Album Of The Week - "THE MASK AND THE MIRROR" - LOREENA MCKENNITT

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Post by The Boss »

 



Not sure if this is going against the spirit of "Don't play the same genre as last week" - but if it is, I have a back-up.

EDIT: Write-up to follow . . .
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Post by The Boss »

There's a lot to be said against anything that even slightly resembles "new age" crap. It's hollow. That's a big one. It's style over substance. Ugh, tell me about it. It's boring. Sure.

I'm not sure this is actually "new age", and for several good reasons.



1. I don't think we should ever feel embarrassed about how music sounds. This album has so many elements of "world", etc etc ad nausuem, and for some reason, unless it fits a mold, we think it sounds weird; uncomfortable. Why is that?

This is, for all intents and purposes, very sincere, very beautiful music. The first time I heard it, I felt very uncomfortable. It had bizarre lyrics and really weird, overly-confident vocals. I was put-off immediately. But why?

I don't listen to this kind of music. That's why. And you probably don't, either.

Does that mean it's good? Musically, artistically - I'd say, "Yeah". In a second.

2. This chick means business. She's gone through some SERIOUS heartache (look her up yourself; I'm not your fucking Google) and has always come back to writing some amazing music.

3. What is "new age"? DEEP FOREST? DEAD CAN DANCE? Ooooh, now I've struck a chord. Are DEAD CAN DANCE "new age" music? Either which way, this genre that we thought should not be given a sideways glance is now something real. I dig it.

And I really, really dig DEAD CAN DANCE.

All I can say is, "Enjoy". This is beautiful, cool, music, with no wank - no pretension. It's not the upper echelon of the creative spirit, but I really think it's cool as hell.

As TOOL fans, we are all blessed with an "open mind" (whatever that means). See what happens.

Big fan of this idea of "AOTW", and, just quietly, it was a toss up between this and BURIAL - "UNTRUE".
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Post by The Boss »

Also, if the first track doesn't make you realise how small and petty the world is, to the point where you should pack your things and GO, then I don't know what will.

I'm out. I'm looking forward to discussing this album and everything related to it in a big way. I really hope you all dig.
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Post by MOG »

Real good shit.  Chick has a beautiful voice.  Reminds me a bit of Enya except it's not lame.
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Post by The Boss »

Mogshuggah said
Real good shit.  Chick has a beautiful voice.  Reminds me a bit of Enya except it's not lame.


Not sure how to take that; but right on, brother.


I don't mind ENYA, too, if I'm honest.
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Post by Ravenpig »

Damn, first album of the week Rhapsody doesn't have.  However, I have some free time right now, enough that I don't have to leave the computer for a while.

 

So I guess no time is better than the present. 
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Post by MOG »

The Boss said

Mogshuggah said
Real good shit.  Chick has a beautiful voice.  Reminds me a bit of Enya except it's not lame.


Not sure how to take that; but right on, brother.

I don't mind ENYA, too, if I'm honest.


Can't stand ENYA personally.  Just found a bit of similarity in the way their voices sound, but this Loreena chick is WAY better and the music itself is WAY better.

 
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Post by The Boss »

Mogshuggah said

The Boss said


Mogshuggah said
Real good shit.  Chick has a beautiful voice.  Reminds me a bit of Enya except it's not lame.


Not sure how to take that; but right on, brother.

I don't mind ENYA, too, if I'm honest.


Can't stand ENYA personally.  Just found a bit of similarity in the way their voices sound, but this Loreena chick is WAY better and the music itself is WAY better.

 


I've always been a sucker for anything that sounds even closely like an authentic ethnic instrument, so I'm all over shit like this.

Probably explains why I love SECRET CHIEFS 3 so hard as well. They're pretty much the greatest thing to happen to music since we decided that music doesn't necessarily need singing.

 
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Post by Kittaan »

Cool.  Heard of her, but haven't yet heard her music.  Will definitely dig in later when I have a chance and share my thoughts.  Thanks.
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Post by Ravenpig »

Well that was, emotional?  Sad?  Deep?  Good stuff.  I like how she uses different styles in the music (one song seemed to have a Mexican flavor to it, another an Irish, etc).  This album is worth a listen based on the music alone.

 

She has an excellent voice but my one problem is that she was very "samey" sounding in every song.  Not really a big deal.  As Mog said, she does sound like a much better version of Enya. 

 

This is a good album.  Nice pick, Crow.  Just like my pick last week I hope people don't skip it just because it's a woman they normally wouldn't care about.

 

7/10
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Post by The Boss »

Kittaan said
Cool.  Heard of her, but haven't yet heard her music.  Will definitely dig in later when I have a chance and share my thoughts.  Thanks.


Thanks, brother. I appreciate it.

 
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Post by The Boss »

Ravenpig said
Well that was, emotional?  Sad?  Deep?  Good stuff.  I like how she uses different styles in the music (one song seemed to have a Mexican flavor to it, another an Irish, etc).  This album is worth a listen based on the music alone.

 

She has an excellent voice but my one problem is that she was very "samey" sounding in every song.  Not really a big deal.  As Mog said, she does sound like a much better version of Enya. 

 

This is a good album.  Nice pick, Crow.  Just like my pick last week I hope people don't skip it just because it's a woman they normally wouldn't care about.

 

7/10


Big thanks, dude. Yeah, a bit samey. I think she relies on her abilities a little too much.

I mean, it's not an infallible album (like "LATERALUS" *COUGH*). But I think it's beautiful, and worthy to be shared with you people.

 
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Post by snazzlefrass »

Interesting. Fuck I'm glad I chose not to partake in this album of the week shit. Y'all have more musical knowledge than I care to apprehend.

That said I do enjoy listening to a fresh album every week.

 
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Post by The Boss »

snazzlefrack said
Interesting. Fuck I'm glad I chose not to partake in this album of the week shit. Y'all have more musical knowledge than I care to apprehend.

That said I do enjoy listening to a fresh album every week.

 


I think that's a little unfair. My, personal, point was to offer something that I thought our friends hadn't heard before - but still might dig.

What makes you think you can't do the same? For example, Tyson owned my shit. I now want to hear everything that his, specific, offering was all about.

Wasn't that the point? Fly your freak flag, or whatever? Get your friends into music that they MIGHT like?

Let's face it: we all dig TOOL in a big way, but we still have unique taste. So let's share it.

 
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Post by snazzlefrass »

The Boss said

snazzlefrack said
Interesting. Fuck I'm glad I chose not to partake in this album of the week shit. Y'all have more musical knowledge than I care to apprehend.

That said I do enjoy listening to a fresh album every week.

 


I think that's a little unfair. My, personal, point was to offer something that I thought our friends hadn't heard before - but still might dig.

What makes you think you can't do the same? For example, Tyson owned my shit. I now want to hear everything that his, specific, offering was all about.

Wasn't that the point? Fly your freak flag, or whatever? Get your friends into music that they MIGHT like?

Let's face it: we all dig TOOL in a big way, but we still have unique taste. So let's share it.

 


I agree. My point is that my musical library consists of artists y'all have already heard. I'm pretty lame (lazy) in the music category, and am happy with listening to the same artists over and over.

So if I come in with an album of the week being Lateralus or Around the Fur, what's the point in that?

Moving on, I just wanted to applaud your pick and thank you for sharing it with us.

 
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Post by UndKeineZwEier »


snazzlefrack said


The Boss said


snazzlefrack said
Interesting. Fuck I'm glad I chose not to partake in this album of the week shit. Y'all have more musical knowledge than I care to apprehend.

That said I do enjoy listening to a fresh album every week.

 


I think that's a little unfair. My, personal, point was to offer something that I thought our friends hadn't heard before - but still might dig.

What makes you think you can't do the same? For example, Tyson owned my shit. I now want to hear everything that his, specific, offering was all about.

Wasn't that the point? Fly your freak flag, or whatever? Get your friends into music that they MIGHT like?

Let's face it: we all dig TOOL in a big way, but we still have unique taste. So let's share it.

 


I agree. My point is that my musical library consists of artists y'all have already heard. I'm pretty lame (lazy) in the music category, and am happy with listening to the same artists over and over.

So if I come in with an album of the week being Lateralus or Around the Fur, what's the point in that?

Moving on, I just wanted to applaud your pick and thank you for sharing it with us.

 


There could be some interesting conversation about that. 

 

Look at that Yes thread, it was a group that most people here were familiar with and the conversation ended up being a bit more in-depth than for the other albums.

 

Anyways I checked out a bit of this album earlier and it sounded alright.  I still have to check out that Fiona Apple album, but after that I'll be looking into this.

 

Edit:  I think I know what my next AOTW choice will be.  And no it's not Deftones or Tool.
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Post by UndKeineZwEier »

Ravenpig said
Damn, first album of the week Rhapsody doesn't have.  However, I have some free time right now, enough that I don't have to leave the computer for a while.

 

So I guess no time is better than the present. 


Rhapsody had MTvoid?

 
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Post by markuspoop »

Definitely give this a 7 or 8/10. 

Great voice on Ms. McKennitt there.

Parts of that album kinda reminded me of the ends of Braveheart/Gladiator/Fifth Element in terms of this almost tragic beauty kinda theme.

Like Piggy noted, definitely seemed to be some Mexican/Hispanic flavor mixed in with one song and some Irish/Celtic-ness with another.  In all honesty, the Mexican/Hispanic-themed song was probably my least favorite and the Irish-sounding song was definitely my fav.

 

Oh, and Snazz, get in on this shit.  You could play Around The Fur every time it's your turn and that'd be fine by me.
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Post by Ravenpig »

@Und...

No I stand corrected... Mtvoid is/was not on rhapsody

Not yet, anyway.
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Post by The Boss »

I've got to be honest: I honestly thought that this album would be ripped to shit. I guess I'm not a teenager anymore, though, so people have become a lot more curious and, by the same token, accepting of different music in their old(er) age.

Really curious to hear what The Almighty Hell-spent Youth has to say about it, coming from a grindcore perspective. I mean, I'm assuming, much like all of us, he is able to branch-out and appreciate all music. TODAY IS THE DAY is one of the greatest bands of all time, to me, for example.

Just curious, anyway.
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Post by Ravenpig »

I sorta thought mine would be too bit it didn't happen...but I suspect it was ignored by a healthy amount of people just because it was who she is/was

Oh well.
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Post by The Boss »

Ravenpig said
I sorta thought mine would be too bit it didn't happen...but I suspect it was ignored by a healthy amount of people just because it was who she is/was

Oh well.


Nah, dude. These are good people, for the most part.

I'll be honest: I didn't listen to it. Only because I've heard it several times before.

I dug the fact that you shared something that you really love, that might be running "against the grain" with regard to the genre of TOOL. To be honest, I wanted to whip out KRISTIN HERSH, but you well fucked that shit up; so the best I could do was this.

As an aside:

I haven't caught you mentioning the results of your semi-thesis (fuck you - thirty pages is a small thesis); so when you can, let me know, if that's OK.

Wouldn't mind if I could read it too, if that's not too bold. Totally OK if you say "no". I won't let anyone read my thesis now, for example. My girlfriend asked, but I think I just kind of failed to send it to her, and she lost interest. WIN.
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Post by Ravenpig »

Eh one , shall we say, prolific poster straight up told me he more than likely wasn't going to listen to it. Not a big deal except for...

This is someone who I always thought would give an album an honest chance. But as far as I know he didn't.

You want to read my paper? I don't even want to read my paper. I'll think about it, fair enough? I'm pretty insecure about it, to be honest.
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Post by The Boss »

Ravenpig said
Eh one , shall we say, prolific poster straight up told me he more than likely wasn't going to listen to it. Not a big deal except for...

This is someone who I always thought would give an album an honest chance. But as far as I know he didn't.

You want to read my paper? I don't even want to read my paper. I'll think about it, fair enough? I'm pretty insecure about it, to be honest.


Are-are we talking about me? Did I fuck up?

I'm not joking, man, half the time on a weekend here I'm drunk as shit. Like, right now. Sorry I didn't listen to it. I'd be lying if I said I was going to listen to it now, to make you feel better. (Trying to listen to KMFDM when they didn't suck lengthy cock).

Be insecure. That means you're not a cocky bastard who thinks he knows everything. I had a bit to do with academia during my honours thesis, and honestly: academics LOVE people blowing them. Say something that might offend them = you're fucked.

I've never hit Masters or PhD in sociology, for a bunch of reasons. A big one is that academics in that field are usually weak.

Be afraid. I'm writing an argument against the war on drugs, and another one on how humans have been slowly killing all species since the Neolithic revolution. I'm not dogmatic, and I love every time my own opinions are solidly proved wrong. I don't hold a university position; nor do you. We should feel grateful about being embarrassed, and protective of our work. It means that what we put down made sense to us at some point.

I think we'll swap work eventually, dude. I dig you, and I honestly think we could be helpful to each other. We should set up a thing where we both proofread each other's work, and then do oral.
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Post by hellboy »

I'm going to assume we're talking about me. I had every intention of listening to the album despite my general dislike for Fiona Apple, and just didn't get a chance.  To be honjest I've found it hard to find time to really listen to that last couple of albums.  Maybe I'll get a chance to in the next few weeks.
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