Synaptic Snap

I am always bewildered by one of the most common questions I have been asked in my life. "What kind of music do you like?" I think I would be suspicious of someone who actually did have a definitive answer to that question.

I was raised in a musical family; I sang, played the violin, and the piano ~ with the obligatory attempts at the guitar. My dad listened strictly to classical, folk and Irish/English ballads. My mom had a collection including John Denver, Judy Collins, The Carpenters and the like. (For a while I though I'd died and gone to heaven when she brought "Jesus Christ Superstar" into the house, but that didn't last long once my dad caught wind of it.)

When I left home, after a brief stint studying music at the College of St. Benedict, I worked my way up from part-time Christmas help to Assistant Manager at a record shop. Yes, it was literally called "Recordshop". So I was the one who got her hands on sample albums like "The Lion and the Cobra" by Sinead O'Connor. (Sometimes this had the added benefit of making my co-workers cover their ears and yell, "Take that damn album home, I can't stand it!")

My musical taste ran amok while I worked there. I had never known there were so many kinds of music in the world! I would binge on artist after artist til I knew every word of every album by heart.

Even knowing my devotion to music, it is surprising that I became a professional singer/songwriter. I was phenomenally shy about performing in front of people, and it took me years to summon up some semblance of "patter" between (or during!) songs. I finally learned to play the guitar and polished up my raggedy piano skills, and ended up putting out two CD's. I played for about twenty years, until a medical procedure accidentally destroyed my voice. But I still like to share some of my favorite songs from over the years, many of them are unknown to more mainstream music listeners.

I will begin with my first real musical obsession, Kate Bush. To me, she is still one of the most intriguing artists I've ever come across ~ each album seems to be a world unto itself. I must confess I found her later albums rather a drudge to listen to, but there are so many extraordinary songs on her earlier discs that it would be a shame to miss out on them. Here is "Night of the Swallow" from "The Dreaming" album.

Following close behind Kate is Jane Siberry. An unusual Canadian artist with the sweetest voice I've ever heard, here she performs her heartbreaking "The Walking (and constantly)" from the album "The Walking".

Marty Jones was an oldie I came across somewhere and I fell in love with one of her albums, "Unsophistcated Time". She has a simple, unique songwriting style and a very soothing voice. I give to you "Follow You All Over the World".

No musical library is complete without something by Danielle Dax. Now she was really out there, pushing the limits. Strange, eerie, usually rather uncomfortable tunes is basically what you can expect from her. I was quite excited when my sister introduced me to her music. Here is "Cathouse" from the album "Inky Bloaters".

You haven't lived until you listen to "Just Like You Said It Would Be" by Sinead O'Connor, from "The Lion and the Cobra". So live it up:

In my humble opinion, Edie Brickell is quite over-rated, but I will never fall out of love with the first album I heard by "Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians" ~ "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars" and the song "She". Enjoy!

I will end for now with a song by the talented Danish singer Agnes Obel. My favorite album is entitled "Philharmonic", and this sorrowful song is called "Riverside".

I hope you have enjoyed these choices, and that you will check out more music by these artists. I'll be back another time with more 'must hear' tunes!