as is Pale Green Ghosts, but I would especially like people to listen to that Irrepressibles album, because he's a great artist and a hidden gem amongst the whole 21st century queer landscape."

Source
  
Hanamikoji
Hanamikoji
2013 | Card Game, Medieval
You own a restaurant located on Hanamikoji Street in one of Japan’s most famous Geisha districts. As a way to drum up business, you have begun to hire Geishas as entertainment for your patrons. Skilled in traditional music, dance, and art, Geishas are highly respected entertainers in Japan. However, a rival restaurateur is trying to hire the same Geishas as you! In an attempt to win the favor (and talents) of these elegant women, you begin collecting items related to their chosen art forms with the hope that these gifts will keep them at your establishment!

Hanamikoji is a 2-player game where players are competing to win the favor of the 7 Geishas. In a game of literal give-and-take played over several rounds, you and your opponent will alternate taking 4 actions to play and trade cards. The first player to win the favor of 4 Geishas, or to earn at least 11 Charm points, is the winner!

For as simple as it seems, Hanamikoji requires a lot of strategy. The cards in your hand are hidden from your opponent, but half of the actions taken each round require you to reveal cards from your hand and allow your opponent to take a certain number to their side – a traditional “I split, you choose” mechanic. You have to strategize which cards you can afford to give up, at the risk of letting your opponent win a Geisha, with the goal of winning a higher-valued Geisha instead. At the same time, your opponent will be revealing cards from their hand for you to take to your side. Your strategy is always changing based on not only the cards in your hand, but the cards that your opponent reveals to you.

One thing I really like about this game is that winning the favor of a Geisha in one round is not final. If I win a Geisha in one round, but in the next round my opponent has the majority for that specific Geisha, I lose her favor and she goes back to neutral. So not only am I trying to win over more Geishas each round, I have to actively be protecting those I have already won. The same can be said for the reverse – even if my opponent wins a Geisha in one round, I can negate that in the next round. The favor of the Geishas does not reset at the end of each round, nor is it unchangeable in future rounds. Anything can happen, and that makes for a surprisingly exciting game.

Although this is a competitive game, I find it to be kind of calming to play. It is simple, yet strategic, and the artwork is beautiful. In my experience, once you understand the gameplay and actions, it plays quickly and quietly. If you’re looking for a quality 2-player game, give Hanamikoji a try! Purple Phoenix Games rates it a graceful 10 / 12 (Bryan and Josh have not yet played it).

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/13/hanamikoji-review/
  
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin
1992 | Rhythm And Blues, Techno
7.7 (7 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I remember first hearing 'Xtal' - that is the sexiest ambient electronic song for me. I remember being in my first year of university in Brighton and moving away from home and being a bit lost and lonely in some ways, in this tiny little halls of residence room. This album, Ambient Works, was just constantly on my Walkman and I'd been exploring Björk, The Black Dog, Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada, all this electronic music, this world that was opening up to me from the early to mid-nineties, which I was discovering it a bit later. I'd actually at that point bought a QY-70, which is a Yamaha sequencer - I remember reading Björk had written Debut on it and Tricky had one. Listening to Ambient Works, for the first time it seemed possible that I understood how those things were layered up - beats and beautiful little melodies and there was no singing on it, which for me at the time was great because I was very shy about singing. I remember just hearing that and then going to my QY and hearing little synth sounds that sounded similar. Although Aphex Twin's synth sounds were, in hindsight, put through loads of pedals - I can hear that he's got field recordings layered on top of stuff and probably synths he's made himself - but it made sense to me and encouraged me to go and make my own ambient songs. I remember meeting Aphex Twin around that time at a Björk Vespertine concert. I'd met him once before and I went up to him with my MiniDisc player, which I used to put things I'd produced on, and I played him a song at the bar. I kind of knew him at the time a little bit by face, I think we'd met at some nights he was doing at a warehouse in London and me and my boyfriend at the time liked dancing and going out, and I played it to him and he said: ""I think it's really good. The production's quite good for a girl"". [laughs] That's what he said to me! I didn't take it as a bad thing. I was just like, ""cool"". I mean, Aphex Twin liked my production skills, so whether I'm a girl or not, it's fine. But I just remember thinking how funny that was - but I took it like ""that's a real stamp of approval for me"". I do think he's been a really pivotal figure and an important person in my life, because he does electronic music and it's really sexy and emotional. It wasn't cold like some of the other people, like Stockhausen, but I felt like he understood the dance movement and got the loved-up aspect to ambient music. There's a darkness to it, and a light, but a real twisted, disgustingness in what he does, like 'Come To Daddy' and 'Windowlicker', this rank Englishness, [adopts croaky drawl] ""come to daddddyyyy!"", all that weird shit. He's got a sense of humour and just seems to be one of the modern day composers of our time that understood emotionalism in electronic music. Dirty, disgustingness and kind of surreal, how to fuck with your mind, and his body of work is huge. So, yeah, I think he's a dude."

Source
  
The Correct Use Of Soap by Magazine
The Correct Use Of Soap by Magazine
1980 | Alternative, Punk, Rock
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Magazine were also one of my favourite bands and that they came from the same city as me was a marvel. It didn't make any difference to what I thought of their music, but it was definitely a bonus. As a teenager I was very critical at the state of guitar playing and the usual cliché-ridden approach that was either blues rock or prog rock. It didn't mean anything to my generation. In John McGeoch, Magazine had a guitar player who was modern and relevant and interesting, while Howard Devoto was, and still is, one of my favourite ever lyricists. There is a thought that the first couple of records for many bands are the ones that are considered seminal. As is the case with Wire, I think that when bands break away from their first seminal albums - in Magazine's case that was Real Life and Secondhand Daylight - and they take somewhat of a left turn, it is really interesting. On The Correct Use Of Soap, Magazine did something original and almost ahead of themselves. There is a lot of space on The Correct Use Of Soap and I think it is better than the first two records. The space means that John McGeoch can really stretch out. Songs like 'Philadelphia' and 'Because You're Frightened' are based on guitar-playing that is utterly unique. It is one of those records that you can say that if it came out now, it would still not only be fresh but ahead of the race."

Source
  
40x40

Rob Halford recommended Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy in Music (curated)

 
Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
1976 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Phil Lynott. Genius. And a bass player as well. Have you noticed that most of the music normally comes from guitarists? But he was the driving force in this band. He was a skinny black guy, who was writing great songs and dealing with the consequences of racism in the UK at that time. He was always the main attraction to me. A real rock star and you'd feel that whenever he walked into a room. You can instantly recognise Phil's voice, and he had a really cool way of creating melody on songs like 'Jailbreak'. This album is distinctly Irish, and I'm not sure why I think that to be honest but it definitely makes it special. At the time they were about as unique as they could be. And it was quite successful in the charts, which, along with seeing bands like them on Top Of The Pops, was another important factor. After Phil died and Thin Lizzy came back a few years ago we took them out on tour but that's partly because the songs have held together so well even to this day. It was a real joy to do that and to be able to hear those songs played every night, and played so well. And to be honest I think that's enough, because the songs are really what matter. They're still playing together, but I think they're called Black Star Riders now. The last record was very good, but nothing compared to this."

Source
  
40x40

Johnny Marr recommended track Jeepster by T Rex in Electric Boogie 1971 by T Rex in Music (curated)

 
Electric Boogie 1971 by T Rex
Electric Boogie 1971 by T Rex
2007 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Jeepster by T Rex

(0 Ratings)

Track

"This song was a really pivotal moment in my life, it was the first record I ever bought and it was by a complete fluke. ‘Jeepster’ was in a bargain box for 10p and it happened to have a photograph of Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn on the label, that was unusual, it was rare to have a photograph on the label and Marc Bolan looked androgynous, very beautiful, mysterious and quite weird. “So at the age of ten I took a punt on this thing. With that money I could have bought a few comics and an ice lolly, I’d have taken the stick and put it in the wheel of my bike, which was very important! But I bought ‘Jeepster’ instead and I did that thing of walking home and looking and looking at it. Fifteen minutes later I put in on and it snagged my attention straightaway, I had to pay attention to it, but it was pop music. “I listen to it now and it’s quite lo-fi, but even then I had an awareness it sounded like people in a room and that it was pretty rough, which was a bit of an ask for a little kid, it certainly wasn’t music for 10 year olds, 15 year olds maybe. I heard the sound of his guitar and why the hell I was hearing bongos in there as well was really intriguing to me. Before it was three quarters of the way through I was planning on playing it again and trying to find out how this thing worked. “The riff is funky without being James Brown and his limitations as a guitar player were really useful on all of his records up until ‘20th Century Boy’, which was very brutal. ‘Jeepster’ is very funky but he’s almost playing with the same limitations of John Lee Hooker, if he was any better - a Ritchie Blackmore or an Eric Clapton - it wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting because it would have sounded too bland, accomplished and slick. He’s hanging in there a bit, particularly on the outro, the riff is so dumb a more accomplished guitar player wouldn’t have been heard dead playing it. It’s so gauche, but it’s probably the best bit of music on the record. “Then there’s the way the band go in and out of time. I picked that up the third time I listened to it and that was really amazing, because on the radio at the time it was The Osmond’s ‘Love Me for a Reason’, The Carpenters, Andy Williams and all this slick, easy listening stuff, but this was a real pre-Glam record. “It identified me, I was ‘I know what it is to be a fan of this thing of my own now.’ I’d seen my parents be fans and to this day they’re fans of bands, but because I became a fan of this guy I was getting all these signals - particularly from girls’ magazines - about what it was to be a fan and having posters on my walls. The Smiths were very aware of that dynamic. “I grew up very close to my sister, who was eleven months younger than me and I’m glad that was something that happened for me, because I had a real sense of what she liked. I’d almost been like a twin, what they call an Irish twin with my sister, and it gave me a genuine appreciation of how great it was to be a girl. “It’s a fantastic function of pop culture, that shifting to take in different gender roles both ways, with people like Lady Gaga and Richey Manic. Marc Bolan was beautiful and he sounded really beautiful, the sound of a soft voice singing in a Rock and Roll way over a rock band has never really left me and that’s probably evident on my solo stuff. “Because of the photograph of Marc Bolan on the sleeve, his androgyny and the way he was singing, it was my first independent connection of seeing a different image of masculinity. I was very, very aware of that, because he was obviously wearing make-up and he was very pretty. I was hearing this guy singing in quite an effeminate voice and I owned the record, so I’d better love it. It wasn’t that I was just loving the music, I’d invested in this thing where this guy was like a woman and that was really exciting."

Source