I’m in the depths of the final preparations for my album release (October 31st!), but I thought I would throw up a short clip from one of the new songs on the album.  This is music inspired by a beautiful poem written by a friend of mine (which will be included in the cd insert actually).  This piece has actually changed a lot over the course of its short life.  It began as a pure piano piece and has since morphed into the much dreamier, more ambient piece I’ve posted here.  Hope you like it!

As always, you can hear more of my music (including other samples from the album) on my music page.

- Mons

Wow, It’s been over a month since I’ve updated the site!  If you’re reading this, then thank you for checking back every once in a while, despite my unforgivable inattention.  Well, hopefully a little forgivable actually, since the reason I have neglected to update the site is that I’ve been extremely busy working on my debut album!  The production/mastering process continues, but if all goes well it will all be finished for the end of the month, and I hope to have the music available for digital distribution several weeks after that (assuming it takes several weeks to get it added to iTunes/Amazon etc.)

Anyways, to give you an idea of what I’ve been working on, I’ve included the (beta) album version of Dandelion at the top of the post.  It represents what I’m doing with the album, which will be a mix of re-recorded/re-mastered existing material that you may have listened to before, and some new material that you have not.  The original version of Dandelion was only about 2 minutes long, and an incomplete vision of the song.  A sketch if you will, as are many of the bits and pieces I post online.  The album versions are the complete vision, and so Dandelion is re-imagined in its full 6-minute length with a lot of new material and revision of the old material.

Other songs which will appear on the album are redone versions of Angelus, Dancing in the Light, Silhouettes, Winter Melancholy, Simple Needs and a few others, with a bunch of new material to boot (which I may preview when the madness is done in early November).  Anyways, hope you like the new material that I have included here, and I’ll keep you posted on the album’s progress!  Twitter (@monstunes) is probably the best way of keeping track of updates and so forth regarding the album.

As always, you can hear more of my musical work on the My Music page.

Wish me luck!

- Mons

Amethystium – Treasure (buy the album, “Isabliss”)

Amethystium is the solo project of Norwegian composer Øystein Ramfjord.  Besides having the most Norwegian name in all of Norway, he writes gorgeous atmospheric chilled-out/ambient electronica/worldbeat music ala Enigma, Delerium and Deep Forest.  He’s usually labeled as “New Age”, but I really have no idea what that even means (does anyone?), so I’ll avoid it.  Anyways, He’s released 4 albums so far, all of which, I was surprised to discover, have apparently debuted fairly high on the US billboard charts!  Primarily instrumental, his music is more about moods and describing environments through sound than about telling a story.  Some songs are expansively beautiful, others more claustrophobic and eerie.  It’s great music for studying, working or traveling.  You won’t be rocking out to this at the club, or playing it on the next release of Rock Band, but when you just want to relax, focus or unwind, this is great stuff.

The slightly eerie cover of the latest Amethystium album, 2008's "Isabliss".

Treasure is from the most recent (2008) Amethystium album – “Isabliss”.  The Garden of Sakuntala had long been my favourite, go-to Amethystium song, but this immediately changed after listening to the first minute of Treasure.  The beginning starts out normally enough for an Amethystium song, with a catchy beat underneath a floating/bubbling synth groove.  However, things get really special at 0:40 when, lo and behold, a gorgeous female vocalist joins in with a delicately realized vocal melody and actual lyrics!  The vocal harmony at 2:10 is one of my favourite Amethystium Moments ™, though my favourite part of the song comes at 4:20 when the violin (?) takes over the lead melody.  It’s such a soulful song, and a good representation of the sheer beauty of Amethystium’s music.  Mr. Ramfjord has tapped into some special and arcane wellspring of inspiration, and we are fortunate to share in his discovery!

(Amethystium doesn’t have any official videos, so here’s Anthemoessa from “Isabliss” along with some unrelated artwork FROM SPACE.)

Garden of Sakuntala, from 2003′s “Aphelion”, was my favourite Amethystium track for many years, and probably got more play time than most of the rest of my music collection.  It’s just the perfect mix of melody, soothing ambiance and driving beat, tinged with an exotic bite which keeps it from fading completely into the background.  This song reminds me of math problems, my city at night, French train cars and dragonflies (because there is one on the cover of the album).  Apparently the first three albums (“Aphelion” is #2, between “Odonata” and “Evermind”) are the “Dragonfly Trilogy” though I’ll be damned if I can figure out what dragonflies have to do with anything other than the cover art.  Fantastic song!

The last song I’ll post is Withdrawal, a rather different song from the others above.  It’s much more chilly, without the upbeat synths and drum loops.  It starts off with a trembling note, shimmering and shivering in anticipation, like a cry in the night, foretelling what is to come.  The piano melody which follows is decidedly mournful, and it becomes even more oso when, at 1:45, the erhu joins in.  YES, AN ERHU!  This single ~40 second clip of music, along with similar stuff like the violin in the MSMOTD has influenced my own music more than I can know.  You can hear its influence whenever I write a mournful strings melody like the one in Silhouettes.  This song is also one of the pieces which drive my desire to learn to play the erhu (a 2-stringed chinese violin), so that I may include its mournful, soulful voice in my own songs.

Amethystium’s albums are quite special in that there are no weak tracks.  I’ve highlighted a few here, but if you like what you hear, then you’ll love everything on the rest of the albums.  I hope you search out the rest of his fantastic music, as its given me a lot of enjoyment over the years.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

- Mons

More music from Amethystium

Amethystium – Garden Of Sakuntala (buy the album, “Aphelion”)

Amethystium – Withdrawal (buy the album, “Aphelion”)

Further info about today’s MSMOTD

Official Website: http://www.amethystium.com/

Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/amethystium (more songs to check out here!)

Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amethystium

Featured Review: Review of “Isabliss” on Buzinky Blog

Support Amethystium (and me!) by clicking these links and buying their music on Amazon.com.  Besides “Aphelion” and “Isabliss”, you can also buy “Odonata” and “Evermind”, both excellent. Unfortunately, individual mp3 tracks are not available for Amethystium on Amazon.

Loreena McKennitt – Dante’s Prayer

Ok, this MSMOTD is something special.  Loreena McKennitt has probably had the most significant musical influence on my life of any artist.  It’s doubly special because she’s actually from my area.. One of the few Winnipeg artists who’ve made it internationally (A few others being Chantal Kreviazuk, The Crash Test Dummies, Neil Young and The Guess Who).  She’s actually from a small town outside of Winnipeg, but close enough.  Loreena McKennitt is world-renowned for her lush fusion of celtic/folk and world music.  She accompanies her beautiful voice with piano, harp, accordion and good sized band full of world-class musicians playing esoteric instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, bowed psaltery, hammered dulcimer and tamboura.  The result is the most beautiful music I know coupled with thoughtful, literate lyrics and poetry.

Loreena McKennitt's 1997 album "The Book of Secrets". In my mind, one of the most perfect albums ever recorded.

Dante’s Prayer is right up there with REM’s Nightswimming as a song which moves me like no other.  Though I love music with my whole being, few songs bring me to tears.  Both Dante’s Prayer and Full Circle (see below) do this every time.  Loreena takes inspiration for her music from her travels across the world, incorporating ethnic influences from around the globe  (though showing an affinity especially for traditional European and Arabic music).  She also often will use great literary works and poetry for lyrical inspiration.  Dante’s Prayer was inspired by the Divine Comedy and her travels on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

There are many emotional currents running through this song.  It’s a dark song – the pleading words of a soul drowning in sorrow.  But at the same time it’s hopeful and intimate, like a comforting cloak that settles around your shoulders as the melody lulls you into a sense of peace.  I don’t usually pay attention to lyrics in music, but Loreena’s music is an exception.  Her lyrics are always beautiful and poetic, especially as they are sung by her gorgeous, emotional voice.

Though we share this humble path, alone  /  How fragile is the heart  /  Oh give these clay feet wings to fly  /  To touch the face of the stars.

Breathe life into this feeble heart  /  Lift this mortal veil of fear  /  Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears  /  We’ll rise above these earthly cares.

These words lead into the heart-wrenchingly sorrowful refrain – “Please remember me…” – repeated as the song lifts the listener up from the depths of the melody into the last ethereal, heavenly, mournful choral dirge.  My own song, Angelus, is inspired by, but cannot approach, the brilliance of this masterwork.

(A bit from a documentary about her travels and performance at the mysterious and beautiful Alhambra in Grenada, Spain.  I love her voice)

I wish I could include SO MUCH of her music here, but if you like what I’ve posted, you’ll just have to go and explore her other music yourself.  She has never recorded a bad song.  Each and every one of her 6 studio albums is fantastic from beginning to end.  The Mummer’s Dance, from 1997′s “The Book of Secrets” (same album as Dante’s Prayer) was probably her closest brush with mainstream success.  It actually did well on various charts including #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #17 on Billboard Modern Rock.  So well, in fact, that it spawned a slightly bizarre dance remix that was probably most people’s first exposure to Loreena’s music.  Ah well.  You can go check out the video on Youtube.  Anyways, it’s a great song (the version I’ve included below) and is a good example of her slightly more upbeat story-telling songs.  That’s one reason I love her music… She tells wonderful stories.  Sad stories (The Bonny Swans), exciting stories (The Highwayman) and various others.

The third song I’ve included is one that I consider just as beautiful as Dante’s Prayer, though in a different way.  Full Circle is from her 1994 album “The Mask and the Mirror” (another of my all-time favourite albums), and it has one of the most emotional and beautiful instrumental performances I’ve heard.  Reviews of the album never single this song out, but that’s because they don’t know wtf.  The haunting, yearning, sublime sound of an esraj fills this song with a sense of wonder and sends shivers down my spine every time. Her liner notes put the tender, wistful lyrics into perspective:

March 23, 1993 – Morocco … Ramadan; I wake up early to catch my flight home, and at 5:30 a.m. hear men chanting in the mosque, one of the most moving and primitive sounds I have ever heard. They are calling their God. I think, when have I heard this before?

November 21, 1988 – St.-Benoit-du-Lac, Québec … have just arrived at this Benedictine monastery in the Eastern Township of Québec. It was the first snowfall today, and the brothers were out walking along the long lane as I approached … hooded figures slowly making their way to Mass as the snow fell like blessings. I followed the sound of the bells to vespers.

I have been listening to Loreena McKennitt for as long as I have memory, and it is she who has, in a large part, inspired both my music and my travels.  I hope that you find her work as inspirational and pleasurable as I do.  Leave a message in the comments to let me know what you think!

- Mons

More music from Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennitt – The Mummer’s Dance

Loreena McKennitt – Full Circle

Further info about today’s MSMOTD

Official Website: http://www.quinlanroad.com/

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loreena_McKennitt

Featured Review: Dave Franklin’s review of “The Book of Secrets” for Helium.

Support the artist (and me!) by purchasing The Book of Secrets or The Mask and Mirror on Amazon.com.  These are two of my most treasured albums.  You’ll love them.  Unfortunately, only her most recent album, An Ancient Muse, is available as an mp3 download, so look for the individual tracks embedded above on iTunes perhaps.