Has anyone else heard (of) these people? They play what has been described as modern-day chamber music. One album served as a soundtrack of sorts to paintings by Egon Schiele (hence the appropriate title, "Music for Egon Schiele"), and two of their albums were heavily inspired by the poetry of Pablo Neruda. It's seriously beautiful stuff. No vocals of course, but mostly violin, piano, and drums. Their latest album, "Selenography," came out on Tuesday and I'm listening to it now. The melodies are hard to follow, but it doesn't matter because the harmonies are so beautiful that each new turn of phrase offers something to both delight you and bring tears to your eyes. I wish I could find some sound files so you all could hear it. It's just incredible.

I can't seem to be able to link to this directly, but if you go to this page, you can pick in which format you want to listen to the song "An Evening of Long Goodbyes." That's the only soundclip off "Selenography" I can find. If anybody cares.

I'll be damned. I knew I had written about this before. I'm listening to "Selenography" at this very moment, to the piece called "The Mysterious Disappearance of Louis LePrince," which reminds me of the theme song to "Unsolved Mysteries." I saw Rachel's play with Matmos about a year or so ago, at the Black Cat in DC. I've never been so bored at a performance. I blame Matmos. I recommend their third album, "The Sea and the Bells," to all interested. Seriously, go on Audiogalaxy and look for MP3s as soon as possible.

i wish i had a recording of mongolian khoomei singing. somehow it would fit my mood right now. i heard some on pbs railway journey showthing, once. hardcore raspy poly-tone throat singing and shots of vast desolate. my cd player is dead, though. i think my modem is fixin' to die, too. is this album songs written by selena or just performed by selena?

Neither. "Selenography" is the mapping of the moon. The band is called Rachel's. (Not The Rachels, as I would like to call them.) Here is a link to their page on Amazon.com, with soundclips.

makes me think of calmness of LaBradford and the quirkyness of Gastr Del Sol.

i can't get sound from my computer.

hey droop, drop me a line. i got an e-update from Fat Possum records i thought you might find chock full of info.

cool.

Here is a link to soundclips of "The Sea and the Bells" -- their best, IMHO. I don't have speakers at work, but I believe my favorite tracks on there are "Letters Home" and "The Blue-Skinned Waltz" and maybe "Lloyd's Register." This is a neat album. The booklet that came with it was a long blank-verse poem of a man and a woman who sailed on the last boat insured by Lloyds of London in the 1700s. I remember stealing one of its lines for a poem I wrote -- "his mouth makes death-shapes." Listen to it. Droopy, go buy some speakers. Or the album.

PS. Ignore the reviewer that called it Gothic. Please. It's modern classical music that has guitars, strings, piano, drums, bells, whistles, etc. etc.

despite your shrugging of the term..."goth" did cross my mind as a clue as to why you love it so. its ok, but im leary of indie rock musicians who cross over into unusual genres. i saw the former bassist of the Smiths David Sefton yesterday walking down the street. He's the new Arts & Entertainment Director at UCLA and the biggest reason we are having this here i need to find some cash to go.

Dude, "classical" is hardly an unusual genre. Countless "rock" musicians have been trained classically. Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard studied guitar from Christopher Parkening, for one example.

ok maybe "unusual" was a bad choice. What i meant is, "outside their realm". Dude. Sometimes musicians try too hard to be renaissance and it ends up weak. Dude. Rockers who are classically trained are fewer and far between than not.

jack bruce of cream and phil lesh of the grateful dead were both classically trained. that's the only two i know of for sure.

john cale and possibly sterling morrison. i've seen cale perform his classical music. it was weak and dull. his rock was far more better.

I would imagine people like Rick Wakeman, Ian Anderson, Keith Emerson, Billy Joel, Elton John, John Entwhistle (I know he was because he plays horn) were too.

So is Jim Coleman of Cop Shoot Cop / Phylr / etc. Tori Amos Thom York(e) of Radiohead umm...others...

There was a weird thing on NPR on Saturday of which I only caught the tail end of, but it seems Glenn Gould was madly in love with Petula Clark's music; he studied and analyzed it and proclaimed its virtues on a talk radio he used to be host in Canada. I'd love to hear those broadcasts.

glenn gould was a rare individual. i once saw a documentary on pbs called "glenn gould's toronto." (i'm pretty sure it was toronto; it was somewhere in canada.) anyway, it was hosted by him and he took you through toronto. at one point he's in the zoo and talking about the time he was walking through a field one day singing mahler and all the cows had stopped munching on the grass to look at him. he was convinced that he had connected with these cows through music on some spiritual level. (he was wrong; cows have the IQ of a big mac and would stare at you if you were in a field farting the black sabbath songbook.) but in the documentary he stands in front of the gorilla pit and sings mahler at the top of his lungs. the gorillas ignore him completely. he observes, "maybe i should've tried beethoven." [beethoven and gorillas might be wrong, it could be elephants and mozart. or something else.] i actually own a video tape of "32 two short films about glenn gould." i haven't had a working vhs in several years, though. but i remember there was one part in there about some of his radio broadcasts. the impression i got was that he would interview people and then loop their voices together like music. in fact, somebody in the movie said that gould had an annoying habit of "conducting" you while you talked to him, as though he were listening to you as music. which i think is pretty cool.

alecia keyes. diamanda galas. nick cave. that's all i can think of at this moment before i leave for work.

spider, i went to your link and listened to it, liked it, ordered it. it's your fault i'm sitting around the house spending money.

there's a nick cave cd at work that i've really been meaning to get.

Fetidbeaver, you have made me happy this morning. (Which one did you get?)

"The Sea And The Bells" i also ordered "As Seen On TV" (you critics need not pontificate, i don't care) it's music from tv commercials.

i love that you chose "as seen on tv", fb. right now i'm listening to nazareth doing "hair of the dog."

i've been listening to this bad local radio station at work lately, it's called "the eagle". last night they played "lay down sally" and i was prompted in a wave of nostalgia to call my sister and ask her if she remembered when we met brad davis and he promised us a rosie the cow that he never sent. the bastard. they also played "blinded by the light", and i'll give a dollar to anyone who can tell me what that song is actually about. i'm particularly interested in the line that goes, as i have interpreted it: wrecked up like a deuce, you know, the rumor in the night. (?)

Blinded by the Light (Bruce Springsteen) Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat With a boulder on my shoulder feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for the hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands And some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers daddy's within earshot save the buckshot turn up the band And she was blinded by the light. Cut loose like a deuce Another runner in the night. Blinded by the light She got down but she never got tight, but she'll make it alright Some brimstone baritone anticyclone rolling stone preacher from the east He says: "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least" And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone watchin' the young girls dance And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance Yeah he was blinded by the light. Cut loose like a deuce Another runner in the night. Blinded by the light He got down but she never got tight, but he's gonna make it tonight Some silicone sister with her manager's mister told me I got what it takes She said I'll turn you on sonny to something strong if you play that song with the funky break And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe to go outside And little Early-Pearly came in by her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride Oh, some hazard from Harvard was skunked on beer playin' backyard bombardier Yes and Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent some dude with a calling card, he said, do what you like, but don't do it here Well I jumped up, spit in the air, turned around, asked wich was the way back home He said take a right at the light, keep going straight until night, and then boy you're on your own And now in Zanzibar a shootin' star was ridin' in a side car hummin' a lunar tune Yes, and the avatar said blow the bar but first remove the cookie jar, we're gonna teach those boys to laugh too soon And some kidnapped handicap was complaining that he caught the clap from some mousetrap he bought last night Well I unsnapped his skull cap and between his ears I saw a gap but he'd figured he'd be all right He was just blinded by the light. Cut loose like a deuce Another runner in the night. Blinded by the light Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun Oh but mama that's where the fun is OR... Chorus: Blinded by the light revved up like a deuce Another runner in the night Blinded by the light revved up like a deuce Another runner in the night Blinded by the light revved up like a deuce Another runner in the night (fading) Madman dummers bummers, Indians in the summer, With a teenager diplomat And the dumps with the mumps As the adolescent pumps his way into his hat With a boulder my shoulder, feeling kinda older, I tripped the merry-go-round With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin, the calliope crashed to the ground (pickup) the calliope crashed to the ground (chorus) Some silicon sister with a manager mister told me I go what it takes. I'll run you on sonny to something strong play the song with the funky break And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather charts see if it was safe outside And little Early Burly came by in his curly wurly and asked me if i needed a ride (pickup) asked me if i needed a ride (chorus) Bridge: She got down but she never got tired She's gonna make it to the night She's gonna make it through the night (break with soul-stirring solo) Oh momma that's where the fun is But momma that's where the fun is Momma always told me not to look in the eye's on the sun But momma that's where the fun is (chop sticks variation) So brimstone-baritone, anti-cyclone Rolling Stone Preacher from the East, says dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in it's funny bone thats what they expect at least It's a new grown chaperon standing in the corner watching the young girls dance and some fresh sown moonstone messing with his frozen zone, only reminding him of romance (pickup) and the calliope crashed to the ground (Chorus) (Chorus and First Verse) Now Scott with the sling-shot finially found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand and some blood-shot forget-me-not said daddy's waX X X ?buck-shot? turn up the band (repeat Verse 2 "Silicon sister with a manager....") (bridge)

they obviously don't say cut loose like a deuce. but what does revved up like a deuce mean? damn. it will plague me.

he probably means revved up like a ford deuce coup - remember the beach boys' "little deuce coup"?

I think it might be slang for a car,but the only thing I can find in my crappy dictionary is:duce: title applied to Benito Mussolini,premier of Italy and leader of Italian facism. I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply to the song.I'm glad it is duce though,I always thought it was douche,and I never could make anything out of that.

'32 ford deuce coupe back in the '50s and early '60s they would take old cars from the '30s and tweak the shit out of them.

i remember when i was a kid my mom thought they sang "way down south" and she loved the song. when she found out they sang "lay down sally" she was offended.

Fetidbeaver, have you received "The Sea and the Bells" yet? If so, what do you think of it?

yep, got it about a week ago. i like it. i like listening to it when i read. thanks

just downloaded systems/layers. it's very soundtracky. i don't hate it.

I listen to it a lot. Mostly when I need to fill my ears with something other than the real world so I can close off and concentrate on something. . Spider, was it you who suggested it to me? I think so. Anyway, thanks.

Yep! I'm glad you like it. I saw them perform live with Matmos a few years ago, and sadly, it was the most boring show I've ever been to. I think I left early, it was so boring. But I blame Matmos.

Um...I really had not read my earlier post when I wrote that. Heh.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! for explaining what "revved up like a deuce" meant. I searched the web for about an hour before I stumbled across this page. Thanks again!