a shameless request, ha ha!

[ontology]

Oh dear, yes, NaNo is all that is on my mind just now; apologies to any of the f-list who are deathly bored of all of this talk by now. So I will talk briefly of things unrelated to NaNo for a minute to appease you. Yesterday Hannah had a birthday party, which was an informal get-together uniting the gang; we talked, cleaned some, watched The Brothers Grimm, and took a walk up the hill. It was terrifically surreal, bicycling to my old house and past the hill and down the road into the parking lot, and then being inside of it, empty of our furniture and very different in many ways, with all of the painting and renovating that's been going on -- and oddly familiar, because things that were Right when the Meholicks last lived in the house are coming back -- the great massive table in the dining room, the couch, the hallway mirrors -- and it's a very odd sort of deja vu. But sometimes I'd have these funny flashbacks; it was very vertigo-y. Especially as all the time we'd lived there, I had ghosts of the old houselife putting their hands on my shoulders at unexpected times. Anyway, grand fun was had, and there was a magnificent chocolate raspberry cake made by the Divine Miss V, and the hill is so lovely in late autumn! 

Now, the main question of the hour comes. I have created a playlist for NaNo, comprised of mood-setting music. I have also set aside (in my head) at least two albums which I will probably have on repeat all next month -- PJ Harvey's spooky, Victorian White Chalk, and Dark Dark Dark's somewhat more whimsical and also spooky and Victoriany The Snow Magic (accordion prominence! banjo! cello! piano! and, once, musical saw!!). The playlist itself contains some Chopin and Debussy, some of the aforementioned artists, Vienna Teng (alas, only one song really works for the era, because Vienna = win), DeVotchKa, Patrick Wolf, the theme from The Illusionist, and a fantastic little Sarah McLachlan instrumental comprised of piano, cello, and musical saw. You all see what's coming, don't you? Yes, absolutely, you are not wrong: I want more music for my atmospheric NaNo playlist.

Piano-based things, mostly, and any music that would fit into the Victorian and Edwardian eras -- actual Victorian and Edwardian music would be amazing, but I will not count on it. Traditional English ballads, chamber folk, freak folk, New Weird America that doesn't sound too specifically American, anything with a musical saw in (well, I have a weakness for that), piano instrumentals that don't sound too modern, classical composers who would have been listened to and played at the time, especially pieces which are predominantly piano -- all of the sisters play, and Briony has a knack for it; I'd love music that evokes the Nox family home. In return I will make a Very Awesome Mixtape and post it all for you lot when November is finished.

Also, if anybody manages to dig up a traditional folk song that either a) specifically mentions vampires, or b) is probably about something else but could be about vampires, you will get a cookie. No, better still: you will get my very best and extremely rich chocolate peppermint pie.

Comments

[windandtherain.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Emilie Autumn? :-) Also I've heard Wendy Rule has some good stuff, but I've only personally heard one song!

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I have a leeetle bit of Emilie Autumn; I shall have to look up some more, because harpischord + electric violin = ♥. I've never heard of Wendy Rule; look that up tomorrow, when I am not supposed to be sleeping! :D

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Hm.

Well, I feel like something by St. Vincent, Tori Amos, and Over the Rhine would work, although which songs specifically I don't know. Maybe Laura Marling? And Rachel's, I seem to remember some nicely spooky instrumental pieces. Zoe Keating for sure. Hahaha, M83 has a song called "Lower Your Eyelids To Die with the Sun," although their tone isn't right. Um, possibly Andrew Bird's "Dance of Death" or Calexico's "Accordian Waltz"?

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Oho, I definitely need more Zoe Keating. And Rachel's, perfect. I also need more Andrew Bird; I have had albums uploaded for me but have not listened yet.

Also I was just turned on to a lot of actual period recordings by someone on That Indie Community. If any of them turn out to be really really awesome I will tell you. I am very excited.

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Whee! Oh, and "Tetrishead" is available through the Hype Machine as of, like, last week which is nice because there hasn't been any Zoe Keating on there before. I'll probably record the other full tracks on last.fm that I don't have, and once I do that I'll send them to you too.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Um. Would you happen to be in a position to upload Anna Ternheim's self-titled EP? Cos I got it from you when you were here, but it is gone the way of the rest of the music on the laptop, and I think it would be very good for scene-setting, if not necessarily for The Actual Playlist. :D

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Sure thing; here you go (http://www.mediafire.com/?mgz3tyz5jjy).

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Hm, and I'm listening to the soundtrack for The Fountain, by Kronos Quartet & Mogwai, and there's bits of that might work for you--some of it's too post-rock for your time period, but "Together We Will Live Forever" is a very nice, stripped-down piano song. Also, check Hype Machine for Ólafur Arnalds--I saw him last night and he's rather like Sigur Ros, very pretty stuff. Not sure if much would work for the atmosphere you're going for, but it's worth a shot.

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Some instrumentals here (http://staergetaleht.blogspot.com/2008/09/mix-week-instrumental-music-to-study-by.html)--I'm listening just now to the ones I downloaded a while ago in hunting for Amiina songs, and some might work for you--some other Amiina ones too, for that matter. "Northern Lights" is pretty.

[missbaxter.livejournal.com]

Oooh, what a dangerous request! Recs are as follows:
Nancy Elizabeth, 'Battle and Victory'- sinister harps and accordions and tubas and other strange jangling instruments, odd oblique lyrics, plus she plays everything herself, which is always worth a bonus point in my book.
Mendelssohn's 'Songs without Words' (specifically his Venetian Boat Songs) - I've only ever come across these in piano sheet music form, but they're lovely; kind of peaceful but dark at the same time. Very rainy day music.
'Adagio' from the Elgar Cello Concerto in Em, played by Jacqueline du Pre - the most autumnal piece of music I've ever heard, and her playing is just incredible, rich and dramatic and mournful.
James Raynard, 'Strange Histories' - Fairly straightforward English folk, marked out mostly by the sparseness of the arrangements, and the fact that Raynard sounds like he could have stepped off some Victorian street corner. Really great version of 'The Outlandish Knight'
Yann Tiersen's soundtrack to 'Amelie' - For possible lighter moments/rare appearances of daylight; it's all very French and carnivalesque. Just to get away from the gloom and doom :)
Stephanie Dosen, 'A Lily for the Spectre' - Has a handful of really great tracks, ('Vinalhaven Harbour; Owl in the Dark'), and is generally easy on the ear as background music
Might have too much of an 'American' feel to it, but Tom Waits' 'Bone Machine' is one of the most sinister albums I've ever heard. Also proves that he can sing an incredibly beautiful song when he wants to ('Whistle Down the Wind')
Aaand I'll go away now. Hope any of the above prove to your taste!

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I absolutely adore the Amelie soundtrack but hadn't thought to use it -- it is my favourite music for bicycling around an old city on a rainy day! The others I have not heard of at all, except Jacqueline du Pre (a friend is a great fan, and I think I have a few of her pieces lying about), and Tom Waits, naturally, although only by name. These all sound very exciting and I will be looking them up straightaway!!

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

So, um, after hunting down Nancy Elizabeth and James Raynard on Amazon, I have fallen madly in love, merely from the thirty-second clips. This is a very deep itch in my intensest musical taste that is rarely satisfied! I rather suspect that I ought to bring music up with you more often. ;D

[missbaxter.livejournal.com]

Glad to be of service! It sounds like we have similar music tastes; perhaps we should have a convention, or a semi-annual mix-CD mail fest...

[missbaxter.livejournal.com]

And re vampiric folk songs, the closest I can think of at the moment is 'Reynardine', which I maintain is actually about a werewolf rather than your common garden variety seducer. Fairport Convention do it, but the best version is by June Tabor on 'Airs and Graces' :)

[(Anonymous)]

Alas, my music is not in sendable form until we get our main computer back. :(

[suangelita.livejournal.com]

Use your imagination for these. ;)

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Claddagh_Ring.htm

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Come_Away_Come_Away_Death.htm

Maybe you can find something here - http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~dancer/vampsong.htm

And: http://buffistas.org/filk/

Inespecial (from there):

Angel-Man, The Big Angst Train, Capybara, How Do You Like Me Now?, Lindsey's Lament, The Scooby Bunch, Tomorrow, Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?, You're So Bland...

Okay. I officially give up all pretext of this being a useful comment. ;)

[suangelita.livejournal.com]

Addendums:

How Do you Solve a Problem Like Drusilla?, I'm the Very Model of a Modern Evil Scientist, I Feel Vampy, I've Got a Theory (Angel Season 3), Let's Go Slay a Vamp (probably now my theme song), On the Street Where You Live, Our Favourite Things, Wouldn't it be Lovely...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single vampire in possession of some unexplained source of good fortune must be in want of an arch-nemesis.

However little known the feelings or views of such a vampire may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding forces of evil, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their henchmen.

"My dear Mr Lindsey," said his colleague to him one day, "have you heard that the Hyperion Hotel is let at last?"."

Or:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a vampire, whether or not in possession of a pesky soul, must be in want of a coat."

Or:

"In a crypt in a tomb dwelt a vampire. Not a modern, hygienic, sanitary crypt, lined with granite plaques and bronze vases of silk flowers; no, a nasty, bony, gloomy crypt, filled with the dust of death and a decaying smell, plus a TV set and a Barcalounger. It was a vampire crypt, and that meant eldritch."

Right. Going now!