Heart Music (Top 10 Albums)

Member Name: Whitehorse

Product:	Top 10 Albums
Date:	23/05/02 (271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: * * *

Disadvantages: * * *

As someone who writes music and sings I would love to be able to say that I am the kind of person who can listen to anything and enjoy it; that I have wide musical tastes with a vast record collection the envy of everyone this side of the country. Sadly that would be a humdinger of a lie. I treat music like lovers - albums are desired and needed, wanted and loved. I am selective to the point of pickiness but then I never tire of the music I buy. I am unrelentingly cautious when buying new music - rarely if ever buying an album unless I know I like it already. Certainly there is a lot of flack about downloading music on the internet but for me it is a godsend - being able to listen and appreciate before I fork out my hard earned Dooyoo cash.

To sum up my musical tastes is quite difficult - I can easily say what I don’t like - punk makes me feel like punching someone and reggae much the same. Garage and house just simply make me leave the room. Jazz is okay if it’s the old time era of Louis Armstrong, Classical is sometimes nice. Manufactured pop irritates, rap and other harsh street music (or whatever the genre is) makes me generally despair of human kind. Eminem for some reason though captures my imagination (not the man, only his music). Heavy metal I just don’t get, rock feels fuzzy and Mariah Carey and ilk make me possibly want to commit murder.

What is left?

The genius of musical composition that makes my heart leap. Lyrics that become an instrument of their own that can bring me to tears. When I listen to music I want to hear passion, I want to listen to someone who has thought about life, has crashed to the bottom and seen the darkness. I like music that stirs the soul even depressive music. I love songs about vampires and the dead of night and madness - but oh they have to have a nice tune and better still a hypnotic beat!

Goth as a genre does it for me - I hear you all laugh hysterically! I guess I just
like the dark :-) However there isn’t actually any Goth that’s made it to my top ten although it certainly comes close (so it’s safe to read on). I adored The Mission, Siousxie, and yes even The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland having the beautiful epic sound.

Music is intensely personal - I sure some of you who are still with me just don’t understand why I detest reggae or metal. What I have written isn’t a personal attack - I am well aware that there are true musicians in all genres of music. Music is about expression of self. When I listen to a song I love and share it with another it is as though I am sharing a secret part of myself that I cannot share in any other way. When I sing my own compositions it is the same - I can feel extremely vulnerable yet I share it because it is an expression of who I am.

I love the fusion of ethic and western sounds, the unusual but melodic. Good trance I can listen to for hours - I’m not into clubbing but some trance music I’ve heard has been incredible. Unfortunately I haven’t a clue who the writers are. I guess my shamanic side comes out with a love of an intense beat. I love listening to how different cultures express themselves through their music - from the sound of the Lakota chant to the overtone singers of Mongolia. From the beauty of the Bulgarian singers (Trio Bulgaria) made famous by appearing on The Sensual World by Kate Bush, to the wonders of Muslim voice eerily echoing across the temple spires. The chords of Celtic music amaze me, I love the folklore weaved into folk. The human voice and its capabilities goes way beyond what the limiting pop charts offers us.

I notice in my top ten that there are no male singers (although there is a guy singing on Dead can Dance occasionally) - I guess I just simply enjoy the female voice. Guys that hover close to the top however are Julian Cope (because he’s a musical genius and very cute), The Chamel
eons (who can reduce me to tears with their beautiful songs), Peter Gabriel (intelligent music for the thinking person), The Cure - simply for the blackness of Disintegration and Christy Moore for recording the best version ever of the ultimate witches song ‘The Burning Times’.

Other bands and albums which almost made it are
Curve - Doppelganger
Leftfield - Leftism,
Patti Smith - Dream of Life,
P.J. Harvey - To Bring You My Love
This Mortal Coil - for possibly the most beautiful song ever ‘Song to the Siren’ (and also for their album ‘Blood’)
Moby - Play (to prove I’m hip with the youth *grin*)
The Levellers - Levelling the land
The Water boys - This is the Sea
Love and Rockets - for the album of the same name. The song ‘Haunted’ gets under my skin
Celtarabia - The Lost Music of Celtarabia
Afrocelt

Last and not least if the music from Buffy the Musical is ever released I will happily include that in my top ten because it was fab!

KATE BUSH - HOUNDS OF LOVE
Of course Kate Bush comes in at number one without question. I actually started writing this opinion before writing the one on the this album - I wrote so much it turned into an opinion of it’s own! Because of this I will just do a simple recap on why I love this album so much
Kate Bush is a heroine of mine - and yes I could even say an addiction. I would be content with just a mere inkling of her musical ability. The Ninth Wave which is the movement on the 2nd side of the album is one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard. The lyrics and music tell a very visual tale of someone drowning at sea. Kate is a lady who can paint pictures with words and melody. I find the album as a whole satisfies my intense desire to listen to music that is meaningful - music that makes me think, feel and imagine. Everything about Kate Bush is an inspiration and this album as far as I&
#8217;m concerned epitomises her genius.

The following albums are not in order of preference - they are the remaining nine favourites that could be moved up or down the list according to mood.

SHEILA CHANDRA - WEAVING MY ANCESTORS VOICES
Sheila Chandra hit the western pop scene by storm in 1982 fronting the band Monsoon and singing the amazingly high ‘Ever so Lonely’. After that she began working on her own unique style of music. I first heard this album being played in the local magic shop (as in spells and magic). The proprietor a friendly chap I’ve known for a good few years now must have got really sick of me asking ‘who’s that woman on the tape?’ I am dreadful at remembering names.
The album haunted me. The song playing when I first heard it was the simple and stunning Om Namaha Shiva. Sheila Chandra takes this very simple chant to Shiva and builds voices layer by layer. The melody never changes - it would have been easy and obvious to harmonise. Instead the same chant is sung over and over with more and more voices and the effect is soothing and trance like. Whenever I listen to it I feel like everything in my mind is still. It makes sense then that Shiva is the destroyer of ignorance - the chant brings about clarity of mind and insight.
The album as a whole best expresses Chandra’s unique ability to blend cultures and take music into new directions. For example in ‘Dhyana and Donalogue’ we have the sounds of Irish folk as she takes an ancient Irish ballad and blends it with unique Muslim style vocals. The result is wonderful - the two styles suddenly fit together perfectly. Later in ‘Nana‘, we have a mixture of ancient Spanish folk mixed with Islamic influence. ‘Ever so Lonely’ makes an appearance on the album weaved into two other songs through the sound of a drone.
If nothing else I would say at least listen to ‘Speaking in Tongues Parts
1 and 2’ Listening to Sheila Chandra speaking in tongues is disturbing, fascinating and extremely creepy. There is a rhythm to her voice - a bizarre unreal language that sounds somehow like it’s making sense. It seems impossible that any human can make the sounds she makes. Her intention is to create vocal percussion and she succeeds with brilliance. This isn’t real speaking in tongues although you’d be forgiven for thinking it is. It still makes my hair stand on end.
The album as a whole just satisfies me on so many levels - the willingness to experiment and blend cultural influences, the incredible vocal range she has. Weaving My Ancestors Voices is magical, mystical and meditative.

TORI AMOS - LITTLE EARTHQUAKES
Well I guess it’s no surprise to find Tori Amos here in my top ten. Now this is another album that I have reviewed individually but that was back in my early days on Dooyoo and the opinion is dreadful (must do a rewrite!).
I can’t actually remember how I first came across the beautiful redhead with the ability to make the piano talk - in fact watching her play the piano is like watching her seduce it. It melts under her touch.
Anyway - discover her I did and I immediately saw the links between her and Kate Bush.
Tori Amos is perhaps less ethereal in content. Her lyrics are often down to earth, her songs about the real nitty critty of life yet her voice has that similar quality. The album as a whole ranges from the stark ‘Me and a Gun’ - an unaccompanied lament concerning rape to the full and powerful rhythmic beat of ‘Precious Things’ where she expresses her general scorn for men who cannot handle mature relationships

‘So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts
Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon
How's that thought for you?’

That line makes me smile every time
!

My favourite on the album is the haunting ‘Winter’ which I can only listen to when I am feeling reasonably mentally stable otherwise it can spiral me into melancholia.

‘He says when you gonna make up your mind?
When you gonna love you as much as I do?
When you gonna make up your mind?
Cause things are gonna CHANGE so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear’

No clues for figuring out why I like this song so much!
Some albums such as Boys for Pele are not quite as accessible as Little Earthquakes. This is just a great album for late evening play when you just want the world to fall away.

CLANNAD - MAGICAL RING
My discovery of Clannad came through watching that great ITV series ‘Robin of Sherwood’. The theme song was released as a single and I remember having a thrill of what I can only describe as ‘recognition’. I had no knowledge of Irish music or anything else to compare the band to - I just knew I loved the music.
Magical Ring is the 7th album (of the many) and contains the theme song to the popular TV series Harry’s Game. The Clannad sound is just unlike anyone else although most people who like Clannad like Enya as well. The music is a mixture of traditional Irish folk roots and electronic sound mixed with layer upon layer of vocals. Often the songs are sung in Irish but not always. There are sites which offer translations which is rather enlightening - one such site is
http://www.jtwinc.com/clannad/songlist.asp
My favourite track on the album is Newgrange - not least because it captures my feelings of the place from when I have visited - it’s an ancient site that I am deeply attached to.
It is certainly a ‘new age’ kind of sound and can easily transport me to the ring of stones pictured on the sleeve. Wonderful as backgr
ound mood music and for relaxing - I also find it great for meditation work as well.

ENIGMA - SCREEN BEHIND THE MIRROR
Enigma have always been a firm favourite of mine ever since I heard the album ‘The Cross of Changes’ . Again another new-agey type band who have managed to move into the club arena with their trance like hypnotic beats and cross cultural influences. The ‘Dreams of the Dolphin’ captured that point in time when everyone had a dolphin poster and believed dolphins held the wisdom of the world (they of course do)
The Screen Behind the Mirror however has one up on all the other albums due to the inclusion of the most fantastic classical piece of music ever written (in my opinion) namely Carmina Burana by Carl Orff - specifically the section included is O Fortuna. If you are scratching your head wondering what on earth I’m going on about then think back to the old Old Spice adverts - the bloke surfing, the BIG music - that's the one!
I absolutely adore this piece of music - it literally has a physical effect on me. I feel my heart begin to beat faster and I come out in goosebumps. It’s like I want to devour the music. That sounds bizarre I know but that’s the only way I can describe it. It is intense!
Enigma have taken this section of music and weaved it in and out of the whole album. Often the music has a kind of ‘galactic’ feel; as if you are being transported into space, then you might be swimming deep beneath the ocean looking at the wonders that lie beneath. Sometimes there is the tiniest hint of Spanish guitar, there are gentle rhythmic sexy beats, flutes echoing tunes of a cloudless sky and vocals that remind the listener of Gregorian chant. Then still other vocals that remind us we have the power to change our future.

SINEAD O'CONNOR - THE LION AND THE COBRA
Now this is the album I use when I am feeling angry or frustrated because - lets face it -
this lady is the queen of angst. From this first album Sinead roared her battle cry to the world. Every song is sung with intensity - passion drips from this woman's mouth. I love her lyrics - her ability to sing such gentle lines whilst a bass thrashes in the background. ‘Jackie’ is one such example. It’s strange listening to the album now as I write, it brings back so many memories of busking in Manchester when I first moved here. I learnt to play and sing just about the entire album and it used to go down well in town! (I never had the skinhead to go with it though!). It’s probably one of the reasons I like this album. It has that nice simplicity of just a band and singer. You can hear the fingers on guitar and feel the immediacy of the recording. It makes a good change from some of the more electronic ethereal stuff I enjoy.
The epic ‘Troy’ is probably my favourite on the album closely followed by ‘I want your hands on me’ which just has a cracking good beat. ‘Never Get Old’ begins with a haunting speech in Irish spoken by Enya that is repeated over and over with a simple vocal drone in the background. It builds to a crescendo of Sinead's voice - fabulous. Of course it seemed a prerequisite that I learned to say the Irish bit - I think I’m okay on most of the lines but I’m sure some native speakers might have to stifle a giggle at my interpretations of some of the words.
I know many people find Sinead difficult to listen to and admittedly some of her albums have gone over my head. There is no denying however that she has the most stunning voice and again an incredible vocal range. Even when she’s squealing, even when she can emit such anger - she’s always keeps her voice perfectly controlled.

ALL ABOUT EVE - ALL ABOUT EVE
I fell in love with this album from the moment I saw Julianne Regan hippy tripping through the fields in the video for ‘Flo
wers in our Hair’. Sometimes I think this is one of the albums that seems written for just me. All About Eve lurked on the edge of Goth and I of course was oblivious to the reference to the film and took ‘Eve’ to be a reference to the lady who dared to gain wisdom from the tree of life.
With the delightful Julianne, the tasty Tim Bricheno and references to folk tales, nature and mystery throughout, the music of this band still has me quite enchanted. Gypsy Dance now plays as I write...

It is night time
And their fires burn
All that matters here
Is song and dance
It is my time
And their hearts
They burn’

The band seemed to concentrate a lot on the acoustic sound using the violin to wonderful effect. Juliannes voice has that breathy crystal clarity to it that I find very appealing - her version of the traditional song ’She Moves Through the Fair’ is beautiful. I have great regrets that I never saw them play live. This album is my favourite of all of theirs because it seemed like there was nothing else that captured my Gypsy heart quite like this. ‘Martha’s Harbour’ is perhaps the song most will remember - a breath of fresh air amongst the pop charts at the time. My favourite though is Shelter From the Rain. The strangest thing this band ever did was to make a cover of Devil Woman - good though it was I’m afraid even the vaguest link to Sir Cliff is enough to make me heave.
That aside - I find this one of the best witchy albums around. The follow up ‘Scarlet and Other Stories’ is also very listenable.

KRISTEN HERSH - HIPS AND MAKERS
One of the most underrated singers/songwriters ever as far as I’m concerned. It makes me really annoyed when little bits like Britney are worshipped yet have little talent and people like Kristen Hersh are underplayed because they don’t fit the current model of ‘pop’ music. Hailing o
riginally from the fantastic Throwing Muses, Kristen also has an brilliant solo career. She describes her own work as ‘Throwing Muses’ unplugged’ and I’d have to agree.
I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Hersh perform some years back and was stunned by her amazing musical skill on the guitar which forms the framework of the entire album. It’s very inspiring to hear an album that mostly consists of guitar and voice - there’s the occassional piano and a bit of percussion but they are there to simply compliment. The songs are quite simple when you really listen to them - often it is simply the passion in Kristen Hersh’s voice that defines them. This album definitely isn’t full of gladness and cheer yet neither it is depressive even though much is inspired by the songwriters own experience of mental illness. Kristen Hersh has a fantastic way of weaving words that give us evocative snapshots from her mind - unusual images, moments that punch at the heart strings. Many songs seem to be stream of consciousness - making sense in a bizarre way.
Michael Stipe from REM makes a guest appearance on the first track ‘Your Ghost’
Sometimes Kristen sounds sweet and girly, at other times aggressive. ‘Me and My Charms’ is probably my all time favourite - stark, beautiful, bewitching - just something sends shivers up my spine
The Letter is in a similar vein - a letter begging for help - afraid that madness will win out if someone doesn’t call, doesn’t come home soon...

‘I am turning up in circles
And I'm spinning on my knuckles
Don't forget that there are circles left undone
And very close to me’

This is a lovely album to have as background music for the after the dinner party - you know - that part of the evening here you’re all eating mint after-eights and drinking brandy (or you would be if you had either in).

DEAD CAN
DANCE - AEON
Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry are the originators behind the wonderful band. Now I had no idea that Lisa Gerrard had been involved with the soundtrack for Gladiator - it only makes me more deeply impressed. I did know that the lady was behind another favourite band of mine namely - This Mortal Coil.
Most people find it very difficult to categorise the music of this band. Aeon draws on the magic of music drawn from traditional 14th Century Italian folk roots as well as other traditions perhaps heralding from ancient monastaries, the wilds of Ireland - heart music as I call it. There is a lot of slow ringing of temple bells and beautiful harmonies - operatic sounding voices, mandolins and all manner of other folk instruments. Listening makes me think of the whirling dervish, nuns at early morning prayer, the beauty of Romania, Gypsy’s dancing - it touches me. They could be said to be Gothic or New Age or World but Dead Can Dance are all these and far more. I always say this album is my favourite because it was the first of I heard but in truth I adore everything they’ve ever done. It’s great for sinking into the bath with candles and incense billowing.

TRACY CHAPMAN - TRACY CHAPMAN
I’ve only recently rediscovered this album. I had it on tape somewhere then thought I’d lost it - it became a forgotten thing. Then one day a few weeks back whilst driving up to Blackpool, my friend had this album playing in the car and I remembered just how much I love it. It’s been played almost to overkill in my house now in the last couple of weeks.
‘Fast Car’ was the song that made Tracy Chapman famous with it’s memorable lyrics and melody. Whenever I hear it, it reminds me of when I was working in this God awful factory as a Summer job - spraying footballs. Strangely the machines used ’break down’ (read industrial sabatage) regularly which meant time to stop for a cup of tea and he
ar the radio properly over the roar of the dreadful machines. The lines

‘You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere’

...were scarily apt.
Anyway - Tracy Chapman has a glorious mellow voice - kind of a deep treble that just so musical. Her lyrics express much of her cultural heritage - an African-American woman who understood and studied her roots both historically and musically. Much of the album contains the kind of tribal percussion sound which I love. ‘Mountains o’ Things’ has to be my absolute favourite on the album with it’s tribal beats and lyrics that talk of wishing for the thing many of us wish for - money!
‘For My Lover’ is another that I love. The subject of the song is a woman who will sacrifice everything for ‘her man’ in prison. The theme makes me cringe - knowing that many woman sacrifice so much for the sake of ‘love‘, make excuses for the partner that beats them or abuses them - the kind of life that so many choose and eventually cannot escape. It’s miserable and gritty and real life yet the song is poignant and moving.
Much of the album is concerned with the desire to be free - free of the man who holds you down, free of the company who owns your hide, free of a world that rates money above love. Tracy Chapman questions the way the world was and is...

Why do the babies starve
When there's enough food to feed the world
Why when there're so many of us
Are there people still alone

Why are the missiles called peace keepers
When they're aimed to kill
Why is a woman still not safe
When she's in her home

These are the albums that sing to and of my heart.

Summary: