What are you listening to ...right now?

[C C]

Singing with a "peculiar accent" has sometimes (or often?) been attributed to Natalie Merchant; and in a long lost '90s interview I recall Merchant remarking herself (in false modesty) that such was the source of her distinctiveness. 

Here, back in a 1988 review, the NYT writer speculated that her voice "seems to echo Scottish or Irish inflections - so that the melodies, the beat, Ms. Merchant's smoky voice and her actions carried the concert."

Supposing that, what would a 10,000 Maniacs song like "These Are Days" sound like via the British Isles descended accent of a New Zealander? (Would there even be much difference?)

That's really the only novelty here, apart from hearing a minimalist version of TAD.

Melic was originally a NZ band based in London, formed in 2002, that -- by the time of this video in 2014, had been pared down to a duo: Marcelo Penas and Christine Penas. (Youtube home)

Melic: cover of "These Are Days" (10,000 Maniacs) ... https://youtu.be/3lLaMvYDPq4

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3lLaMvYDPq4

[C C]

Bear in mind, if you listen to the two alternative rock songs at bottom, that the circa 23 or 24-year-old woman you hear singing grew up into a 50-year-old man with slightly(?) wide hips. From Nina to Nino Ramsby.

Now, after that kind of precognitive intro, let's reset to a more prosaic beginning...

Speaking of one-hit bands, there was that mid-'90s Swedish one called "Salt". I probably only remember them because of an interview I overheard on the radio back then.

The three band members were partly complaining about their difficulties with the English language: "On tour, I feel like I lose part of my personality when I'm restricted to English." And in songwriting: "I chose a word based on how it's generally translated in Sweden, but then discovered it has a more intense significance to Americans than what I intended."

According to one account I recently came across, the only time (at least in that reviewing instance) singer/guitarist Nina Ramsby ever said anything to an audience was near the end: "We are Salt. This is our last song. We don't do encores."

"Bluster" is that track from their 1996 album "Auscultate" that ranked high on the billboard charts in the US, Canada, and UK.

"Undressed" is the other song ("Too shy to make a move, too bold to step aside") that I most often heard played on radio stations. Rather than the acoustic-sounding "So" that sources tout as a second wannabe hit that didn't make it. Here's the full album: https://youtu.be/2uoZuGM2iDw

The thudding, stomp-like rhythm in "Undressed" (and perhaps "Bluster", too) reminded me back then of similar in the Slavic primitivism music of a controversial ballet called "The Rite of Spring". Which triggered an exaggerated riot of sorts when it opened in Paris in 1913.

BBC article: "So the music was as startling as the strange jerky movements of the choreography. Esteban Buch argues that you cannot separate the impact of one from the other. What upset people, he thinks, was 'the very notion of primitive society being shown on stage'."

Understand that I fully know my memory is playing tricks on me. That is, if I listened to relevant sections of that ballet score today, I would probably discover that nothing remotely sounds like Salt's thomp (even minus the heavy-metal slash grunge texture). But I still like to hang on to that mnemonic illusion...

Ah-ha! I did find one part in "The Rite of Spring" where the rhythm is vaguely like it at intervals. At the 3:45 mark, is where it begins: https://youtu.be/NOTjyCM3Ou4

To see a recreation of the original 1913 costumes via the 1980s reconstruction project (and to get a better feel for why "outrage over heathen activity on stage" erupted in the Paris audience back then), visit this section of the ballet performance on video: https://youtu.be/iH1t0pCchxM

Salt: "Undressed" ... https://youtu.be/gt0S11RrlNM

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gt0S11RrlNM

Salt: "Bluster" ... https://youtu.be/UG7P0_DiJpE

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UG7P0_DiJpE

[Magical Realist]

Been in an ABBA mood lately. Coincidentally, they came out yesterday with a promise of new material soon..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrzicaiRLU

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58339627

[C C]

Been in an ABBA mood lately. Coincidentally, they came out yesterday with a promise of new material soon..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrzicaiRLU

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58339627

It said the holograms will be beamed onstage in a purpose-built east London theatre, where fans will also be able to see a documentary-style film on the band's comeback.

Speaking to the BBC during the early stages of the show's production, Ulvaeus said the idea had been presented to the band by Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller.

"He came to Stockholm and he presented this idea to us that we could make identical digital copies of ourselves of a certain age and that those copies could then go on tour and they could sing our songs, you know, and lip sync. I've seen this project half-way through and it's already mind-boggling."

I was wondering how that would ever work in terms of live appearances. Given that they're probably in their 90s now [wink], coupled with Agnetha Fältskog's fear of flying, stage fright, agoraphobia, acrophobia, etc that has surely intensified with age.

Agnetha Fältskog: 71

Björn Ulvaeus: 76

Anni-Frid Lyngstad: 75

Benny Andersson: 74

[confused2]

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HqgCnjJVfSg

[Leigha]

New discovery; it does “sound” like a daydream.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xombuoSt9L0

[Leigha]

If I ever were to take up singing, I’d want to sound like this.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/irzOMH7GcnQ

[Syne]

Use to go to sleep with this song on repeat:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Libbd7BCBHE

[Leigha]

I just listened to the entire song ^ , and didn’t want it to end.

[Syne]

The haunting melancholy is great for finding sleep.