Here's something very different for you guys. I saw Golden Fable opening for Charlotte Church last year, but lazily slept on their album Star Map despite buying it on the night. The last few weeks have seen that remedied.
Now don't go expecting bombastic vocals, or anything that is going to immediately knock you off of your feet. The female half of the group, Rebecca Palin, does indeed have a beautiful voice, but it's a soprano that is soft and feminine, not aggressive or showy- listen to Sugarloaf, Always Golden and The Chill Pt.1 to get an immediate taster. The music is also different to the pop/Rnb I regularly scribe about, being folksy and sweet with an almost choral quality to the vocals.
Star Map is an album I've nonetheless quickly fallen in love with, being a consistent companion whenever I read on in the Abarat series. In fact, it's kinda become the official music of the magical land, scoring it perfectly. Even without that connection, though, considering how enraptured I was watching the duo perform, I'm sure I would have fallen for the album all the same.
Perhaps some of you guys will enjoy it too. Even if not, I had to make a post on them. Will definitely be following Golden Fable more closely from now on.
Oh, and one of personal favorites on the album is the meandering closer, Restless Souls- though it features a male vocal (which isn't a bad thing!) on lead. It's simply sublime.
Thoughts?
The description sounded like it would be right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteI was .....disappointed. No "impact" whatsoever.
Weak and unoriginal (checked out their live performances on youtube. Very poor cover of Manic Street Preachers' Motorcycle emptiness and some of their own songs) and nothing there to capture my heart. :-(
Sounds to me very much like small time amateurs who should remain small time amateurs.
[Off topic] Your floating Like, Tweet, Share thing makes it harder to read the blog. :(
ReplyDelete[On topic] Meh..
i Cant be bothered with moving it, just deleted it for now.... Will sort out soon
ReplyDeletehttps://24.media.tumblr.com/59e0f1c0e721ddcbba35d3337ae55f7a/tumblr_n3akgpS4Eq1rr37qoo2_r1_500.gif LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL
ReplyDeletehttp://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r349/reddragon2_photos/anouk_zpse0b3edb9.gif
Are they Still in the way?
ReplyDeleteIn unrelated news, Janelle Monae covered David Bowie's "Heroes".
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about it.
I like Janelle's records, though I wouldn't call myself a fan,
and "Heroes" is one of my favorite Bowie tracks.
Based off the iTunes preview, it sounds fine, but didn't leave me with the desire to listen to the rest in full.
Just youtubed it, the like to dislike ratio ain't too hot. After this I'm gonna listen to the original version.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely curious as to that cover. I love that song..and the way Bowie delivers it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgcc5V9Hu3g
ReplyDeleteThe best sounding one on youtube that I could find. The rest are low bitrate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJETfO-etIk
ReplyDeleteAlready I prefer this one... His voice is much richer than Janelle's... Janelle generally does nice covers but that cover...her voice lacks the richness for it. And also, thank both you and Seren for introducing me to this!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I agree with your assessment. I also feel the cold computer generated beat and need of artificial echo are counter the sentiment of the songs emotions.
ReplyDeleteThough at least Janelle's voice DOES carry the sentiment. All in all I think Janelle vocally gets it right, the producer/production doesn't.
But also not really a cover competing with the original.
But of course Bowie is such a unique and individual artist, it will always be quite a daunting task to equal his renditions.
Now that I think about it, most echos and reverbs can strip a voice of "texture" in an effort to smooth it out. Its very stark with Janelle Monae too. Live she has quite a smoky and "almost" rich voice and I beleive she'll be able to deliver it better then her studio rendition.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deeOF6Q4kzM
You can hear how voice has a slight rasp to it, here. And I'm impressed by her half voice singing. I think its called meza voce or something. I think meza voce is beautiful period. I remember you sent some links of Anouk and she was singing in half voice and it was sooooooooooooo gorgeous. And I really need to get more familiar with her songs... I got a friend at school hooked on her from this one song I really like from her.
And that is exactly why I don't like the use of those Black Robin. And why when someone tells me about a singer, first thing I will do is check out live videos.
ReplyDeleteI can hear Janelle is pretty good (and going by this video...a likeable person as well) but the voice somehow is lacking that something which will inspire me to actively seek out more of her work.
But like I said, production wise I didn't like it but I thought vocally she did a good job with "Heroes" so I am sure she'd do as well or even better in a setting like this video. :-)
I am not sure what you mean with "half voice"? Can you name a time mark in the video where she does what you mean?
Ummmm... Your description hyped me up so much yet... Soooo disappointed.
ReplyDeleteTo use Anouk as an example of mezza voce, in her song "Fallen Sun", the first chorus has her singing in a "half-voice" on the "iiiiiiii don't know much" parts.
ReplyDeleteMezza voce is singing singing at half-volume, but with full chord closure.
It's pretty common to hear singers sing in a quiet airy tone, but that's falsetto.
Here's Mariah employing the same technique, a bit more noticeable in usage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXWXk7fAr70 .
Oh my ears aren't that finely tuned LOL.
ReplyDeleteLol, they're better than mine.
ReplyDeleteAha! Got it now,I think. Anouk does that often.
ReplyDeleteI think in this song she does it too? In the first chorus already. 00.46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcTf4ECON0s
And in this one?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gSJNxifgdw
Well, whoever has the better ears I wouldn't know but thank you both for the explanation! :-)
ReplyDeleteNevertheless..thanks for the explanation. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
ReplyDeleteYepp! "I Don't Wanna Hurt No More" is also a good example.
ReplyDeleteAaah yes, of course! :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah. But I do like the new DD heading ^_^
ReplyDeleteOn the chorus when she starts singing "are we really living or just walking dead now". I think she scales up to D5 but I'm not as good as Seren when it comes to pitching by ear. Half voice itself is singing at "Piano" at a fairly high key, if I'm not mistaken. It has a distinctly light sound and is song at "half" the volume of a belt which is at "Forte" or larger.
ReplyDelete