The Meme-Mandated, Semi-Regularly-Updated, Occasionally Coherent Thoughts of G.M. Skarka
GMSkarka sent to me…
I stumbled upon two new artists this week, and so this Friday Music entry features double-shots from both, because I think they’re keen, and I hope you do as well:
First up,
Yeah, that’s all it took to grab me, too. I hunted down some of her music, gave a listen, and….WOW. I ordered the CD via the links on her website pretty much immediately.
Here are two tracks from the CD Opheliac:
Emilie Autumn – “Misery Loves Company.”
and the harpsichord-laden title track,
The second artist that I discovered this week comes to us from the Scissor-Sisters-esque vein of tone-perfect 70s reconstructions. I listened to two singles from the artist in question, Mika—both of which I present here:
This first is an absolutely perfect tribute to the sound of Freddie Mercury and Queen (even name-checks Freddie in the lyrics): Mika – “Grace Kelly”
Here’s another great mash-up, mixing Johnny Cash with the Wu-Tang Clan. It works a helluva lot better than you’d expect:
Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun died yesterday. He created one of the first indie labels, which fostered quite a lot of talent, and went on to become a jazz and pop empire by the 1960s. He was also a songwriter — here is his best-known work: Ray Charles – “The Mess Around.”
Lastly, just because you sometimes just need brilliant New Wave sung by a playboy bunny wearing a plexiglass bra: Missing Persons – “Words.”
Enjoy.
Finished watching the Sci-Fi Channel’s miniseries The Lost Room last night, and I was very impressed.
The whole thing was very cool — very much in the vein of Tim Powers novels or the RPG Unknown Armies. Cabals and individuals comprising an occult underground which searches for, covets and hoards “Objects” — mundane items which came from a motel room which was, for unknown reasons, ripped out of reality on May 4th, 1961. Each of the objects possesses some sort of reality-bending power, ranging from the powerful (The Key, which can be used on any door, and gains you entry into the Lost Room — the motel room in question, which exists outside of time and space, but from which you can re-enter the world through any door, anywhere) to the bizarrely mundane (A watch — if you put an egg within the watchband, it hard-boils the egg). Objects in combination open up other powers….and so needless to say, a wide assortment of characters all want these objects. Again, very nifty.
If you missed it, Sci-Fi will be showing all 6 hours in a marathon on Sunday (4 central time, I think) — so set your Tivos, or your VCRs, or just fire up Bittorrent. It’s worth it.