tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86502992746628086652024-03-05T18:22:35.947-08:00You Have Failed UsHome to Snail Tunes and Snail TalesThe Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-9258293955636178052020-11-21T21:49:00.001-08:002020-11-21T21:49:37.567-08:00The Path To Reconciliation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKy3jXyhziFzJ1yY0KWfpXE8zhb4cghc35j7c45gJHeWUL6tfCjuSkVvoMkYegARIs48KVQwqMqEA48mrsxnzXmviu0g2KAnKyuxZs1BbeMh9mUSQg-VZCtTx3QzhITqiotHBurL7jTE/s2000/Luminous.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKy3jXyhziFzJ1yY0KWfpXE8zhb4cghc35j7c45gJHeWUL6tfCjuSkVvoMkYegARIs48KVQwqMqEA48mrsxnzXmviu0g2KAnKyuxZs1BbeMh9mUSQg-VZCtTx3QzhITqiotHBurL7jTE/s320/Luminous.PNG" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> It's been a long while since I've posted to this blog, and for that I sincerely apologize. My only excuse is that my life at Lazarus Ministries was very busy, hard, and full of ups and downs. When I felt like working on music, it was all about making music itself, with not much time or energy being spent toward promoting it. But if you want to keep most current with my artistic endeavors, and with my life in general (there gets to be a little personal BSing in my pushes) you should really follow my <a href="http://facebook.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/theladynym" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. I'm not even that rigorous about keeping my email list up-to-date. So try and keep an eye in that direction, if you want to see more of me and what I do. And I've been doing quite a lot! Though this blog hasn't been updated in a while, I've published two EPs and a full-length album in the past four months, and I'm closing in on a Solstice release for my next full-length. I've been a pretty active songwriter in my journey into sobriety and the "outside world." I was half-forced, and half jumped-into, a lot of responsibilities and activities outside of my comfort zone, chief among them being a taxi service and Older Brother for Lazarus. This meant keeping an eye on the houses and their inhabitants, observing policy on sobriety, chores, food, and rent, and seeing to it to the best of my ability that sixteen guys' needs were met. My off-time was spent writing the entirety of <i>A Different Kind of Warrior</i> and then some. I was getting pretty into the swing of balancing it all, too, and then...life happened.</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3958769622/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=9a64ff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/a-different-kind-of-warrior">A Different Kind of Warrior by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Also at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kyjJ0hSqc1gJ8UwMaJBmw4TudrAXOyg_s&pbjreload=102" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/477X88FmOysCshcghxp8u4?fbclid=IwAR0AAezNJ3GLzOStQ19SWscUNxcHRhqYEuLUADfQ3jLSCBRZGztQ2BXFnvo" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-different-kind-of-warrior/1528363599" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Different-Kind-Warrior-Lady/dp/B08G9NL5W1/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous+different+kind+of+warrior&qid=1605984767&s=dmusic&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/album/168124622?fbclid=IwAR3Gz62CQj4E7RUYTPDulhPn_TUmP2XRvRfOUx83hoj9YOKc-0yyyd2sg-0" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/a-different-kind-of-warrior-109474653/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/a-different-kind-of-warrior" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/a-different-kind-of-warrior/ALjcpjwpnbdPVwk" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/152701989" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</b></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">I met somebody! It happened on the gay hook-up app Adam 4 Adam, as I explored what Joplin might have to offer in the way of queer community. Honestly, I don't think a hook-up app was the best way for actually meeting people, let alone getting to know them, but one handsome, older, Native gentleman with gorgeous hair and bright blue eyes actually responded to my advances by taking me out on an actual date to a restaurant for dinner and conversation. We hung out in the back of his pickup and I let him listen to some of my music. We had a pretty passionate kiss good night...followed by another...and another. Well, I let out a whoop of joy and thanked God out loud (I was getting really behind this God thing, the power of prayer, giving it all up to the universe, letting things unfold as they may), and I started seeing this gentleman every week, and eventually for overnight visits as well. I should point out that fornication is frowned upon and abstinence promoted by Lazarus. This is a case where I broke away from policy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">During this time I came out to a few of the guys at Lazarus, and was well-received and well-treated by all who knew. And those who knew, knew about the boyfriend and the overnights at his little farm in northwest Arkansas. It became generally assumed that I would graduate the program and then move in with him. Actually, I wanted to do things at a slower pace than that. I wanted to stay in the program and run a house (they had moved me into a real house!) for a few months after graduation, and work my way toward getting my own apartment in Fayetteville, about a half-hour drive from the farm. Closer, but with some independence. This wasn't to be the case though.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">But did I mention they moved me to a real house! I mean, it's kind of like two houses divided by the chapel, but my side of the house only had three other people living in it, so it was more like the houseshare situations I lived in in Portland. About the time I moved into this house, I reflected on how well "Feckless" from <i>Mythic Migrations</i> translated to a "Naked" version, and on how well its opening song "Corvid" was doing on the radio and in streaming stats. I thought, "Corvid" would do really well in the "Naked" format, and when it turned out beautifully, I moved on to "Canter." "Canter" was a much more intensive process, with some its electric guitar being needed to be translated to piano, and with more strings being recorded to compensate for the lack of synths in a couple of areas. But I loved the challenge, and challenged myself to do the entire EP. Most of this was accomplished in a single night: my first night at the new house, working in the chapel, making music for nearly eleven hours, from that evening to the wee hours of the next morning. I love how the <i>Naked Migrations</i> EP turned out. And during the process of recording new material and remixing and remastering over the next few days, I got my perfect roommate from the Treatment Center to move to the Chapel House with me, I had regular guys that I gave regular rides to and from work, and life seemed to start to stabilize.</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><p><br /></p></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=414406787/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/naked-migrations">Naked Migrations by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"> <b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Also at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mGKLY4N4aZ2rBvuIm4Mf1hGqRKMGXPm38" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7dF1GWnyQ703zkqYj5G0Sn?fbclid=IwAR0AAezNJ3GLzOStQ19SWscUNxcHRhqYEuLUADfQ3jLSCBRZGztQ2BXFnvo" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/naked-migrations/1536690425" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Migrations-Lady/dp/B08LKDZQRC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous+naked+migrations&qid=1605986122&s=dmusic&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/album/180914752?fbclid=IwAR3Gz62CQj4E7RUYTPDulhPn_TUmP2XRvRfOUx83hoj9YOKc-0yyyd2sg-0" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/naked-migrations-114909916/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/naked-migrations" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/naked-migrations/ALcr2ml33k6V2X2" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/159340334" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</span></b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div></blockquote></blockquote><div><p style="text-align: justify;">And then another case of COVID-19 came to Lazarus. Actually, it was more like an outbreak: three people tested positive, and two houses had to be quarantined. I was staying with my lover, Joey, at the time, and Lazarus' make-it-up-as-we-go-along policy on COVID suggested that I just stay with him until the quarantine ended. My car, which was also my meal-ticket, also picked this time to kaput on me, with the transmission control module fortunately under recall, but still needing time to be assessed and replaced. So I stayed at the farm and released the songs I had written since <i>A Different Kind Warrior</i> with songs from <i>Mythic Migrations</i> and <i>A Different Kind of Warrior</i> on the album <i>Reconcile</i>. The Ministry of Reconciliation in the Bible really jumped out at me at the time, and I like the idea is that our life's work is to reconcile ourselves with God and be as Christ-like as possible. Even as I sit here with my time and the semi-arduous routine of Lazarus Ministries fading behind me, I have to admit the Jesus thing got in me quite a bit. I wouldn't say that I became Christian, but that I gained a new appreciation for and perspective on Christianity. I'd say Jesus Christ and I have a pretty friendly relationship these days. I pray, and I pray a lot. It's gotten me through some rough times. My step-dad tested positive for COVID around this time as well, and was in the ICU with pneumonia at eighty years old. He's at home and on oxygen now, but it was really intense for a few days.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I originally slated <i>Naked Migrations</i> and <i>Reconcile</i> for Halloween and Day of the Dead releases, respectively, but I did a special early release for <i>Naked Migrations</i> when a friend from Lazarus died, and I apparently missed the release date field when uploading <i>Reconcile </i>from Arkansas, because it started popping up everywhere the following day, so it has a different release date across the board at the various stores and streaming platforms. So I was forced to simultaneously promote <i>Migrations</i> and <i>Reconcile</i> from a farm outside of a small town on top of a large hill, with DISH Internet that comes and goes, literally, with the wind. I'll be so glad when we get high-speed here.</p><p><br /></p></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1591437003/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/reconcile">Reconcile by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Also at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lOmydQyBB9C0YMzhvajkXgxlPXNl0p8Bo" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2wAGTFy7VYXVVHm1QOhs4I?fbclid=IwAR0AAezNJ3GLzOStQ19SWscUNxcHRhqYEuLUADfQ3jLSCBRZGztQ2BXFnvo" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/reconcile/1536684504" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reconcile-Lady/dp/B08MFNP7F9/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous+reconcile&qid=1605986666&s=dmusic&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/album/180895862?fbclid=IwAR3Gz62CQj4E7RUYTPDulhPn_TUmP2XRvRfOUx83hoj9YOKc-0yyyd2sg-0" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, iHeartRadio, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/reconcile" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/reconcile/ALq53r7g7jr5Xh6" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/159333687" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I wrote a lot of new material during the quarantine, and that was the jumping-off point for the new album, which I am calling <i>Hunter's Ethics</i>. After the quarantine, I really wasn't back at home that long (a couple of weeks?) before the wrong person in the program came sniffing around my Facebook. Not only did they discover that my profile identifies me as unapologetically queer, but my posts reveal that I've been staying with my boyfriend when I'm on my overnight stays away from the houses. It caused a minor scandal, with the director of the program calling me into his office to try to decide his policy on having an unrepentant homosexual in a faith-based, Christian program, when he believes God smote whole cities for this "abomination." It was also clear to him that I've been leading an active sex life, and sex before marriage is frowned upon in the program. He didn't want me out of the program, but... That was kind of left up in the air. I had this office meeting following a night when my perfect roommate stood me up as his ride home from work, and then never called or came home, so I was already emotionally wrought. Knowing that my not-so-secret sexual identity and romantic life were spreading among guys that have displayed some homophobia in the past, and that my future in the program was uncertain definitely added a lot of weight to my burdens that day. It was a rough one. I saw only one path forward in the program, which was to lie and say I'm trying to overcome my sexuality, and to stop seeing Joey. The alternative was moving in with him months before I was really ready. But I knew what I had to do to remain true to myself: with only a month left before graduating the program, I left Lazarus Ministries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I had that taste of freedom before leaving Lazarus, but I really missed the structure, the routine, and some of the guys during some of the quarantine. Being back for a couple of weeks had started draining me really quickly, physically, emotionally, and financially. I felt as if the program were getting more out of me than I was from it. My roommate vanishing from the face of the Earth (he eventually did turn up) was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back. I had no fight left in me to combat religious homophobia as well. So I've returned to the farm. It's been an adjustment. I don't have my little taxi business anymore, so I'm broke all the time, and I don't have Bible studies and chores to do every day. I miss my church. I had adopted one before I left Joplin, Missouri for northwest Arkansas, for which I operated the sound board for the worship team. It was a pretty progressive church, with no outright political stance and never once preaching against homosexuality during my time there. I made a few friends. I miss them. But during the days when Joey's off work, he's always showing me more of the natural splendor of Arkansas, and the rest of my time has been filled with music. I have completed the album <i>Hunter's Ethics</i> and slated it for a Solstice release.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/932396998%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-1HEzulob0Ru&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="The Lady anoNYMous">The Lady anoNYMous</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous/morbidity/s-1HEzulob0Ru" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Morbidity">Morbidity</a></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>From the upcoming album <i>Hunter's Ethics.</i></b></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">You could call this last round of EPs-and-album, since the release of <i>Edges</i>, really, the Lazarus Chapter of my music. It was almost all written in that program and during a time of sobriety, stress, and heightened emotional vulnerability. Now I feel like I'm returning to myself after being sentenced to Oz. I'm remembering what life used to be like, who I used to be, and I'm trying to find a new groove. Hopefully the upcoming album is just the first step on a new journey that will bring me even closer to myself, and my walk with the Creator.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hope you all enjoy the new music, are excited about the music to come, and are having your own journeys of self-discovery and flirtation with the Divine. May your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yWD0z1G4PP5fWgZoJFQeIn-_sfbH09UjlwWRsYtOEHHNaewS_aDQ5cUV4ikoZbfycG_L7VhR9VaTOrvr-SFOn0mNL_cSSksuBp3bVPkjiAYa77oPyMLEIJfCts5DjrCL_GAeeMWhmWo/s460/Snail+cut+out.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="460" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yWD0z1G4PP5fWgZoJFQeIn-_sfbH09UjlwWRsYtOEHHNaewS_aDQ5cUV4ikoZbfycG_L7VhR9VaTOrvr-SFOn0mNL_cSSksuBp3bVPkjiAYa77oPyMLEIJfCts5DjrCL_GAeeMWhmWo/w200-h120/Snail+cut+out.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-31401476681803098552020-07-17T09:32:00.000-07:002020-07-31T07:44:24.104-07:00The Naked Treatment<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3570119763/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/the-naked-truth">The Naked Truth by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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The quarantine on Lazarus House has been lifted! Not only that, I'm off my first thirty days of restriction, having been here five weeks now, with forty-five days alcohol-free. I have to say, yesterday was one of my roughest days yet. I don't know why, but after Bible study, I went back to bed and couldn't even convince myself to do my chores. I didn't feel like doing anything enjoyable, and I cried myself to sleep. When I woke, I still didn't feel like doing anything...except drinking. It was the hardest urge to manage yet, especially when not a single coping skill sounded tempting or like it would do the trick. So I just laid in bed and...managed. I rode it out, and I'm still sober, and now I have this NEW EP to present to you to keep me busy. The promotional circus and behind-the-scenes publishing should keep me busy for the next week. And hopefully I'll start writing more songs. I haven't written anything since "Luminous," and I might just concentrate on that as a single for now. Baby steps back into the songwriting business after taking such a long break. I'm thinking I'll send the song over to Zach Shattuck, the man behind the covers for "My Secret Life" and <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>, and see if it inspires him. I'm in no hurry to release it, so I won't be pressuring him with deadlines this time, which he'll probably be thankful for.<br />
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As for this EP, it was a long time coming. You may have heard me talking about it as far back as last Winter. Ever since the successful experiment that was the "Naked" version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" I've been trying to think up ways to make it a more accessible song, as part of a major release. Trying out other "Naked" versions of songs seemed like the appropriate way to go, but not many of my songs would actually successfully undergo the stripping-down process. I rely so much on my off-kilter beats, strange synths, and thrashing guitars. And I needed songs with a more classical-piano feel to them. While I've expanded my repertoire on those quite a bit in the last few albums, there's still a lot of guitar interruptions, and not all electric guitar can be successfully transferred to acoustic guitar. I did find a way around that that works pretty well in one song, at least: I translated the electric guitar interludes in "The First Time I Woke Up..." to bass-cleft piano, and I think it sounds rather amazing. That won't work in just any case, though, I discovered. It was kind of a fluke, but I'm extremely pleased with how the "Naked" version of "The First Time I Woke Up..." turned out.<br />
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"Familial Germs" was one of the first to get the stripped-down treatment, and I was really iffy on it for quite a while, and rearranged some of the instruments and added some bass strings and upright bass to a couple of sections to try and flesh it out better. But the more I worked on it, the more dissatisfied I was with it. It wasn't until I left it alone for weeks and then gave it another listen that I fell in love with it. There's a lot of golden instrumentation in the piano and strings in that song, and it really shines through without the encumbering beats and synths. So I'm very happy to include it here for you.<br />
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"Jade's Theme" already has an almost "Naked" version of it in the form of "Introducing... (Alternate III)," though there's some cello and extra piano complexity that makes "Jade's Theme" not "Introducing...". And it's amazing how different "Jade's Theme" sounds with the absence of a couple of synths and beats. I kept the electric piano as one of my exemptions from the "acoustic" rule (the other is a synth that winds up the end of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?"). That electric piano is just too essential to the overall sound of the song. What I really did here was mash together "Introducing... (Alternate III)" and a version of "Jade's Theme" that "Cello Lesson" on <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i> is taken from, then stripped it of all but the strings, piano, and electric piano, then translated the ending to piano and electric piano instead of synths bouncing off each other.<br />
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"Little Boxes" lent itself quite easily to the "Naked" treatment. I considered keeping the warbling "theremin" synth like I did in the "Naked" version of "The Nocturnal Dervish," but it turned out to not really need it, especially after I composed a new bass line for the song. The bass with some acoustic guitar chords takes center stage nicely, providing some breaks from the piano and strings.<br />
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Finding other songs to fill out a seven-track order was not quite so easy. I actually tried stripping a few more songs than made it onto this EP that were decided failures. But sitting out in the studio, in the dark, I just kept plugging away at it, kept experimenting, and was surprised to find how well "Faceless Men" worked without its beats and guitar interludes, and how well "Feckless" worked without its muted guitar accompaniment. There was some rearranging to be done in "Faceless Men" to make it work, but "Feckless" was unexpectedly almost made for the acoustic treatment. And those two songs ended up bringing around the track number to seven - I had my EP!<br />
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I've had these songs sitting around waiting to be polished and arranged for months now, but my drinking, my relocation to Lazarus House, and my computer crash all interfered with getting it up off the ground. But now it's helped me to get through the COVID quarantine, and not everyone here did. Our numbers in the house have dwindled to less than half what we were when I got here, either from people moving out or getting kicked out. As was pointed out in Bible study this morning, being told you can't do something will really provoke that rebellious spirit. And some of the guys here tried to pass the time with drugs and conceal it. It's really unfortunate. People I was beginning to become really attached to have been kicked out of the program, or have left because they couldn't take the restrictions. But I'm still here, and I'm free to go where I will now, and my driving gigs will be picking up again soon. So I have some stuff to look forward to. Hopefully more music is a part of that future.<br />
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Until I get the ball rolling on some new music, I hope you enjoy this EP. Man, one night I was tossing and turning and feeling wretchedly awake, and then the urge to listen to this came over me. The results of the stripping-down process to expose the grace of the piano and strings is really quite relaxing, and though I made it all the way to the last song, I couldn't remember the EP ending, but became aware of the empty hiss in my headphones. As soon as I took them off, I rolled over and fell asleep. It worked beautifully, and I hope it offers some similar peace to you. You can find it at (links become highlighted as they become available) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mHGNMudJBPnvtsYYOqhoyPAbrpyrRDudI" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3ThQondQSCYrNStY4A5nMR?fbclid=IwAR1nNebocfXO8rxyrb5EYYLSCGDtxwKbk5yIbynMisvu74_2lI2DjjAmYgQ" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_The_Naked_Truth?id=Bu3nurav4ptqybl5zdetjaatfmy" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-naked-truth/1522969806" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Truth-Lady/dp/B08CQNLYTD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fbclid=IwAR0We1-Hin1vuPiIHgkzXuiU4gxoIFeM4Jp8EJRTNJOlmpzl3qH5VZlIOfE&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1594995023&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/159871692?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-159871692&utm_term=1231076246_1594995229&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/the-naked-truth-106593165/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/the-naked-truth" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/the-naked-truth/AL6fvZxwKJ4qmk9" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="http://tidal.com/browse/album/148110827?play=true" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.<br />
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I guess this is a short one. My last article wasn't that long ago, and I filled you in on a lot with that one. I don't have a bonus song to share right now, but if you want to hear my latest song, visit the end of the previous article, and enjoy. I think I'll shoot Zach a message about a possible cover for a single right now. Until the next release or major life event, I hope your inner snails remain resilient and determined.<br />
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<b>P.S.</b> Okay, here's something cute I thought I could share as a little something extra. Baby Yoda wants to play "Vile Beast" from the album <i>Edges</i>, but the Mandalorian isn't having none of that.</div>
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anoNYMous Ravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11978161177088561738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-68201322828168785272020-07-09T07:57:00.000-07:002020-07-13T15:27:01.326-07:00Mythic Migrations<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1599608176/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=4ec5ec/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/mythic-migrations">Mythic Migrations by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe><br /></div>
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Man, life has been full of a lot of disruptions and interruptions lately. I guess it began with my computer freaking out on me. Well, really, it started with COVID-19, but that seemed really distant at first, and not to affect the social recluse that I was terribly. So anyway, my mouse on my computer started going schizo, jumping all over the place and clicking on things at random, making it impossible to work. So I wasn't able to get this blog article done when I published <i>Mythic Migrations</i>. I was already late getting it started because I was beginning to drink heavily at the time. I think there was a <i>little</i> coronavirus influence there. Well, the computer had to be taken to the shop, and I just started drinking more to fill up the time I normally would have spent working. I wasn't even writing new songs. I <i>still</i> haven't been writing new songs. But I think I'm in a better place now.</div>
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But back then I was sneaking around drinking airplane shots of whiskey and hiding the empties in a drawer. The drawer was discovered. I was living with my mom and my step-dad, in what's supposed to be an alcohol-free zone. I tried to downplay it and promised I would get sober, but they started watching me like a hawk, and I started drinking more. I started buying whole fifths of Jim Beam instead of just little shot bottles. And I wasn't as clever at concealing it as I thought I was. So I kept getting caught time and again, and I even had a drunken meltdown or two, which didn't help my cause. It got to the point where I wore out my welcome in my parent's home. They gave me an ultimatum: either go to rehab, or be homeless.</div>
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Well, most of the rehabs are closed down or at very limited capacity due to COVID these days, so we had a hard time finding a place that would take me, but my Mom landed on a place called Lazarus House, which is a six-month religious program. I didn't like the sound of that at all. So on the night before they were going to take me, I decided to create a third option: I attempted to overdose on Ativan and Seroquel. Apparently, I didn't take enough, and I found myself in the closed psychiatric ward of Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Missouri. It wasn't so bad. They provided nicotine patches, my meds, an old Michael Crichton book I'd read a million times, and some group therapy sessions that were more like classes on coping skills. They had really good food, allowed my parents to bring me more books after I finished <i>Sphere</i> in two days. I ended up staying at Mercy for five days, and called around trying to find other rehabs that might take me. I called up the director of Lazarus House to get a clearer idea of his program, and he described a Bible camp for addicts, which made me even more desperate not to go there. On the day I was supposed to be discharged from Mercy, I had a panic attack and convinced them to let me stay just <i>one more day</i>. And then it was time to make a decision: go to Lazarus House, or the homeless shelters.</div>
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I chose Lazarus House. And despite the mandatory Bible studies at 5:30 every morning and two evenings a week, plus two church services on the weekends, and that I'm surrounded by homophobic religious nut-jobs, I like it better here than I thought I would. The gay jokes and casual use of the word "fag" used as a derogative really bothered me at first, but you know what? I grew up in McMinnville, OR, before my generation took it over, and it was a town where you were either religious or a meth addict, and everyone identified as a redneck. And I adapted and survived back then, learned how to be "one of the guys" and developed friendships, and now it's just time to draw on those old skills and to let the shit roll off of me. And I guess it's time to learn my Bible better. There is some wisdom to be found in there, some really uplifting passages, and some cool stories. I've long since quit looking at Christians as my enemy, so this isn't a "know your enemy" kind of thing. This is just gaining a better understanding of a culture that happens to be dominant in the area of the U.S. that I'm living in now. And the sober living aspect has been good for me. I've achieved thirty-seven days sober, as of today.</div>
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But life was once again interrupted, even in the midst of Lazarus House. This is kind of a joke of a rehab, really. There's no staff, no one with medical or psychiatric training, there's not even the Twelve Steps. There's bed bugs that weekly spraying isn't getting rid of, and there's eleven-to-fifteen guys living here together, with no coronavirus precautions in place. Half these guys have jobs and regularly get out into the world. So it wasn't a complete surprise when one of them came up positive for COVID. Someone we've all lived with and used the same facilities as. So the Health Department was called in, and now Lazarus House is under quarantine for two weeks. I was just about to be lifted off "restricted" status (you're under house arrest for the first thirty days here). I was just beginning to be given assignments as a "house driver," putting my driver's license to use carting people around from this "treatment center" and the other recovery houses associated with it. Now I'm stuck here a while longer.</div>
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But my computer's been fixed! It took a few weeks, but the issue - which was a swollen battery pressing against the mouse pad from the inside - has been resolved. I guess it took them awhile to find a new battery for a Mac this "old" (hey, it still fulfills my needs). As soon as I got it back in my hands, I went to work tweaking and mastering all seven songs for the upcoming <i>The Naked Truth</i> EP, a collection of bare-bones versions of previously-recorded songs including the "Naked" version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" which has only been available as a Snail Tunes-exclusive bonus track until now. I put together an MP3 prototype of the EP and listened to it yesterday, and I uploaded it to DistroKid this morning, slating it for a July 17th release, which is the day the quarantine is supposed to be lifted.</div>
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Meanwhile, <i>Mythic Migrations</i> has been available, and I've been trying to promote it as much as I can from my phone, but it's just not the same. I don't have access to all the links on my phone, just what I have the apps for, and my Apple Music has been shut off. So I've been tweeting YouTube, Spotify, and Deezer links, and trying to get back into the habit of doing Facebook posts, but I also hate typing on my phone. So working on my computer right now is a real treat. But I'm using a housemate's hotspot, which I can't do all the time, so my Internet access on the computer is limited. I'll still be working mostly from my phone, but having this blog article published will help immensely, giving me access to copy and paste from the following links, where you can find <i>Mythic Migrations</i>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l0C1kiMYWEId7ax3Ok5ZcnYpS46h8Qs_s" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0hXbGHNMDCmoTDEG1xRk9n?fbclid=IwAR3cMTah8jqUUfN96pjb4S_F59JUQ8jQEcCL8oTH61S-40Wq5LxhupQUgto" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Spotify</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Mythic_Migrations?id=B2jdy3knmyxqxx7xrugxi5whuyq" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Google Play</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/mythic-migrations/1508611329" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mythic-Migrations-Lady/dp/B0875FTXLT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fbclid=IwAR2H_RijMwyRfxyQlPSvZD5eKKCFzw0V682B2gxdPYR7EWxsda9kAPYnBl4&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1588367045&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/142125422?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-142125422&utm_term=1231076246_1588451698&utm_medium=web" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Deezer</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/mythic-migrations-99505919/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/mythic-migrations" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Napster</a><span style="text-align: center;">, </span><a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/mythic-migrations/AL96J3p66qXddv6" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Pandora</a><span style="text-align: center;">, and </span><a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/137674130" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">TIDAL</a><span style="text-align: center;">.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">This EP is very much along the same lines as the album <i>Edges</i>. I took some piano ditties and gave them the neoclassical treatment with some strings arrangements, then explored them further with some thrashing electric guitars, off-kilter beats, and strange synths. Of special note is the synth solo in "The Black-Winged Stork;" I don't know where I found that synth or what I did to make it sound like that, but I think it's quite tasty. In these songs, I practiced a few techniques that I was just starting to touch on in <i>The Soul Washer</i>. There's riffs of muted electric guitar guiding the rhythm. There's rapid arpeggios of electronic piano in the background for an electronica vibe, as well as a "grid bass" that rapidly alternates between two octaves with deep electronic pulses. And then there's then there's the "suspense bass" that's a deep buzzing drone riddled with treble distortions. All these techniques add to the industrial vibe of my music, which you're about to see stripped away in <i>The Naked Truth</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Sorry to not go through each song individually with you. Honestly, the writing of them isn't that fresh in my mind anymore, since this was published so long ago. And mostly, this article was meant to catch you up on what's been happening in my life, what's been preventing me from working, and what I'm working on now that I'm able. I hope you've had a chance to listen to the EP and that you've been enjoying it. And I hope that in these times that I'm sure have been trying for everyone, your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</span></div>
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<b>P.S.</b> I've started writing music again, and I recently recorded this song in a single day! I'm very proud of it, very happy to be writing again, and excited to share it! I think this will be my next single. Enjoy!</div>
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<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/857417029%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-FJK220W07Pu&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="The Lady anoNYMous">The Lady anoNYMous</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous/luminous/s-FJK220W07Pu" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Luminous">Luminous</a></div>
The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-83264377724163032652020-03-12T17:10:00.000-07:002020-03-26T09:07:58.966-07:00Living on the Edges<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1842851931/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/edges-2">Edges by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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I can't sleep. I would have gotten this blog article done in advance, instead of doing it in the middle of night night, except I was kind of distracted. I've been having a general dissatisfaction with life and a deep depression, but if I'm honest, it's gotten a lot more specific than that tonight. It's not just that I didn't put an extra effort into celebrating and advocating Women's Day, as I've been such a fierce feminist in the past. It's also not only that I live in a state where Bernie Sanders, the hopeful champion of socialist democrats, lost the primary to Biden. I normally don't want to go into my religious and political beliefs as a public figure, but fuck, they're such a big part of me. And, no, it got even deeper than that tonight. You see, I chose to release this album on the birthday of someone very dear to me, yet we don't seem to be that close anymore. But that doesn't change what they mean to me, and what they reflect of my past life. And I have to tell you, I have some regrets.</div>
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My best friend is a female-to-male transexual, and I have no idea what their gender identification is now, but their questioning of gender and exploration of sexual identity had a huge impact on me in my formative years. It led me to question my own gender and realize that, yes, my inner self is most often reflected to myself as female. This led to the creation of the written and stage persona The Lady anoNYMous, whom I was able to perform as in a sleek dress, high heels, and make up in Portland, Oregon, as an advocate of gender awareness and sexual identity. I took to identifying under female pronouns at all times, realizing that, in Portland,, I lived in a place where I was free to present and identify myself as I wished. I didn't have to undergo hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgeries to be a "lady," but I could be the lady that I wished to be. It was understood and respected. I was still pretty "butch" in my flannel, Carhartts, and combat boots, but there was no question in my community that I was a girl, a woman, a lady, and a queen. I was just the "bearded lady" - another freak in a community that understood what it's like to be a freak.</div>
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I now live in Central Missouri, where just being an out gay man is tough. I have come to recognize myself as a gay man as well as a transgender woman flirting with bisexuality, so I guess you might call me bigendered. I am flattered when people call me by female pronouns, but understand when they call me male. As to whether I'm interested in men or women, well, I love them both, but have to say my sexual orientation leans toward men. And this is all perhaps more than you'd rather know about me, but let me just say this: my music is a way for me to lay my soul bare, and although it is largely instrumental, it is still a reflection of my identity and my experiences; my struggles and my triumphs.</div>
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I mentioned a best friend earlier, who I am now estranged from. They played a huge part in who I've been and who I've become, and now it feels as though a part of my soul is missing. It's confusing. I'll forever identity this person as a soul mate, but we are no longer connected. It's their birthday today. That's why I release EPs and albums on Match 12th. This one very special person who has left a hole in me. I know I normally go through an album's specifics and touch base on each of the songs, but in this case, <i>Edges</i> sort of turned out to be about all our shared history, without me realizing it until tonight when I couldn't sleep.</div>
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Each song can be interpreted as a secret you carry with you, or a way you try to liberate and express yourself. It's about exploring your identify and the ways it can cut you to the bone or cut away veils and disguises. From the "Little Boxes" we find ourselves in, with the "Dark Passenger" we carry with us, to the "Beautiful Liar" we become, in a way this album is all about identity. On a more personal level, it's me trying to come back to my identity after almost being pushed back into the closet by rural Missouri. I mean, I just went on my first date in three years, and it was with a closeted pastor who's also the town hermit. He doesn't let anyone know who he really is. Even in this more open-minded day and age, this is not uncommon. I won't be repressed like this. If you want to bother to get to know me, and that also means through my music, then that means understanding I am as queer as an Armistead Maupin character...because us characters are <b><i>real.</i></b></div>
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I'm proud to be an openly-gay musician and public figure. But not just gay. <b>Queer</b>. If you squint at me just right, I'm LGBT and Q. I've been hearing a lot of talk on Christian-oriented YouTube lately about how we're threatening the downfall of society. Particularly by a very angry man named Lance Walnau who would have you believe that Donald Trump is the second coming and that the socialist direction our culture is taking is <b>DOOM</b>, and that Trump is the only man who can save us from ourselves. But I think what's really going to save us if we all learn to see each other across a spectrum as fellow humans instead of across a dividing line.</div>
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This is how I honor my old friend. By letting them know they didn't exactly change me, but offered me a key to understanding who I was, and that I continue to explore myself with them in my heart. The edges are fine, and they can cut, but they can open doorways. And we've always lived in on the edges of society, teetering on taboo subjects that threatened to split us in half or cut us off from our families and peers. But in my experience, you don't ascend in your knowledge of self if you don't risk getting cut. We may have been cut asunder, my love, but you'll always be a part of me and mean the world to me. Happy birthday.</div>
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<i>Edges</i> is now available at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n15Ae5Bbl5e90mtLl6wVAmGYI70BftZA4" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0CCg1Eqf6NciXBhHDsHHgn?fbclid=IwAR1lSRWnw4MM2mIiN_wmO2OGMb-aqW8FMGZaDhlv2bYdbXgBrHjAzwbDsQk" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Edges?id=Bwdgrnges5uwasvwh4wvnya3yra" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/edges/1501258542" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Edges-Lady/dp/B085DQGSSS/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&fbclid=IwAR2VIrH0H8KbM5o5bU8FIKHYe46969FLJ5PF4y7XMceyowyaaqUsXPo-AaI&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1584010402&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>,<a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/138238202?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-138238202&utm_term=1231076246_1585238823&utm_medium=web" target="_blank"> Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/edges-94664692/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/edges" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/edges/AL5b9czmm2KJ9j4" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/133029598" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>. If you'd like to directly support me and my art, consider buying a song or two - or the album - at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp store</a>. Purchases include high-quality downloads, from standard MP3 to HD lossless audio, and unlimited streaming on Bandcamp and the free Bandcamp app.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-67408661137001441772020-02-13T22:36:00.003-08:002020-02-13T22:36:19.239-08:00Deviant Angels<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1609743689/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=4ec5ec/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/deviant-angels">Deviant Angels by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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<b>Happy Valentine's Day!</b> Now, normally I don't celebrate or make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. Normally I don't have someone to celebrate it with. I've been single almost eight years now, but even when I was married, we didn't do much about Valentine's Day. Except, one year, I think we bought Tori Amos' DVD <i>Fade to Red</i> as a present for ourselves. Or, actually, I bought it, since I supported us financially through almost the entire relationship. Ah, but you don't need to hear me reminisce about a failed marriage.</div>
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Something I like to do with my musical releases is release them on a special day, to give that day extra-special or new meaning to me. I figured, why shouldn't Valentine's Day be one of those days? I might not get anything for it, but I can give to <b>the world</b> with my music. And it really is the world. My music tends to be listened to more outside of my home country, the United States, than within it. Except there was a curious couple of weeks when my music was being listened to in Branson, Missouri, more than anywhere else on Apple Music. That appears to have been a total fluke, but what on odd one, considering I live in Missouri, and Missouri's taste in music tends to be country, not anything like neoclassical or industrial-metal.</div>
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Anyway, this release is partly about changing the meaning of Valentine's Day for myself. And now it will have its anniversary <b>every</b> Valentine's Day, and maybe I'll even celebrate that anniversary with future releases. It's been known to happen. My best friend's birthday is March 12th, and I've put out a couple releases for it - in fact, my next full length album, <i>Edges</i>, is scheduled to come out <b>this coming March 12th</b>. More on that later.<br />
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First off, this EP owes its title to the cover piece by <a href="http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Cyril Rolando</a>, "Deviant Insanity."<br />
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Now, a couple of these songs go way back. I don't even remember how long ago I started "Grounded and High," but it must have been around a couple of years ago, before I wrote <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. It was just a bass line with some some whimsical synths and a danceable beat that I had sitting on the shelf of unfinished songs for a long time. I do remember that it was an exercise in writing more of an EDM bass line that I ever had before. I guess because it wasn't as "neoclassical" as I had been aiming for, I dropped it for a long time. But one day when I came back it, I couldn't remember why I stopped, and I had a lot of fun finishing it, mostly adding piano, guitars, and length. It's very uncharacteristic of me, and in a way, set the uncharacteristic tone of this EP.</div>
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"Love Gravity Power Time" has its roots all the way back in the EP <i>With Love, Catatonia</i> and the song of the very similar name "Power Time Gravity Love." Don't ask me why, I never wanted to attach the words "Alternate Spin" to this title. Instead, I've just changed around the words for its various incarnations, of which there've been a few. First, I gave it an overhaul for the "album version" on <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, "Gravity Time Power Love." I then tried out doing a version of the song that translated the leading cello melody to piano in "Time Power Gravity Love," which is only available as a rarity and bonus track on the Snail Tunes edition of the EP <i>Compromises</i>, which is also how I first made "Grounded and High" publicly available. I guess I wasn't entirely satisfied with the piano I had written, because I went back to the drawing board and rewrote it. Then I found myself adding the cello back in and rewriting the violin and viola, and I added some upright bass to the song's "trip-hop interlude," which carried over into the rest of the song. And that's how I ended up with, "Love Gravity Power Time," which I think I like better than any other version so far.</div>
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"Passion on a Screen" was, funnily enough, originally inspired by the Collective Soul song "Generate." Rather, it was inspired by the guitar, which prompted me to write the leading synth riff. That almost automatically informed it as an EDM song. There's almost no neoclassicism to this one, just some orchestral strings and some jamming on an electric piano. I'm pretty proud of the electric piano riff, though I have to confess that it really came together with some note-by-note editing after a less complicated version was recorded by me live. This song makes use of the "suspense bass" synth I've recently discovered, and have gone on to use quite a bit since. It's that deep buzz in the background that's distorted by a mechanical treble. I'm trying not to overuse it, but I've gotten a little addicted to it...</div>
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I'm also very proud of the rapid staccato cello riff in "Stars Aligned," but this time that was entirely programmed in note-by-note. I can't claim any amazing achievements in dexterity.</div>
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"Brazen" is my first attempt at a straightforward industrial-metal track in quite some time, probably since "Roughspun" on the EP <i>Dissonance</i>. It was initially inspired by the Nine Inch Nails song "Burn" from the <i>Natural Born Killers</i> soundtrack. That's where I got the idea to make percussion by synchronizing and layering synths with distorted beats. The electric guitars weren't originally so involved, but became more so as the song evolved, and then it was clearly industrial-metal. Because it's the most "hardcore" song on the EP, I'm thinking of it being the one I send in to radio stations. But again, I'm nervous, because it's so different than anything I've done in a while.</div>
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"Little Boxes" and "Little Bat" are this EP's two neoclassical contributions. Because of this, they've gone on to be included on the next full-length album, <i>Edges</i>, which is another mostly neoclassical record - with a lot of industrial-metal influence, of course. I don't know why every full-length album I've been doing is so neoclassical-oriented, except that maybe I want to be recognized as a neoclassical artist. I've often said I want to be Lorenzo Masotto when I grow up. He just put out a solo piano record, which inspired me to try doing a solo piano composition. You might think that'd be simpler than layering several instruments, but I found it to be more difficult, because I was trying to make one instrument an entire orchestra. After successfully composing one such song, I didn't feel the need to do it anymore, so you just get the one at the end of the album. I'm very excited to unveil it to you. The album is thirteen-or-fourteen tracks (I just finished one that I'm not sure if I'll hold onto until a following release or not) and, as I mentioned before, will come out <b>March 12th</b>.</div>
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Until then, you can enjoy <i>Deviant Angels</i> at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lrLF-c6VYrQ4MW74-iCn5KVQHkm_nWoRA" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1GZtaJFEBvsetolvUl7CYY?fbclid=IwAR1lSRWnw4MM2mIiN_wmO2OGMb-aqW8FMGZaDhlv2bYdbXgBrHjAzwbDsQk" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Deviant_Angels?id=B6co7kl5o7o2oncflwgeeiy2pfi" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/deviant-angels/1497767653" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Deviant-Angels-Lady/dp/B084GZMPN4/ref=sr_1_1?fbclid=IwAR2VIrH0H8KbM5o5bU8FIKHYe46969FLJ5PF4y7XMceyowyaaqUsXPo-AaI&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1581661207&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/album/130175342" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/deviant-angels-91291281/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/deviant-angels" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/deviant-angels/ALtXPt7P3fkl7zw" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/130340966" target="_blank">TIDAL</a> (as usual, the links will be inserted as I discover them).</div>
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I've mentioned before that I want to put out an EP called <i>The Naked Truth</i> with stripped-down versions of some of my more neoclassical songs. Obviously, this would include - widely available for the first time - "Why Can't We Have Nice Things? (Naked)." I'm happy to report that I'm a step closer to that now with a completed "Naked" version of <i>The Soul Washer</i>'s "Faceless Men," which I thought I'd share with you as your bonus song for this article. That conjures up a simultaneously amusing and horrifying mental picture, doesn't it? Naked faceless men... (shiver)</div>
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Well, that's all for now. I hope you're excited for <i>Edges</i>, for which I will see you in about one month's time. Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-65956502344754377402020-01-24T22:36:00.000-08:002020-01-25T07:43:56.888-08:00Song of the Soul Washer<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2227695953/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=de270f/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/the-soul-washer">The Soul Washer by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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So here we are at the <b>tenth</b> full-length album. I know I said I was going to move on to shorter releases after <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>. My plan was for a seven-track EP...just like <i>Black Leather</i> was supposed to be. But this has been a furious season of songwriting for me. I've been eschewing almost all leisure activity for working on music - it's been my work, my therapy, my coping mechanism, and my relaxation. There's been little else going on. I haven't even been watching my DVDs from the library much, and sometimes I'll get up in the middle of the night and work for an hour or two. And I believe I've been producing very good results. I'm extremely proud of <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>, and now I'm very happy to present <i>The Soul Washer</i> to you as well.</div>
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This album's title and cover come from "Song of the Soul Washer" by <a href="http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Cyril Rolando</a>. Usually I use Cyril's work for EP and singles covers, and come up with the the album covers on my own or in collaboration with new artists. But, if you're familiar with Cyril's work, I think you'll agree this is a very unique piece for him, a stylistic departure. It's because of its uniqueness that I've wanted to use it as a cover for quite some time, but it never matched the titles I came up with. So, instead, I just used the title of the painting for the album. I'm sure he won't mind. We've had a wonderful working relationship for years now, and I can't wait to share with him what his artwork helped inspire <b>this</b> time.</div>
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"A Positive Spin" is a bit of ambient-pop that reminds me a lot of Radiohead, and was inspired by Thom Yorke and my own older song "The Tranquil Isles." I wanted to write something focused on acoustic guitar with a heavily trip-hop vibe. That ambient-pop style is somewhat carried over into "Death's Chorus Line," which was inspired by some pop song on some TV show - I can't remember exactly what now. Just that the descending four-note piano and accompanying cello were simple and beautiful, and made me want to try just that. The acoustic guitar found its way back in, creating a poppy interlude. It turned out to be a much more cheerful song that I expected, and I named it "Death's Chorus Line" out of a moment of whimsy rather than any sort of morbid visualization. But when I imagine Death having a chorus line of psychedelic characters choreographed to this song, it makes me smile.</div>
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"Faceless Men" is darker, and a step back in both the neoclassical and metal direction. There's a few songs with this vibe to them, making this album seem as though it could be a sequel to <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>. I think it's pretty clear when listening to them that they were written close together; they have a similar overall vibe. And "Faceless Men," "Sincerely Cynical," "Thunderclap," and "At the Gates" all sound like they could have been home on the previous album.</div>
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Yes, "Faceless Men" is an <i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> reference, as well as an homage to the Demigorgon of <i>Stranger Things</i>. There's something really creepy about people with no faces as well, something that gives me the shivers every time its used in some psychothriller or horror movie. So, it's sort of a tribute to all of the above.</div>
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"Impenetrable Fog" was a shift in piano-writing style, using lumbering chords instead of arpeggios. I also installed a rapid riff of electronic piano repeating in the background in some segments, which is an electronica technique I've been using more and more in neoclassical compositions. You can thank Lorenzo Masotto for the inspiration there. I've heard him use it once or twice, then used it to my own success in "Bare Arms." Now I've also used it in "My Secret Life," and this song.</div>
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I think "Sincerely Cynical" is going to be the next song I shop around to radio stations. It's got the energy, the eccentricity, and the metal that I like to share in my radio singles. It also makes use of a synth I've discovered, a "grid bass," that alternates notes at the press of one key, and which I can see as being useful in electronica compositions. I'll try not to overuse it, but I think it's wonderfully energizing and incongruous with a neoclassical style at the same time.</div>
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"Recapturing my Grace" is just that: capturing the feeling of putting beauty back into the world, for me. It's also simple, yet graceful, so the name came virtually without thought. I hope it evokes a sense of wonder and of peace.</div>
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"At the Gates" reuses some muted electric guitar plucking that I first explored in "Empathica" on <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>, along with some neoclassical piano and trip-hop techniques. The songs could be siblings. And I'd like to say that the title is another reference to Stephen King's <i>The Dark Tower</i> series, but I can't for the life of me think of "at the gates of <b>where?</b>" Hell if I know. Now, "Thunderclap" is <b>definitely</b> another <i>Tower</i> reference. It's the name of a land of desolation not unlike Mordor in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. So, yes, there's no sounds of thunder in "Thunderclap," though there are some pretty abrasive synths.</div>
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"Indira" goes back to a style of songwriting I used for "Pulsar Song" on <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. Keeping it simple and flowing in the rhythm section, while applying a continually evolving lead synth. In this case it's my trusty "theremin" that begins life as a synth called "50s Sci-Fi" before I twiddle the knobs and dials. I don't know how she got her name or gender, but it just seemed straightforward that she was called "Indira" when I was done. I don't know anyone called Indira, and it's not about any famous person named Indira. It's just who she is.</div>
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"Someplace to be Flying" is named after one of my favorite Charles de Lint books, which chronicles the clash and those caught in the middle of two types of animal people, the blackbirds and the cuckoos. The cover painting by John Jude Palencar has also been a continual source of inspiration for me.</div>
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I once tried to get away with using Mr. Palencar's artwork for my EPs and graphics, and I even asked permission...after I'd already been using them. Well, I got an angry letter back calling me a thief and making it very clear I was very <b>unwelcome</b> to use his art. My feelings were admittedly a bit hurt for a while after that, but I still love his work. It pairs very well with Charles de Lint. Anyway, this song is sort of my homage to both the book and the painting.</div>
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"Bust" is a direct descendent of <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>'s "Allure," though a bit more complex. They both have more of a classical freestyle use of piano that doesn't lend itself to formulaic rock accompaniment very well, though I found use for a throbbing bass synth accompanied by a single electric guitar chord in each. I also found sections that lent themselves to strings accompaniment in this song, as well as some "brass" notes here and there (also used in "Allure). It pretty much just progresses wildly and organically, doubling back to previous segments in they seem well-placed. I think it shows off my abilities as a piano composer rather well, unlike any other song, until a solo piano piece that I just finished writing today called "A Little High-Strung."</div>
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"Forget Your Fathers" is an exercise again in trying a different style of piano writing, and in making more use of the "brass ensemble." A big inspiration for this song, though you wouldn't think of it right away, was Nine Inch Nails. I can't remember which song exactly, but there's one that makes beautiful use of piano accompanied by a heavy bass riff, and that's how I chose to wrap up the song, after a couple of jazzier interludes. The title is <b>sort of</b> another <i>Tower</i> reference. They make a big deal about not "forgetting the faces of your fathers" in those books. Sounds kind of noble, I guess, but what if your father was an asshole? For all those abusive, humiliating, berating, or just uncaring fathers out there, I say go ahead and forget 'em.</div>
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And that about covers the album. It's now available at (links will be inserted as I discover them) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kMTNGz5pkBb9pw6iGeYdZJ4iV82Cv5-gY" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5m6MhmZ79euKbKhUEXOnny?fbclid=IwAR1lSRWnw4MM2mIiN_wmO2OGMb-aqW8FMGZaDhlv2bYdbXgBrHjAzwbDsQk" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_The_Soul_Washer?id=Bath2gbiq4be6ohxi3ufhcx6h2u" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-soul-washer/1494748762" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Washer-Lady/dp/B083RFDVJK/ref=sr_1_1?fbclid=IwAR2VIrH0H8KbM5o5bU8FIKHYe46969FLJ5PF4y7XMceyowyaaqUsXPo-AaI&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1579933073&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/126450242?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-126450242&utm_term=1231076246_1579933167&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/the-soul-washer-88340997/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/the-soul-washer" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/the-soul-washer/ALclmpJ5fP7lgPq" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/127961992" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</div>
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Before I go, I thought I'd leave with you with something kind of fun I worked on amid all this: my own rendition of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," complete with weird beats, synths, and electric guitars. Now, I didn't have any sheet music for this, and hadn't even heard it in a long time, so I was just going by ear and memory for the main melody, and I just filled everything else in with my own shit. I discovered today that this song is part of the public domain, so I may include it on an upcoming EP. For now, I thought it just might be something kind of entertaining for y'all. If you want a download of it, consider making a pledge at <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">my Patreon</a>, where I think I'll make it part of the selection of rarities for the $1 USD tier.</div>
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I hope you enjoy the new album. Next month: a seven-track EP (really, this time!) called <i>Deviant Angels</i> showcasing more of my EDM side. Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-27123524286807030212019-12-18T09:41:00.000-08:002020-01-19T09:20:41.795-08:00Black Leather and Sugarcane<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1367594494/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/black-leather-and-sugarcane">Black Leather and Sugarcane by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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I can't believe this is album number nine! I look back, and I've come so far. I'd say my composing has gotten much more skilled and masterful since, say, <i>Occultation</i>, or even <i>Revolutions</i>. It feels like it started really evolving with my sixth album, <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, when I consciously started attempting a more neoclassical tone. In that way, it feels like my sixth album should have been my first, but then we wouldn't have songs such as "Slowly Scooting Closer" and "The Cloud Walkers," and we couldn't have that, could we? No, my songwriting has been growing at its own pace and produced many gems along the way, but it has been growing, and I think with this album I've produced some of my best work yet. When I felt that <i>Saturn Ascending</i> was right up there with <i>Dialectical Observations</i> as one of my favorite things I'd ever done, I felt I was making a major achievement. And now I feel I've created another comparable album.</div>
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There's a certain amount of self-congratulating here. I've been incredibly persistent with this music business, and because of that persistence, I've been growing as an artist. I've been doing this for almost five years, at which point I plan to measure my success and think seriously about whether I should be devoting so much time and energy into this. But it's the most fulfilling thing I've been doing. There is more to life than music, however. And there are other career paths that could complement my music. I've thought a lot about a sound engineering school in Arizona over the past couple of years. And I have family that wants me to move to Tennessee. There's also friends that want me to move to Brighton, England. But what I really want is a path that will take me back to the Pacific Northwest, or maybe even elsewhere along the United States West Coast. But I'd need a much more lucrative career for that option. And so far, my music hasn't been making me a whole lot of money. Just enough to keep on publishing it, really. But I always hope that something will give and it will gain much wider exposure and recognition.</div>
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I got my 2019 Spotify Wrapped, and that was both encouraging and discouraging. Discouraging because I don't have a ton of followers, but I did reach people in the hundreds across sixty-two countries. If I look at Spotify as only a fraction of my audience, and take into account all the other streaming platforms, then I think I could be moderately impressed with myself. I get weekly feedback from Apple Music, and those numbers always amuse and impress me. My songs get Shazamed quite a bit, and it's funny to me which ones are enjoying the most popularity, because it's often unexpected. Okay, "Fleeting Fractals" is kind of a given, as my most popular song, but "Man Seeking Cocoon"? And "Roundabout"? Those are kind of out of left field.</div>
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But this is all numbers. The true measure of my success is that I touch some lives, that my music is genuinely adored by some, and that it fulfills me to create it.</div>
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And so here we are nine albums later. This wasn't even supposed to be an album. You know my formula is usually to release two EPs, and then a full-length album. But this has been a busy season of songwriting for me. I had seven songs and the release date set. Those seven songs were "Jade's Theme," "Milkweed," "My Secret Life," "Allure," "Germing," "Causality," and "Discordia." But in rare form, I wrote "Empathica" and "The White Lands" each in one day, and I <b>really</b> wanted them to have a place on the EP. But if it was truly going to be an EP, I should limit it to seven tracks, and so then I would have to choose two to replace. That was proving to be a really hard decision, so I thought maybe I should just release a nine-track album. After all, <i>Dialectical Observations</i> is only nine tracks. But there were also certain songs from the EP <i>Compromises</i> that I wanted to include on a full-length album: "For Simplicity's Sake," "What the Hell," and "Bare Arms." With those three songs, I could have a respectable twelve-track album. So I put it to a vote on Facebook: seven tracks, nine tracks, or twelve tracks. Everyone voted twelve, including my reason for releasing the album on the 18th.</div>
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Yes, this album goes out to a special someone, one of my oldest friends and sometimes lover, Bryant Mansell. I love you, man. Happy birthday. Thanks for all the years.</div>
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I have to confess, though, that this version of "Jade's Theme" was written for my mom's birthday. There's a longer version of it that transitions from the cello into the usual piano. For the purposes of this album, though, I kept it short and eerie. It seemed strange to me not to transition into something fast-paced and harder hitting, but "Bare Arms" was a natural fit, also being slow and somewhat eerie, and I do believe it introduces the piano and electronic elements of the album rather well. And I introduce the guitars and the more metallic elements of the album next in "Milkweed." After that, the album switches moods from song to song, and I just based the transitions on how well the beginnings and ends of songs fit together.</div>
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It may not sound like it, but the inspiration for "For Simplicity's Sake" and "Causality" were actually taken from the same piece of music, a simple piano theme that plays on the DVD menu of season one of <i>Falling Skies</i>. I guess "For Simplicity's Sake" just took it in a lighter direction, and "Causality" in a darker and harder direction.</div>
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For this album, I drew inspiration from other songs of mine, sometimes recycling piano riffs. For example, "Discordia" revolves around a brief interlude from "Germing." "The White Lands" comes from the closing refrain of "Empathica." "My Secret Life" comes from the opening notes of "Dark Highways." I don't think of this as regurgitating more of the same. This is more like the further exploration of certain themes. Each of these songs became something completely different than their source material. "My Secret Life" is probably most similar to "Dark Highways," but it goes in a radically metallic direction, inspired by Nine Inch Nails. I also took a page from "What the Hell" and translated the piano to electric guitar in two octaves. </div>
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Speaking of which, I remastered "What the Hell" for this album, focusing specifically on trying to clarify that there are two electric guitars in two octaves at work during its initial hardcore burst. I also remastered "Bare Arms" for this album to try and bring out the bass synth a bit more, and an electronic "blat" that inserts itself in lines of the percussion.</div>
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"Discordia," "What the Hell," and "My Secret Life" are probably this album's "hardcore" songs. There's metallic elements in other songs, but no straight-up metal interludes. For example, there's heavy guitar in "Empathica," but that's more of a trip-hop song, heavily inspired by beats by Thom Yorke. "Allure" has percussive distorted guitar, but it's definitely a neoclassical tune, with its own trip-hoppy beat and heavy bass synth. "Germing" has an electric guitar solo and a few chords, but is again a straightforward neoclassical ballad. And "Causality" has a hard rock solo, but definitely leans toward darker trip-hop.</div>
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If you've read Stephen King's <i>The Dark Tower</i> series, you may note that a few of the song titles are taken from settings in those books. The series got me through one of the darkest periods of my life, when I was largely couch-bound for over a year after an intense hospitalization. They inspired me to release my debut EP on the 19th of February. Well, I'm rereading the series - on the final book right now - and "Allure," "Discordia," "Empathica," and "The White Lands" all owe their titles to settings in the books.</div>
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I had this album all set to go by December 5th, hoping to get it into the distributor that day, for a simultaneous release across the board. However, it was not to be. To match the cover art for the "My Secret Life" single, I again commissioned artist <a href="http://instagram.com/thetrueshocker" target="_blank">Zach Shattuck</a> for the cover art. However, the art wasn't ready by the 5th. I had backup art by <a href="http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Cyril Rolando</a> in mind, but I really wanted "My Secret Life" and <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane </i>to go together. So I decided to exercise patience and let the chips fall where they may. However, when he told me he could have something ready on the 8th, and then the 9th came, I started to panic. He confessed to me that inspiration had failed to strike him, and offered to let me use something he'd already created instead. I told him to send me something that felt like a fit for the album, and this was one of the options he sent me:</div>
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When I was going to bring out some purple in the image, he got inspired to play with color filters. He came up with the orange starscape that was used in the final cover, chosen because it's a better color match for "My Secret Life" (and because orange is one of my favorite colors).</div>
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Because of the artwork delay, the album wasn't released everywhere at once on midnight of the 18th. Right now you can find it at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lSvyUqKueOZu6dyQ8hG-m3gOIXxAmqCN8" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1VbNxTNveZQg3QBDCxNizj?fbclid=IwAR1lSRWnw4MM2mIiN_wmO2OGMb-aqW8FMGZaDhlv2bYdbXgBrHjAzwbDsQk" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Black_Leather_and_Sugarcane?id=Byabdgealzxqh5cytnydalx76cm" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/black-leather-and-sugarcane/1491689506" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Leather-Sugarcane-Lady/dp/B082S5W1MS/ref=sr_1_2?fbclid=IwAR2VIrH0H8KbM5o5bU8FIKHYe46969FLJ5PF4y7XMceyowyaaqUsXPo-AaI&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1576650297&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/123237892?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-123237892&utm_term=1231076246_1576650756&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/black-leather-and-sugarcane-87153968/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/black-leather-and-sugarcane" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/black-leather-and-sugarcane/ALltrJ9j223z7nw" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/125715855" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</div>
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That's it for now. I already have seven songs written toward a new EP, though not all of them may be included, and others may be written. I've been finishing songs almost within twenty-four hours lately, and writing multiple songs a week. At this rate, I could have another full-length album by February! But I highly doubt I'm going to do that. After skipping an EP in favor of a longer release, I think it's time to do something short and sweet. That could be coming to you as early as sometime in January...I'll have to check friends' birthdays. But for the moment, I'm planning on the anniversary of <i>Sunward/Moonward</i>, February 5th. Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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P.S. Here's a bonus song guaranteed to be on the next EP to make you feel a little extra special!</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-54554852848421796762019-11-30T03:04:00.000-08:002019-11-30T03:13:15.849-08:00My Secret Life<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3315515440/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 522px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/my-secret-life">My Secret Life by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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I wouldn't normally do this until sometime the next day. It's 2:30am right now, and I am equal parts excited and depressed. I'm excited because of this beautiful new single that I have to offer you, and because there's so much more I'm about to give you. It's an exciting time for me, musically. I had enough songs build up that, even being picky, I could hardly <b>not</b> justify an EP, and the title <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i> randomly came to me. Well, another couple of songs burst forth, and I mean <b>burst</b>. Each one was written (first full-length draft) in about a day. So, I had a dilemma of replacing existing songs on a seven-track EP with these two new ones...or releasing a nine-track album? But as long as I was going to release an album, why not just include songs from my last EP <i>Compromises</i> - of which there were three I wanted to include on my next album - for a solid total of twelve tracks? I asked for some feedback, and everyone said "do the twelve-track album." Did I mention I was planning on releasing <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i> on the birthday of one of my oldest and dearest friends? Well, as it turns out, he's getting a twelve-song, full-length album, dedicated to him and released on his birthday. Happy birthday, William Bryant Mansell. I love you.<br />
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But even with all that positivity and good energy, my heart kind of hurts right now. I guess part of it is that I just learned my dear second-mother (of my logical family, as opposed to biological or lawful) is living downstairs from my former flat, and she's looking for an upstairs neighbor. And I'm no position to be moving back to Oregon right now. It would practically be a dream come true if I could. Every time I see ferns on the ground around giant evergreens, with moss and mushrooms all over the place, I think, "Oh, Pacific Northwest, how I miss thee." I know, it's too <b>liberal</b> for everyone in my biological and step family, except for the youngest generation. Me, I'd just like to be in a place more accepting of sexual and gender minorities where there's clean rivers to swim in, and you can smoke pot with your picnic lunch. Plus, there's a bunch of people I miss on the west coast. They might be all spread out now, from San Francisco to Seattle. And I could only afford to live in what were the "redneck" towns when I was growing up. But those redneck towns have changed a lot, and so have I. I could easily see myself fitting back into them now that we've had some time apart, while putting myself back in a position of easy travel to the "gay meccas" on the "left coast."<br />
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I wanted to avoid getting into my political positions. But if I'm honest, that's another part of why I'm depressed. I released this single on the anniversary of another of my singles, "Pulses Intertwined." But "Pulses Intertwined" was released on the anniversary of a very tragic event in my life, and so this is as well. I'm trying to orient the date positively with music, and at least right now I'm not crying and in a dark hole of despair. You see, my older brother killed my father and step-mother with my father's gun on this day. I've spent the last few years living in central Missouri trying to reorient my thinking around firearms. The people who use them or even enthuse over them aren't evil. But my determination to be comfortable around guns has waned - I don't even go practice shooting with my family anymore at our little range next to our house. All I can think of is how much anxiety it causes the dogs, and myself as well. There's just no good that comes of it. But what if a bad guy...? you might say. Yes, so many situations in which a gun might be useful. But they're likelihood doesn't outweigh the consequences or discomfort of living with a firearm for me. When it comes down to it: I just think we're better off without them, and the less guns in the world, the better. And there needs to be an attitude change toward guns. They're not cool and should not be celebrated. They're instruments of death. Let's put our energy into not killing each other or making it easier to kill each other, shall we?<br />
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There, I went ahead and got a little political. Sorry about that. As much as this blog is supposed to be about the music - and I used to promote it as my musician's web site - it's also, well, a <b>blog</b>. It's about my thoughts and feelings as much as anything else. And so it's a bit of a form of therapy. And on days like today, I need a little bit of therapy. Of course, I have music for that, too. I release my music on special days to try and make them more about <b>art</b>. And if I have to release a single on this day every year to make it about my music instead of my feelings about gun violence, then that's what I'll do.<br />
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A little about the writing of this song: I've been getting into recycling piano riffs lately. That's gone a long way toward getting <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i> written. I don't think of it as regurgitating the same thing, but expanding on a theme, like you might hear in a Pink Floyd or Nine Inch Nails album. Of course, this isn't sourced from something else new I've written, but instead comes from <i>Saturn Ascending</i>'s "Dark Highways." The first two chords are from it's arpeggios; then I kind of took it back up and down the scale to a greater extreme, giving it a bit of a "lilt," if you will. And because I was inspired by Nine Inch Nails, I translated that piano to electric guitar, on two octaves. It sort of wanted to go all-out metal after that. In the end, it made an interesting spectrum for this song to exist on: part neoclassical ballad, part heavy metal rocker. With electronic elements, of course, pursuing a post-industrial niche I seem to be carving for myself. It was like that with <i>Saturn Ascending</i>; you'll find it's a little more of the same with <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i>. Hopefully that's a good thing.<br />
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So here's what's going to have to tide you over until <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane </i>on December 18th. "My Secret Life" is available at <a href="https://youtu.be/tB_LyNlqzeA" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3YoLJtwBbU0QraWN5r5xau?fbclid=IwAR1lSRWnw4MM2mIiN_wmO2OGMb-aqW8FMGZaDhlv2bYdbXgBrHjAzwbDsQk" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bffu3yebxmxlz7bkuubgodyeo6a&tid=song-T2cagoivrc7wmvyi7fl45egjhbe" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-secret-life-single/1488224150" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Secret-Life-Lady/dp/B081LN56RD/ref=sr_1_1?fbclid=IwAR2VIrH0H8KbM5o5bU8FIKHYe46969FLJ5PF4y7XMceyowyaaqUsXPo-AaI&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1575096281&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/119361372?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-119361372&utm_term=1231076246_1575099828&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/my-secret-life-84103277/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/my-secret-life" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/122717748" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>. It's also at <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/my-secret-life-single/AL6kd9h5Vgn6zq9" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, which is new! Man, I've submitted and submitted my stuff to Pandora in the past, but their curators always proved too picky. Even when my distributor started distributing to them, they shunned me. So, it was a surprise to me when I Googled "The Lady anoNYMous" (which I now have a measure of control over the results, which prompted this exercise) and there was a Pandora link! Turns out <i>Compromises</i> is good enough for them, and it may have started a trend. So now "My Secret Life" is on Pandora, and hopefully <i>Black Leather and Sugarcane</i> will be too.<br />
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See, there's been some uplifting developments in my world. Missing Oregon and the recent shootings have been sore spots. But the music keeps moving forward, and I largely have you to thank for it. If I wasn't so socially conscious of the origins of Thanksgiving, I would have baked a butternut squash and given thanks to all of you. But instead I was with my mom and step-family, so mine was more the traditional, hang out with people you never see and eat too much kind of affair. I'm not complaining. I've definitely had worse. And there was a lot of puppy entertainment in the form of three large dogs and one very small one. Let's all give thanks for puppies! And that my cats didn't run away because of them.<br />
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I also have to give a big shout of thanks to the wonderful fantastic <a href="http://instagram.com/thetrueshocker" target="_blank">Zach Shattuck</a>. We went to middle school and high school together, and used to be thick as thieves before my gradual descent to dropping out of public school. Out of nowhere, he Facebook messaged me, "Are you The Lady anoNYMous on YouTube?" It turns out he stumbled upon a little album called <i>Dialectical Observations</i> that he rather enjoyed. He threw it out there that if I ever wanted some cover art done... Well, I took him up on it, and this slightly unsettling and very provocative image is what he came up with, based on "My Secret Life." Kind of like watching the devil in a mirror, don't you think? I love it. I think I know what's getting tattooed on my lower back.<br />
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Well, that's about everything I wanted to get you up to date on, and to get off my chest. Thanks for the little rant, and the pining away. As usual, I have a bonus song that I hope makes it worth your while. Enjoy!<br />
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Hang in there these holidays, my lovelies. I know I'm not the only one that has negative associations with them and struggles just to put one foot in front of the other in what everyone else calls "celebration." So I hope my music can be a beacon and a comfort for you. May your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-1919882057955273482019-10-27T08:54:00.001-07:002019-10-27T08:54:18.596-07:00Legends of the Small 2.0<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1BfmrQGksMPjJKxdfwXFlq?si=6kK9t5cyRGCr3LfFOBEJSA" target="_blank">Open the playlist in Spotify.</a></div>
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So, I made this playlist a while ago, but at first I was coming up on the release of my latest EP, <i>Compromises</i>, and then was dealing with the promotional circus for that. Since then, I've had my struggles. I was being plagued by double-vision and random losses of equilibrium, even falling down occasionally. My vision was so bad that I couldn't read, watch TV, or operate a computer. I could sort of compose music by remembering where things are, but I couldn't do any detail work. I couldn't drive myself to my therapy sessions or doctors' appointments; I couldn't do much of anything at all. When I went to visit my sister-in-law's family in Tennessee, I tried to go work at their espresso stand for a day. I couldn't even make out the measurements on the blender from two inches away. It was that night I stopped taking Lamiktal. I'd already been conferring with a new primary care doctor, who took me off of Gabepentin, which seemed to eliminate the dizzy spells and falling over. Then I found that without the Lamiktal I was able to see! However, that's my primary bipolar medication. After a week of not taking it, my mother said I was noticeably more angry and sad. It was a fair trade-off for me though. I'd rather be off of medication and moody than on medication and moody because I can't see!</div>
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Anyway, now my new primary care physician is trying me out on other medications for the same issues, and I find that I trust him and he's more willing to work with me than other doctors I've had. We haven't exactly found the right cocktail yet. But I am keeping in mind that I'll probably always be a little angsty, a little angry, a little depressed and anxious. When my doctor discovered I'm an "artistic type," he remarked that I probably don't want to try and medicate it all away. We can manage it. But my "instability" is likely fuel for my creative fire. And like I said, I doubt I'll ever be entirely without it. I'm not sure medication can even accomplish that. I don't think I'd want it to.</div>
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So the release of <i>Compromises</i> and my own mental health struggles have hindered me a little bit in keeping everything up to date. And there was also that trip to Tennessee, during which I finished writing the upcoming single "My Secret Life," but didn't accomplish anything else music-related. The trip did seem to reaffirm that I might be moving there. It's close to Knoxville, which has a good music scene and is super cute, with a decent liberal population. There actually seems to be a great mix of conservatives and liberals in the area, where I could be a hippie redneck and not stand out too much. Of course, my secret goal is to be a gothic cowboy, but I need to lose weight to pull off my trench coat again, then find a black stetson and some fancy boots. Anyway, Knoxville would probably be good for me, though it could keep me so busy I'd have less time for music. There's a couple of little boys (my sister-in-law's grandsons) who would want to take up my time and energy. They'd be worth it, though. But we'll see how this all unfolds. I won't even know if I'll have a place to live there until February.</div>
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For now, things have calmed down a bit. I'm getting my medication adjusted and getting back into writing new music, with a new single on the way, but I'm between releases. So I've turned my attention back to this playlist that I made before <i>Compromises</i> to showcase my last three albums, <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. It shouldn't be confused with a "best of" album, though I do consider these to be Essential Songs. In a way, it's a continuation of the 47 Essential Songs collection. That's why "Fistfuls of Whimsy" hasn't been included, because it was already on <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>. But there's some songs not included here that I feel are sorely missing, such as "...That Holds Up The Stars." And "Gravity Time Power Love" is an essential little melody that I'm sure I'm not done with yet, but I had to stick with a certain theme here. And that theme is post-industrial neoclassical songs, preferably that <b>rock</b>. Since I felt a rock vibe was essential, non-neoclassical tunes like "Otaku" got snuck in. But for the most part, I wanted this playlist to showcase the neoclassical direction I've taken with <i>Dialectical Observations</i> and onward.</div>
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That mode of songwriting is still sticking with me. You can see it in between the ambient-pop tunes of <i>Compromises</i>. My upcoming single, "My Secret Life," is going to show you how I started with the chords of "Dark Highways" and wrote a metal ballad. I recently finished a song called "Germing" that's along the lines of "Winter's Salve" and "Microcosms." And then there's this bonus tune I'd like to share with you that will most likely accompany the Snail Tunes version of the "My Secret Life" single. This was inspired by the menu music for the season one DVD of <i>Falling Skies</i>, along the same lines as "For Simplicity's Sake."</div>
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I've also written a new version of "Jade's Theme" for my mom's birthday, which is the 28th. I may share that on the next EP, or have it floating around somewhere or other. It turned out really well. I happen to be listening right now to another new song, an ambient-metal guitar piece called "Milkweed," as part of the playlist I've put together for my mom's birthday CD. With the new songs and the songs from <i>Compromises</i> I've included, I definitely have enough for a full-length album. I'm not sure if that's my next step or not. You know, usually I release two EPs as I work my way toward a full-length album. I can't decide if I should break away from that formula this time or not. Probably not...but we'll see. I've got some great new songs that work fantastically alongside the likes of "What the Hell," "For Simplicity's Sake," and "Bare Arms." Another post-industrial neoclassical album is definitely on the way.</div>
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Until then, my dears, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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<b>P.S.</b> If you'd like a download of <i>Legends of the Small 2.0</i>, in a format of your choice, with track art and a PDF booklet, make a pledge at my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>!</div>
The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-75309013900592609242019-09-02T12:33:00.001-07:002019-11-24T12:28:47.448-08:00Compromises<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3298393135/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 753px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/compromises">Compromises by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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As you may know, I try to release my music on dates of significance, or that are at least significant to me. Well, yesterday happened to be my birthday. I released <i>Elemental</i> pretty close to the mark, but for this EP, I landed it right on the 31st, when I turned 37. Not that it felt like a particularly significant birthday, just a year closer to forty. It's okay, most of the lead actors from television shows and movies that I enjoy are around my age or older. Many are in their forties and looking like they're in their prime. So I'm not particularly stressed about inching closer to my forties. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it, though many days I'm not sure I'll get that far. That's my depression and suicidal ideation talking, which you may know I struggle with. They're the reasons I see a psychiatrist, a therapist, and attend group dialectical behavioral therapy sessions. Hopefully they'll help get me through the years. But I'm trying to ween myself off of medications, which may be responsible for my double-vision and dizziness. And my therapist thinks that, if he's doing his job right, I won't need him forever. In dialectical therapy, we graduate to new levels, of which I'm at level two. We work toward loosely formed and loosely structured meetings, that will eventually be determined by the individual as needed. So, I guess I'm saying that I shouldn't depend on therapy or drugs forever, at least I hope not.</div>
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Music is my own form of therapy. It keeps me occupied and optimistic, and keeps me looking forward. Since it doesn't make me much money at this point, it should really be just a hobby. I'm hoping that I'll eventually have a music-related career, such as sound engineering, until I can really call making music my career. Hopefully that will happen someday. But for now, I'm absorbed in making music, which I did almost feverishly over the months since releasing my last album, <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. I came up with eleven songs to choose from for <i>Compromises</i>. I could have made another full-length album, but this felt more like a step toward something that I'm hoping could rival <i>Dialectical Observations </i>and <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. This was more just for fun, to do a little experimentation, and to hone some of the skills I've been developing.</div>
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"The Same Boat" was fun. The piano riff, which the rest of the instrumentation stemmed from, was inspired by the opening of The Dresden Dolls' album <i>Yes, Virginia</i>, "Sex Changes." It was something rapid and hopefully catchy. The next component that was formed from it was the acoustic guitar, which I chose because I hadn't really done some acoustic rhythm guitar in a while, and I'd listened to my old song "Overdrive" recently. Because the piano ended up being in a major key, the guitar sounded kind of bouncy. It looked like I was going to end up with something on a more optimistic note. Because it looked like I was going to have something more acoustic, I chose some acoustic drum kits and used a lot of hand drums. The staccato strings added to this acoustic and bouncy feeling, but then, when I experimented with some synths to flesh this song out, it edged slightly toward an EDM tone, brought on by a rhythmic bass synth. I used a couple synths I'd used many times before: some "resonant cables" and the "transistor choir." However, nothing I could do could take away from this song's bouncy and fun feeling, which was okay with me. In the past it's bothered me when when I ended up composing more optimistic songs, as opposed to something dark or fierce. Not so much anymore. It's nice to do something uplifting to keep my spirits up.</div>
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"The Truth" was just an experiment in using layers of guitars with different distortions. That's something common in music published by Fluttery Records, which is a label I keep sending demos to. I really like almost everything they put out. Whenever I get an email of something new they've published, I immediately look it up on Apple Music, and am thrilled when I can find it and add it to my library. I'm almost never disappointed, and they pretty much always end up in my "Acoustic/Electric/Eclectic" playlist, and sometimes are even added to my "Another Soundtrack for Another Life" playlist. I was mostly inspired by Sleepstream for this song. I came up with a leading riff on some clean electric guitar, then layered a rhythm guitar with some distortion underneath. Copying the lead guitar on piano, I added some acoustic and orchestral notes to this song with some strings. The beats were inspired by the soundtrack to some television show, I can't remember which. I was going for some clicks on a wooden box and on the rim of a snare, but it doesn't really sound like that, does it? That's okay, I came up with an experimental beat that I really liked. So, all in all, this song was a lot of experimentation, and some fun metal in there. I keep on practicing at the metal guitar, as I think it adds a unique flavor to the mostly ambient and neoclassical songs I compose these days. So you'll notice a lot of metal notes to this EP, just like on <i>Saturn Ascending</i>.</div>
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"What the Hell" started out with some acoustic guitar inspired by the blues of the mythic Robert (his last name is different in a different accounts) who supposedly sold his soul to the devil to be the best. This character has been in the books of Charles de Lint, and on the television shows <i>Supernatural </i>and <i>Timeless</i>. I had just watched <i>Timeless</i>. And I came up with an acoustic guitar riff (it's actually two layers of acoustic guitar) that impressed me, and which I found instantly addictive. I thought I would incongruously add some electronic, post-industrial beats, which I programmed in note-by-note. These were a lot of fun. I just had a lot of fun with this song. The first bout of electric guitar was inspired by Nine Inch Nails. I thought adding some furious toms and snare, and some rapid hi-hat, would be fitting. Then I found myself entering a trip-hop interlude, somewhat similar to the restful "space" I inserted into "They Delving" and "Lily White." I gradually worked my way up to the main acoustic guitar riff, only to have it give out to some death-metal inspired electric guitar. It organically gave way to the bass, synths, and drums that had been hiding underneath. Unexpectedly, the acoustic bass, piano, and acoustic guitar from the rest of the song fit over this rapid drumming. This song worked out to be one of my new favorites, which I'll probably send out to radio stations, as soon as I get my act together.</div>
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Another new favorite is "For Simplicity's Sake." As the title suggests, the instrumentation for this song is quite simple. I think the piano for this song was inspired by the theme that plays on the DVD menu of season one of <i>Falling Skies</i>. That theme has also inspired the piano on the song I'm currently working on, "Causality." It's something that I think is elegant and beautiful in it's simplicity. I kept the strings graceful and the beats mellow for this song. The strings became a bit more complex as I layered two cellos, a viola, and a violin. The flute was just thrown in there to provide a simple melody. Can you tell that the theme here is "keep it simple"? Which is what suggested the title.</div>
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"Roundabout" and "Two Sons" were actually composed for <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. But I felt like they didn't fit the more neoclassical theme of the rest of the album, and honestly, they were my two least favorites that I had composed. Don't get me wrong, I think they're both quite good songs. I love the bass riff of "Roundabout" and the piano riffs of "Two Sons." The closing piano of "Two Sons" was actually recycled for "...That Holds Up The Stars" on <i>Saturn Ascending</i>, which is one of my favorite tunes I've ever written. And I felt these songs really needed to be shared. So they were the first and foremost in consideration out of the eleven total for <i>Compromises</i>. They were almost certain to be on it.</div>
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I really like the neoclassical and post-industrial elements of "Bare Arms." It began with the piano and subtler beats. The strings were added to provide some grace notes, and the accentuating violin was inspired by my old song "The Nocturnal Dervish." I've been playing around with the lead bass synth for a while now, which I can manipulate to make a sort of buzzsaw sound, inspired by the bass synth in the Tori Amos song "Cruel" on <i>From the Choirgirl Hotel</i>. I'm note quite sure what inspired the rapid keyboard that underlies the segments of layered piano and strings. That was a sort of experiment that I programmed in, which worked surprisingly well, to my delight. The "wah" keyboard that provides some staccato bursts was inspired by the "wah" sound that opens Tool's "Eulogy" from <i>Aenema</i>. So this song is a lot of experimentation, and draws some inspiration from other artists. It also uses some elements that are becoming pretty common in my songs, such as the mechanical sounds of bass synths and clanking percussion. All in all, it comes close to being one of my favorites, and I think would almost be worthy of <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. It's almost certain to be on my next full-length, along with "What the Hell" and "For Simplicity's Sake."</div>
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On the <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a> edition of this EP, there's two bonus tracks: "Time Power Gravity Love" and "Grounded and High." "Time Power Gravity Love," of course, is another version of "Power Time Gravity Love," for which I translated the cello melody to piano, and the piano to acoustic guitar (with some modification). "Grounded and High" was something old I took off the shelf, which I thought sounded really good and couldn't believe I hadn't run with. Well, I ran with it this time, finishing it with some piano and electric guitar, and switching up the bass riff a little bit. I had a lot of fun with it, and it came close to taking "The Truth"s' place. It was a tough call. So I just had to include it as a bonus track.</div>
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The standard seven-track version of this EP is available at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ko4OHRyc6BTv09JiSff8NlOQ_43IP3h08" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4at8U4Pz5SMFKvjbvcd4nc?si=URBcoQDrQHGNG-pCQGVAFw" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Compomises?id=Bs7oy3klovuwqetznz2v547dbva" target="_blank">Google Play,</a> <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/compomises/1476806949" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Compomises-Lady/dp/B07WJ46LC9/ref=sr_1_1?fbclid=IwAR2y2gTYgD5e_3E9cLHSfhuilFeBF_IcfFXbBH_WPZjFbbXWIlzrrf8vz8E&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1567371256&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/107689382?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-107689382&utm_term=1231076246_1573578085&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/compomises/ALj7hzcJkznlqz6" target="_blank">Pandora</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/compomises-78394986/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/compomises" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/115585212" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</div>
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As usual, I like to leave you all with a little something special. So here's one of the tracks that didn't make it onto the EP. I tried to come up with a little electronic piano riff that I could recycle, but I think it's a little too bouncy and optimistic. And some of the experimental synths, oddly inspired by Nine Inch Nails, didn't really work for me in the end. But there's some things I really like about it, such as the metal guitars. And some of the techniques and sounds used in this song might pave the way for others. It did come really close to being on the EP or used as one of the bonus tracks. But for now, I think I'll just leave it as a rarity.</div>
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I still have in mind to do a review of Lorenzo Masotto's latest album,<i> <a href="http://lorenzomasotto.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Frames</a></i>, and IAMWARFACE put out their debut album (finally!) <i>Year of the Dragon</i>, so there's that too. For now I have to focus on the promotional circus for <i>Compromises</i>. There's tweets to be fired out there, ISRCs to register with SoundExchange, songs to be sent to radio stations and hosts, and the daily link posts and Jukebox posts on my <a href="http://facebook.com/thladyanonymous" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. But until the next article, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-24212909352974857982019-07-08T20:38:00.000-07:002019-09-01T13:32:51.105-07:00Three Essential Playlists<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fourth of July has come and gone, thank the gods. It's not that I dislike the holiday, really. The representation of war that fireworks emulate is a bit off-putting, as are the loud noises and the negative effect they have on some animals and those with certain kinds of PTSD, but I like pyrotechnics. The fireworks themselves give me a certain amount of glee. And I appreciate the independence this country enjoys and was fought hard for. What I didn't enjoy this year was the "shoot'nic" my parents put on, inviting their friends to come on over, eat meat, and shoot guns. I was outspoken about the anxiety guns give me (for good and very personal reasons) and our dogs. But I was overruled, of course, so the "games" commenced, along with loud music with country artists singing about how proud they were to be rednecks and white trash - that's not me slandering those folks, it's their own words. I don't really have anything against the music itself. I just prefer "alternative country" artists that sing about real issues, and bluegrass.<br />
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I participated in the lunch, which I enjoyed (I brought vegetarian options for myself) and then the families with children left, along with those who didn't think to bring their own ear protection. Then I spent most of my time inside, along with my mom and an older lady that I figured she felt obligated to keep company. I was also functioning on three-to-four hours of sleep, so I went and laid down part of the time. Thanks to Gabepentin and Propranolol, I wasn't too anxious, and I also witnessed part of the gun action. Watching the shooting take place oddly alleviates my anxiety a little.</div>
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Our big dog, Rocko, spent his time on my bed, huddled up against me. But I couldn't figure out why our little dog, Sheila, hadn't joined us. One of my worst fears for the day came true: somehow Sheila had gotten out and had run away. But they kept on shooting, even though she obviously wouldn't come back while the loud noises continued. Once everyone had left, the rest of the day was spent searching our thirty-three acres and along the highway that our house sits on for our lost pup. We had no success, and as night approached so did a thunder-and-lightning storm. Thunder is another of Sheila's fears, and I worried, as I laid awake all night, that we would never find her after that. It was also pouring rain, so I had images in my head of her soaked, shivering, and afraid. I'm surprised that I ever fell asleep, but thanks to Seroquel, I did. In my dreams, I kept visiting different scenarios in which we found her, and when I was woken the next day, it was with the wonderful news that my parents found Sheila on the neighbors' property; soaked and shivering, yes, but whole and safe. I just hope that this will be a lesson to my parents: no more fourth of July parties, especially with firearms or fireworks. Our dogs don't deserve it.</div>
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Before and after the holiday has seen me hard at work. I've completed eight songs since the release of <i>Saturn Ascending</i>, on top of the two that I cut from the album. The new EP is well on its way. I'll be cutting some songs from it and probably narrow it down to the old requisite of seven tracks. But this is just one project I've been working on. I've also been creating a playlist of songs from the three albums in which I've taken a more neoclassical path, <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and <i>Saturn Ascending</i>. It looks like it's going to be twenty tracks. I'm trying not to think of it as a "best of" album. That's gotten me into trouble before.</div>
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Previously, I tried to make a "best of" album of songs released between May 2015 and August 2016, beginning with the album <i>Occultation</i> and cutting off at the EP <i>Elemental</i>, with four exceptions of newer versions of older songs. I limited it to twenty songs; it's a nice round number and only a little excessive for a full-length album. It was called <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>, and for a long time there was just a downloadable demo at my<a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank"> Patreon</a>. When I signed on with my ex-label, Rehegoo Music, it was a catalyst for finally releasing it to the public. To not make it overwhelming, it was split into two parts. It contained my most popular radio "hits," such as "The Last Waltz" and "Darkest Dreams." There are also a few personal favorites, such as "Fervens" and "Safe in Cars." Four songs that had to be on there were "Introducing..."/"Jade's Theme," "Winter's Salve," "The Nocturnal Dervish," and "Fistfuls of Whimsy," all of which had more recent versions recorded. I slipped the "Alternate III," version of "Introducing..." in there, along with the "Simplified Mix" of "The Nocturnal Dervish," the new definitive version of "Winter's Salve," and the "Alternate Spin" of "Fistfuls of Whimsy." That's how you'll find it at <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rRtMUVMgMIxTZFc6Rg297?fbclid=IwAR1F99GwXmAyT1B8nHy2h2dHd6HH1retpTAqLIwaXTAvEMGPiZtt4fkQepo" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/artist?id=A7pcq4hshtyqtaaxda6jmxdsl5e" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-lady-anonymous/id996366859?fbclid=IwAR1BJqeYjnK5w85_dM_aSXfwR6K8tc4IgzOG7BHjoUL1trIaeO1Oh5DYbww" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Lady+Anonymous&i=digital-music&search-type=ss&ref=ntt_srch_drd_B00XY8I94O" target="_blank">Amazon and Amazon Music Unlimited</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/artist/7954808?fbclid=IwAR3vNmAFOJC_kBElDC0JbY640ynP1_bVo2VlsH82_OlZ2dzXqmZdAZI0XCg" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous?fbclid=IwAR04LPB_sKeckmIJXmiyU6c2b7IM8xyz14saEhfem9LEfDGzfswgOgroErc" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/artist/6849237?fbclid=IwAR3M-4XO9YbDSSw8GAGP8prUYq8Z8D9Gf3C_UFc7yZkt2Xp0Pu9Hw3Rfc3k" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>. A "Simpler Mix" of "The Nocturnal Dervish" that I like better has been recorded since, so I replaced the "Simplified Mix" with it at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp store</a>.</div>
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Rehegoo didn't distribute <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> to YouTube - I keenly felt its absence and was disappointed that it wasn't accessible on what has become the leading method of the free streaming of music. So I put together a playlist myself. It consisted of my own uploads to YouTube, for which I don't receive royalties. Well, Google Play has been phasing out its music division in favor of YouTube Music, and in the process emailed all of its artists, of which I am an "official" one, of this change. They suggested artists email YouTube and verify themselves for that site, which I did. In doing this, I up-jumped my personal YouTube channel to my "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmjm_L_L3rh2ZIbC4CQptOA/featured?disable_polymer=1" target="_blank">official artist channel</a>," and had all of DistroKid's uploads of my music transferred to it. Now, for these uploads I <b>do</b> receive streaming royalties, and this motivated me to replace all the videos in the <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> playlist with my DistroKid videos. So here you have the "official" playlist of <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>.</div>
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Limiting the track list to twenty songs was too, well, <i>limiting</i>. I became dissatisfied with <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>. There were too many songs among a hundred-plus that feel essential to representing that busy time period, that were left out. Because of that, I constructed a <i>Companion</i> album of twenty more songs, again with some of the more popular tunes, plus a few personal favorites. This album accompanied downloads of <i>Nothing Left To Lose </i>as rewards for pledging at my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. But when I revamped my <i>Nothing Left To Lose </i>playlist at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmjm_L_L3rh2ZIbC4CQptOA/featured?disable_polymer=1" target="_blank">my YouTube channel</a>, it felt like the right time to make the <i>Companion</i> freely available for streaming well. After all, you can already stream all of its songs for free. They just weren't collected together in the <i>Companion</i>'s presentation, and I wanted people to have access to these essential songs in one place. So here's the <i>Nothing Left To Lose Companion</i> as a YouTube playlist.</div>
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Again, I felt slightly limited. There were just a few songs missing that felt should be a part of this Essential Songs collection. I made a small <i>Addendum</i> that I filled out to the old seven-track requisite. Because of the short length of this EP, I decided to make downloads of it freely available at my <a href="http://noisetrade.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">NoiseTrade page</a>. And as long as I was making <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> and its <i>Companion</i> free to stream at my YouTube channel, I made a playlist of the final installment of the 47 Essential Songs collection.</div>
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So that wraps that up. However, I always like to leave you guys with something special, so here's another track that's almost certainly going to be on the upcoming EP, currently called <i>Compromising </i>(or <i>Comprises</i>?), that was cu from <i>Saturn Ascending</i>.<br />
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I hope this, and "Roundabout" in the <a href="http://youhavefailedus.blogspot.com/2019/05/saturn-ascends.html" target="_blank">article for <i>Saturn Ascending</i></a>, has you looking forward to the upcoming EP. My next article, if I get my act together, will be focusing on Lorenzo Masotto's new album, <i><a href="https://lorenzomasotto.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Frames</a></i>, but if I don't get around to it, I strongly urge you to give it a listen, and if that moves you, to buy it and support this amazing composer. Until then (or the next EP) may your inner snails main resilient and determined.<br />
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<b>UPDATE:</b> The 47 Essential Songs are now at Spotify. <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> Parts <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4HUdUYP9kjfCB7avGQybua?si=guqYZfRrQnu4wwlnTTvaCg" target="_blank">1</a> and <a href="spotify:album:6UMJwS87m3QPu6Uo0W2gdu" target="_blank">2</a> were already there, but now the <i><a href="spotify:playlist:3pDZGJaxaCDiro64qnNRLT" target="_blank">Nothing Left To Lose Companion</a> </i>album and <i><a href="spotify:playlist:1hEJu3BFE02W2OwfV6D7Un" target="_blank">Addendum</a> </i>are now playlists.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-44919519571996071922019-05-02T12:49:00.001-07:002019-05-02T12:49:20.333-07:00Saturn Ascends<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3585225640/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/saturn-ascending">Saturn Ascending by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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I've been a medical mess lately, now with horrible recurring double vision (sometimes triple and quadruple) that has everyone mystified. I've seen my primary care, an optometrist, and an ophthalmologist about it, and all anyone's been able to say about it is, "Your eyes are really screwed up." Like, I know, that's why I'm seeing all these doctors about it! It's been interfering with my ability to work, watch or work on anything with a screen, and to drive.</div>
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I'm also getting tremors in my neck and hands. I could barely hold onto my phone the other day. So I just saw my neurologist about it, and he wants my back and brain scanned. My brain was just scanned about two months ago for the double vision.. No abnormalities, but what the hell. Now he's looking for a new problem. I'm already due for an MRI on my liver...maybe I can get them to do everything at once.</div>
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But whenever I can, I've been busy writing new songs, and now, not even a year after <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, I'm putting out my eighth full length album! Combined, <i>Sunward</i> and <i>Moonward</i> could have counted, but they didn't really have meshing themes. Well, I've continued down the path that led to <i>Moonward</i>, and now I have <i>Saturn Ascending</i>, which is my favorite thing I've done since <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, almost one-upping it. It's hard to say it's my favorite thing I've <i>ever</i> done, but it's damned close.</div>
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It all started with "Pulses Intertwined," which I was able to include on the extended version of <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and then released as a single on November 30th of last year. That song represented a radical change in my songwriting. I was still on the neoclassical path that led to <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, but after the strings-oriented songs of that album, I returned to my first love, the piano. But the neoclassical riff I wrote demanded abrasive synths, electronic beats, and crunchy guitars, giving it a post-industrial vibe I hadn't really explored since <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. Almost directly afterward, I wrote its siblings "Pierced Heart" and "Dark Highways," both of which had the neoclassical piano, and post-industrial vibes. I was able to include them on an extended version of the single for "Pulses Intertwined."</div>
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I started writing more songs of the same style for the EP <i>Moonward</i>, and it turned out five of <i>Moonward</i>'s songs were to be included on the upcoming album. I wrote more songs of the same ilk, specifically "Naiads and Dryads" and "Charmed, I'm Sure," both of which have an optimistic tone, but continue down a path of synths and electric guitars. "Naiads and Dryads" is more of a ballad, but "Charmed" has a streak of metal running through it. I was inspired by two older songs for these: "The Cloud Walkers" for "Charmed, I'm Sure," and "The Nocturnal Dervish" for "Naiads and Dryads." Mostly the piano in both cases. I also happened to be working on new versions of the "Dervish" at the time, and it got me switching riffs and variations for the piano on "Dryads," and got me putting in some of my "theremin" in there as well.</div>
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It turns out that almost all of the new songs I was writing had some sort of synths melody in them. There's three different bases for the customized synths. One is the "theremin," was is "hip-hop," and the other is "soprano vocals." At least, that's what they turn into once I've turned the dials and knobs. Actually, when I look over the track list, there's not that many. It's just "Pulsar Song," "Dark Highways," "Naiads and Dryads," and "Charmed, I'm Sure" (which really only has it in short bursts).</div>
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Let me delve some more into the inspiration for some of these songs. "The Pantheon..." is based on a little ditty I played in my early teens. I was taught it by my on-and-off girlfriend in middle school and high school. I know, a girlfriend, right? She thought it made a lot of sense when I came out of the closet. I'm still in touch with her: she called, somewhat in a panic, when her daughter came out as a lesbian. I know, a daughter old enough to come out. Sigh. I am thirty-six, you know.</div>
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Anyway, that ditty has stuck with me, and is the basis for some other songs, specifically "Jaded" and "Self-Righteous." But this is the first time I've played it all the way through. I think the accompanying beats and cello I wrote are pretty kick ass, and the experimental synth that provides some rhythm midway through is pretty interesting. But I was honestly pretty iffy as to whether or not this song would be on the album. I had two playlists going, and one began with "...That Holds Up The Stars" renamed "The Pantheon That Holds Up The Stars." But after playing the piano backward and forward and switching pieces of it down an octave, I did some editing that added a few notes. Those additional notes reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the song, and after upping the tempo, it became pretty concrete that "The Pantheon..." would begin the album.</div>
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"...That Holds Up The Stars" is based on four chords I thought were particularly beautiful, that concluded another song, "Two Sons," which didn't make it onto the album. Well, "Sons" is actually a bonus track on the Snail Tunes version. Anyway, I got a kick-ass beat to go with "Stars," and its fate to be on the album was sealed from there. The rest of it wasn't very hard to write. I wrote an accompanying piano melody, and layer by layer it came together. Like I said, it almost started the album. Instead, it became an extreme one-eighty from the opening track. Together, they're pretty incongruous, yet I thought it was a pretty amusing pairing.</div>
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"Elation" became an almost new song to me once I edited the violin melody. The change is probably pretty imperceptible to most people. I just nudged a couple of lines back a little bit so they were better timed with the rest of the instrumentation. It made a world of difference to me, though. It's funny, I wasn't entirely convinced of this song when I put it on <i>Moonward</i>, yet it grew on me more and more, and it's streak of metal cemented its place on this album, as almost every song has a similar streak. I'm pretty enthusiastic about this song now, and it pairs very well with "Charmed, I'm Sure," Both songs have pretty optimistic tones. For as much as this album is post-industrial and metallic, overall it's a pretty light-hearted record. I hope that strikes a chord with my friends, family, and followers.</div>
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"In The Beginning" almost didn't make it onto the album, but I wanted to show off the rapid-fire piano that streaks through the middle and the electric guitars that conclude them. The problem was pretty much the beginning, which was really hard to come up with. It was a stroke of pure inspiration to place the climactic strings - that run through a repeat of a piano riff and electric guitars - at the beginning. That seemed to solve the problem, and it convinced me to include this song on the album.</div>
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"The First Time I Woke Up..." is one of my favorite things I've ever written. Some might find the opening synth a bit piercing - I turned the treble way down to the point I think it actually works. But it gives the song an ambience, with alternations with a bass synth, that I absolutely love. It's one of the most ambient things I've ever written, and I find it very soothing to my soul. Even the metal guitars are very soothing to me. Though I used to be a metal-head, I've never found metal to be particularly soothing. Maybe some post-metal instrumentals. Mostly I find it abrasive and energizing. But here it relaxes me, and also earns its place on the album. I thought it would make a great conclusion, giving it a soft landing. I like soft landings. They cushion the particularly energetic songs that come before. This album may have a pretty ambient beginning, but just like <i>Moonward</i> it builds in energy as it progresses. So landing in an ambient cloud sort of bookends the album.</div>
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Two pretty notable songs didn't make it into the main body of the album. They had a place in the playlist, but I thought they didn't mesh well with the overall theme. Here you can give one of the songs a listen and judge for yourself:</div>
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"Roundabout" and "Two Sons" are included as bonus tracks on the <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/saturn-ascending" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a> version of the album. The standard version can be found at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lZcjvKyAK0q2TcBuBnoc02QPSWbHJ8MHo" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7C6flepPXTam6MV3xdlenG?fbclid=IwAR1F99GwXmAyT1B8nHy2h2dHd6HH1retpTAqLIwaXTAvEMGPiZtt4fkQepo" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Saturn_Ascending?id=Bpy6xojd7zvm32zxztqbbsq7uti" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-lady-anonymous/id996366859?fbclid=IwAR1BJqeYjnK5w85_dM_aSXfwR6K8tc4IgzOG7BHjoUL1trIaeO1Oh5DYbww" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/saturn-ascending/1460286039" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saturn-Ascending-Lady/dp/B07R1H5TBQ/ref=sr_1_1?fbclid=IwAR2zAd5AapVOkd1JOI-Ib1eojJCd7R8bT6ChLESf7lZpeRBSsmC08BsE7Xw&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1556726021&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon and Amazon Music Unlimited</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/94166852?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-94166852&utm_term=1231076246_1556726148&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/saturn-ascending-72372587/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/saturn-ascending" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/107924981" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</div>
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I'm having pretty bad double-vision as I'm typing this, so I'm going to wrap it up. Thank you for all your support, and I hope you enjoy the new album. May your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-77727898174782971172019-03-14T14:34:00.002-07:002019-03-29T15:06:19.329-07:00The Nocturnal Dervish Lives!<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3757367890/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 555px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/the-nocturnal-dervish-20-2">The Nocturnal Dervish 2.0 by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe>
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Man, February was a busy month. After publishing <i>Sunward</i> and <i>Moonward</i>, going through all the post-publication processes, and the promotional circus, I had the fourth anniversary of my debut EP, <i>Progress Report</i> (no longer available) on the 19th. Four years since I hit the "publish" button at <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> and made my art accessible to the world. That was such a big step to take. I think every artist struggles with the "am I good enough" self-questioning, and then taking the leap to making their art public is the hardest step they're going to take. That's when I knew an album titled <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> was down the road, because I literally had nothing left to lose - I was at a low point in my life - when I made that decision. It was also a reference to "Me and Bobby McGee." Aaah, but how freeing is having nothing left to lose and making a giant leap that'll make you fall no further down than you already are.</div>
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So here I am four years later, having created seven widely distributed albums, and developed my techniques and evolved with my craft along the way. I think I've seriously come a long way in how I create, and what I create. So I decided to let people freely have the best - or most popular - of my creations, at least up to the point of <i>Cognitive Behavioral Therapy</i>. This was eight tracks, including "The Last Waltz," "Slowly Scooting Closer," "Darkest Dreams," "Simplify," "The Seventh Swan," "Wrong Pocket Kinda Day," and "The Cloud Walkers (Selenophilia Spin)." As usual, I had it up at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a> page for a week, then transferred it over to my <a href="http://noisetrade.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">NoiseTrade</a> page to sit alongside all the other free downloads I have on offer, including the previous three anniversary EPs. You can stream and download this year's gift,<i> Momentum</i>, <a href="https://noisetrade.com/theladyanonymous/momentum" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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I'd gotten a lot of work done up to the point of <i>Sunward</i> and <i>Moonward </i>- fourteen tracks between them - and I've written and recorded even more songs since those EPs' release on February 5th. There's "Naiads and Dryads," "Charmed, I'm Sure," "Roundabout," "The Pantheon...," "...That Holds Up The Stars," "The First Time I Woke Up...," and "Two Sons." These are all written for the upcoming full-length album, <i>Saturn Ascending</i>, that I'm planning to release on May 1st. I've thought about trimming the current playlist, except it all flows together really well. It also includes songs from <i>Moonward</i>. It's a post-industrial album, so the more acoustic and mellow songs of <i>Sunward</i> don't really have a place on it. They don't fit with the overall tone. So what I've got is somewhat pretty, but harder and edgier than <i>Sunward</i>'s songs. I'm really happy with how the album is turning out. I think it may be my best yet, even replacing <i>Dialectical Observations</i> as my favorite thing I've ever done. We'll see. <i>Dialectical </i>is pretty hard to beat.</div>
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While I was working on all of this, between songs, I was also working on new versions of "The Nocturnal Dervish." I'd known pretty much since publishing the "Simplified Mix" that my work with "Dervish" didn't end there. There were things about the "Simplified Mix" that rubbed me the wrong way, to the point where I couldn't decide if it really contended with the original version or not. The "surprises" that I snuck in there - some extra beats and effects, some changes in the bass - didn't sound that good to me in retrospect. And around the time I decided to include it on <i>Nothing Left To Lose -</i> which I distributed through a label I briefly flirted with, Rehegoo Music - I found the drum tracks overwhelming. And the point of the "Simplified Mix" was to, well, <b>simplify</b> them. It did that, but they were too loud and heavy. So I went into creating a new version with mostly that in mind.</div>
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But what I started with was combing through the piano tracks and nudging notes this way and that. I didn't want them to sound perfect. The original song was from a time when I wanted to record only that which I could perform live. However, my neuropathy makes the prospect of performing live impossible, so I eventually decided to embrace being a composer, rather than a rock performer. But back then, everything was raw and a little sloppy. I wanted to stay true to the original, so I did only light editing. I decided not to fuck with the strings and synths. They'd stood the test of time very well, and I didn't want to ruin a good thing. I just nudged a string at the end to a point where it harmonized better, and changed and rerecorded the final piano chords - I think it's the best ending yet. Then I started in on the drum tracks. In some placed, I simplified the beats even further when I thought they muddied the overall sound. In every segment I toned them down, or just moved the bass beats down a notch or two. I also turned down the volume on all the drum tracks (there are three). I carefully balanced them as best I could. And I messed with the volume, echo, and reverb of the other tracks as well. I pretty much remastered the entire song. What I ended up with is, hands down, my favorite version of "Dervish" yet, and I'm very happy to have this "Simpler Mix" to present to you.</div>
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Now, I was inspired by the recent work I'd done with "Naked" and "Acoustic" versions of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?," "Pulses Intertwined," and "Pierced Heart." I'd been experimenting with seeing if songs, with more of a neoclassical structure and piano vibe to them, could stand on their own without the electric guitars, synths, and electronic beats. I thought those three songs did so rather well, and I was pretty certain that "The Nocturnal Dervish" would as well. First I stripped down the new "Simpler Mix," leaving just the piano, strings, and that one "theremin"-like synth that's essential to the melody of a section. It sounded great, and after some remastering, I had a beautiful "Naked" version. Then I recorded beats of an acoustic nature, focusing on hand drums, toms, and an acoustic rock kit. It was a long process. A lot of thought, experimentation, and deleting and rerecording went into it. I moved forward and backward, side-to-side. After I thought I'd finished it, I listened to it a few times, then went back and changed it. But eventually it settled and I felt like I had a perfect "acoustic" version. Then I went through the remastering process again. And I went back and remastered the "Naked" version. I went through that process with these two versions a few times before I decided I could upload them to the distributor, with two weeks before publication to ensure they would be released at midnight on all streaming platforms and online stores, in all time zones, at midnight, on March 13th. I picked the 13th because it was the two-year anniversary of the EP <i>Counterbalance</i>. I try to release my work on dates that are significant to me.</div>
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March has kind of sucked for me. I have sever neuropathy and I ran out of Lyrica. I didn't know how much it would debilitate me, but I was left hardly able to stand and with so little dexterity in my fingers that it was hard to type, let alone compose. My feet felt like they were aching, burning, or I was numb from the knees down. And I couldn't get through to my neurologist for about a week. So I was left only able to watch TV, and try to sleep when I could. Distract, they say, is a valuable coping tool in dialectical therapy. Well, I did a lot of trying to distract myself. And I went a week without being able to work, though I came up with some ideas. There are beautiful chords that wrapp up the new song "Two Sons" that I felt I could develop into a whole new song. There was a change in the beats of "The Pantheon..." (then simply called "Pantheon") that I wanted to try. But I had to wait until I could get Lyrica again. Gabapentin and Tramodol were helping with the pain, but not really managing it. This was a tough time to be me. Afterward, however, I implemented the change in "The Pantheon..." and wrote "...That Holds Up The Stars." Combined, hey make a beautiful opening to <i>Saturn Ascending</i>.</div>
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March 13th finally came around and <i>The Nocturnal Dervish 2.0</i> was released, as planned, across the board in respective timezones at midnight. I clicked the "publish" button on<a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/the-nocturnal-dervish-20-2" target="_blank"> Bandcamp</a> at midnight in my own timezone, and now you can find it at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_msjJE_KPSVrZmH5aCxzwr0l8Su-_vYpgA" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7GfqunniRkYLrRb2VXjjtz" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_The_Nocturnal_Dervish_2_0?id=Beqrns2jksdbh73ihto3v775yye" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-nocturnal-dervish-2-0-single/1454963179" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nocturnal-Dervish-2-0-Lady/dp/B07P6CWBHV/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1552456328&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon and Amazon Music Unlimited</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/89180392?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-89180392&utm_term=1231076246_1552490845&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/the-nocturnal-dervish-20-69969233/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/the-nocturnal-dervish-20" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="http://tidal.com/browse/album/105127411" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>. Here we are now, the following day, with the promotional circus on a roll. I still have post-publishing work to do. It needs all the proper tagging, and the ISRCs need to be registered. With only three tracks, this should be easy. <a href="http://facebook.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Facebook</a> was fucking up yesterday, so I lost a whole day of promoting there, but I was able to publish on <a href="https://plus.google.com/+YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">Google Plus</a> (which will sadly be going away on April 22nd) and now I'm catching Facebook up. And this blog article should tell you everything you need to know!</div>
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Before I leave you, here's a special treat: "Naiads and Dryads," I think my most "finished" song for <i>Saturn Ascending</i>.<br />
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Farewell for now and, as always, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-67572335852340870492019-02-06T15:18:00.001-08:002019-02-16T17:01:18.603-08:00Ever Sunward and Moonward<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2433745177/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 720px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/sunward">Sunward by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe><br /></div>
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It's been a busy Fall and Winter, coming on the heels of my last full-length album, <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. I've always had some project or other keeping me busy as the cold has been keeping me indoors. And, for the most part, I've been really <i>inspired</i>. Even before <i>Pattern Recognition</i> was published, during the window between sending it in to my distributor and publication, I had new songs going. When I was less busy writing for the album, I kept myself going by taking on a challenge my step-dad put to me. He's often asked me how I expect to get a job composing for film or television if I don't have a soundtrack to submit. I've often thought that some filmmaker would hear my work, get interested, and hire me on, because it's kind of a chicken-or-the-egg thing, right? How do I write a soundtrack to something unless I get hired to do it. Well, my step-dad's suggestion has been to make some sort of sample. Edit some video together or shoot something, then score it. He also put forth a particular challenge: to score his favorite poem, "Ulysses," by Alfred Tennyson.</div>
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I was coming off an album that was largely ambient-neoclassical, with less weird synths and electric guitars than I usually use. I'd placed a lot of focus on strings arrangements, but I found myself returning to the piano. I'd been heading down a more acoustic path, and that's what I felt would fit well with a "soundtrack" vibe. I was also asked by my step-dad to "keep in mind you aren't writing for twenty-somethings." I didn't point out that most twenty-somethings don't listen to instrumental music. I've taken a look at the demographics on streaming sites and found that my music mostly appeals to the 40-50 age range. But, well, he's in his late seventies, and I've always been somewhat ahead of my time, so I guess we meet in the middle somewhere, right? Anyway, I decided to write something that's a bit different for me, and to keep a mostly acoustic mindset.</div>
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"Ulysses" has a lot of mariner-and-the-sea metaphors and imagery going on, so I felt immediately pulled in the direction of using swelling strings to convey the sea, and to use tinkling plucked guitar strings for the wind. I kept things simple, swelling and ebbing at first, but I feel the poem gradually builds in intensity. So I had simple acoustic drums and piano building in complexity. From listening to other soundtracks, I decided I need to use rapid staccato strings more in my music. So they help bring the song to its crescendo. I had the criticism that the song builds and doesn't really go anywhere. I felt that was kind of unjust, as I feel the climax and its conclusion are satisfying, but eh, to each their own, right? Every opinion is valid (unless it's not mine).</div>
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There was the thought of inserting a voiceover of the poem in the song. I was on the fence about it, even put it forth to a British friend (the voice has to be British, you see) but I guess he was busy at the time. I thought of turning to a friend who's a radio personality with a voice for it - I really didn't want to do the reading myself. Anyway, he isn't British. Nothing really panned out, and like I said, I was on the fence about it anyway. In the end, I decided to let the music stand on its own. I never did share it with my step-dad. His point was that I send it to filmmakers. I also learned later that he was thinking of twenty minutes of music for every couple of lines, which would make it longer than any motion picture length score, and I had written three minutes of music for a poem it would take less than three minutes to recite. So, different expectations, you know? I haven't sent it to any filmmakers, or outright said it was a soundtrack for a poem, except for here and now, and in posts for the song in particular, but I thought it would make a nice intro. It was set as track 01 on <i>Sunward</i> from pretty much the beginning.</div>
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"Never Been to San Francisco" was written about the same time. It was something that I kept coming back to and toying around with. Originally it was inspired by the piano intro of Tori Amos' "Muhammad My Friend," but I just haven't got the practice of writing something for piano that intricate for an extended period. I ended up just rewriting the piano in a few different ways and structuring the song around these variations. That's how my writing style works a lot of the time, if you haven't noticed. "Counterintuitive" and "Toes" are much the same way. Again in "San Francisco" you hear me trying out those bursts of rapidly staccato strings that were used in "Ulysses." And apparently I liked that tinkling of guitar strings so much that I used something similar in "Counterintuitive."</div>
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I was still in somewhat of a "soundtrack" mindset when I was writing "San Francisco," so it's largely acoustic and has some shifting moods. But "Counterintuitive" and "Toes," while using the method-of-variations writing style that I employed in "San Francisco," found me returning to using electronic sounds. They're pretty mellow, however. Even though <i>Sunward</i> was turning out to be acoustically themed, they felt better suited for that EP, when I finally decided there were going to be two EPs. That was a painful tug-of-war, deciding on an album or two EPs. You can tell which side of the fence I finally landed on. What both options had in common (I had playlists for each) was that they ended with "Toes." Not really sure why. I wasn't even sure if I was going to <i>share</i> "Toes." I don't think it's by any means an example of my best work. It was mostly written because it was amusing me at the time, but it continues to amuse me, and it kept growing on me. I hope it provides some relaxation for folks, as that's its primary goal. To just provide some stimulation with the variations, and to provide comfort with its repetition. And I like the beats. I think the beats worked out quite well, and the swells of electronics were particularly inspired.</div>
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The name "Toes" came to me because it was written around the same time as "San Francisco," which had been going by the name "Twinkle." So, "Twinkle" and "Toes," get it? Twinkle toes. It just never changed.</div>
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Now, while writing for <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, I had stripped down "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" to a "Naked" version without beats, synths (almost entirely), electric guitars, or the blaring bassoon, and included it as a bonus track on a version of <i>Pattern </i>exclusive to my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com./" target="_blank">Snail Tunes store.</a> I decided early on that I wanted to make it more accessible to people, and that it would be included on my next project. But I took it the next level by putting beats back into it, but this time oriented around hand drums, toms, and other acoustic sounds. So the "Naked" version is still exclusive to that version of <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. I'm sharing the "Acoustic" version here, instead.</div>
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Similarly to "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" I thought a couple of my newer songs could stand well on their own without electronic sounds. Those would be "Pulses Intertwined" and "Pierced Heart," of course. With their neoclassical-like piano and strings, I felt you could strip away the electric guitars, synths, and beats, and still have complete songs. With the acoustic sounds of "Ulysses," "San Francisco," and "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" it seemed only natural to include them on <i>Sunward</i>. And as long as I was stripping songs down to their neoclassical elements, I thought it would be interesting to try on a much older song, "The Nocturnal Dervish." I'd already been finally getting around to making the "Simpler Mix" that I'd been thinking of doing pretty much since I published the "Simplified Mix," and I was inspired to try it out with its barest bones. I think this worked out quite well. With some of the subtle changes I'd made for the "Simpler Mix," I made a "Naked" version. I <i>had</i> to keep the "theremin"-like synth that provides the melody for a large chunk of the song, and I translated the electric bass to an upright for the end of the song where the bass is a necessity, but it all worked out quite well, and I really wanted to share it. So it's a hidden bonus track on <i>Sunward</i> at <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a>, but to make it a little more widely accessible, I've included it here for you as well.</div>
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You can find the standard version of <i>Sunward</i> at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sunward-Lady/dp/B07MX8XGGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1549392118&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon,</a> <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Sunward?id=Bjqm2lkbq76r3eeicsqn2bep4mm" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sunward/1449938460" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sunward/1449938460" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2rES46fTOmp3V2AJ4CUx6E" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="http://tidal.com/browse/album/102633292" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/84764772?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-84764772&utm_term=1231076246_1549392965&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l5KyqEINmAgu_8fq-A6dCKCUPo4e1YBwY" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/sunward" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/sunward-68206132/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>.<br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3007511623/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 720px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/moonward">Moonward by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe>
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I was really torn about whether to put out a full-length album or two EPs, so I worked on both until it was decided, which was uncomfortably close to when I sent the EPs on to the distributor. When I was working on the album playlist, I found myself integrating two different styles. I'd been continuing down the ambient-neoclassical path set before me on <i>Pattern Recognition</i> when writing "Ulysses" and "Never Been To San Francisco," then found myself doing almost a complete one-eighty. I wrote a two-handed neoclassical piano piece, but it was demanding electronic beats and electric guitars. It was also a bit darker than anything I'd written in a while, and the synths I found myself inspired toward were rather abrasive. I found myself writing as if for my sixth album, <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, but with some of the techniques I'd picked up while working on <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and I thought this was perhaps the most inspired piece I'd worked on in quite sometime. It came out in a rush, and I found myself wanting to share "Pulses Intertwined" almost right away. I was sending it in to radio stations and hosts when I should have been promoting for <i>Pattern -</i> it felt that done and that complete, that quickly. The single was released, belatedly, about two months later, after it was aired by pretty much every entity I'd sent it to. It was, of course, the first preview of what would be coming on my next project.<br />
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"Pulses Intertwined" represented a shift in writing style for me. First, it was taken in a darker direction, as evident in "Dark Highways." And I was back to using synths, electric guitars, and electronic beats in "Pierced Heart." These two songs felt like siblings to "Pulses." "Pierced Heart" was written using pretty much the same formula of neoclassical piano surrounded by post-industrial elements. "Dark Highways" and "Pierced Heart" were included as bonus tracks on a <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> exclusive version of the single for "Pulses Intertwined," and all three were bonus tracks on the <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a> version of <i>Dialectical Observations (Remastered)</i>. I just couldn't keep a lid on those songs for very long. I think I showed great restraint in making them exclusive to those versions of the single and the album.<br />
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As I wrote more songs following "Pulses Intertwined" that were darker, edgier, or higher-energy, it became apparent that splitting a potential album into <i>Sunward</i> and <i>Moonward</i> (the names were picked out before a decision was made) was the way to go. "Elation" sounded as though it could have been on <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and maybe because of that it could have been on <i>Sunward</i>, except that it had a mile-wide streak of metal running through it. And even though "Counterintuitive" has electric guitars in it, "Elation" wasn't nearly mellow enough for <i>Sunward</i>. "Thump!" (not the most imaginative title, but I never felt like it needed changing) like "Elation" was a bit lighter in tone than "Pulses," "Highways," or "Pierced," but it has heavy electronic beats, making it, well, too heavy for <i>Sunward</i>. And "Self-Righteous" was calling to mind <i>Dialectical Observations</i>' "Movement," definitely too industrial for <i>Moonward</i>'s light-hearted sister.<br />
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The two EPs found themselves balancing each other out at every step, and just when I thought that perhaps I shouldn't include one of the acoustic versions of <i>Sunward</i> to make them even at six tracks each, I started writing "Pulsar Song." While listening to a song on a soundtrack for a television show - I can't remember what, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't part of the instrumental score - I was struck by the exceedingly simple electric guitar riff that the song was built around. There was no reason why I couldn't do the same, or why I should feel "bad" about doing so. It was one of those times I had to remind myself that complexity doesn't necessarily make for a good song; that a song can be impactful even if it's simple. And, thanks to that song, I already had a simple, stately electric guitar riff stuck in my head. I went ahead and recorded it, and other simple elements began to build themselves around it. It quickly began to grow on me, and after translating the piano to cello halfway through, and then picking up the pace of the beats, I was sold on it. Kind of last-minute, I had a song that was a fitting second track to transition from the ambience of "Dark Highways" to the higher energy of the rest of the EP. And I had evened <i>Moonward</i> out with <i>Sunward</i>, so that all of the acoustic versions could be included and still have a matching number of tracks.<br />
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Now, pretty much ever since publishing "The Nocturnal Dervish (Simplified Mix)," I had felt torn about some of the additions I made to it after putting so much emphasis on simplifying it. There would almost certainly be a simplified "Simplified Mix," and the time came when I had finished writing songs for <i>Sunward</i> and <i>Moonward</i>. The time was long overdue, actually, since upon listening to <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> I <b>really</b> wanted to remaster the song as well. I'd just grown increasingly dissatisfied with it, and wanted also to breathe new life back into one of my songs that has long been one of my most popular. So I combed through it's instrumentation. I wanted to be careful not to change too much, but I adjusted the volume and position of a note here and there, particularly in the piano and bass. I thought a lot of it withstood the test of time rather well. No changes felt necessary for the synths or most of the strings, and when it came to both, I didn't want to chance ruining a good thing by obsessing or rerecording. I changed the position of a couple of cello notes, and that was it. And I rerecorded the closing piano chords, and I'm actually really happy with that. All around, I'm extremely happy with how it all turned out. And it made the "Naked" version that much better. But I like to think that <i>this</i> is "The Nocturnal Dervish" as it's meant to be heard, remastered and reinvigorated. It's been included as a hidden bonus track on the <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes</a> version of <i>Moonward</i>, but again, I wanted to make it a little more widely accessible, so here it is:<br />
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I also like to make all of my blog readers feel a little extra special, so I hope the inclusion of these two bonuses do the appropriate stroking. Enjoy!</div>
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The standard version of <i>Moonward </i>can also be found at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moonward-Lady/dp/B07MX8L76R/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous&qid=1550365082&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Moonward?id=B3r7eo5pi2wohpb6xse4dflci3u" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/moonward/1449937455" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/moonward/1449937455" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3YvIOkC1nW7pfQDwvOFq5W" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="http://tidal.com/browse/album/102630910" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/84760822?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-84760822&utm_term=1231076246_1549393026&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ncH848Zx1lNyBev97rPqq7uUsXrhJyf7g" target="_blank">YouTube and YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/moonward" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/moonward-68204521/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>.</div>
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I hope these two EPs sate your appetites for my music for a while. I've already written and recorded two new songs, and have a third and fourth in the works, toward my next project, which <b>will </b>be a full-length album, with material from <i>Sunward </i>and <i>Moonward</i>, and original songs<i>. </i>Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined!</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-24692507323080423962018-12-21T15:54:00.000-08:002018-12-21T15:55:49.179-08:00Dialectical Observations (Remastered)<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1812552715/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/dialectical-observations-remastered">Dialectical Observations (Remastered) by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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This has been a somewhat laborious project, three months in the making. It started with an album intended to bring my label (ex-label?), Rehegoo Music, up to speed on my discography: <i>Legends of the Small</i> collected eight tracks each from the albums <i>Dialectical Observations</i> and <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. To make it a little extra special, and to give Rehegoo some exclusive content, I remastered six of the songs from <i>Dialectical</i>. I was disappointed to find out that the label wanted <i>only</i> exclusive content, and would not be publishing <i>Legends</i>. I decided to make the album an exclusive <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patron reward. But I still wanted a way to share those six remastered songs.</div>
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I thought of inserting them in an upcoming album, where they would be piled on top of the eight new songs I already had at the time. There was also the possibility of releasing them on their own EP, which would be called <i>The Dialectical Sessions</i>; I made a cover and everything.</div>
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But then the most logical conclusion arrived: I thought, "Hey, I've already remastered six songs from a nine-track album. Why not just remaster the remaining three?" for a remastered edition of the whole album.</div>
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I'd thought of releasing an EP of new songs on the Winter Solstice, but in the end, I wanted to reserve them for a full-length album and keep them close to my vest. But I could still put out something on what to me is a special day to me: it's my winter holiday, one I <b>should</b> be celebrating at Short Mountain with the Radical Faeries. But I can't drive that far in my condition, and I lack the funds to travel anyway. Still, I can celebrate in my own way. With music! So I set that date to release the remastered edition of <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. In between writing new songs, I worked on remastering the remaining three songs. I'm very happy with <b>all</b> of them, but I'm especially fond of the new "Movement (Alternate Spin)".</div>
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For "Movement," I ended up returning to the original project file. I removed a whole synth track that wasn't really clearly defined and I thought just muddied up the song. Then I combed through each track and repositioned notes where I felt it was necessary, and I started over the remastering process from the beginning. With the other songs, I made adjustments according to the originals' final MP3 320s. For this, I went from project file to AIF on headphones, to AIF on external speakers, to MP3 on headphones, and finishing with MP3 on external speakers. It was tedious, but the result is that each instrument is clearly distinguishable and not muddied up by too much bass. Actually, with each song I turned down the bass in favor of treble, and often added more ringing reverb. I also turned down the drum tracks so they didn't take away the focus from the other instruments.</div>
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I won't review the inspiration and stories behind each song, as you can already read all about it in the <a href="https://youhavefailedus.blogspot.com/2017/07/dialectical-observations.html" target="_blank">article for the original version of the album</a>. But I will say the original has done me proud. "Fleeting Fractals" ended up being kind of a "sleeper hit," but it eventually made its radio rounds and continues to be in rotation on some stations. It was used to represent the album in the review by Starlight Music Chronicles. And it's been Shazamed a number of times. Right now, "When Anchorage Became an Island," is my most-played song on Apple Music. On Bandcamp, it's my album with the most Facebook Likes, even more than albums by artists whom I consider superior and are inspirations for me. I can only hope that this remastered edition garners as much attention and that people agree with me that the remastered songs are an improvement.</div>
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Now, you may have noticed that the Snail Tunes edition of the album above is twelve tracks instead of the original nine. I'd thought of releasing an EP called <i>Pulses Intertwined</i> of four new songs, named for the song "Pulses Intertwined," which had made its radio rounds shortly after the release of <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. That was originally planned for the December 21st release date. Instead, I released "Pulses" as a single on another significant date, November 30th. I was trying to hold out on exposing the other songs planned for the <i>Pulses</i> EP, but here are three of them as bonus tracks on this exclusive version of the EP. Unfortunately, they are not available for individual download; you have to download the entire album.</div>
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When I had been writing mostly-acoustic soundtrack-like songs, "Pulses Intertwined" pulled me back into a more post-industrial mode of songwriting. That became a trend with "Pierced Heart," and "Dark Highways" to a lesser extent. These songs demanded more synths, but were relatively minimalist, and "Pulses" and "Pierced" called for electric guitars. This was a style of songwriting I hadn't really explored for over a year. <i>Pattern Recognition</i> and many of the following songs are in a more neoclassical ambient-acoustic style. <i>Dialectical Observations</i> was one of my first steps in the neoclassical direction, but was full of odd beats, abrasive synths, and electric guitars. "Pulses Intertwined," "Pierced Heart," and "Dark Highways" are somewhat in the same vein, and I thought they'd fit in well with <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, so I'm making them publicly available a little sooner than a full-length album. Still, they are exclusive to the Snail Tunes version of <i>Dialectical Observations (Remastered)</i>.</div>
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I had a bit of difficulty in getting this album submitted to stores and streaming platforms. My distributor recommended the title format for the songs to have versions defined by parentheses, and any more specifications in brackets, so some of the titles looked like this: "Movement (Alternate Spin) [Remastered 2018]". I thought that looked a lot messier than "Movement (Alternate Spin) - Remastered 2018," but I went with their recommendation. It was rejected by stores, which I was informed of a week after first submitting the album. With only a week left before the release date, I decided to make it as simple as possible: I just went with simple song-titles-only with the album title defining it as "Remastered," and I hoped the album title would speak for the songs themselves. But you'll notice above that the Snail Tunes version has each song marked as "Remastered 2018," which I had wanted for the songs at each store and streaming platform. But when submitting it, it seemed simpler was better. And even though I submitted it to my distributor with only a week to go, it was still released at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dialectical-Observations-Remastered-Lady/dp/B07LBK875X/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1545413941&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Dialectical_Observations_Remast?id=Boodckkybtcusmuclyq2iwvfvmu" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dialectical-observations-remastered/1446680334" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dialectical-observations-remastered/1446680334" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6X9XDSSzsIxFAKbpJkKko2" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/100963578" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/81812492?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-81812492&utm_term=1231076246_1545415589&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l3kwosVxS9SLaN8b8Cpc4YUoJyQO68ms4" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/dialectical-observations-remastered-66322492/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/dialectical-observations-remastered" target="_blank">Napster</a> at midnight on the Winter Solstice, as I had been hoping. So, yeah, I think simpler was better, when getting the album released on time.</div>
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Now I'll leave you with something extra special, as usual. My step-father challenged me to write a score for Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses," to see how well I could write a soundtrack for something. This is what I came up with, with building cymbals and twinkling acoustic guitar to reflect the mariner metaphors in the poem. It was a return to the piano for me, but there are string arrangements, that first come in swells and bursts as the ocean waves. I thought of having a voiceover of the poem in this, but instead I'm leaving it to the reader to listen to this simultaneously. Give it a try! Just Google the poem and play this tune.</div>
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This started the trend of more soundtrack-like pieces I started composing, before "Pulses Intertwined" interrupted and took me in a more post-industrial direction. That's a continuing trend right now, though my latest composition, "Elation," sounds almost as if it belongs on <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, except it has some very metal interludes.</div>
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I hope you enjoy this little bonus song, and the remastered edition of <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. Until later, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-68718048786785396952018-12-07T16:47:00.002-08:002018-12-18T17:08:48.974-08:00Legends of the Small and Pulses Intertwined<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a long time since I've written, and this article has been delayed, especially on the subject of <i>Legends of the Small</i>. So close on the heels of <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, I decided to make a compilation album for my label, Rehegoo Music, that would catch them up on my repertoire, with the goal of publishing it on Halloween. It would collect songs from <i>Dialectical Observations</i> and <i>Pattern Recognition</i>. It turned out to have eight songs from each. To make it extra special, I even remastered six of the songs from <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. The track list turned out thusly:</div>
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01. When Anchorage Became an Island - Remastered 2018</div>
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02. Man Seeking Cocoon (for NSA LTR) - Remastered 2018</div>
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03. Familial Germs - Remastered 2018</div>
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04. Gravity Time Power Love</div>
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05. Android with a God Complex</div>
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06. Fleeting Fractals - 2018</div>
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07. Otaku</div>
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08. Revel</div>
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09. Less Sinister Cousins - Remastered 2018</div>
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10. Heart of Hearts</div>
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11. Signor Fancypants</div>
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12. Movement (Alternate Spin) - Remastered 2018</div>
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13. Why Can't We Have Nice Things?</div>
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14. Butterflies on Ganymede</div>
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15. Reciprocal</div>
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16. Probing</div>
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I was very proud of how the track ordering turned out. I was very proud of the remastered songs, hoping they demonstrated my growth as a sound technician, and I was <b>especially</b> proud of how "Movement" turned out - I started over from scratch with that song, whereas the others I just adjusted the levels of the individual instrument tracks: volume, bass, treble, echo, reverb - that sort of thing. With "Movement," I combed through each track and adjusted the positions of certain notes, took out a synth all together, and adjusted the levels in my composing program, then as an AIF, then as an MP3. It was tedious, but definitely worth it, in my opinion. These remastered tracks would be exclusive to Rehegoo Music, and I thought they'd bite.</div>
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However, Rehegoo didn't want to publish any songs that had been published before, such as they did with <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>, Parts 1 and 2, and even went as far as asking me to take down all of my previous works. I felt they were backing me, a non-exclusive artist, into an exclusivity corner. I made my stance clear, that I had worked too hard on my prior EPs and albums, and they said they understood. But suffice to say, they did not publish <i>Legends of the Small</i>.</div>
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But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, I emailed them the ZIP of <i>Legends </i>a couple of weeks before Halloween, and it wasn't downloaded. It turned out my contact was out of the office, and wouldn't be back until a couple of days before Halloween. When he returned, he told me there was no way they could publish it by then. But I had my heart set on Halloween, so I published it at my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>, hoping that Rehegoo would make it public later on - I really wanted those remastered tracks to be publicly available. Now, because Rehegoo has rejected it, it's exclusive to my Patreon. If you want to download a copy, you'll have to make the appropriate pledge. Remember that I don't collect pledges until I put out an EP or album, and you also get that release. I'm thinking the next one won't be until the Lunar New Year in February.</div>
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Now, I still really wanted to make those remastered tracks publicly available, so what to do? I toyed around with the idea of releasing them on an EP of their own, titled <i>The Dialectical Sessions</i>. I also thought of including them on the next album. Then I decided to go all-out and remaster the three remaining songs, and release a completely remastered edition of <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. So that's what I've been most recently working on. It'll be out on the Winter Solstice.</div>
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Since cementing the track list for <i>Pattern Recognition</i>, and amidst the remastering of songs for <i>Legends of the Small</i>, I'd been working on new songs, and now have a total of eight toward a new album. At a challenge from my step-dad to create a soundtrack to the Tennyson poem "Ulysses," I created something a bit different than before, and it's carried on in a lot of my recent work - neoclassical compositions more fitting for a soundtrack than a rock album. It's also carried over from the mostly strings arrangements of <i>Pattern Recognition</i> and the more neoclassical feel of both <i>Dialectical</i> and <i>Pattern</i>, except these songs have been largely acoustic. Then I wrote "Pulses Intertwined."</div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3993321423/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=63b2cc/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 470px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/pulses-intertwined-2">Pulses Intertwined by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe>
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It was a definite switch from the material I'd been writing. Yes, I'd switched from the strings arrangements of <i>Pattern</i> back to the piano, but this brought me back to post-industrial territory, which I'd left for about a year. This felt in the same vein as "Fleeting Fractals," though it was more akin to "The Cloud Walkers." Actually, I felt it could <b>be</b> my next "Cloud Walkers," a piano-led post-industrial epic with metal and EDM elements. When I was promoting for <i>Pattern</i>, I felt I should send in "Android with a God Complex" to radio stations. Instead, on an impulse, I sent around "Pulses." They <b>all</b> played it, including stations that I had submitted to in the past and had never played my music before. I was uplifted, encouraged, and felt this could be my next popular song. After circulating for a while, I felt it should really be publicly accessible, and it seemed appropriate to release it as a single.</div>
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I chose November 30th for its release because it's a significant day for me: my brother shot and killed my father and step-mother twenty-three years ago. It still has quite an effect on me. This year, I was alone and isolated, out in the middle of nowhere while I was housesitting, and it felt like I cried for two days straight. I wanted to do something musically oriented to help me cope, though it didn't help much. Instead, I found myself trapped in my head, and dwelling on certain factors. My brother grew up fetishizing machines of death - guns and military equipment. He came to fantasize that he was a paramilitary soldier, and wanted me to be the same. He was abusive to "discipline" me. Meanwhile, he collected guns and ammo and military-oriented magazines. I'll admit, he was a disturbed individual - he was abusive in other ways. But I don't think his interests in guns and the military helped matters. And when he was sixteen, angry at my father for leaving our mother, and not getting along with my step-mother, he killed them. This event has informed my stance on gun control, especially when guns are so accessible to the mentally disturbed, which has resulted in so many mass shootings.</div>
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In my current environment, I've come to realize that not all individuals with such interests are mentally unhealthy. My step-father collects guns and keeps them in the house, and often watches documentaries on war and military machines. Hell, it seems almost as if everyone in Missouri has a gun. But the overproduction of guns - especially assault weapons whose entire purpose is to kill people - in this country disturbs me. We have more guns manufactured than children born in the United States every day. It makes me want to move to another country or, at the very least, another state. My goal is to move back to the Pacific Northwest, but for the meantime, because of certain factors, I'm stuck in Missouri, as an advocate of greater gun control, as much as it's opposed by those around me.</div>
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I have released the single <i>Pulses Intertwined</i> in dedication of victims and survivors of gun violence. It is now available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pulses-Intertwined-Lady/dp/B07KQR6M7D/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1544036441&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Pulses_Intertwined?id=Bgyaywmszug2wu55qfrmeaktzlm" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/pulses-intertwined-single/1443968573" target="_blank">Apple Music</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/pulses-intertwined-single/1443968573" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6P2vKJFQVnEHzhtcrQMfKX" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/99168733" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/album/79447442?utm_source=deezer&utm_content=album-79447442&utm_term=1231076246_1544048860&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/7ZZCcX6qZkI" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and YouTube Music, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/pulses-intertwined-65017164/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/pulses-intertwined" target="_blank">Napster</a>. If you'd like to directly support me and my art, consider buying the single at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes store</a>. Purchases include high-quality downloads in a format of your choosing - from standard MP3 to lossless audio - as well as unlimited streaming at Bandcamp and on the free-with-purchase Bandcamp app (both of which are great tools for discovering new or overlooked music). A three-track version, with two new songs in a similar vein, "Dark Highways" and "Pierced Heart," is also available to Patrons of my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. Remember, pledges at my Patreon aren't collected until after I release a new EP or album, which I'm predicting won't be until February. And <i>Dialectical Observations (Remastered) </i>is now slated to be a reward for those pledging $10 USD or more.</div>
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I'd like to switch gears to discuss record labels, as mine just sent me two new contracts. When <i>Legends of the Small </i>was released, I was informed that Rehegoo Music would only be taking new songs, exclusively, and that non-exclusive artists, such as myself, would only be featured on the Rehegoo streaming platform. They've changed their policies drastically since I signed my initial contract. And the new contracts are designed to further diminish the advantages of being a non-exclusive artist and direct me toward exclusivity. I'm seeing no advantages to publishing through them under my current contract, and I'm wondering why I would send them any songs. My distributor that I currently publish independently through even offers more stores and streaming platforms. I'm thinking it's time I cut off my relationship with Rehegoo Music. This first experiment with a label, which I was reticent about in the first place, seems to be a failure. It doesn't mean I'm closed off to working with a label in the future, but right now I'm leaning toward the advice of Amanda Palmer: "<i>Don't!</i>" Anyway, I've promised to share with you my experiences as an independent artist, and this is looking to be a bad one.</div>
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Meanwhile, my inner snail must remain resilient and determined. I hope yours does the same.</div>
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Oh, I almost forgot to leave you with a little something special! Here's one my newest songs, "Pierced Heart," one of the two additional tracks on the extended <i>Pulses Intertwined</i> available at my Patreon. Enjoy! and good-bye for now.<br />
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-72783492992737274752018-09-21T22:14:00.000-07:002019-05-03T09:31:52.731-07:00Pattern Recognition<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3849327772/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/pattern-recognition-2">Pattern Recognition by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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Today was the first day I had to wear a hoodie to smoke and read outside, signaling that Summer has truly ended and Fall is here. And it has been nearly fourteen months since my last full-length album, <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. It used to be that I released albums and EPs at a steady clip, even full-length albums multiple times a year, but now I spend more time with my songs, mostly more time in the editing process. I don't just fire out rough drafts and then alter them later on with a string of Alternate Spins; I try to publish only final drafts. Sometimes I'll try something different later, but I'd like to think of every song as solid before I put it out there. And that translates to the EPs and albums. Everything is much more deliberate, and so the steps to this albums, <i>Neoclassism</i> and <i>With Love, Catatonia</i>, were also far apart.</div>
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I try to release my works on dates of significant importance to me. <i>Neoclassism</i> was on the anniversary of my debut EP; <i>With Love, Catatonia</i> was on my brother's birthday. First I was hoping to release this album on the anniversary of <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, but that wasn't at all likely; I needed at least another month. So I hoped to have it out on my birthday, August 31st. That also seemed unlikely, but as it turned out, I could have. However, I had already announced the September 21st release date. Why September 21st? Because that was the first date to pop into my head. Not for any special reason, it was just my first thought, and it gave me the breathing room that I've come to desire surrounding my releases. It gives me more time to spend with them, to make last-minute changes, to really focus on the editing process. But I didn't do much editing following my birthday. I listened to it what seemed like hundreds of times, and I hardly changed a thing. It seemed solid. I was confident of it. And I'm happy with the final product, and very happy to share it.</div>
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The reasons it took so long to compose aren't limited to a more deliberate songwriting process; I also have had less time to devote to music. This is a good thing. I'm more able-bodied than I've been in a long time. When I started self-publishing music, I was largely couch-bound following an intense hospitalization, and I felt like I had nothing left to lose, and there was nothing for it - why not put my art out there? And that started the ball rolling on what I hoped to be a career as a solo composer. I've turned it into a career - it's my real work. Everything else is secondary. But there is now more to my life than this. Foremost is that I'm able to help out around a small "farm," lending my septuagenarian parents a hand. I'm still adjusting and desensitizing to a severe case of neuropathy; I can't take walking for granted and my hands are destroyed by simple labor. Earlier I was weeding the vegetable garden, and now it hurts to type slowly. But I can do it, and that's the important thing. It means I probably don't have a future as a performing musician, but I can compose, and I love it.</div>
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For this album, I composed five all-new, original tunes. First among them was "Android with a God Complex," stemming from a half-finished song that I'd been blocked on for quite a while. I started it even before writing <i>With Love, Catatonia</i>, maybe even before <i>Neoclassism</i>. I mean, it goes <b>way </b>back. I'd recorded an intro, strings arrangements, an acoustic guitar line, and some wild beats, all of which I loved. But I couldn't figure out what to do next, and I was stuck on the bass line. I couldn't write one that fit. And it wasn't until I gave up on it that the song started to move forward. I quit banging my head against that wall and discovered what came next by experimenting with some synths. There was already a clearly electronic whine going through it all, but in absence of a bass riff, I added in some buzzing bass synth, which has admittedly become a favorite of mine, and you'll find it in others of my recent songs. But with that and my recurring electronic soprano "vocals," I found an interim that allowed for further variations of the strings arrangements and acoustic guitar that I'd already written. And the vocals take center stage for a moment, as does some electric guitar, and I had the pieces of a whole song that just needed some further accompaniment, some editing, and some rearranging.</div>
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When naming this song, I tried a couple titles inspired by the strings arrangements, such as "Tetrarchy" (in reference to the string quartet and its focus of the overall tune) but I'd jotted down "Android with a God Complex" as a thought for a song title a while ago. I'd really been wanting to use it, and it seemed drawn to this song. Ir had seemed more appropriate that the title be used for something a bit more electronic, but I finally gave in. The electronics underscoring the more organic sounds, and momentarily take center stage, seemed appropriate enough to suggest an anthropomorphic artificial intelligence.</div>
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I should mention that the title was originally inspired by the character David in the films <i>Prometheus </i>and <i>Alien: Covenant</i>.</div>
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Now, I'd also had this beat I'd composed that I loved - some banging around with some clinking and clanging on my "Chinese" drum kit - but was having a hard time accompanying it with anything more. I'd tried some synths inspired after what I'd used in "The Tranquil Isles," overlaid with either strings and electric guitar, or piano, and named them "Blame the Meds," with different versions. The title was attached to the beats; the versions were various failed attempts. I say "failed" because I never really wanted to share them. At best, they'd be rarities available to Patreon patrons. But I wasn't too enamored with them.</div>
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Fast forward to a time when I had a simple acoustic guitar riff stuck in my head that I recorded, then dicked around with. My "vocals" made a return, and organically transitioned to a flowing cello. I harmonized with it, then layered them all together for a finale, and I had a whole song written, though very minimalist. I felt compelled to add further tracks of instrumentation, but didn't know what, really. Something rhythmic. I already had some subtle rhythmic synths in there, but I wanted something that suggested a beat. But I wasn't sure I really wanted a beat; maybe something a bit more eccentric, for an already eccentric song. That's when it hit me - a random whim to try the "Blame the Meds" beats underneath. So I did, and wha'd'ya know? It worked perfectly. But this wasn't going to be another "Blame the Meds." No, it was going to be "A Neon Blue Soul."</div>
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When I felt the album deserved a piano intro, I thought of a short, melancholy piano ditty I'd recorded one night. What should follow? Well, it seemed that segueing into that eccentric beat was the way to go. So "The Lonely Pianist" (as my melancholy ditty came to be known) and "Neon Blue" stuck as the way to kick off the album.</div>
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"Heart of Hearts" was one of those songs that seemed to come all at once, and was written in a very short time. So was "Probing." They just sort of flooded out, starting out with riffs that got stuck in my head, both on keys (though I switched "Heart"s' keys to a "strings" synth), and every accompaniment and next movement, every progression, came organically and almost immediately. Of course, I spent a lot of time editing each, but the rough drafts came quickly. And the titles kind of just popped into my head.</div>
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I knew "Power Time Gravity Love" wouldn't be included on the album unless I made some changes, so I devoted some time to closely reexamining it. I edited some of the beats. I tried rewriting some of the viola and violin. Nothing impressed me. Nothing was really <i>working</i>. So I said "to hell with it" and scrapped everything but the cello and synths. It was time for a complete overhaul. I started from scratch on the beats, and it was upon doing that, and letting the first iteration of the cello melody be solo, that things started to come together. The new beats started off inspired by the old, but then I found myself inspired by both "The Last Waltz" and "Winter's Salve (Siren's Call)." I went with something that was a bit hip-hoppy and also a bit of a march. I was really into it. And as I wrote it, I also made another go at the viola and violin, and they just sort of <i>occurred </i>to me. It was like, once I got on a roll, everything started to <b>finally</b> come together!</div>
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What I ended up with, I didn't want to simply call an "Alternate Spin," because I had, like, 75% new material. No, I transposed two words in the title to signify that it was almost a different entity - and "Gravity Time Power Love" was assembled and just awaiting the editing process, which was somewhat grueling (I went through about nine drafts) but, I think, worth it.</div>
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"Misplaced Romanticism" always had some uncertainties, but I really wanted it on the album. There was an alternate way I was hearing the cello in my head, and I thought it worked as well as the other, so I went ahead and recorded it to share it. I was really uncertain of the viola part. I played around with it and played around with it, until I landed on something that worked for me. Now, I won't say this version of the song is better than the original. It's just...different. Different enough to warrant the "Alternate Spin" qualifier.</div>
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I knew I wanted bonus tracks, presumably for the Patreon Artist's Edition. I didn't know if I'd have new songs ready by the publication date. I <b>did</b>, however, have ideas on alternate song versions to share. I'd already recorded "The Lonely Pianist" with some simple swelling-and-fading cello, inspired by a recent listen to the Felina (or Felina's Arrow) album <i>Let Me Tell You a Story, </i>but I'd done away with it for the album intro. It seemed like something that should be heard, so I tacked it on at the end. More inspired was the idea to try out a stripped-down version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" The piano alone could make for a complete, well-rounded song, but I was going for just an "acoustic" version. I initially cut out everything but the piano and strings tracks, then played around with what else should be included. The acoustic guitar chords worked, adding the right emphasis to the beginning of the song, at the very least. Even the riff in the second half worked, helping build toward the climax. The bassoon was out - too intrusive. The bowed bass worked well enough, and subtly enough, to provide its emphasis. The synths took away from the acoustic feel, even though the electric bass somehow didn't. I did let a synth in at the end, though. It was subtle enough, and helped with the eerie quality closing the song.</div>
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Feeling completely enamored with this "Naked" version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" I really wanted to share it, and so decided that an exclusive Snail Tunes version at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp store </a>should be available, with "Nice Things? (Naked)" and "The Lonely Pianist (and Cellist)" as bonus tracks at the end. That way they'd be publicly available, instead of limited to Patreon Patrons - people can even stream them a limited number of times at Bandcamp, to sample them. </div>
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I did have a few songs flood out of me during the month I gave myself to let the album matriculate, and so I had additional bonus tracks for my Patreon Artist's Edition. Those I included are a piano-led post-industrial rush reminiscent of "The Cloud Walkers," called "Pulses Intertwined;" and a simple, relaxing series of iterations of a piano melody, with some ambient synths, I call "Toes." See, I had started another song I called "Twinkle" and so jokingly called this song "Toes," but the name just stuck as it grew on me.</div>
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The Patreon Artist's Edition also has the usual individual track art, this time - yet again - from works by <a href="http://aquasixio.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">Cyril Rolando</a>. The Artist's Edition, with a PDF booklet of album art and liner notes, is now a pledge reward for patrons of <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">my Patreon</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjUYD84miMlGR9Syw38GFZVRecKm-7rCfjow_AQepThBn6D_KJzdN4dm6Y-X37IOi2aBtGwpoKB97mN4LBmclhxft3fx_diblNNTyLsi5RZb-PlYDHwldXS9X2uzWidxYXOEGUEApl7o/s1600/pattern+-+android.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjUYD84miMlGR9Syw38GFZVRecKm-7rCfjow_AQepThBn6D_KJzdN4dm6Y-X37IOi2aBtGwpoKB97mN4LBmclhxft3fx_diblNNTyLsi5RZb-PlYDHwldXS9X2uzWidxYXOEGUEApl7o/s320/pattern+-+android.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELLs4FuBKgVI4foWSzdI-lBDQM5a3eH6y3G63VVXSbxfLNP5igQEr6y4ol36S8BWJc4mBkURnw0_GiqINr8jXPO0gKFlwXf1mL6iNBdz4uwpQ7fbA0N4nOh_kqynpmSYmlIo09QI51uI/s1600/pattern+-+probing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELLs4FuBKgVI4foWSzdI-lBDQM5a3eH6y3G63VVXSbxfLNP5igQEr6y4ol36S8BWJc4mBkURnw0_GiqINr8jXPO0gKFlwXf1mL6iNBdz4uwpQ7fbA0N4nOh_kqynpmSYmlIo09QI51uI/s320/pattern+-+probing.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
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I had the title of this album picked out pretty early on. I had already moved on from cognitive behavioral therapy to dialectical behavioral therapy in the mental health department, and I didn't really know where to go from there, but looking back on it, pattern recognition is a cognitive function, and sort of fits with the theme I've been going with for album names. Still, pattern recognition spans a large array of subjects, and it's just a concept that fascinates me. But I have to admit, the name mostly comes from my favorite William Gibson novel, and it's mostly an homage to one of my favorite authors.</div>
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<i>Pattern Recognition</i> is now available at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nW2UZYN9dU9E9VzeQ8rCP9l9-DBeE7mKg" target="_blank">YouTube Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7BiKvBGKlrk7pcY8yRZ9L8" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Pattern_Recognition?id=Bgm7pqmspvuvz6rc6imhuw2f2xm" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/pattern-recognition/1436022495" target="_blank">Apple Music and iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Recognition-Lady/dp/B07H8TQBL5/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1537591488&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous-32183470/albums/pattern-recognition-61830992/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/pattern-recognition" target="_blank">Napster</a>, <a href="https://www.deezer.com/us/album/72932882" target="_blank">Deezer</a>, <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/94929016" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, and probably others I'm not aware of (my distributor has a huge list of stores and streaming platforms it submits to).</div>
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Okay, I've been listening to the album again as a bit of a refresher, first while writing my last Facebook and Google Plus posts for the day, and now as I've been finishing up this article. And the album's just about done - actually, "Pulses Intertwined" just started, so I won't be able to close my computer until <i>that</i> song (which is still fresh, and I'm currently addicted to) is over. But I'm going to consider this blog article <b>done</b>. I hope you all enjoy the album. It's been a pleasure to work on, even a pleasure to listen to hundreds of times, and I hope you'll listen to it again and again, as well. Until next time, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined!</div>
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P.S. I almost forgot to leave you with a special exclusive! Here's one of my new songs, which can be downloaded by <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> Patrons. Enjoy!</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-22225210936396178852018-07-15T19:04:00.002-07:002018-07-15T19:04:49.271-07:00Nothing Left To Lose, Part Two<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2185811273/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=63b2cc/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-left-to-lose-part-two">Nothing Left To Lose, Part Two by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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It's a sunny, beautiful Sunday, and even though it's almost brutally hot, I'm working outside, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Last night, I opened a tab to "new post" here, so that I would <b>stop forgetting</b> to write this article. It's been a while in coming, as I was thwarted in publishing this album at <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">my store</a> by a dead computer in need of a new charger, and now it's been a few days - like a week - since I got it up there. I've also been struggling with a lack of motivation. There was quite a while after <i>With Love, Catatonia</i> during which I wasn't even writing new music; normally, I'd have songs lined up even while promoting for a new EP or album. The songs have been slow in coming these days. I am, however, starting to diligently make it a practice that I'll work on music every day, no matter what aspect. Even writing this article counts (posting on social media, however, does not). Originally it was a goal to have a new full-length album ready for publication by July 30th, the anniversary of <i>Elemental</i> and <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. Now I've pushed it back to the more likely and looser time period of sometime-this-winter.</div>
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This album was also a little slow in coming. To be frank I'm not that impressed with my new label, Rehegoo, so far. I'm sticking with it because I want the full experience (and if there's a chance of licensing my music to a third party, then it might be worth it) but I've yet to see much in the way of promotion for <i>Nothing Left To Lose, Part One</i> and I had to get on their ass to get <i>Part Two</i> published. However, they have put both "The Seventh Swan" and "Wrong Pocket Kinda Day" - both from this half of the album, somewhat ironically - on compilation albums that, from what I can see, has totally boosted the awareness of those songs, and in turn, my music.</div>
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So, to get you up to speed: <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> has been a long time gestating, from my very first EP. The track list has been tested in some form or other, mostly on my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons, over the past three years. I finally drew a line in the sand as to what could be included after the EP <i>Elemental</i>, focusing mainly on the essentials from my first five albums, and I decided it needed to be limited to twenty tracks - a difficult feat, as I had produced somewhere over a hundred songs. But a demo was locked into place for a good while, and I was waiting for some occasion to publish it. I'd hoped to put it out on physical media, like CDs and vinyl. I'm still a ways off from my being able to fund that independently. But hey, I'm no longer entirely independent! I decided signing on with a label was just the catalyst needed for publication.</div>
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Without planning to, it seems I put most of the "hits" (on regular radio rotation) on the first half. There's still some songs, on here, that are being played by one station or another. "Wrong Pocket Kinda Day," "The Seventh Swan," and "Matriculating" still pop up every now and then on indie radio. And "The Cloud Walkers" and "Fistfuls of Whimsy" had their time in the sun. I think of the former three as being more radio-friendly ambient pop, while the latter two are more esoteric and epic in nature. So there's half of this second part of the album that has seen mass exposure - nothing to sneer at. Oh, I almost forgot about "The Nocturnal Dervish." It was my most popular song for quite a while, and it also saw some airplay on Darkwave Radio, the first station to play my music.</div>
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I guess "Dervish" makes a good segue to briefly go over each song on the track list. "Dervish" started life as a dark piano ballad called "Dusk Devils." After a stepping-stone remix called the "Whirlwind Mix" (now an extreme rarity) I made a more successful "Nocturnal Dervish" mix, which soared to relative popularity on Soundcloud, and was one of my first to be put into regular radio rotation. I'm not sure which was first anymore - "Slowly Scooting Closer" and "The Last Waltz" also made their way onto Darkwave Radio at about the same time. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. The "Dervish" mix greatly overshadowed its source material, so much that I began to regard it as its own separate entity. That's when its name was shortened from "Dusk Devils (Nocturnal Dervish Mix)" to simply "The Nocturnal Dervish."</div>
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Quite some time had passed that when I listened to it, some flaws began to glare at me; mostly the convoluted multi-layered drum tracks. Overlaying multiple drum machines has become a regular technique of mine, but this was one of the first times I employed it, if not <i>the</i> first. But it was sounding so overly busy to me that I decided to simplify it, specifically for the <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> demo. <i>The Instrumentality Project</i>, on which it was later included, was partly an excuse to make it public. I think I may have gone overboard in writing some additional instrumentation. I thought it very subtle, but I think I should have perhaps stuck with simplifying the beats. Maybe someday I'll simplify the "Simplified" mix.</div>
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Track 02 ("Matriculating") on this collection was one of those early, unintentional happy accidents in which a song with more pop sensibilities found itself tweaked by metal aspects. It doesn't fall completely into an urgent rush of industrial-metal like "Wrong Pocket Kinda Day," but like "The Seventh Swan" it found that metal-ish electric guitars were a natural progression. This has, like the overlaid drum tracks, started to become a regular writing style of mine. But back then, it was always a fun surprise to me when it would happen, seemingly of its own accord.</div>
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Since I just kind of covered tracks 04 ("The Seventh Swan") and 05 ("Wrong Pocket Kinda Day") I'll just comment that "Day" was named for when things take a wrong turn during a so-far perfect day, while "Swan" named itself, and I imagine its namesake to be some kind of faery tale character.</div>
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Now, track 03 ("A Different Story") was a completely foreign writing experience, a style that I haven't really reproduced since. It's origin was an attempt to create a rhythm section entirely out of tweaked synths. Some bass and drums were added as a natural step later, but what I had accomplished was something that sort of sounds like "R2-D2 being tortured," as my mom put it. Then, curiously, I wrote an almost neoclassical interplay of piano and acoustic guitar over it. I guess I sort of repeated the experiment, and ended up with a similar piano-and-acoustic-guitar overlay, with <i>Dialectical Observations</i>' "Man Seeking Cocoon," but they're really not the same. "Story" was something really different for me, and that's where it got its name, as I was then relating my music to stories in my head. That's something I kind of miss - associating songs with the faery tales in my mind. I've been hoping to do more short story writing to get back into that groove.</div>
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Moving on to track 06 ("Cold Sunlight"): I'd been attempting to write something jazzy that got shelved for some time, then began to turn into psychedelic rock when I picked it up again. It just so happened that I was listening to what I had thus far, outside and smoking on a sunny winter's day. I began to croon about what I was seeing and experiencing, then immediately began to write it down as lyrics. There were some rhymes and lines that were thrown out, but I began to incorporate a new stanza with every next few measures of music I wrote. Similar to <i>Jaded</i>'s "Mr. Douter," I found myself writing lyrics and instrumentation simultaneously, which seems to be the method of writing songs with vocals-and-verse that works best for me. This was my most successful attempt at such a song, and it even earned some attention from an indie radio host and reviewer. So, it's notable and I feel an essential tune from my repertoire.</div>
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Seven is a magical number to me, and it just so happens that I considered track 07, "The Cloud Walkers," to be my finest achievement for quite a while. So yeah, it <i>had</i> to be a part of this collection. It was informed by writing styles that I was just starting to explore, and it contained some methods that have since become regularly used in my songwriting. I wanted a dark piano ballad with a sort of industrial-metal quality, and I ended up writing something kind of epic. It was my longest song up to that point, yet it didn't feel drawn out anywhere. There's some of that interplay of piano and acoustic guitar, and it's one of my first experiments with the inclusion of electric guitars. I felt I had really outdone myself, and I was afraid that I would never surpass it. Now I feel as though I have, with songwriting techniques that have evolved and become more polished. But it all owes quite a lot to "The Cloud Walkers."</div>
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I may have published it prematurely in my desire to share it, though. I kept on toying with it for a little while afterward, and found myself switching around some arrangements, adding a little bit, and subtly changing the ending. A more settled version was published on a no-longer-available EP called <i>Selenophilia</i>. When that EP was pulled from shelves, it wasn't available for a while. It was essential it get back out there. I republished it on my fifth album, <i>Cognitive Behavioral Therapy</i>, and now it's integral to representing my discography.</div>
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Track 08 ("The Tranquil Isles") was originally inspired by the more ambient works of my favorite band, Tool - "Right in Two," in particular. That's where the rhythmic synths came from; the rest was formed around a wandering acoustic guitar melody. I found myself thinking of the Sea of Tranquility when writing this song, that it might make a good setting in the adventures of my mascot, the Snail. I tried the Latin name, but that didn't quite sit well with me. Instead, I found a trail of islands forming in my imagination similar to the settings of the adventures in C.S. Lewis' <i>Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i>. So that's where the Snail found Itself instead.</div>
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The lullaby of "Isles" has been the perfect ending for many mixes of my music that I came up with, as well as others in general, but I found myself juggling three songs that I felt would be a perfect way to end <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>. "Microcosms" is short, sweet, and simple. "Fistfuls of Whimsy" is epic, and its latter half is one of the most perfect pieces of music I've written. I tried several combinations of these songs for the ending, kind of hoping that it would decompress and fade with "Isles." But the natural progression had other ideas. Instead, I went from a lullaby to a neoclassical ballad to a post-rock epic. <i>Maybe</i> it works out best this way. Whatever, it's what ended up sticking in the demo, and that's how it was ultimately published.</div>
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Rehegoo has published <i>Nothing Left To Lose, Part Two</i> at all the usual suspects, including <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6UMJwS87m3QPu6Uo0W2gdu" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Nothing_Left_To_Lose_Pt_2?id=By5tcqoktmpq2o35dbgvxtpfzx4" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nothing-left-to-lose-pt-2/1406850017" target="_blank">Apple Music/iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Left-Lose-Pt-2-Lady/dp/B07FHLN66Z/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1531689621&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/nothing-left-to-lose-part-two" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and <a href="https://tidal.com/browse/album/91182537" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>. Once I've finished my <a href="http://facebook.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://google.com/+YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">Google Plus</a> Jukebox posts for each of its songs, I'll post a playlist at <a href="http://youtube.com/c/YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">my YouTube channel</a>. Since I most likely have all the songs posted at <a href="http://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous" target="_blank">my Soundcloud</a>, I may round them up into playlists there as well. Of course, the best and most direct way to support me and my art is through the link in the embedded player, or you can <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">pledge at my Patreon</a> and get Nothing Left To Lose as a downloadable reward, along with many others.</div>
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That's about it for now. I'm hoping it will cool off enough this evening that I'll brave working on mastering a full draft of my latest tune. That will put me one step closer to completing a new album and releasing new music to y'all. I sense you shivering with anticipation. Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-67710965304772064892018-06-02T18:41:00.001-07:002018-06-02T18:41:37.639-07:00Nothing Left To Lose, Part One<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=508376531/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=e99708/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-left-to-lose-part-one">Nothing Left To Lose, Part One by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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I finally went ahead and did it. It felt like time. My new contract with <a href="http://rehegoo.com/" target="_blank">Rehegoo Music</a> seemed to be the needed catalyst to finally bring it into the world. <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> is an album I've talked about making since I started self-publishing music. The decision to finally take the big step of making my art available for public scrutiny was because, well, I had nothing left to lose. I was at the ultimate low-point of my life: recovering from an extended hospital stay that left me largely immobile, I kept my mind occupied by composing music, beginning with an app for my phone. That first EP was my <i>Progress Report</i> to the world of my recovery, and I decided it would be the first step toward an album called <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> - also a reference to the Janis Joplin song "Me and Bobby McGee."</div>
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It never seemed the right time, the right special occasion, to finally assemble and publish the album, though I test-ran compilations of different names on myself and <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons over the years. They were all, invariable, "best of" compilations, up to that point in time. It seemed that I was just waiting for something. I've often said, when promoting the demo that's been a Patreon reward for quite a while now, that I was hoping <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> would be my first album distributed on physical mediums - CDs and/or vinyl. To do that, I'd need to raise a lot of money independently, and if there's one thing I've learned is that I <i>needed help</i>. Artists such as Amanda Palmer, who have already made quite a name for themselves, will advise that getting into bed with a label is one of the worst things an artist can do. That can be perfectly valid counsel, so I've been skeptical and careful, and what I've found in Rehegoo Music is a label that will allow me to do exactly what I'm doing, the way I want, with a voice in how they handle whatever I pass on to them, on a non-exclusive basis. Really, it's an experiment for me - clearly, this is something I've never done before. But I think I've found the best possible entity, and way, to give this whole label thing a try. And I'm going for the full experience.</div>
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And how outstanding an ego boost is it that they scouted me out and approached <i>me</i>? Total bragging rights reserved there. Hopefully it doesn't bite me in the ass.<br />
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I've been letting Rehegoo take the lead on this one and treading carefully to try not to breach the contract, so I've let them publish this one first. As such, it's already available at <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4HUdUYP9kjfCB7avGQybua?" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Nothing_Left_to_Lose?id=Bianpa6maahqbf3ntuov6j3j3em" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nothing-left-to-lose/1390628913" target="_blank">Apple Music/iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Left-Lose-Lady/dp/B07D8ZXWNS/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1527958771&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/nothing-left-to-lose" target="_blank">Napste</a>r, and <a href="http://tidal.com/album/89299213" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.<br />
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A little about how I chose the songs and why: Track 01 was really a toss up between "Introducing... (Alternate III)" and "Jade's Theme (Introduction)," but I decided that "Alternate III" was more representative of the song's original intention, and "Introduction" was better suited on <i>The Instrumentality Project</i>, which it had been written for. "Alternate III" was actually written with <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> in mind, while <i>Jaded Winters</i> was an excuse to make it public. Besides, I kind of like "Alternate III" better. Now I already have an idea for another version, that would be a cross between the two - well, I guess a simplified version of "Introduction." But that's for another time, and not until I have an excuse to publish it.<br />
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"Fervens" is just one of my favorites. It doesn't seem to have ever been really popular, but <i>I </i>consider it to be one of my best works. Originally inspired by Thom Yorke, it took the principle of "Simplify," that simplicity can create beautiful songs, and I wandered over it with some meandering acoustic guitar until it really took on life and built in intensity. Because it was a slow build, I took the latin for "simmer" or "to boil" for the title...to be a little pretentious, if I'm honest. I don't actually know latin. The Internet helped with that one.<br />
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"Simplify" was a hit, relatively. It was my most popular song at <a href="http://soundcloud.com/the-lady-anonymous" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a> for quite a while, and it was also in regular rotation on a few radio stations. I believe it still is. It was an exercise in letting go of the mindset that the more complex a tune is, the better, and it was a lesson that simplicity can create beautiful art.<br />
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"Darkest Dreams" is the instrumental of "Sublime Like Swine," published because I couldn't decide if I liked it better with or without vocals. I decided that they both have their merits as separate entities, therefore deserved separate titles. The instrumental happens to be more popular, which is why it was chosen for <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>. This is my "nu-metal" song, inspired by Placebo's "Post Blue" and sounding a bit as if it's from the Korn era of hard rock. It proved to be a bit of a hit, also earning airplay.<br />
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Another "hit", and one of my first to be put into regular radio rotation, "Slowly Scooting Closer" was a success that I henceforth tried to replicate, and ended up informing my songwriting thereafter. My music took on a more "darkwave" identity for quite a while. With <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, I've drifted away from that sound, but I proved with <i>Neoclassism</i> that I haven't shaken it off, and I probably never will completely. Therefore, it's one of the most representative songs of my music.<br />
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"Safe in Cars" is another personal favorite that has never been very popular, except, oddly, with classical music lovers on <a href="http://google.com/+YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">Google Plus</a>. This was my "driving song," not just fun to drive to, but also a reminder that you can become too relaxed in your speedy metal boxes, with the occasional metallic burst to remind you to "<i>Wake the fuck up!</i>" and remain alert, because your safety is an illusion. Either you or someone else can cause an accident at any time; though, if anything, the road system is odd proof at how well-organized human beings can be when they agree on common sets of rules.<br />
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"Passage Through the Veil" was an attempt to replicate my once-upon-a-time "magnum opus" "The Cloud Walkers," trying for another post-industrial neoclassical-ish epic. I wasn't sure I'd succeeded, but it's subsequent popularity, especially after being highlighted in the <a href="http://starlightmusicchronicles.com/" target="_blank">Starlight Music Chronicles</a> Artist of the Month competition, indicates that I have. It's been the most popular song at my <a href="http://youtube.com/c/YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>, as well as on other streaming platforms at one point in time or another. This is my "wormhole" song, trying to capture the sense of falling down the rabbit hole, or lifting the veil between one reality and another, a sort of graceful vertigo, if that makes any kind of sense.<br />
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"The Last Waltz" is <i>the</i> most popular version of <i>a</i> quite popular song, "Giger's Lullaby," which now numbers eleven different versions, most known as "Waltz with Lilith" or "Waltz for Giger." As the most popular version, it was the logical choice for <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>. "Last" was also one of my first to be accepted into radio rotation, on <a href="http://darkwaveradio.com/" target="_blank">Darkwave Radio</a>, another song wrapping me up in a much-explored gothic identity. The "Waltz"s were inspired by the biomechanical nightmares of surrealist H.R. Giger, whose one of my favorite artists of all time. I love any movie featuring his xenomorph, and the psychosexual evocations of his work are deliciously unsettling. To make a "lullaby" to wrap oneself in images that I've grown to find oddly comforting was the goal. Okay, it ended up kind of cheesy, but I think it's fun and delightfully gothic. And this is a version that hopefully inspires some kinetic energy, being a sort of post-industrial trip-hop remix.<br />
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"Winter's Salve" is my signature piano ballad, one of my earliest compositions, and a song that I continue to revisit. I decided to try my hand at writing something with a more classical style, which was also a test to see how much of my five years of piano lessons, from twenty years ago, had stuck. It began as "Winter's Discontent," as I went into my first winter of recovery from my hospitalization, anticipating a very dark period of my life. Instead, my attempts at solo composition kept me productive and buoyed my spirits. It became "Winter's Salve," and this is one of the newest versions, despite it having no subtitle to indicate as much. The original "Winter's Salve" was only ever a bonus track on a limited edition, and I'm kind of glad it's such a rarity, because it's grown to be much more solid over the past three years. I've decided to pretend this is the original. Like "Introducing (Alternate III)," it's a newer version than the prior-to-<i>Dialectical Observations</i> time period of the rest of <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>, but I made an exception because it's derived from an old song.<br />
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And "Revolutions" has, like "Simplify," reigned as my most popular song on Soundcloud and other streaming platforms. Probably my most danceable tune, it was a test-run of an "intuitive" AI drummer that came with an upgrade of my composing program. Well, the drummer wasn't intuitive enough, though it did have some beats that would take me hours to program in note-by-note, so I took what it came up with and sliced and spliced it so that the emphases and swells were in the right places, also layering it over other drum tracks, as I went along.<br />
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So that wraps up Part One. Like I said, I've been letting Rehegoo take the lead on this one, so no word yet on when Part Two will arrive. I've just sent them an email nagging them about it, though. It took a few weeks after they received the tracks for this one to get published, so that may be the norm, though I sent the tracks for Part Two at the same time. Maybe they just feel that spacing them apart more is a better marketing strategy? I have no idea what goes on in their collective brains. They have multiple departments needing to communicate with each other, and I am by no means their only artist. However, "The Seventh Swan" is on Part Two, and has already appeared on one of their compilations. So I'm hoping Part Two is <i>still</i> a thing... Even if it isn't, I'll be going ahead and publishing it at my own store.<br />
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Here's to the future of <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i>! Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.<br />
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-33792862323373640162018-05-21T13:39:00.000-07:002018-05-28T17:53:17.245-07:00With Love, Catatonia<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1494705674/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=9a64ff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 621px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/with-love-catatonia-2">With Love, Catatonia by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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It's been two months between posts, something I'd really like to not let happen. I wanted to do a review for the new Shakey Graves album, <i>Can't Wake Up</i>, when it was released - I even listened to it several times in a row (not that that was much of a chore) in preparation - but I never seemed to have the time or energy. I've been having problems with being low-energy lately, but I've also been really focused on the new EP. Really, I wrote five songs in two months, and each is one that I've been really proud of and excited to share with people. The third month, I gave myself time to tweak it, experiment with it, and edit it. With <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, and since then, I've come to the realization that I can put a really quality product out there if I give myself around that amount of time to play around. And after listening to <i>With Love, Catatonia </i>obsessively before its release, I've come to the conclusion that there's absolutely nothing I want to change now. Maybe by the time of my next full-length album... I'd rather not say "never," and who knows what the next album will bring. Anyway, I've decided that a full-length album with the best-fitting material from <i>Neoclassism</i> and <i>With Love, Catatonia</i> is next. So far, it's shaping up to have a similar feel to <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, but I'd rather not go into it with a goal in mind for its sound. Such as with <i>Neoclassism</i>, I'd like to let the songs decide for themselves.</div>
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Speaking of <i>Neoclassism</i> - isn't it odd that it's follow-up would have a more "neoclassical" sound? After <i>Dialectical</i>, I thought I'd be continuing down a more ambient/neoclassical path, but no, <i>Neoclassism</i> decided it would be in a more post-industrial vein, sounding similar to my fourth album, <i>Revolutions</i>. Then <i>With Love, Catatonia</i> seemed to pick up where <i>Dialectical</i> left off, with something more ambient-pop and focused on string arrangements. Okay, the strings thing isn't evident in the first song, "Cataphany," which is more straightforward trip-hop, guided by a repeated succession of piano notes. Putting in cello was more of an afterthought, though it started with the bowed bass. I really wanted a deep bass sound, and I succeeded with something that throbs, and has some interesting riffs. And the beats...I love the beats. I think I pulled off something wonderfully "post-industrial pop." It puts me in an optimistic mood with an easy-to-get-into groove.</div>
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I'd been reading Gregory Maguire's <i>After Alice</i> (which is kind of flat for a Gregory Maguire book, by the way) and it wraps up with the musings of a fictionalized Charles Darwin:</div>
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"I was musing on the notion of cataphany...from the Greek 'cata,' meaning down, and 'phantazein,' to make visible. Also the root of 'fantasy,' don't you know. 'Cataphany': an insight, a revelation of underness... Let me put it more scientifically. If separate species develop skills that help them survive, and if those attributes are favored which best benefit the individual and its native population, to what possible end might we supposed has arisen...that particular capacity of the human being known as the imagination?"</div>
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This little speech resonated with me more than the rest of the book did, and you may have noticed that I have a thing for made-up words. I jotted down the word and decided it <i>had</i> to be the title of a song. And so, the music itself, when coupled with the title, means to me the optimism that can be achieved through imagination. It was a sort of revelation in itself, musically achieved. I was really eager to share this song, but I exercised restraint. In fact, I held off on sharing so much as a preview of any of these songs, except for "Puzzlebox" to Patreon patrons, which was actually the first song written for this EP. By virtue of its experimentalism, it seemed more fitting for a finale than an opener. I used "Cataphany" to try and set a tone for the overall EP instead.</div>
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The optimism continues in "Revel," which has the fastest pace, and continues a bit with the throbbing bass, in portions of the song, at least. This song was composed on guitar rather than piano, something I've never really done before; it eschews piano entirely, making it a rarity. Actually, it began with the opening strings, which were in part inspired by <i>Dialectical Observations</i>' "Less Sinister Cousins." They were intended to set an epic tone, but instead became relegated to the background by additional strings and guitar, and mostly the beats. Oh, the beats. Trying something different - instead of layering drum machines and kits, I switch between three. This creates different "styles." "Hip-Hop," "House," and "Classic." In a 3/4 time signature rather than a 4/4, it creates an off-kilter feel to each. But somehow it's continually danceable, with each flowing effortlessly into the other, rather than creating a dissonance. These, and the cello, are at the core of "Revel," raveling it together into a cohesive whole. And it's the beats that provided the song name. It reminded me of the "hip-hop" beats uncharacteristically used in the faerie revels taking place in an after-hours mall foodcourt in the book <i>Widdershins</i>, by Charles de Lint - you may have noticed that de Lint influences me quite a bit. Anyway, with the juxtaposition of the beats, flute, and string quartet, I thought this might be used in a revel at an urban faerie court.</div>
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I electronically transitioned (though this song was written prior) into piano overtaken by more strings in "Power Time Gravity Love." It began with a cello melody composed over piano arpeggios, then I removed the piano when it felt jarring next to the flowing of the cello and viola. I tried without really succeeding to mimic the feel of the beats used in "Cataphany." The light pulsing tapped out doesn't quite tonally match, and more incongruous industrial clanging and hissing is used for a more epic effect. There's a lot of industrial and electronic elements here, but I faded them into the background. In the end, this song is about the flowing grace of a streaming cello melody that is then reexamined every which way. The initial piano chords are echoed by acoustic guitar for a lighter tone. I was head-over-heels about that cello melody, and had a lot of fun trying it a few different ways, and then on different strings. At last, to wrap it up, it seemed fitting to pluck the melody at its essence on an echoing electric guitar. </div>
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The title for this song comes from the musing of a character in the novel <i>Cloud Atlas</i> (I love both the book and the movie) that the most influential forces in our lives are invisible. This seemed nothing short of a revelation to me, and I had to jot it down. Don't ask me why I attached it to this song. These things often decide for themselves and seem to be out of my hands.<br />
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"Misplaced Romanticism" is the oldest song on the EP. It was considered for <i>Neoclassism</i>, in fact, but it never felt quite right, and instead became a bonus track on the <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>-exclusive Artist's Edition. It's gone through a few iterations since, with my tinkering trying to perfect it, and never quite succeeding. I became a bit obsessed with trying to get it right, and get it onto <i>With Love, Catatonia</i>. The piano never changed - that's where its essence lies, especially in that opening, tinkling melody. Some of the strings seemed solid enough to be set in stone. It was mostly the <i>cello</i> that felt wrong. It kept causing a bit of discord, and I couldn't isolate what it was. I copied song files and tried different things with it so many times that I've lost track. I'd seem to have it...and still, it would sound wrong. I think sometimes I overcomplicated it. In the end, this might be the closest to the original I've recorded in a long time, with just two-or-three notes changed. This is different from the <i>Neoclassism</i> version. I feel, after listening to it several times, that this is the <i>right</i> version. Maybe I'm just sick of changing it, but I'm pretty sure I finally got it. It sounds pretty solid to me. This was the second-to-last song finished (I tried some experiments with "Power Time Gravity Love" up to the last couple of days) and the first written. Some songs just take longer than others. I think the quickest to be written was actually "Puzzlebox."</div>
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For as complicated as "Puzzlebox" is, it's amazing how quickly it came out, and that it never changed. Initially, I just wanted to sustain a strings chord, with a staccato burst at the end. Who knew where it would go wrong there? Then I started tapping a synth along with it, but realized they were in different time signatures. And the following piano was in yet a third time signature. Could I really synchronize all three in an interlocking, harmonizing structure? Well, the first step would be to not write anything overly complex. The concept of the song was complex enough. Deep breath...let's keep things simple, but compelling. Now the <i>beats</i> were compelling, and I think by themselves could hold a listener's attention. There's no real melody here. Everything is just pieces fitting together, sometimes in absentia, but mostly adding one layer on top of another. Each layer was fun for me to work with, and I was mesmerized by how, after 64 (I think) bars, it all came back together. I wanted to do this twice, and keep things interesting, so a couple of odd synths and a two-note flute came into play. Then, after 128 bars (again, I'm recollecting from a few months ago) it all came together again, and I closed it with a single chord, which added an acoustic guitar that had been nowhere else in the song. Afterward, I kept describing this as a "puzzle box" of a song, though it's original name was "Bells for Him," in a nod to Tori Amos. Then, I shrugged and thought, if I'm going to describe it this way, why not just name it "Puzzlebox"?</div>
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This is a relatively "minimalist" album, in that most of the songs don't contain the sixteen-or-more layers of instrumentation that I normally use. It felt a little more graceful and less cacophonous that way. There's nothing truly epic here, more relaxing and at times even light-hearted, than anything else. That's why I've come to describe it as "a gentle start to your morning, a soothing lullaby, or a deep breath in between." After the relentless pace of <i>Neoclassism</i>, I seem to have explored the complete opposite end of my post-industrial spectrum.</div>
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<i>With Love, Catatonia</i> is available on (links will be highlighted as they become available) <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5GTBbe6uEcLO4CkzpquuPx?" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, YouTube, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_With_Love_Catatonia?id=B6et7bbj44p775obdocqmw6cjim" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/with-love-catatonia-ep/1387210937" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/with-love-catatonia-ep/1387210937" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Catatonia-Lady/dp/B07D68VPS1/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1526934591&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://tidal.com/album/89138857" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>, <a href="https://us.napster.com/artist/the-lady-anonymous/album/with-love-catatonia" target="_blank">Napster</a>, and something called <a href="https://www.iheart.com/artist/id-32183470/albums/id-57382298/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a> that I've never heard of before. Oh well, it's nice to be on new things! Oh, and I haven't even begun to tell you about the label I've signed on with, or my desperate need for <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons (I'm at zero right now) and the (I think) soon availability of <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> through <a href="http://rehegoo.com/" target="_blank">Rehegoo Music</a>! Well, more on that later, probably when <i>Nothing Left To Lose</i> is actually released.</div>
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Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.<br />
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-83239496709917816792018-03-21T20:21:00.001-07:002018-03-24T05:31:31.209-07:00An Arcane Design:<div style="text-align: center;">
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The Arcane Insignia, and its Debut Album, <i>A Flawed Design</i></h3>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1901840814/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://arcaneinsignia.bandcamp.com/album/a-flawed-design">A Flawed Design by The Arcane Insignia</a></iframe>
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I'll start off by saying, I've been waiting for this album since 2015. I first became acquainted with The Arcane Insignia's frontman/composer/guitarist/vocalist on Twitter, of all places. We found a mutual appreciation for each other's music - he called "Slowly Scooting Closer" a "beast" of a song, and I fell in love with an EP (more of a demo) from 2013, which contained five songs: "Car(di)nail & (Sub)liminal," "Chapter 9: Trail of Extinguished Suns," "Panopticon," "The Violence Within," and "Vicarious Virtues." These songs had me chomping at the bit, eager for more; I was repeatedly told, "It's coming soon," referring to a full-length album that I anticipated would be heavenly.</div>
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The result, released March 16th, 2018, was more of a single composition than an album: it's arrangements of acoustic seven-string guitar, strings, and acoustic percussion are equally neoclassical and progressive rock, with the vocals more of an accompanying instrument, the lyrics a prose of metaphorical and spiritual poetry. The guitar is often used for percussive riffs, as often at it's plucked melodiously, with even a little metal-inspired flavor.</div>
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"Kingdom of Wolves" starts off the album as a lengthy prelude to seven additional "chapters" (that's the best description I can come up with) and after three listens, I already know I need a booklet of lyrics (incidentally, you can find the lyrics for each song at the band's <a href="http://arcaneinsignia.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp page</a>), to read along with the music. It's easier to hear the vocals as an additional instrument, and the lyrics are seldom repeating or rhyming, making the possibility of memorizing seem an intimidating feat. But that's part of their appeal: this is thoughtful stream-of-consciousness prose rather than your standard fair, adding to the sense that this is a musical epic. The lyrics are more of a companion to Alejandro's voice, guitar, and percussion; Noah Heau's cello; and Tina Chang-Chien's viola and backup vocals.</div>
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"Architect of a Flawed Design" continues the story, with a light neoclassical intro segueing into more percussive guitar and violently sawed strings. Metaphors of questions and statements is highlighted - unexpectedly and thrillingly - by a choir contributed to by Martha Stella Calle (Alejandro's mother, and a tremendous source of strength and support in his life), Allie Jessing, and Jamel Lee.</div>
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It is stated that "Chapter 9: Trail of Extinguished Suns" is the "song that started it all." It was one of the first songs that I became acquainted with, almost immediately finding tits way into two playlists in my iTunes: "Acoustic/Electric/Eclectic" and "Another Soundtrack for Another Life." And that's what it became: essential to the soundtrack of my life. Rereleased as an advance single for the album, I was excited to experience a new version that didn't disappoint. The vocals became overlapping and harmonizing, including backing accompaniment. It was a new experience with which I felt extremely satisfied, and increased my anticipation of the album, which I was again reassured was "coming soon" - I was hesitant, but so wanted to believe.</div>
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Another song, "Car(di)nal (Sub)liminal," was also appropriately used an advanced single, and again it was one with which I was already familiar, equally as important in my life as "Trail of Extinguished Suns." It offered up new delights, again in the form of overlapping and harmonizing vocals. New strings arrangements gave the song a more orchestral feel, yet it stands on its own as a progressive rock tune.</div>
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"Obelisk Pt 1: Fallen Shell" is the melancholy prelude to an epic of self-discovery, part one being what I interpret as a tale of a changed man who does not recognize his transformation as necessarily a good thing. However, part two, "Liquid Skies," changes perspective of this transformation, with adversity recognized as an ally to self-discovery; of the changed man being a step in the journey toward a being perfect in his imperfections, the metaphorical "obelisk." It speaks of a very Buddhist view of the self, which is a form of spirituality that Alejandro has embraced. A comparison of this song that comes to mind is Tool's two-part epic "Wings for Marie," though whereas "Wings" is more psychedelic ambient rock, this is more neoclassical progressive rock. Still, I think "Obelisk" is a kindred spirit.</div>
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Lastly (before a hidden bonus track you have to download the album to hear) is "Gemini Cycle," a song graceful is its entirety, guitar and strings playing off each other in classical fashion until the vocals join the fray,. Alejandro is yet again joined by Martha Stella Calle, Allie Jessing, and Jamel Lee, in elevating choral arrangements. The song's instrumental interludes are many and welcome, bringing it beyond the level of typical progressive rock. I have to say that every song aside from "Trail of Extinguished Suns" and "Car(di)nal (Sub)liminal" have a certain novelty for me for being new, and I'd be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, but this song's neoclassical grace, combined with the sublime choir, strikes a chord within me: my favorite qualities of eccentric rock are finally in a single song!</div>
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I had to confess to Alejandro that I was disappointed in the absence of "Vicarious Virtues," one of my favorite songs; but I was promised that it would be on the sophomore album, which I'm already eagerly anticipating. Hopefully I won't have to wait for three years this time, but if I do, it will undoubtedly be worth it. I know from past experience that The Arcane Insignia's composer won't do things half-assed, especially where his art is concerned. I think that all his fans will agree with me that we appreciate it, and that we've been rewarded for our patience and support.</div>
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A Flawed Instrumental</h3>
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Okay, I was going to go with this as a post-script, but upon listening to it, it's clear it deserves a whole lot more.</div>
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Available at the band's <a href="http://arcaneinsignia.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp page</a> is an instrumental version of <i>A Flawed Design</i>, which I was hesitant about - I couldn't imagine the album working without the instrument of Alejandro Saldarriaga Calle's vocals and his metaphorical and spiritual prose - but I had to try it out. From the beginning of "Kingdom of Wolves" onward, I was blown away, all over again.</div>
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I'll start by noting that "Kingdom of Wolves" - a seventeen-minute epic - is now broken down to five parts. The <i>con palabras</i> (with words) version is a little intimidating, as you have to commit yourself to hearing it as a whole, or why bother? I personally find it impossible to pause or skip once it's begun. It's a terrific opening track, but as a five-part instrumental epic, it gives you options. I still have to see it through, as well as it works as a neoclassical instrumental. And there's no other label for it. "Neoclassical" is definitely the way to go. It easily compares to the works of Lorenzo Masotto, my favorite composer of this genre. But differing from many neoclassical compositions, which often have electronic components, this is boldly acoustic.</div>
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The guitar, either melodically plucked or rapidly strummed, is usually the source of rhythm here, though staccato bursts from the strings sometimes take their turn. Percussion, in this case, is often provided unconventionally by the guitar/viola/cello trio, while actual acoustic percussion instruments - a tambourine here, some toms and bass-kicking, a cymbal there - are used for accent and emphasis, as carefully placed as any of the other players at work here. The primary "rock" component is the guitar's metal influences, but it is also a major part of what makes this such a unique work, as a neoclassical composition. And it is almost fluidly a single composition. Parts are broken down for your convenience; though, "Obelisk" is now melded into a single track. Hearing it as a unified piece is almost a whole new experience. Hell, hearing all of this instrumentally is a whole new experience. By turns, it's so <i>melodic</i> and <i>frenetic,</i> and always impressive.</div>
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It is worth mentioning that the end of "Obelisk" has been transformed for its instrumental incarnation, both gentler <i>and</i> more fierce.</div>
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Like "Kingdom of Wolves," "Gemini Cycle" has been broken down into five components. I would characterize them as more "bite size," but each chunk is its own unique little movement. As pensive and dramatic as this song is as a whole, it's fun - yes, fun - to see it from this perspective. Each track gives me a little thrill that makes me a bit giddy.</div>
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<i>A Flawed Design [Instrumental] </i>brings to mind the difference between Tori Amos' <i>Night of Hunters</i> and its <i>sin palabras</i> counterpart. Each works beautifully in its own way. You would think that the absence of vocal melodies and lyrical poetry would detract from the piece, yet it just provides a different - and insightful - perspective. Here, <i>A Flawed Design</i> is transformed into a neoclassical piece of complex, undulating beauty, different from its prog-rock incarnation in a significant and important, vitally valid way.</div>
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I definitely recommend it. After listening to the <i>con palabras</i> album four-or-five times (I confess, I lost track, as I listened to each song multiple times while writing the above article to be thoroughly informed) I found myself enraptured by the instrumental. It will transport you to a different place, in a very good way.</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-7323241278998561022018-02-22T17:16:00.001-08:002018-03-02T19:56:29.207-08:00Welcome to Anniversary 2018!<h3>
<i>Jaded Winters </i>and <i>Fleeting Fractals</i></h3>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4142921890/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border-width: 0px; height: 274px; width: 400px;"></iframe><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=132611174/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 208px; width: 400px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/fleeting-fractals">Fleeting Fractals by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe></div>
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This has been an incredibly busy month, as I've been cramming in more than maybe I should have leading up to the third anniversary of my debut EP,<i> Progress Report</i>. </div>
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<i>Progress Report</i> was just that: an update on what I'd been up to and how I was healing following an intense ten-day hospital stay, during which I was violently ill. After my hospitalization I was largely immobile, as the gradual development of neuropathy suddenly hit me full-force, and I could hardly stand because of the pain, and had a very difficult time maintaining my balance. I made my way around the house largely by repelling myself off of walls; stairs were about impossible to manage without crawling; and I used a walker outside of the house. You see, my liver nearly failed, and the damage was spread throughout my body. I ended up staying mostly on the couch and massaging my affected brain with word games on my iPad. Stephen King's <i>Dark Tower</i> series helped keep boredom at bay, perhaps saving my life as I entered a period of severe depression - something I'm already susceptible to.</div>
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My discharge from the hospital was on February 18th, 2014, and it was during the following winter that I began to dabble at composing. Music has always been a very large part of my life. I took five years of piano music when I was very young, and I followed that with show choir through middle school and high school. I picked up a guitar and taught myself to play while I was fronting alternative and metal bands as a vocalist. As a soloist, I performed a cappella at open mics. Then I got into a long-term relationship and began focusing on "real" jobs, which lasted six years before a volatile breakup during which I lost <i>everything</i> and had to move to Missouri from Portland, Oregon to try and pick up the pieces of myself and my life. All together, I had about a ten-year hiatus from music.</div>
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So I put my years of piano music - and trying my hand at every instrument I picked up - to use on a computer program, and on an iPad app with "simulated" instruments (meaning there's some fret work, strumming, and bowing involved on stringed instruments, apart from the keyboards) and I composed some instrumentals. One of those earliest was primarily a test to see if those piano lessons had stuck, trying my hand at a more classical-style piece. That song was called "Winter's Discontent," as I anticipated a particularly dark and depressing winter, with my mobility so limited. However, as music became my main focus through this composition work, that winter was not only bearable but somewhat enjoyable, and that song was renamed "Winter's Salve," not completed until after I released <i>Progress Report</i>.</div>
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I decided to self-publish some of this work, partly in defiance of every artist's initial fear of making themselves vulnerable by offering up their creation for public scrutiny. Many talented artists I have known have sold themselves short and never pursued that path because of that fear. However, I decided to share this work, even if I didn't plan on selling it, instead offering it up for free, if anyone wanted to download it. I had seven songs ready in February 2015, and decided this "progress report" should be published on the one-year anniversary of my hospital discharge. Instead, in honor of the <i>Dark Tower</i> books that were helping in keeping me sane, I released it on the 19th, a number that figures into that series quite a bit.</div>
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The EP almost began with a song called "The Trip Begins," which fortunately has never been heard by anyone else. Being dissatisfied with that song, I instead set to composing a sort of introductory piano ditty, which I completed overnight, and thus "Introducing..." was born. After a couple more cracks at that song, it wound up opening a couple more of those "non-commercial," up-for-grabs EPs. When I actually got confident enough to distribute my work on a wider scale, it opened my first "real" album, <i>Instrumentality</i>, and then a version with beats - "No Introduction Needed" - kicked off my second album, <i>Occultation</i>.</div>
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Since then, that melody has been reused a few times, being renamed "Jade's Theme" after a fictional alter ego of mine who is the protagonist of many stories in my head. It's a melody that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, and neither is "Winter's Salve."</div>
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After a couple of remixes of "Winter's Salve," I decided to try my hand at a minimalist mix closer to the original, bringing to life a version that had been developing in my head to rival the song's definitive version for over two years, the "Alternate Spin." I first shared the result as a bonus track on the Extended Artist's Edition of the album <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, and a desire to make it available to the public at large brought about the idea for <i>Jaded Winters</i>. This also seemed like a good way to bring "Introducing... (Alternate II)" and "Winter's Salve (Alternate Spin)" back into circulation, after their disappearance from my discography, when I decided to pull <i>Instrumentality</i> from stores and streaming platforms.</div>
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The concept of <i>Jaded Winters</i> gave me the excuse to try out an all-strings version of "Jade's Theme" that had been matriculating in the back of my mind. This came to fruition as "Jade's Theme (Strung Out)," and then I offered it, and "Winter's Salve (Dialectical)," to the public in a prototype of <i>Winters</i> over the 2017 end-of-year holidays. I knew an "official" version was in the cards for early 2018, and it was a random inspiration to publish it as a Valentine's gift. As it got closer to this release date, I gave another listen to the amateurish "Introducing... (Alternate II)" and "Wnter's Salve (Alternate Spin)." I decided to remove them, and instead made "Winter's Salve (Dialectical)" the definitive version of that song, with a simplified title. I gave "Introducing..." another crack, returning to its original instrumentation, and I recorded "Introducing... (Alternate III)." I then recorded a new mix of "Winter's Salve" with some cool new beats and a couple of synths from a prior, overly-complex remix. This gave birth to "Winter's Salve (Siren's Call)." This all evened out to the desired number of four tracks.</div>
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Backtracking to shortly before Valentine's Day...<br />
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I had shared a recording of "Signor Fancypants" on one of my "Jukebox" posts on social media, that wasn't publicly available: how it was on the album <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, but without the interrupted ending that segued abruptly into the introduction for "Less Sinister Cousins." A desire to make this almost single-worthy version widely available also gave me the excuse I hadn't realized I was waiting for to replace the single version of "Fleeting Fractals" with its superiorly mixed <i>Dialectical Observations</i> album version. So it was that a new <i>Fleeting Fractals</i> single came into being with the addition of "Signor Fancypants."</div>
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Now, I never did a release article on this blog for either <i>Jaded Winters </i>or <i>Fleeting Fractals</i>, because I knew that I'd be wrapping all of February's activities into one. I never made readers aware of the free-on-Valentine's gift, so to make up for that I'm offering exclusive links here for free downloads:</div>
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<a href="https://bandcamp.com/download?id=179971432&ts=1519255084.1125362925&tsig=a12fac8ef520d143d75135c415a4c40d&type=album" target="_blank">Click here to download <i>Jaded Winters</i>,</a></div>
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<a href="https://bandcamp.com/download?id=2289681487&ts=1519255211.119800395&tsig=fdcda291266df9119b621faa5e10d081&type=album" target="_blank">click here to download<i> Fleeting Fractals</i>.</a></div>
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<i>Jaded Winters</i> is also available at <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/15PdYwh7xzSkRFJWsGsLHW?" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, YouTube Music, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Jaded_Winters?id=Buh4wautriy6fstbppgqzjmoegm" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/jaded-winters-ep/1348638436" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jaded-Winters-Lady/dp/B079T72LNY/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1520049178&sr=1-2-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://tidal.com/album/84732264" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.<br />
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<i>Fleeting Fractals </i>is also available at <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2LbGvLBz376SPGsx5HDuwB?" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, YouTube Music, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Fleeting_Fractals?id=Bmwu3odoly4k2brpdaixwcjgzre" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fleeting-fractals-single/1346336413" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fleeting-Fractals-Lady/dp/B079NTRBQF/ref=sr_1_3?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1520049240&sr=1-3-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://tidal.com/album/84434961" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.<br />
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<i>Neoclassism </i>and <i>Distilled</i></h3>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=329598004/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e32c14/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 687px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/neoclassism">Neoclassism by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe>
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"Neoclassism" was a title I'd known I'd apply to a song or album for some time. I decided that it would be the title of my follow-up to <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, indicative of the neoclassical direction I seemed to be heading in. However, after I record their initial inspirations, the songs tend to decide which direction they'll take. Sometimes it seems like they're out of my hands until I begin to engineer their final sound.</div>
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"Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" and "Surviving Is Killing Me" were first available as two of the bonus tracks on the <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a>-exclusive <i>Dialectical Observations</i> Extended Artist's Edition. "Nice Things" was continuing down that more neoclassical path, with some heavily electronic, industrial-style beats, similar to "Less Sinister Cousins."<br />
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Written in a flurry of anxiety that lasted for three days straight, "Killing Me" was a return to previously explored industrial-metal styles, with a title inspired by <i>Fear The Walking Dead</i> - Alicia informs her mother that "just surviving is killing me," or something to that effect.</div>
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"Symbolism" and "Reciprocal" were both jump-started by riffs from previous songs, that I'd been wanting to explore further. The piano riff that begins and then peppers "Symbolism" is from both "Overdrive" and "Passage Through The Veil" on the album <i>Revolutions,</i> which I've wanted to continue as a repeating theme throughout my discography. Perhaps it's because of it's relationship with those two songs that "Symbolism" sounds like it could have also been on <i>Revolutions</i>. The only real commonality it has with my newer writings are instruments that I've only lately begun to use. The glockenspiel found in "Less Sinister Cousins" and "Fistfuls of Whimsy" on <i>Observations</i> makes a return, and a deep-throated, synthesized "bassoon" - that has only recently become available on my DAW - is used to dramatic effect, both as a repeating single-note baritone, and as a soloist with a theme dangerously close to one found in <i>Terminator</i> (I think Sarah Connor's theme in the TV show?).</div>
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"Reciprocal" uses the cello climax from "Yours To Burn" on <i>Counterbalance</i>, something so rapid and urgent that I fell in love with it. "Reciprocal" could be considered neoclassical in style, based on the cello-and-viola duet and flute found playing off each other as the lead instruments, but the interrupting guitars and synths make it more of an industrial-metal tune. The title was originally "Eleven," simply because it was the eleventh project file in my DAW. It stuck for quite a while because the number eleven has had significance in various periods of my life. This song wasn't initially going to be on this record, except maybe as an Artist's Edition bonus track. Same with "Reprieve," originally titled "Love & Loss." However, these songs' titles and status were both in flux, and once they informed me of their changes in name, they seemed more significant to the "neoclassism" theme. And when more songs were written before the EP's release, they were relegated to the public version, with the additional songs becoming bonus tracks.</div>
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"Otaku" is a very eccentric song, not the same style whatsoever as the other songs, relating to them only in the relentless pace the EP was forming. It was born of the idea to do two acoustic guitar tracks, one jumpstarting the riffs of the other with single sustained notes, but it was really the use of the "Chinese" drum kit that gave the song its style. Some strange electronics give it an industrial quality, and it's because of <b>all</b> these elements that this song really defies classification. I want to say it has an "ethnic" sound, but what that ethnicity is I would be hard-pressed to label. I guess it feels vaguely Asian to me, which could be why "otaku" - a Japanese word described to me as literally meaning "outsider," by the book <i>World War Z - </i>was chosen as a title. However, "otaku" is most often used as a term describing young people with nerdy obsessions, to the detriment of their social skills. I guess this could have labeled me at a point in my life, which in part has informed the person I have become. Such young people seem to have an easier time relating to me than to other adults, and I identify with them as well. So this song is really for this class of "discarded" or "dismissed" youth.</div>
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A couple of bonus songs are available on the exclusive <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> pledge reward, the <i>Neoclassism</i> Artist's Edition. I recorded a version of <i>Revolutions</i>' "The Creeps" that has a cleaner, more piano-and-trip-hop sound, with rerecorded vocals. Because of that song's themes of class war and xenophobia, it was hard not to include it on the public EP. But it's a bit of an experiment that I'm self-conscious about, so it was easier-than-not to keep it as more of a rarity. "Misplaced Romanticism" is another song that was difficult to keep off the record; it has a neoclassical sound, and the title refers to the misguided romanticism applied to other classes - such as the well-off romanticizing poverty, and the classes lower on the financial ladder assuming that wealth is easy and unearned. There's really multiple sides to the opposite-end-of-the-spectrum classes, and I wanted this record to reflect that; to not only be a rallying of the lower classes against the top one-percent (which is admittedly a stance that I take).</div>
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I hope that the themes and the music of this EP are enjoyable to others, and reflect myself and my growth as an artist. If you'd like to support me and my art, please consider buying the songs or digital record from my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/neoclassism" target="_blank">Snail Tunes store</a>. Otherwise, enjoy it through <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5Ca5v2yTB9fKutltjvALND" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, YouTube Music, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/The_Lady_anoNYMous_Neoclassism?id=B45zckfiq424rt7xrycyjzazboq" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/neoclassism/1350180322" target="_blank">Apple Music/iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Neoclassism-Lady/dp/B079WGH1B7/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1519343894&sr=1-2-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=The+Lady+Anonymous" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://tidal.com/album/84861489" target="_blank">TIDAL</a>.</div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=429877075/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 654px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/album/distilled-anniversary-2018">Distilled - Anniversary 2018 by The Lady anoNYMous</a></iframe>
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And here's my anniversary gift to you all, my celebration of three years of self-publishing my work, and my heartfelt <b>THANK YOU </b>to all who have encouraged and supported this journey. I was hard pressed to think of a theme for this year's EP, and then decided everyone deserves free downloads of my most popular songs from <i>Occultation,</i> <i>Jaded</i>, and <i>Revolutions;</i> songs that have been met with enthusiasm and have earned their way onto radio shows and stations throughout the world of indie music, despite their being instrumentals. It was pretty easy to select them once the theme had been decided. "Simplify" and "Revolutions" have been among my top-three most-played tunes, while "Slowly Scooting Closer" was (I think) the first to be picked up for regular rotation. "The Seventh Swan" and "Wrong Pocket Kinda Day" are both pop-friendly, and have made their rounds, while "Passage Through The Veil" has the most views on my <a href="http://youtube.com/c/YouHaveFailedUsBlogspot" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>, and was selected by <a href="http://starlightmusicchronicles.com/" target="_blank">Starlight Music Chronicles</a> to represent my music in an artist-of-the-month contest. Enjoy!<br />
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And as always, may your inner snails be resilient and determined.<br />
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-49367885846377014342017-12-01T16:11:00.001-08:002017-12-01T16:31:35.897-08:00Review - The Captivating Soundscapes of Lorenzo Masotto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvh0sZqf_U7-PgrX8drsjN8W_XIuk6nBhjteCY-V6Y11Lg_MHKT67SOoVYXIxX__Bo3ixU7cQB4rkXOXEF_aDV_g0p-6wJ1bAnCrOmhABqS9Lh2Aahq7tFPPaNZQyYjOOxqnDoZFIhxJU/s1600/blog+ad+-+lorenzo+masotto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvh0sZqf_U7-PgrX8drsjN8W_XIuk6nBhjteCY-V6Y11Lg_MHKT67SOoVYXIxX__Bo3ixU7cQB4rkXOXEF_aDV_g0p-6wJ1bAnCrOmhABqS9Lh2Aahq7tFPPaNZQyYjOOxqnDoZFIhxJU/s1600/blog+ad+-+lorenzo+masotto.jpg" /></a></div>
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"Lorenzo Masotto's journey with music began at the age of nine when he started playing piano. Graduating from Conservatorio di Veona, he consequently started studying composition and jazz. Lorenzo also plays in a prog/post rock band Le Maschere di Ciara, directs a male voice choir, writes music for film and theatre, and teaches piano and composition. 'I've never thought about writing in only one music style,' he says. 'I love all music, and everything I write increases my confidence and ability to write from a wider perspective."</div>
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I can tell you right now that this is going to be more of a gushing overview rather than a critiquing review, because I am simply in love with this music. It is flawless and keeps on improving upon what perfection. I consider myself very lucky to have stumbled across the music of Lorenzo Masotto, and I feel compelled to share it with others, as he has released four albums and three EPs that are graceful, emotionally impacting, and shifts in unexpected directions while maintaining absolutely true to itself.</div>
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Ironically, even though I often badmouth Soundcloud, it is responsible for my discovery of artists that are now a big part of the soundtrack of my life, such as Suzerain, (iam)warface, and my favorite neoclassical composer, Lorenzo Masotto. On offer were free downloads of "Moon" and "L'impressionista," which I snapped up after giving them a listen. Both songs were essential to playlists of mine that have subsequently become quite expansive, but were just forming when these songs joined them. Therefore, they showed up in my iTunes shuffles quite often. I then realized that this was classical music in a way I had never heard before. It was lyrical without words, soothing without repetition or sleepy ambience, fronted by piano, which I was beginning to love beyond a tool of my training to compose my own songs (Tori Amos also helped quite a bit in this regard).. I had to hear the rest of the album, and I discovered <i>SETA.</i></div>
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This album showcases Lorenzo on the piano with an assortment of guest musicians. It's pretty straightforward in its classical style, and I found myself enthusiastic over an album of this type that I had never been before. So when I discovered that an EP follow-up, <i>Travelers</i>, was released, I dived right in with gleeful abandon, and was not disappointed. It's the perfect epilogue to <i>SETA</i>, offering landscapes described by piano, making their inspirations almost tangible. Without guest musicians, Lorenzo's piano is raw and unencumbered, manifesting unrestricted beauty. I'm not saying that previous guest musicians had limited his compositions, only that alone with his piano, he still manages to evoke an entire orchestra.</div>
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Now following this unrivaled composer on Bandcamp, I was notified of the release of a free download of a compilation on which he had contributed a song, called <i>Winter Kept Us Warm, </i>released by Preserved Sound, a label that I continue to keep an eye on. While the album introduced me to multiple artists that I have monitored since, Lorenzo's new song "Chrono" stood out, and has become my favorite song he has released. It is because of this song that I fell completely for <i>Winter Kept Us Warm</i> as a whole. "Chrono" is also the reason I so eagerly anticipated his next release, and when <i>Rule and Case</i> arrived - then available in beautiful hand-made packaging (I believe this was also Preserved Sound's doing) - I practically begged Lorenzo to make it available on Apple Music, through which I was collecting most of my library. Such was not the case, and I was crushed. The following EP, <i>Prime Numbers</i>, almost made up for it. It displayed a fraction of the abstract turn his music was taking, and I could only hope hat his follow-up would be on Apple Music - at the time, my subscription was about all that was in my budget for music.</div>
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The pre-release marketing for <i>Aeolian Processes</i> was torturous for me. I didn't think I could handle the disappointment I experienced over <i>Rule and Case </i>again. Lucky for me, it was released on Apple Music, and definitely did not disappoint. Eclectic use of electronics and percussion, with accompanying instruments used in an unusual manner that evokes, but is not, electronic compositions, again with the liberal use of piano; but at times the piano is absent and other instruments, such his stirring strings arrangements, take center stage. This album is all it took to convince me I couldn't live without <i>Rule and Case</i>, and I bought the digital album. One listen of this extraordinary album - one in which I believed true perfection was achieved and even brought me close to tears in unbridled emotion - convinced me that I could never miss out on his music again. I needed to have it all, and I needed to have it <b>now</b> (<i>Rule and Case</i> also contains "Chrono," and nearly every song on the album competes with it for the status as my current favorite). Roughly the same time I took advantage of the free download EP <i>Mountain Paths</i>, which was a return to solo piano, and I voraciously pounced on his discography as listed on his <a href="http://lorenzomasotto.bandcamp.com/music" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> page. I bought the single "Reflector" then and there, but nothing could sate my appetite at that moment. I needed <b>more</b>.</div>
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I didn't have to wait too long. When I received an email invitation to hear a preview of his latest album <i>White Materials</i>, I immediately devoted a tab to it as I went about the business of marketing my own music. It was hard to do, as <i>White Materials</i> held my fascination completely. It took everything I loved about <i>Aeolian Processes </i>and <i>Rule and Case</i> to a new level, with the addition of vocals by his wife Stefania Avolio and the return of his sister Laura on the violin. In many ways it is a departure from his familiar styles, and as such he produced it completely by himself, in his home studio. This album rivals <i>Rule and Case</i> as my favorite of his works. Listen to it yourself and be transported into a realm of complete, classical, abstract, and eclectic beauty, in compositions that uniquely defy its categorization at every turn. </div>
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3262200890/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=ffffff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://lorenzomasotto.bandcamp.com/album/white-materials">White Materials by Lorenzo Masotto</a></iframe></div>
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"From the moment my hand touches the piano and I begin to compose, my conscience starts a journey, leaving my body. During its wandering shows me pictures of the places I encounter, creating a sort of connection between my unconscious and my fingers. The colors, the landscapes, the faces of the people it photographs along the way are so clear in my mind to allow to portray those images using the only sound a piano can paint."</div>
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- Lorenzo Masotto</div>
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The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-5378274540821374452017-11-08T19:51:00.002-08:002017-12-11T18:30:10.277-08:00Starlight Music Chronicles - Second Spotlight!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today - Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 - hot on the heels of being included in Erosion Factory's 100th Show on <a href="http://beyondthedawnstudios.com/" target="_blank">Beyond The Dawn Radio</a>, my second interview on <a href="http://starlightmusicchronicles.com/" target="_blank">Starlight Music Chronicle's </a>Spotlight was published! I'm not ashamed to say that editor Candice Anne Marshal's introduction made me blush. It's support like this that helps me believe my music might be taking me somewhere, like this could turn into a truly successful career. That I have people who listen to, pay for, and care about my music is success enough, but being one degree of separation from artists I admire, have the utmost respect for, and even - in some cases - have on pedestals makes my head spin.</div>
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This is nicely timed, as I'm doing a second promotional run for <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, which this interview focuses on. Just over a week ago, I released a new Extended Artist's Edition as a Patreon pledge reward, which you can read about in the previous article. I hope this generates even more interest, and that I might actually be on my way to the next step in my dream, releasing a record on physical mediums. If you'd like to help, just make a pledge at <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">my Patreon</a>. There's a lot of rewards to be had, my appreciation not being the least of them.</div>
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I hope this article gives you new insight into my latest album. And I hope my excitement is infectious and washes you in the glow I'm feeling. May your own inner snails remain resilient and determined; even if your dreams aren't fully realized, shit like this can still happen!</div>
The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650299274662808665.post-90199543039691952462017-11-04T15:53:00.000-07:002017-11-05T09:31:35.290-08:00Dialectical Observations - Extended Artist's Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/its-here-artists-15213656" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXmyzJF5e17OG1dZVwHEyTbgP6a_e0iVa8lZ3YmHvbYB7IlsG7er9mtn9H66yMZvwl7XrRodVESEzuZt5v8fKEpjgqhh9HGX8Gcu8Wt4E2IuZquNVM9SUC7NHuz0iDQyT0w1cmXTAzyU/s1600/patreon+ad+-+dialectical.jpg" /></a></div>
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It's arrived as a new <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patron reward - the Extended Artist's Edition of <i>Dialectical Observations</i>. I'm not sure what I can say about it that hasn't already been said in the prior articles hyping it up, but I'll try to say it differently.</div>
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This has really given me a refreshed view of, and enthusiasm for, what has become my favorite of my releases. Don't tell the others I said so, but it's true. I've felt that this album has really upped my game in a new era of my songwriting, the previous era having come to a close, pretty much, with <i>The Instrumentality Project</i>. It doesn't mean I can't revisit any of its songs. In fact, I already have, with a new mix of "Winter's Salve," which I've made one of the <i>Dialectical B-Sides,</i> and which has also made it onto the Extended Edition. "Winter" has long reigned as <b>the</b> neoclassical piano ballad in my overall body of work, and the Alternate Spin has always been considered the "definitive version." I tried to knock it down with the "Fecund Remix," but I feel as though I tried too many (albeit good) ideas in one mix. I've been talking ever since its publication of toning it down and simplifying it, and I finally have. I've removed some of the synths and made the remainder sparse, and I've simplified the beats, making them a closer match to the Alternate Spin's. The piano has been a marriage of the remix's with the original arrangement, and the string arrangements closely match those found in "Fecund Remix." I'd love to share the results with you, but I'm trying to keep a lid on the new tracks to make Patreon pledges more enticing.</div>
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What I feel I <i>can</i> share with you, since I already have in two of its forms, is the version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" that made it onto the Extended Edition. There's only a slight difference in the piano of the bridge, when compared with the "B-side." I had to seriously consider the added notes, but settled on them because that's what I heard in my head, whenever I gave the B-side a listen. Sometimes it's better to leave notes out, to merely have them suggested, but in this case I went with making them actually present. It was actually kind of a tough decision. Because of this minor difference, sharing the altered version feels as though I'm not really giving anything away that I haven't before.</div>
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Both "Winter's Salve" and "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" are available as digital downloads to all my <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons.</div>
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What is exclusive to the Extended Artist's Edition is my newest composition, "Surviving Is Killing Me." I wrote this song during a prolonged period of agitation that lasted for three days, always finding some thought or other to feed off of. It was a rough time for me, and it recalled a pervasive and depressing thought about the current state of my life: "This is no way to live." As a person that struggles with bipolar depression (I hate that label, but that's the diagnosis) it's easy for me to focus on negativity. My life is comfortable, productive, and moving in a positive direction, yet I feel depressed and as if I have nothing going for me. This is why gratitude lists are important to create and recall, and this is where music often helps me - it exorcises those nagging demons, or it helps to focus my being on creating beauty and putting it out into the world. In the case of my latest song, I furiously poured my being into something that explores metal territory, which I haven't touched upon since writing "Movement." It was a good feeling to get back into that groove; to sink my teeth into something hard and crunchy. The piano riffs are rapid and the guitar recalls some of the hardest post-metal I've heard, while the synths and clean guitar provide ambient-industrial breathers. I wrapped it up with the chant "This is no way to live" and titled it "Surviving Is Killing Me," after a line from <i>Fear the Walking Dead</i> that I just had to write down.</div>
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Both "Why Can't We Have Nice Things" and "Surviving Is Killing Me" are likely to be included on my next full-length EP, but the new mix of "Winter's Salve" isn't likely to be publicly available until a possible four-track single that I'm considering releasing further along.</div>
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When weaving these songs into <i>Dialectical Observations</i>, I of course attached them to artwork by <a href="http://aquasixio.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">Cyril Rolando</a>, which I then worked into the design theme of the rest of the original Artist's Edition.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIaPDWsjUqNyhNLmGZ2EnA0XB66E9cZWk01j9vya8w-1m0Xs2u-r3WQSBbv6QYC7sbiC8AQMNuRF-spcgala-5dj-Ae1t0N0dsgvP0rjobr4Ez4HDYt5DNpqvZToNY9SW0eHJboucf_8/s1600/dialectical+-+winter%2527s+salve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIaPDWsjUqNyhNLmGZ2EnA0XB66E9cZWk01j9vya8w-1m0Xs2u-r3WQSBbv6QYC7sbiC8AQMNuRF-spcgala-5dj-Ae1t0N0dsgvP0rjobr4Ez4HDYt5DNpqvZToNY9SW0eHJboucf_8/s400/dialectical+-+winter%2527s+salve.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The additional artwork and track titles were then incorporated into an extended PDF booklet, making for a lovely overall digital package. What I would love to do is a limited professional printing of physical copies of the extended album, with a discounted price for Patreon patrons. As it is, I'd need several more pledges, and the printing couldn't take place until after those pledges were collected upon the release of my next project, a full-length EP. However, I've already given away one physical copy, handmade for my mother's birthday. This is an approximation of what I hope I could distribute.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNphnfR0SmGNjwp0V9UyuXLnnZaXWqeSg2YdgbCHWDP8bMa6sSpP9TmFXP0zOKXY0bebcVs7D2BJaOxhN1f-1zo80cDvSze4LDg0TRDXRiw-gJ9SwJHsrwa2fR8wv8PlqEXheo0LAZTQ/s1600/Dialectical+-+physical.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1600" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNphnfR0SmGNjwp0V9UyuXLnnZaXWqeSg2YdgbCHWDP8bMa6sSpP9TmFXP0zOKXY0bebcVs7D2BJaOxhN1f-1zo80cDvSze4LDg0TRDXRiw-gJ9SwJHsrwa2fR8wv8PlqEXheo0LAZTQ/s640/Dialectical+-+physical.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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To sum it all up: "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" and the new mix of "Winter's Salve" are available to all <a href="http://patreon.com/theladyanonymous" target="_blank">Patreon</a> patrons as <i>Dialectical B-Sides</i>. Worked into <i>Dialectical Observations (Extended Artist's Edition),</i> they are accompanied by "Surviving Is Killing Me" with additional track art and an extended PDF, as part of the top tier of Patron Rewards.</div>
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I would love your direct support in my continuing endeavors to put a little beauty back into the world with my music, and the best way to do that is with a Patreon pledge. However, as an alternative, you can also buy my songs, EPs, or albums directly from me at my <a href="http://theladyanonymous.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Snail Tunes store</a>.</div>
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Thanks for your consideration, and may your inner snails be resilient and determined!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ku0dEE_tnhOWcgUMsfrw0rHLysh97e1etZG3aqa2TPIrkHLFFdtBEfPLGMgo56IOBGZPGDbiGC-rLYwhHxyhVjQvFnPtjvUIFMM81fJTnqiPE4sU4mDdHc4ww279hHAEA8dAjqlH6H8/s1600/Snail+cut+out.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="460" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ku0dEE_tnhOWcgUMsfrw0rHLysh97e1etZG3aqa2TPIrkHLFFdtBEfPLGMgo56IOBGZPGDbiGC-rLYwhHxyhVjQvFnPtjvUIFMM81fJTnqiPE4sU4mDdHc4ww279hHAEA8dAjqlH6H8/s200/Snail+cut+out.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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P.S. I almost forgot to include the new track list!</div>
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01. "When Anchorage Became An Island"</div>
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02. "Man Seeking Cocoon (For NSA LTR)"</div>
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03. "Surviving Is Killing Me"</div>
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04. "Familial Germs"</div>
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05. "Movement (Alternate Spin)"</div>
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06. "Butterflies On Ganymede"</div>
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07. "Fleeting Fractals"</div>
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08. "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?"</div>
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09. "Signor Fancypants"</div>
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10. "Less Sinister Cousins"</div>
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11. "Fistfuls of Whimsy (Alternate Spin)"</div>
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12. "Winter's Salve"</div>
The Lady anoNYMoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17951539323137318265noreply@blogger.com0