Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Wishes for 2010

The year 2009 has almost come to an end. In the last months of the year I haven’t been blogging. I have had a back operation and have simply lacked the energy to write. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t listened to music in Second Life (well it sometimes feels like my first life, but I am not an SL addict. Absolutely not!!).
I have listened to most of the musicians I have reviewed in my blog again and again – watched them get better and better. SL is a place for musicians to try out new things – to get a response from their audience. I think it’s great, The fact that the number of people attending music shows are dropping makes me sad. I hope those numbers will grow bigger again in 2010. My new year’s wish is to have lots of original musicians playing live music all over the grid. I will be among the audience as often as I can and hopefully blog about it too.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Bara Jonson at Miles Island


Last night I went to the venue Miles Island owned by Balder Miles to listen to Bara Jonson. He is from Malmö, Sweden. Since they built the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden it takes just half an hour to come from Copenhagen to Malmö. But at the moment Bara lives in San Louis Missisippi, so I can’t go and listen to him in first life. That doesn’t matter, because I can listen to him in second life. In fact he has a song about that called ”Far and away”, and he sang it yesterday. I was delighted when he sang two danish songs by the danish group Gasolin. The band doesn't exist any more, but they made an enormous amount of hits in Denmark in the 70s. Bara’s danish is good, although it sounds a little funny to a danish person – very charming. He really is multilingually talented. He can even sing in german, which he proved by singing the german song from the Eurovision Song Contest of 1979: Dschingis Khan. ”Behind blue eyes” – a giant hit for Limp Bizkit, but orginally sung by The Who he sang brilliantly. He sang Mmmmmmm – one of the best Crash Test Dummies songs ever in my opinion, and he did a pretty good job at it. The song suits Bara’s voice I think. I can see that I am writing a lot about the covers, but that is really not because I don’t like his original material. Apart from ”Far and away” he sang his latest ”With or without wings”. He sang ”I know you” about his newborn son, and he sang ”Happy when I leave you”. He has a very good voice, and his skilful strumming accompanies it with a steady beat. Go check him out if you haven’t already done so.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

FunkyFreddy Republic


If I can stay up late I go to Haven’s Paradise at 2 pm (11 pm in Denmark) on Tuesdays and listen to FunkyFreddy. He is so cool. His voice reminds me of Neil Young. He has the coolest arrangements with his loop station and maybe some more machinery? - I am not sure. Among other things he can play the music backwards, so it sounds psychedelic, but that is the least of his qualities. He must be one of the best singers and entertainers in Second Life. He sang two covers. Dylan’s: ”Knocking on heavens door” and Buffalo Springfield’s: ”Somethings happening here”, and he totally owned them. My friend Fyrm Fouroux does the same with covers. Makes them his own, and that is really the only way you should use covers I think.
As far as I could tell the rest of his songs were his own material. He is a very wide ranging artist with some really original songs. Some of the songs were accompanied by a slide guitar. He called it his black guitar I think. From his very entertaining talk between songs it is obvious that he has at least two dogs. He sang: ” I think that dog would be better off dead”. Hmm- hard stuff for a dog lover to listen to. Even harder it must be for christian people to listen to his naughty religious jokes about nuns. I don’t mind though, and I loved his ”Christian cowboy” song and the one about the plastic Jesus on the dashboard of his car.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Norris Shepherd and EvaMoonEmber on a friday evening


It is always good to listen to Norris. Whatever mood you were in when you started listening I promise you it will improve. Norris is the kind of performer who relates to his audience all the time. He laughs a lot, and he will make you laugh. Both his guitar and voice are very gentle. I so much like his interpretations of especially Radiohead and Prince. This evening he also played the Beatles song: ” My guitar gently weeps”. I loved that. He was playing at Club CasaBlanco, and the theme was some kind of back to school, so Norris was standing behind a teacher’s desk. Of course the audience, or at least some of them, were dressed as pupils. People were having a really good time.
After having had our moods lifted by Norris we continued to Rastafairy Beach, a beautiful venue run by hexx Triskaidekaphobia and jsmn Jao. We wanted to listen to EvaMoon Ember. It is not the first time we have done that and certainly not the last.
What a woman! What a performer! She is a wonderful piano player with a fantastic voice. In first life she plays with her band The Lunatics, and in a lot of the songs she does in Second Life they have recorded the backing tracks. Her songs are about… Well I’ll quote from Eva Moon & the Lunatics’ homepage. I hope she doesn’t mind: "Her songs hit your ears like a double shot of espresso. Far from your typical singer-songwriter fare, they’re ironic, energetic commentaries on modern life - sexy comic jazz journey in the company of terrorist cats, Nigerian bank managers, sexy UPS guys, psychotic baristas and more. If you've ever lost your heart to a chocolate bar, frightened an innocent child, or traded a man for a vibrator, she has a song for you."
We were lucky to hear the premiere of her new song. I didn’t catch the title, but it was about falling in love with a woman, and it was beautiful. Fyrm was quite excited about it and kept telling Eva how great it was.
I can never get tired of saying, that it’s so great that you can listen to amazing music like that in Second Life, and you can do it for free. Of course you will tip the artist and the venue generously if you can, but basically…. It’s free.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Kris Electricteeth at the Pond



It is a while since I wrote anything here. I have been busy. Among other things I went to Amsterdam for 3 days. I so love that city. Anyway – there is a lot of musicians I would like to write about. I noticed that I so far have only been writing about male musicians. It must be a coincidence. There are great female musicians in Second Life, and several that I want to write about.
Last evening my friend and I kind of stumbled into a gig with Kris Electricteeth at the Pond. I haven’t heard him before. I wonder if he is new in Second Life? Apparently he had stepped in at the last moment because of a cancellation.
He played a variety of covers. From Steppenwolf to Beatles. And he was good. Good solid guitar playing and an interesting voice, that suited the guitar. He also did a Johnny Cash song, and that was pretty awesome. I wasn’t really prepared to do a review, so this is not a very thorough description of his music, but I wanted to draw SL music listeners attention to him. Go check him out! Oh and all this about paying for listening to music in Second Life. It seems that some are already doing that. I really hope it will not be the deafult situation, but only an exception to the rule, that listening to music in Second Life is free.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Ray Weyland at Star Stage on a Saturday afternoon



I wrote the following some time ago. Sometimes my first life takes way too much of my time I think. I heard from Ray that he has now changed the access to the Star Stage, so it should be much easier to find it.
Anyway - this saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, in SL it was morning, I set out to find Ray’s venue. I had not managed to catch him before. He lives in Minnesota, so he usually plays when I am asleep.
It was something of a challenge to get there. There are two elevators going up into the sky – to the Star Stage, Ray’s own place. After fumbling for a while I managed to press the right button, get the elevator moving - only to walk into a swimmingpool when I arrived. I got a little wet, but I am glad I finally got to hear him. Ray plays a 12-string guitar and has a very nice voice to go with it. He plays his own original songs. As he says himeself: “A little bit Folk, a little bit Country, and a whole lot of gentle music.” And finally I found out why the little matchstick man, who walks around on the dance floor at Cascadia Harmonics is saying: “ I don’t wanna go to Pittsburgh”. It is the title of one of Ray’s songs:)
Ray has been composing and playing music for many years and is an experienced performer. He sings about life, love, friendship in a thoughtful, sometimes even melancholy way. You will not regret spending an hour with Ray and his music.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Jon Enímo at Rhythm Park and thoughts about music in Second Life

Last night I went to listen to a guy called Jon Enimo at Rhythm Park. He was playing from Canada. I had not heard him before.
He was brilliant – I mean really good. He was a highly skilled rhythm guitarist, and I liked his voice a lot. He sang his own originals, covering several styles - folk, pop and rock. I will have to listen to him again to write a proper review. I am looking forward to doing that.
This evening he played for 7-8 not very talkative people. As far as I could see his tips amounted to 200 Lindens. I tipped him half of that and my friend the other half. I am sure this can’t be the default, when he plays in Second Life. Nevertheless I sometimes wonder what is wrong with people.
Firstly: For me being able to listen to live music is one of the greatest things about Second Life. And you can do it for free. It doesn’t cost you one single linden dollar, unless you choose to tip the artist. Honestly –if you can at all, I think you should. And while you are at it – remember to tip the venue too. You will certainly not become a millionaire by running a Second Life venue. It cost a lot of lindens to keep a venue running.
Tipping will also show the artist that his or her music is appreciated, and if you are not able to donate, tell in chat that you like the music! That is the least you can do.
Secondly: It is beyond me that a highly skilled musician like Jon Enimo gets such a small audience ( still sure though that it must be an exception). Sometimes I stumble into gigs with large audiences, and the artist is singing nothing but karaoke. Maybe a nice voice –no more than that, and then backing tracks. No - I am not mentioning any names!
Anyway – I wish people would support the artists in Second Life who plays LIVE music.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Torben Asp at Yard Club Ethereal


The Yard Club is Torben’s own place, and in the ethereal part of it you get rocketed out into space. It is fantastic and very beautiful. Stars, planets, spaceships and satellites are glowing in the dark space
Torben is very special to me. Heat was the first one I listened to, when I started to listen to live music in Second Life. He calls himself Torben Asp now, but in the old days he was ”Heat”. He is also my fellow country man, and it is nice to be able to speak my native tongue – danish – with him in Second Life.
I went to listen to his music together with my friend Fyrm Fouroux. This evening was a rather quiet one compaired to the usual ones. A lot of people have like me grown attached to the ethereal, dreamy but also rhytmic tunes, that Torben creates.
The music he plays is electronic, and he says himself that he is inspired by Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, Vivaldi and many more. I can certainly hear that he is influenced by Jean Michel Jarre, but I have to say - I prefer Torben to Jarre.
He started out with ” Ice cave”, where you can almost feel the icicles on the instruments and continued with ”Dance of the sirens”. The sirens lure the sailors onto the rocks with their beautiful singing. The sailors go to party with the sirens, and of course they end up dead. All that is expressed in this song if you listen carefully. ”Last bus” with the sound of the bus starting and stopping came next. Fyrm loves that one, and he often gets to collect the fare for the bus:). And Fyrm was the inspiration for the next tune ”Take away”. He once made a synth experiment with the lyrics: ”She blamed it on the Peking duck”, and Torben was inspired to do this chinese sounding tune, which made Fyrm hungry. Usually Fyrm’s food songs make other people hungry. This time he had a little of his own medicine:)
Next came ”Whistler in the sewer” about the people working in the sewers followed by ”Touching souls”. Torben wrote that for his partner Jess Oranos. It is a beautiful love song and one of my favourites. He ended the gig by playing ”Prayer for life” and ”Daydreamer”. ”Prayer for life” he dedicated to Mother Earth, an appeal to take good care of her. It starts with a spacey, creeking sound, and I always imagine it is the sound of the infinite space where our little lonely planet belongs.
Listening to Torben’s music puts pictures like that in your head. I listen to him in Second Life but I often have him in my ears when I wander the streets of Copenhagen too. I have to listen to his music often.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Djai Skjellerup at Benzaiten Gallery


Damn I forgot to take a pic! Oh well – I will write about Djai and his music anyway (and I ended up googling a picture of Djai)
This evening he was playing at an opening of an art exhibition at the Benzaiten Gallery. Cestra Segall, Iam Yumako and Crow Vultee were displaying their art. We didn’t see much of it though, because there were so many people there, and it was very laggy. The part I did see made me wanna come back later to take a closer view.
Djai is a singer and pianist from the South West of England. He is one of my favourite musicians in Second Life, and I listen to him as often as I can.
This evening he started out with the rather quiet ”Waiting for you” Then came the more up tempo song about the american author Jack Keruoac. He sang ”Hidden depths” and ”Making me feel I belong”, where the chorus line makes people type ”Doo do Doo” like crazy.”While you wait” he introduced with a sweet little story about his son waiting for an ice cream, and he said: ”In this life it’s not what you are waiting for, but what you do while you wait”. Very true words! He continued with ”Stars shine more”, ”Cotton tree” about FannyAnn Eddy, who fought for the human rights of lesbians and gays in Sierra Leone. He ended the gig with ”Work it out”, a sad song called ”smile” and finally ”Suffer”
My friend said to me that Djai this evening was slightly more serious and reflective than usual in his way of introducing the songs, and I think that was true. He is very good at connecting with his audience, making them take part, and he is not reticent to share details of his first life. In fact I think that that is a very important skill for a musician in Second Life to have. Well more or less for musicians in first life too I guess.
Apart from his entertainment skills Djai is a brilliant pianist and a good singer. His songs are original, melodious and often make you reflect on life. They makes you wanna dance and sing along too. If you haven’t been to one of Djai’s shows you definitely should. I am sure you will end up coming back again and again.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Kourosh Eusebio at Nitida Ridge







For me 3 AM (5 o’clock in the afternoon european time) is the time for listening to Kourosh Eusebio at Nitida Ridge. Nitida Ridge is run by Bree Birke and makes wonderful surroundings for the dreamy, meditative music of Kourosh. I am not the only one having that time as a weekly landmark. There is always a lot of people there, and I recognize and say hello to a lot of regular fans week after week.
Kourosh says on his webpage about music: ”Music is the channeling of a form of Nature. A musician attempts to create a certain abstract space. Within and of that space, there is Nature.” When you listen to this music it is easy to understand what he is talking about.
His instruments are piano and synthesizer, and his compositions are dreamy, poetic, often building up to a powerful crescendo. Always with new improvisations. He plays covers too. This Saturday he played George Harrison’s “Here comes the sun”. It is a beautiful song and in Kourosh’s hands it becomes even more so. He ended the gig playing “Twinkle, twinkle little star”. Wonderful and very original.
Kourosh Eusebio is in a league of his own in Second life music.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Soundcircel Flanagan at the Vibe




If you haven't heard Sound before you are in for a treat. Monday evening I went to his gig at the Vibe. The Vibe is run very well by Bratt Lunasea, and I always love to come there. Well - Sound cannot sing, but his guitar sure can. He plays his guitar to backing tracks, that he makes himself. They are amazing, and when he adds his guitar ...Well you have to come and listen to him.
He started out with Barry Manilow’s Mandy and continued with ”A little bit of green”, that he composed after having watched river dance on tv. Fyrm had to go home to get his green wellies for that one. There was a really nice crowd at the Vibe: Roni, his blue haired manager, Cher, Sin, Lara, Fifi, Bratt of course, Nya and some more that I didn’t know.
He played Gary Moore, Queen – great tunes and in Sounds hands they were lifted to a new level of melodiousness. His big idols are Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and he saved them to the end of the gig. I have heard Steve Vai in first life, when he was a guest at a Dweezil Zappa concert, and I do think that Sound can compete with him, when it comes to handling a guitar. It feels like man and guitar becomes one. It is fantastic!
And oh –I forgot to mention Sound’s laughter. He laughs a lot, and he has a sweet, charming laughter too. And he has a dog called Summer, who sometimes snores during his gigs. Sound’s gigs are amazing mixtures of sounds.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Fyrm Fouroux at Cascadia Harmonics




Fyrm Fouroux has a gig every Sunday at Cascadia Harmonics, and I have been there most of the times. Normally Woodstock Burleigh is hosting. He is also called Woody or Woodipedia. The last because he is a virtual wikipedia. He is a master of finding things on the internet. Ticious Trottier was hosting this Sunday though, because Woody was at the SL get-together in Montreal. She has made Fyrm's tipjar – a red english postbox, that he is very fond of. Fyrm started by playing some of his own songs. One of the songs he played was actually ”Postboxes”. It is a kind of sad song about how the red english postboxes will be gone in a few years, because we all use email now instead of snail mail. His lyrics are always telling an interesting story. I simply love them, and I also love his classical trained bass-baritone voice and his in my view brilliant guitar play. He continued with a cover –"Love hurts". One of my favourites. Nowadays his gigs are split into two. First a guitar section and then a section with digital piano and synthesizer. This evening he played ”I don’t like Mondays” on digital piano. It is originally sung by Bob Geldorf and The Boomtown Rats. He continued with the Metallica song "Nothing else matters". In my opinion his deep voice is perfect for that song. Recently Fyrm has also started singing "Wicked game" – originally sung by Chris Isaak. He sings it very beautiful, and it lets you experience the full range of his voice I think. He is always experimenting, trying new things, and I think that's brilliant. He is not afraid of making mistakes, and that makes you relax – and laugh when an occasional "shit" escapes him. In the end he played ”Save the last dance for me”. Yes Fyrm –save the last dance for me :)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Saturday evening in Second Life listening to Nad Gough, Djai Skjellerup and Strum Diesel


Yesterday we went to listen to Nad Gough at the swamp. Fyrm always wears his green wellies when we go to gigs there. I must have listened to Nad at least a hundred times, but I need a Nad fix regularly. That is just how it is. His arrangements are catchy and intelligent, and I love his voice. Somehow he reminds me of the danish jazz singer and trobadour Povl Dissing. When he first started his career people either loved him or hated him. His hoarse and theatrical way of treating danish folk songs offended a lot of people, but nowadays I think he is loved by most.
Anyway – in some strange way Nad reminds me of him, and the atmosphere at his gigs are always friendly and cosy. His manager Jody Perkins adds to the atmosphere with her spectacular particle shows.
Later in the evening we went to listen to Djai Skjellerup. He was playing at Nirvana Beach.They did something they called ”originals day”. Djai is a piano player and a very brilliant one, and his songs are wonderful and indeed very original. He is good at getting the attention of the audience. He makes people sing along in so far as it is possible in chat. Somehow it works. I definitely want to tell more about Djai’s music later on.
Last gig of the evening was Strum Diesel’s. He was also playing originals at Nirvana Beach, and I must say I was blown away. That man can handle an acoustic guitar. He is not using a loop machine or anything. He just plays with incredibly fast fingers, and it sounds awesome. I didn’t catch a lot of the lyrics of his songs. I am danish, and although I speak english rather well I think I often have to listen more than once to understand english lyrics fully. He said something interesting though. He also plays gigs in his first life, but he said that he found it more satisfying to play in second life because people there really listened. They were not so occupied with other things besides listening to the music. He also emphasized that he didn’t say ’real life’ but ’first life’. Both first and second lives are real. I so agree with him. I am definitely going to catch a Strum Diesel gig soon again.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Jed Tharnaby at Guthries Folk Club


Fyrm and I went to listen to Jed. I had tried to catch him the evening before, but the manager didn’t show up, so he had no stream. That’s so annoying when that happens.
Anyway – we went to Guthries Folk Club. There was no sound although it was nearly 10 min. past the hour. Eventually it was sorted out though and Jed played his first song – a song I like a lot:”Last thing on my mind” by Tom Paxton.
I quite liked his version although I must say I love Fyrm’s the most. Russell Eponym sings a very nice version too.
Jed plays a steel strung acoustic guitar and has Bob Dylan, Donovan and several others in his repertoire. It is when he sings Johnny Cash that his gig really takes off though in my opinion. His voice is very well suited for his songs. I would say that he is more of a country and western singer than a singer in the english folk tradition, although he comes from Birmingham apparently.
At some point he even played a mandolin. It sounded very good I think. I would like to hear more of that.
There was a nice crowd at about 12-15 people at Guthries and they seemed to get into the music. It was a nice experience to be there and to listen to Jed.