Month: July 2012

30 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, Fader Vixen

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Fader Vixen is another male-female duo from Atlanta.  Here’s their Dragon*Con profile.  His name is Jeremy Frank and her name is Toniet Gallego (great name).

So from what I can tell they’re sort of electronica shoe-gazey.  She sings, he plays some ambient synthy music, it is very moody but not particularly dancey.  Their website basically seconds my thoughts: “Since forming in 2009, Fader Vixen has truly developed a signature sound that features Toniet’s moving vocals on top of moody drum beats, piano, and layered synths.”

Here are a few songs:

Honestly, this is a bit too slow and ambient for me.  This is more, say, lounge music–I’d drink cocktails to this, but I wouldn’t party to it, so I don’t think I’ll seek them out at Dragon*Con.

Talking points:

-Male and female Atlanta-based band.

-Moody electronica.

No thumbs.  They don’t make much of an impression for me.

 

31 Days to Dragon*Con: On New Discoveries

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Last year, after seeing tons of Dr. Who costumes that we didn’t get, Jon and I decided to watch Dr. Who.  The new seasons, of course.  And it was GREAT guys, Dr. Who was super fun, are you my mummy, etc.  Except, for the first few seasons I was hugely distracted by Rose Tyler‘s bad makeup and dye job–so either that was part of her character, or the makeup department was super low-budget at the time.

Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Seriously y’all, spider mascara.

ANYWAYS.  We’re not here to talk about makeup, we’re here to talk about shows that Dragon*Con has inspired us to watch.  My obvious one is Dr. Who, of course, and I’ve just started Torchwood. Also, Dragon*Con inspired me to play Portal and Portal 2, which is hilarious, because I never really played videogames.  As you all know, I LOVE PORTAL.  (I really love Portal).  I still really haven’t played any videogames besides Portal, y’all.  Portal is great.

Portal 2
Portal 2 (Photo credit: N0fX)

What about y’all?  What new fandoms has Dragon*Con made you pursue?  Or not pursue, maybe because of obnoxious fans?  Either way, has Dragon*Con opened your horizons?  Let me know in the comments!

Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) cradles a dying Doct...
Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) cradles a dying Doctor (David Tennant) after he has been shot by a Dalek extermination ray. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Yes I totally cried at that part, I’m sure y’all did too.)

 

32 Days to Dragon*Con: The Hobbit (Trailer)

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I assume everyone has seen this trailer:

This trailer gives me chills.  The chills start when Thorin Oakenshield starts singing about the Misty Mountains.  Do you get chills?  I hope so.  I think this movie is going to be fantastic.

When did you discover The Hobbit?  I discovered it way back as a kid, when The Disney Channel would periodically air the incredible 1977 Rankin/Bass animated version of The Hobbit.

Cover of "The Lord of the Rings"
Cover of The Lord of the Rings

This is not to be confused with Ralph Bakshi‘s amazing animated The Lord of the Rings, which happened in 1978.  The animated The Hobbit opened with this gem:

Also the song about Goblin town which is quite possibly my favorite:

And also this song good lord how do I watch this movie again, the best:

And then there was that one time when South Park used the Goblin town song for an episode involving Lemmywinks and I lost my shit.

And also this Lemmiwinks song is basically “The Greatest Adventure” amirite?

Ungh I love South Park and also The Hobbit so much.  I did, of course, read the book at a certain point.  Lord of the Rings too.  I know people who, when the Lord of the Rings movies came out, did not know that they were based on books, which, ungh.  How do people who are not well versed in pop culture survive?  Hashtag: judgment.

 

33 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, Erin Hill & Her Psychadelic Harp

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What a great name, right?  The description makes Erin Hill sound vaguely like Joanna Newsom, who is the only other contemporary musician of whom I know that is a frequent user of the harp.  I love Joanna Newsom, so this is a good sign.

Erin has a great story; according to her Dragon*Con profile, her “recent Kickstarter project, ‘Erin Hill (the Sci-Fi Harp Girl) makes a Music Video Album,’ ended in the Top 40 of Kickstarter’s Most Successful music projects ever. USA Today premiered the music video for Erin’s song ‘Lookout, Science’ as an exclusive in April 2012 and it was featured on the Kickstarter blog in May 2012.”

This is the video that was a result of that Kickstarter project, and it is 100% delightful:

Wasn’t that so pleasant?  Also that older woman with the red hair is Marni Nixon, who is famous for being the singing voice behind many fabulous movie musical leading ladies, such as Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Natalie Hill in West Side Story.  Fun fact!

Also Erin Hill has been in some of my favorite Broadway musicals, including the Sam Mendes Cabaret revival and also Urinetown.  ERIN HILL BE MY BEST FRIEND.  Seriously this woman should be my new best friend–let us be friends, Erin.

Here is some more of her music, which I am 100% loving because, hello, Broadway-veteran, sci-fi loving HARPIST.

Also this is fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zZePBRDJLM&feature=related

So, now I have a giant girl crush y’all.

Talking points:

–Harpist

–Kickstarter hero

–Broadway veteran.

TWO THUMBS UP.  EVERYONE GO SEE HER LET US ALL GO SEE HER LET US DO IT.

34 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, Emerald Rose

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Emerald Rose is the other band I saw my first year at Dragon*Con.  They were playing at the Firefly Shindig (which I think no longer exists maybe?  I’m one of those people who very much enjoys Firefly but doesn’t quite understand all the hype, mostly because I am a bigger fan of Buffy and Angel, and also because I thought that Dollhouse had a much stronger and more interesting premise, and also I don’t really like Westerns.  Anyway).

Emerald Rose is a Celtic folk-rock band that is based in northern Georgia.   They have played many fancy places, including a few Lord of the Rings Oscars parties.  They’re one of the bigger draws at Dragon*Con, as far as I can tell.  Celtic folk-rock isn’t really my thing, but they were enjoyable enough.  Some awkward folkish dancing happened, if I remember correctly.  Basically awkward white people dancing.

Here is their Dragon*Con bio, and here is their website (I totally love that their motto is “Celtic Music That Rocks!). Here is their actually incredibly helfpul description on their website: “North Georgia‘s EMERALD ROSE has been recording and performing for around 20 years, weaving their musical spell on audiences as diverse as Irish pubs and festivals, sci-fi conventions, and Hollywood cast parties! Blending vocal harmonies, Celtic and world music instrumentation, unique and diverse songwriting, rocking renditions of Irish and Scottish classics, and an energetic performance style, Emerald Rose entertains.”  See?  Helpful.  Also, men in kilts!

Here is some of their music:

Talking points:

-Celtic folk-rock

-Men in kilts

-Strong Firefly allegiance.

One thumb up.  If I stumbled onto their show, I’d probably hang around for a bit.