Starving artist. Literary genius. Weasel under the cocktail cabinet.
In other words, the inimitable Tess Grover.
Address commentary, questions, and prepositions to orphicfiddler AT gmail DOT com.
Tom Gabel of Against Me! Comes Out as Transgender [Article] →
After over a decade as the lead singer of Against Me!, Tom Gabel has come to terms with gender dysphoria and is beginning a regimen of hormones and electrolysis, after which she will take the name Laura Jane Grace. It’s pretty awesome to see how supportive the media outlets and fans have been so far.
“I Have A Right” - Sonata Arctica
This has been an amazing week for metal videos. A bit repetitive, but I still adore Sonata Arctica, and the sentiment’s more than worthwhile.
From the forthcoming album Stones Grow Her Name. Which will no doubt be fantastic.
“Drag Ropes” - Storm Corrosion
This magnificent creature is the lovechild of Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree. Slow, somber, and atmospheric, a bit like Tool lite, though what really shines here is the animation. This is the second video in recent months (after Kate Bush’s “Eider Falls At Lake Tahoe”) that I’ve seen using the shadow puppet style. Beautiful.
“Storm The Sorrow” - Epica
From the new album, Requiem For The Indifferent. Simone Simons is as lovely as ever.
(So excited to finally see these guys for the first time in November.)
“Carmen” - Lana Del Rey
One of my favorites from Born To Die. Looks like Lizzy’s back to her vintage film shenanigans, and she even added a little of the Gymnopédies at the end for extra class.
“I’m Your Queen, I’m Your Cream” - Nostalghia
Something subdued and haunting from Ciscandra. As if anything Nostalghia does isn’t haunting. Subdued, though, that’s a sporadic one, considering Ciscandra has one of the most impressive screams in alternative music, though she uses it sparingly, gracefully. This ain’t screamo punk, after all, it’s gypsy punk for the post apocalypse. And this song in particular is one for when the nuclear reactors are burning low late at night.
“Never Forever” - Elysion
Amazon recommended this lovely bunch of Greeks and their first album, Silent Scream, to me after some recent browsing of femme metal bands, and I took them for a test drive on Spotify while writing up movie reviews. For fans of Evanescence and Lacuna Coil (especially the latter) - Christianna has a powerful voice quite similar to Cristina Scabbia’s. Strong debut effort on their part. They didn’t put me into convulsions of ecstasy, like when I first encountered Nightwish, but they’re still enjoyable.
“Blood For Poppies” - Garbage
One of my old favorites from the ’90s, Garbage, is releasing an album for the first time in ages this year, and they’ve finally revealed a video for a new song. It’s not my favorite of theirs sound-wise, though I do enjoy the art film homage montage.
“River Of Deceit” - Mad Season
What do you get when you mix the lead singer of Alice In Chains, the guitarist from Pearl Jam, the drummer for Screaming Trees, and the bassist of The Walkabouts?
A Seattle blues-grunge supergroup you ought to have listened to by now, that’s what.
‘Vicki” - The Tins
A new song by The Tins. (Hey, you remember those guys? They were raising money to make an awesome album a while back. Well, they got the money, and this is a single from it. The album itself will be out sometime in May, so if you donated to the Kickstarter, expect a pretty little package in the mail not too long from now.)
The guitars have a bit of a White Stripes vibe, but the song quickly transitions to something more summery than Jack White. Pretty classic, all in all.
