I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to music. I try to avoid talking about it too much because there's a very real danger that I'll turn into a dreadful bore. If you don't want to hear my rants and raves, I'd advise anyone to stop reading now. I stated earlier that I liked alternative music but this point needs a little clarification. These days alternative music is often used to represent the archetypal (or should that be generic) male, indie-based rock, four-piece, I prefer to call that sort of music dirge. My passion lies in the ethereal/dreamy side of the alternative scene.
A good example of the sort of music I like, is that of Stina Nordenstam. I would perhaps go as far as to say the women is a god, however I'm sure many will write me off as some sort of deranged heretic. Stina is a diminutive Swede in her earlier thirties, she trained at the Swedish Royal Academic, and records songs that are intense, intimate and, at times, damn right scary. Her music takes influences from jazz, classical and the contemporary. Their subject matter cover love and death in just about equal measures. She delivers her cracked soprano in a near whisper to sparse arrangements, often of guitars and strings. The mood is definitely melancholic but it's one of pure crystalline beauty. There's just something about her music that I can't quite put my finger on, it's something in the delivery that manages to touch me in a way that no other musician does. I understand she is quite famous in her native Sweden but is virtually unknown here in the UK. To date, her biggest exposure came when one of her songs, Little Star (which incidently is about a suicide, see this interview), featured on the soundtrack to the film William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (the one starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes). If anyone is tempted to experiment, I'd strongly recommend starting off with Stina's second album, And She Closed Her Eyes. Unfortunately I can't offer any guarantee that you'll like it. In fact I'll go as far to say that the vast majority will find her voice uncomfortable and cloying. It's not uncommon to think that it's a 12 year old singing, all in all it's a matter of personal taste. To quote a friend of mine when I played him a bit off the album, he said: What's this bloody awful crap?. His loss, I say, the women's a genius.
Another strong musical influence on me comes from 4AD Records. This record label was set up in the earlier 80s and has become the mostly widely used term of reference when it comes to ethereal music. Classic recording (for my point of view), include those by: The Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, Throwing Muses, Dif Juz, His Name is Alive, Red House Painters and Lisa Germano. (4AD fans may note that I've left out the Pixies, this was deliberate, I don't have much time of this band).
By the way, I was listening to Dear Enemy by Dana and Karen Kletter when I original wrote this page, and was playing I Know About You by Ida when I corrected some links in 2003.