Ah, music and love, love and music...the roots of my nostalgias.
I am a musician and singer myself and find complete dharma in music. I was raised on Philip Glass (adore), ABBA (so-so), and the Moody Blues (ick). Went through that revolting phase many ten year olds do of Madonna and top 40, enjoyed a Beatles obsession at age 12, opened to classical and showtunes at age 14, and "hit" upon R.E.M. and some college rock in early high school. I'd never truly found a music to grab me and shake me dizzy until....summer of 1993 when I stumbled across "the music for the rest of my life" - gothic. Here I will share with you my favorite artists and composers and the nostalgias surrounding them.
Stayed a few weeks the summer of '93 at my friend Rachael's house. Her brother had left some Cure tapes lying around on his bedroom floor and I decided to borrow them and give the group a whirl. I had previously dubbed "Disintegration" from a library copy, but hadn't really gotten into it (funny, now it's practically my all-time fave album). After hearing "The Head On the Door" and "Boys Don't Cry", I was hooked and scrambled all over town, calling every rare Cure fan that attended my school and begging to dub their Cure tapes and singles. Senior year was "year o' Robert Smith and the gang" for me! I bought Cure books, made a scrapbook of all newspaper and magazine xeroxes I could, and listened to them incessantly. When I discover something lovely - I obsess. I trekked through phases of each album - up and down. "Pornography" took a while to grow on me - love it now. "Seventeen Seconds" on headphones accompanied me on late night walks throught the woods. Etc...
The Cure's music for me is a kaleidoscope of moods. No matter how I feel - there's a Cure song to heighten the emotion. Their intuition and variety has ultimately titled them my most treasured band.
Perfect Songs: The Same Deep Water As You, All Cats Are Grey, Siamese Twins, A Chain of Flowers, Plainsong, Charlotte Sometimes, Secrets
Recommended Albums: Disintegration (1989), Faith (1981), Pornography (1982), The Head On the Door (1985)
The 13th - All The Cure's Pages
Only having heard the radio bit "Kiss Them For Me", Rachael officially introduced me to SATB. That same summer I spent with her, late one night she played me songs from "Join Hands" and I was undecided while listening . We ended up crashing at 5 in the morning and I recall "Tinderbox" over headphones as the sun rose through the window. The waves of wistfulness and sadness were indescribable and upon waking, I devoured "Peepshow". Made an infamous scrapbook for this band also!
Siouxsie and the Banshees are a very different nostalgia for me from the Cure. SATB brings out the colder and sharper, the Cure conjures warmer and more romantic. I idolize Siouxsie's singing and it has influenced my own, perhaps too much. The creativity and intellect behind this band is boggling.
Perfect Songs: Land's End, Icon, Dazzle, Night Shift, Scarecrow, Rhapsody, Forever, Into The Light
Recommended Albums: Tinderbox (1986), Peepshow (1988), Join Hands (1979), Juju (1981)
My Complete List of Siouxsie and the Banshees Links
Wandered into Moon Mystique (great goth shop) in Iowa City one afternoon yearning to find some new music to sink my teeth into. Asked some guy behind the counter what he recommended, and he pulled "Ionia" off the shelf. He let me listen to the title track over the speakers and I melted. Rushed it home and the album soon became my dark "music-before-sleep" friend.
Lycia evokes the most romantic feeling of the end of the world. I cannot hear his music without recalling some erotic moment it played in the background!
Perfect Songs: Fate, Wide Open Spaces, Grenada, The Facade Fades, This Decline, Incinerate
Recommended Albums: Ionia (1991), Wake (1989)
My Complete List of Lycia Links
When I was living in Knoxville, my friends and I drove across the state to Clarksville to visit a friend very dear to us (and my secret passion at the time). The three manic days we spent with him included my introduction to cranes. His favorite group was the Cure and he mentioned he heard cranes toured with them (in '92) and would we like to hear a song? He grinned wickedly and popped in "Starblood". We newbies were a little stunned listening to this childlike voice and repetition. Hated them!!!! On the way home, we insulted the hell out of cranes and laughed at how lame their fans must be! Anyway, once I got my own place in Knoxville, I bought the newly-released "Loved" for the fuck of it and was instantly addicted. I was alone in my cranes worship for about a year, due to my friends' dislike of their "uncomfortably creepy" vibe. Now, of course, they love them as I do!
cranes is brilliant. Their piano melodies and sirens and Alison's wailing form the most beautifully tragic pieces.
Perfect Songs: bewildered, cloudless, adoration, beautiful friend, living and breathing, rainbows, in the night
Recommended Albums: Wings Of Joy (1991), Forever (1993), Loved (1994)
My Complete List of cranes Links
Hold on for more....
