Author: jake

poet, editor, kilt wearing heathen. he/him

Monthly Music – May

This month we have Moby and a bit of Woody Guthrie, sorta. (Yeah yeah, it is June, it is close enough)

Moby – Destroyed (electronic)

I have had a thing for Moby since I first heard “Everything is Wrong” all of those years ago. (Almost too many to say aloud) Since then it has been a steady stream of great albums ranging from the quiet ambient (Wait for Me) to the get up and dance (Last Night).

Destroyed is more in the middle. There are a collection of ambient pieces towards the end, along with some more energetic stuff from the beginning. In a way it is close to the album structure of “Everything is Wrong”.

While I horribly biased, I love it. I’d been a huge “Hotel” kick as of late, and the two together are great.

Billy Bragg and Wilco, Mermaid Ave (folk/rock)

This is an older album (1997) but it is brand new to me, so I think it counts. The album is a collection of songs that were lyrically written by Woody Guthrie. He never got around to writing the music parts, and that is where Billy Bragg and WIlco come in.

The album is folksy for sure, but it is supposed to be. More than a few of the lyrics are political, and topics include the Great Depression to, well, Walt Whitman’s niece.

In the end, I bought it for “California Stars” which is a fantastic song. But I stayed for “Walt Whitman’s Niece” and all the rest.

A Month in the Life, April

April was National Poetry Month, so in honor of that, I decided to devote my theme to poetry for my 365 month. I thought it would be a good fit.

http://jacobhaddon.com/2011/03/27/early-april-365-poetry-month/

You can find the fruits of my labors here, on their own page.

I’ll still do the scans and the future edits. It was an interesting month. I did find the general theme of spring/weather/outside prevalent in the poems, as well as vacation. School is nearing its end, and a few days off is on the brain for sure.

And I’ll admit I fell behind. In the end, there are 30 poems in there, though not every day found me writing one. i know that isn’t the exact point of 365, but hey, so what.

In the end I think the cupcakes are my favorite, abet a bit risque? maybe?

Onwards to May.

Ode To Cupcakes

Start on one side
tugging around the middle
slowly pull off
your paper skirt

before peeling away your top
the icing is nice
but it is the underneath
i want

soft and warm,
what other secrets do you hide?

cupcake
there is only us
and no guilt
for not sharing
my sweet desire

Monthly Music – April

For April I have a theme: metal bands with female singers. Sure there have always been some rockin’ girls out there, but it wasn’t until Evanescence that I got the taste, really, for chick goth metal.

In This Moment

In this Moment is like the prequel to this adventure. I heard “Daddy’s Fallen Angel” in a rental car far from home and went on a quest to find the album. I had mistakenly thought it was a metal band with a girl back up singer (hey it was a convertible, the top was down…). Instead i get a metal band with a lead female vocalist who can sing, growl, scream and rock. I was pleased. While more traditional metal than the rest of this list, I still recommend.

For the beginner: Because of the vast difference between the first two albums, hard to say. Recommend “The Dream” for everyone, and “Beautiful Tragedy” for those who like their metal chicks a bit more, well, metal.

Within Temptation

This was the start of it all. I started a search on Amazon for “the guy who left Evanescence and I think started his own band, maybe” and somehow ended up here. Within Temptation are a Dutch band (they sing in English) who started in 1996. Easiest way to describe them is like Evanescence, but better. And they’ve been doing it longer too. I put “Within Temptation” into my Slacker Radio (slacker.com) and that started the rest.

Within Temptation’s new album is called “The Unforgiving” and is a concept album with a comic book and short films (music videos) associated with it. The first single is “Faster” and has been blasted out of my open car windows more than once already.

For the beginner: While the new album rocks, I still think that “The Heart of Everything” is where to start.

Nightwish

Nightwish is over the top symphonic metal and I love every minute of it. Finnish, they also formed in 1996. There There have been two female lead singers of Nightwish, but I am a fan of both. Naturally there are others who are more polarized on the issue.

Nightwish does not yet have a new album out, but I had to include them anyway. They have announced a new album this fall, I’ll update then.

For the beginner: This one is harder because of the lead singer change. Recommend “Dark Passion Play” and “Once”

Unsun

UnSun is a Polish band. They are newer, having started in 2006, but still good. While a bit ligher than Within Temptation and don’t have an orchestra and band of singing monks like Nightwish, they are still

For the beginner: “Clinc for Dolls” is where to start.

The Birthday Massacre

The Birthday Massacre isn’t metal, per se. I’d really classify them as “dark wave” or something (wiki says ‘synthrock’) but they showed up on the Slacker Radio station and I fell in love. More traditional sync goth music rather than goth metal, they still

Bithday Massacre’s newest album is “Pins and Needles”

For the beginner: All of them? Get “Walking with Strangers” or “Pins and Needles” and then if you like, just get the others.