Way back in the early days of this TBH blog, reference was made to contemporary singer/songwriter Tori Amos, and Your Narrator felt that it was High Time to revisit the topic of musical influences on Trudy's Bitchin' Hats. Ms. Amos came into The Band's life during a dark and somewhat melodramatic period which required a certain healing musical vibe. Certain frequencies of this vibe were provided by Tori's music and lyrics. Her incredible debut, Little Earthquakes, remains one of those albums that TBH can still listen to and hear new things; I swear, we listened to "Silent All These Years" almost every day for nearly a year before we understood the meaning of the lyrics, "but what if I'm a mermaid / in these jeans of his / with her name still on it." Wow.

Along these lines, check out these folks, which TBH sometimes irreverently refers to as "The Pain Chicks":

• Mystical, lyrical, Celtic -- however you describe it, Loreena McKennit (her site, Warner Bros site) writes some beautiful music.
  
• More beauty from Sarah McLachlan.
  
• The incredible Shawn Colvin
  
• They started as October Project, but now they're November Project -- full-blown orchestral waves of sound, very melodic if somewhat overproduced. Lovely if you're in the right mood.

Other Great Artists with Great Sites

• You've recognized the musical stylings of the Dynamic Duo of the Hollywood upscale Lounge Lizard scene for decades -- now you can join Donald Fagen and Walter Becker at their expectedly irreverant and surprisingly self-deprecating Steely Dan site -- good stuff!
  
  
• All you need to know about the Dave Matthews Band at The Warehouse.
  
  
• Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould keeps you in the loop on his comings and goings, plus gives you the straight stuff on the demise of his band Sugar, and why he has chosen "to move toward something that doesn't disrupt my attempt at having a life, separate from my career, for chunks of 4 months of time." A true artist and a truly comprehensive site.
  
  
• If the music and words of former Throwing Muse and, later, Belly sister Kristin Hersh do not make you laugh, cry and want to scream -- then TBH is afraid there's something terribly wrong with your emotional motherboard. (And if that sentence structure gave you a headache, I understand why, and offer my apologies. Thanks for sticking with us.) She Who Brought Us Hips and Makers rocks on. :)
  
  
• From an old Addicted to Noise article:
  
  Former lead Muse Kristen Hersch remembers it well. "I remember walking up to the bar at the Rat," says Hersch, referring to Boston's legendary Kenmore Square club. "And a friend of mine was just staring at the stage, waiting for the opening band. And that was strange, because there was always a ton of opening bands there. But he told me this one was good -- that they were called the Pixies. And I thought that was a really goofy name for a band. But then all of a sudden, I was blown away," she said. "They all wore eyeliner, and Charles [Thompson] was soft, with a shaved head and a creamsickle-colored shirt. Actually... I actually thought they were all a bunch of lesbians."
  
  (Kristen, we love you.) And they took the stage and may very well have played this tune:
  
  "I was talking to peachy-peach about kissy-kiss..."
  Yes, they called themselves The Pixies and they were arguably one of The Best Bands Ever. Next to TBH, of course.
  
  But, life so goes on. Today, if you look you will find Black Francis [b. 1965, Charles Michael Kitteridge Thompson], formerly Pixies frontman, reincarnated as Frank Black and the Catholics.
  
  
• This Family Tree would be completely incomplete without more than a mention of The Breeders ("I'll be the bong in your reggae song"), where you find Kristen's Muse sister, Tanya Donelly in unholy cahoots with Pixie Kim Deal, later joined by twin sister Kelley Deal (who in true Muses fashion has emerged from what she calls her "12-step thingy" at Minnesota's Hazelden Foundation like a Phoenix from the ashes, and now keeps busy with her own band, The Kelley Deal 6000, or TKD6K, for short). You see, back in the day (1990), Tanya, Kim and Kelley formed The Breeders as -- get this -- "a little side project." (We're talking creativity to fucking burn with these grrrlz. Boy bands eat your hearts out.) Kim, along with Breeders bassist Jim Macpherson, now fronts a group called The Amps, play/sing/ing under the stage name of Tammy Ampersand (!). Cute. And they're based in Dayton, Ohio. Oh my. (Yes, Virginia, wonders will never cease.)
  
  
• Further proof that Life Goes On is offered by former Camper van Beethoven helmsman, David Lowery, himself reconstituted with additives as Cracker -- nice site and well worth visiting.
  
  
• Another great and personal site belongs to Jane Siberry. After hearing Jane, if you don't completely adore her work, get thee soon some serious professional help.

Lest We Forget the Labels

When you need a source for the music mentioned above, plus tons of other great shit, here are two damned good starts:

• 4AD Records
  
• SST Records

Enjoy!


  posted by Rune @ 7:09:00 AM