Last year I’ve made a point of getting to know music of a wider range of musicians. Though I’ve got a number of good CDs, the three musicians/bands that readily stick out are Emm Gryner, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Magnetic Fields.

This week I decided to do a bit of repetition and rather than buying artists whose albums I don’t have yet I got the new albums by Emm Gryner and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

The Nick Cave album and the short Laibach spree I did last November keep the ever telling percentage of Mute records I own to 25% (Chris is my reference librarian). Go Mute. Maybe I should buy their stock. Or stock up on more of their CDs seeing how much I like them.

I’ve given a quick listen to both (all three since Nick Cave’s release is a double feature) albums and so far they’re pretty cool. Nick Cave’s web page has a few videos you can download and if you’re up to it I strongly recommend the Breathless video, the song has been pleasantly stuck in my head for a week now. Emm Gryner’s web page (or at least her record company which surprisingly isn’t Mute) supposedly has some samples as well but I haven’t fund them in the Flash yet (I shall contact my reference librarian as soon as he is done with his morning cross word puzzle).

So now all I have left to do (apart from raiding Mute’s catalogue) is get some more Magnetic Fields stuff. Maybe the House of Tomorrow or the Vacation one or even Get Lost… so many decisions…

I’ve been checking Laibach website for tour dates for over a year now so it is little surprise that we’ve driven to Montreal for the concert at Cafe Campus this Monday and even less surprise that we’ve had a blast.

In format the concert was very similar to the last one we’ve been to in ’97 at Foufs. Laibach has been around for almost 25 years, so I was not expecting anything new. However, I found this concert better than the last one and here are some of reasons:
* I am more familiar with the band and their music then I was in ‘97, which will make any concert more enjoyable
* They seemed to have spent more money on this one. The lighting was impeccable and big, the movie was projected to the entire wall rather than little square spot like last time and they brought the Laibach chorus girls with them
* Last time we were in the balcony so we a) did not get the full frontal thing which makes a difference at a Laibach concert and b) did not really see the keyboard player which is another cool thing about the Laibach concert

The keyboard player could have carried the concert by himself, except the front man did the job way too well. And then the chorus girls came in and the whole thing got taken to a new level.

Some other tidbits from the concert include:
* The opening band The Bonfire Madigan was cool.
* Before Laibach came on stage there was a light show with Blue Danube blasting – very well done.
* During the “Now You Will Pay” there was a looping video of a door, I thought this was clever. Other videos were probably clever too, but I wouldn’t know.
* I actually got my act together before everything was sold out and gone (well, asked Chris) to get T shirt and CDs (signed) from both bands. Usually by the time I decide that I want to buy the CD or a T-shirt the vendors are long gone or are selling some leftover junk that isn’t even from the band and nobody in their right mind would want.
* Our old Dark Wave Nights crew was at the concert so we got to catch up with Rachie, Evil Dr Go and Mr Black.
* The class that I cut in order to go to Montreal for the concert ended up being cancelled.

Some fun facts about my latest musical acquisition I by the Magnetic Fileds:

– there are some kick ass songs on this album. Some songs fall flat, but are supported by a number of good ditties.
– there are string instruments hacked into the music which makes it more fun
– some songs are quite sad, but appropriately so
– lyrics are interesting
– the music borrows from a number of musical genres. The fun is figuring out which. So far I’ve discerned proto goth, waltz, lounge among others.
– I’ve had the album for a week now and I am still not sick of it

Chris bought “Girl Versions” a few months ago after he heard a song on CKCU or CBC or both. Basically it is a live CD where Emm plays piano and sings rock anthems. Fugazi, Ozzy Osbourne, The Clash, Def Leppard, Thrush Hermit and Blur are mercilessly attacked by a sweet girl. Yay!

Oh, and here’s Emm’s web page.

I’ll skip my usual griping about Commercial Radio Stations only playing 40 songs 20 of which should have been dropped from the play list two months after they were first played in late 70s. There are so many other artists, completely and utterly suitable for radio play that should be given some airtime.

I will also skip my usual griping about Community Radio Stations that play ridiculous amount and variety of all kinds of excellent (and not so excellent) music but only during the time I can’t listen (between 10AM and 4PM on weekdays and after 2AM at night).

I should have heard Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in high school. If this music had been played on radio, I never would have stopped listening to CHOM. But this was not the case and it took me this long to actually hear this band.

We bought two CDs, Henry’s Dream and The Boatman’s call. Henry’s Dream is solid and haunting. We were listening to it while driving through desert at night in Southern California and it was the perfect atmosphere. Each song is like a small horror film. I can’t decide which of the two CDs I like better. Boatman’s Call is more romantic or post-romantic if you whish. Again the moods are set and executed perfectly. My only gripes about the Boatman?s Call are the last few songs. The album disintegrates into drunken rambling. It sounds like the recording technician accidentally left the mike on after the last call and no one wanted to go home yet.

Here is the band’s web page. Also, I thought these reviews were quite good.