The sun came out and it didn't go away

[flexagon]

This entry is dedicated to new music! Thanks to a brief mention by bookofgossamer a while back, I got He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy (nothing to do with FF the game, although there are a ton of D&D and fantasy references... reviews tell me this album contains tributes to all eight D&D schools of magic, not that I would've known). The pizzicato string quartet stuff and a beautifully enunciated voice with smart lyrics make it worth a listen. If you're on iTunes you can't get much, but you can get Arctic Circle, which might be the best song anyway.

The other new find is Slide by Lisa Germano. She has kind of a slurry, low voice, and while a lot of the songs are dreamy the best of them evoke a certain Tori Amos-ish quality. Again, smart lyrics. I think fans of Tori at least might find this worth a try. If you're on iTunes, consider shelling out for Reptile and probably Wood Floors to see if you like what I like.


Extraterrestrial
Down on the corner
So unfamiliar
And making me wonder
All of the robots
Around it are dying
Craving emotions
And constantly fighting
The sun came out and it didn't go away
No, it didn't
It didn't go away
Extraterrestrial
Counting his fingers
Handing out pamphlets
Of light to us sinners
The sun came out and it didn't go away
No, it didn't
It didn't go away
So unfamiliar
Making me wonder
'Cause it says that god
Is a soul masturbator
Higher vibrations
Frequency flying
Living in light
'Cause the light freaks out dyin'
The sun came out and it didn't go away
No, it didn't
It didn't go away
The sun came out and it didn't go away
No, it wouldn't
It wouldn't go away

Comments

[heisenbug]

I enthusiastically second (or third, whatever) the Final Fantasy recommendation. It's like the best prog rock ever, except with all classical instruments. Or it's like excellent (reasonably tonal) modern "classical", except that it's pop songs. Or something. Other artists (like Gentle Giant, Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, and probably about half of the artists on ReR) have done stuff a bit like it in isolation, but never consistently. (Most of them usually use more rock-oriented instrumentation.) Probably the closest thing I'd previously heard to an entire album in this style is Elvis Costello's stuff with string quartet, but Final Fantasy is way better. Seriously.

(This is after one listen-- if I change my opinion I'll let you know.)