Emilie Autumn’s “Liar/Dead Is The New Alive EP”

This was the last CD I purchased from Emilie Autumn as the two songs were not the most special ones from the album Opheliac. Due to the extra tracks, though, I gave it a go, expecting the same quality that came with the second disc of Opheliac.  Remixes are never great at the best of times but these remixes are really rather good, especially the Manic Depressive Remix of ‘Liar’, which is possibly better than the original.  It is, however, still just an EP full of remixes, and unless that is your kind of thing, it is doubtful that you’ll appreciate this.

Emilie Autumn’s “Opheliac”

I found Emilie Autumn through Last.fm and the first album I bought was her classical/electronic violin album Laced~Unlaced. After listening to her original compositions, and her own renditions of classics such as ‘Largo’ it was obvious she was a very well accomplished classical musician. So what did I expect of Opheliac? Not this, that’s for sure!

It turns out that this album is pretty dark, and has elements of… well, I don’t know what of.  All I know that this album is one hell of a ride. Gone are her violin instrumentals, in with her vocals which range from beautiful, to bizarre, to down right terrible. Terrible in a good way. It appears that she doesn’t care much if she sounds good or not, rather, she just wants to get her point across. I should try to describe the sound to you. There is classical violin, acoustic violin, and electric violin, mixed in with heavy beats and electronic mixing. Any authentic sound is probably some form of a string instrument. She hasn’t the best singing voice in the world, but it’s hardly the point here, she can still sing okay, and she mostly sings straight, but she has some unique vocal techniques and interpretations too. It’s a dark but catchy album.

Jean Rhys “Wide Sargasso Sea”

Jane Eyre is probably one of my favourite novels of all time, and when a family member lent me this prequel, I was quick to devour it.

My expectations were not high, however. I was excited about the Jane Eyre BBC adaptation, and when it turned out to be outstanding and very loyal to its source material, I was keen to watch the prequel that they advertised afterwards. I was not as impressed. I found it dull and could not really connect with Bertha.

As it turns out, after reading this novella, the BBC adaptation was as loyal as the Jane Eyre’adaptation. It was sexy, colourful, brooding, exotic and menacing, and whilst I did not appreciate this at the time, I do after reading this. Unfortunately, this loyalty means the shortcomings of the TV adaptation are also true of this novella. It is quite difficult to feel for the heroine, like we are clearly supposed to, and the author opts to make Rochester (who, interestingly, is never named) out to be a villain, and her madness is entirely his fault.

Emilie Autumn’s “Enchant”

When you come across Emilie Autumn fans, you may well find that many are divided. Many love THIS Emilie, the Emilie that they call the “Enchant Era” whilst others enjoy the “Victorindustrual” era. Bear in mind though, that there are not many people that enjoy the latter era and dislike Enchant; it’s a completely different type of music, but Emilie back then was still unique and this album provides us with music which is radically different to what she does now, but it’s also different compared to anything other artist due to the albums eclectic material.

Nicola’s Top Ten Writers “Hall of Fame”

I am an English Literature Graduate, I work in a library, and I am always reading a book.  There would obviously come a time when I realised that I loved some writers more than others.  Not that my opinion counts for anything, but I am going to throw it out there anyway.  Perhaps someone agrees with me, perhaps my opinion will englighten someone.  You never know, it might happen.  So here are my top ten writers, counting down from number 10.

10. Sarah Waters
Sarah Waters. Let’s see.  Ah, yes.  She is British.  Wilkie Collins is her favourite writer.  She is a feminist.  She sets her novels in the Victorian era.  I think she’s also a lesbian, but that’s neither here or there.  What’s not to like?  Waters tends to write Historical novels set in the Victorian era (notably a time of extreme sexual oppression) with a feminist slant but without sounding preachy.  She creates genuine atmosphere and really knows how to build suspense.  Her work is well researched, and she writes convincingly within the context’s style whilst not alienating her audience.  Her most well known novels are Fingersmith (2002) and Tipping the Velvet (1998), but my personal favourite is Affinity (1999).

Angelzoom’s Debut Self Titled Album

German vocalist Claudia Uhle is the solely responsible for Angelzoom; an ethereal, airy sound that narrowly avoids classification.

Angelzoom runs with the dark wave crowd such as The Dresdon Dolls, L’Áme Immortelle and The Birthday Massacre, but this is kind of misleading. As much as some may put her next to dark wave artists, I would sooner slot her in with Enya. Her sound is electronic with dark synths in same manner as The Birthday Massacre, but any rock or punk is absent, very vaguely rearing its head in the “heaviest” tracks of the album ‘Turn the Sky’ and ‘Fairyland’ (though heavy is really the wrong word). Bar those two songs, the rest of the album quietly goes into Enya territory with pretty little instrumentals and twinkly songs.

Emilie Autumn’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun & Bohemian Rhapsody EP”

Still riding on her success of Opheliac and its style, Emilie Autumn has now released an EP with two covers of the most distinctive songs ever recorded: Cyndi Lauper‘s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and Queen‘s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

Two very difficult songs to make your own and two very difficult songs to sell different versions of as the originals are so culturally and historically well-known. Autumn’s attempt does not work with both songs.

This EP contains nine tracks. There are five versions of ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, one of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, two live tracks from her recent tour and an extra exclusive recording. Veteran Autumn fans will recognise the format easily enough, but for new fans this EP may be a bit baffling.

Emilie Autumn’s “Laced~Unlaced”

Considering the fact that many casual listeners, and even fans, of Emilie Autumn often criticise her vocals as somewhat off putting and can come across a bit trite, the Laced/Unlaced (2007) double disc album must be a dream come true.  This album is completely devoid of vocals, and focuses only on Autumn’s superior skills on the violin and her production wizardry.

Prolific and generous as always with her material, there are twenty-two tracks on this album. They come in two discs. The first disc is simply a re-release of the extremely rare first album of her On A Day… only, it has five unnamed live bonus tracks (though I name them below). This first disc is purely classical, based around her violin, most of which are compositions by well known composers such as Bach. Five of the tracks are her own compositions which sound very much like they go hand in hand with the other timeless classics on the album. These tracks were recorded when she was merely seventeen years old and showcases what a young talent she was.  Autumn throws her own arrangement and interpretation into the pieces. Whilst she plays the baroque violin with charm and style, she is backed up with her distinctive other sounds of the lute, harpsichord and the baroque cello – just to make sure you get the full Emilie Autumn experience. She is distinctive, even with pieces that have been played by so many others.

Beginners Comprehensive Guide to Sarah Brightman’s Discography

I know how it feels.  To find a brand new artist, to be excited, then to slam the keys of their name into Amazon only to find an overwhelming 20 pages of results.  Where to start?  As I pretty much have the whole catalogue (excluding several singles and her vinyl years) I thought I would share my extensive knowledge of Brightman’s discography.

This guide is divided into sections from what I deem the most important, to the least important:

• 1. Nemo Studio Albums (the essential releases)
• 2. Andrew Lloyd Webber Collaboration Albums
• 3. Pre-Nemo Albums
• 4. Best of/Compilation Albums
• 5. Live/Miscellaneous
• 6. Tour Albums
• 7. Musicals
• 8. Notable Editions
• 9. The Gregorian Project
• 10. Other Albums Sarah Notably Features On
• 11. DVDs/VHS
• 12. The End

Sarah Brightman’s “Symphony”

This is a good solid album which probably delivers what die-hard Sarah Brightman fans have been yearning for over the past five years since her last studio release of Harem.  Harem was quite a departure from the crossover realm that Brightman created with Eden and La Luna, and for those hoping that she has further branched out with this album in the same way will be disappointed, as this album is of the same skeleton of those two albums. For critics of Harem and for safe listeners that wish for Brightman to never change, this album will be their delight. Harem‘s package promised a Eastern influenced sound, which it definitely delivered.

The album cover, and the promo that led to this release led us to believe that this album was going to be heavily symphonic metal influenced. I understood she couldn’t go down the Within Temptation route, as it would have alienated a lot of her fans, but only two songs (or maybe three, if you include the intro ‘Gothica’) has any real gothic influence which does not justify the misleading marketing.