Tag: Celtic

20 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, Pandora Celtica

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Pandora Celtica describes itself as (okay, deep breath here),  “a dark faerie Celtic acappella band from the land of dreams and myth. The Queens and Kings of the Fae have ordered the creation of our band that we may be a beacon of magic and high art in the mundane realms, both for the mortals and for you, our fellow Bright Beings, who make your home here.”

Hoo boy.  Okie dokie then.

I think examples like Pandora Celtica are why con-goers and nerds in general can sort of be given the side eye–IT IS SO WEIRD.  I enjoy keeping a foot in many different worlds, and a lot of people don’t even know that I’m a nerd until I open my mouth and start dropping obscure Star Trek references, but some nerds (like the members of Pandora Celtica) seem fine with keeping themselves firmly in nerd-land.  Which is cool, really, but I think the world is vast and varied and so I like the experience all sorts of different things, and I find that if I call myself “only a nerd” then people might put me into a little box.  BOXES ARE LAME.  Maybe I am putting Pandora Celtica into a box, but with a description like that how can you not?  Also, at a certain point I believe that men just need to cut their hair.  Sorry (not sorry).

ALSO THE WEBSITE IS ALL IN COMIC SANS AND COMIC SANS IS A TERRIBLE FONT IT IS ALMOST AS BAD AS PAPYRUS.  Ungh, comic sans is just such a disaster.

I know, I haven’t even listened to their music yet.  Truth: that description has already biased me against the band. Aside from the over-earnest fae stuff, the acapella band is just…I can’t.   I stopped liking acapella after I left college (because every college has an acapella group, yeah?)–not a comment on talent, mind you, because there are many talented acapella groups.  Just, again, not my thing.   Like, I’m sure there’s some irony in all of this, it is just hard to see on the internets.  I mean, I hope there is some irony?  Please have some good, healthy, self-aware irony?  Who knows.  Here is their Dragon*Con profile if you are interested.

All right.  Let us listen to some music.  Sigh.

So Ren-Fest.

Oh-so Ren-Fest.

So, that’s them hosting ModernPagan.TV, which I think tells you all you need to know.

Yeah, this just isn’t for me guys.  This is sort of like the Marc Gunn post: I acknowledge what Pandora Celtica does, I respect that other people like it, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and this music just isn’t to my taste: my opinion is “NOPE.”

Talking points:

–“HAIL TO THEE BRIGHT BEINGS.”

—Fairy faerie acapella band.

–So Ren-Fest.  SO REN-FEST.

Two thumbs down.  Beware the sparkly fairy magic.

24 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, I: Scintilla

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I:Scintilla is a Chicago based band who has played Dragon*Con before, and who fits into the gothy electronica vein of musical performances.  I:Scintilla combines metal-infused electronica with elements of synth pop, trip-hop, and indie electro to create their distinctive sound.  The band is comprised of  frontwoman Brittany Bindrim, Jim Cookas (guitar/programming), Vincent Grech (drums), and Brent Leitner (guitar/programming).  I:Scintilla also has a reputation for having a great live act.

I just want to say: YAY FOR TONS OF FRONTWOMEN AT DRAGON*CON.  Ladies keepin’ it real next to the menfolk, hooray for feminism in music!

Promotional photo from I:Scintilla
Promotional photo from I:Scintilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bitch, please.

Anyways, at this point the bands at Dragon*Con fall into a few loose categories: gothy electronica/dance, Steampunky/vintage, and general folksy stuff, maybe with a Celtic flavor.  Maybe I’ll stumble into something different down the line?  We’ll see–in the meantime, here is some music courtesy of I:Scintilla:

Oh lordy, so gothy!  Jon really likes it, of course.  I actually like it too.

Look at all the strobe lights!  I want to break out some glow sticks and twirl them ferociously in front of my face.

That was fun.  In case you can’t tell, my tastes sort of run to gothy, dancy, dark electronica.

Talking points!

–Female lead singer (grrrrrl power!)

–Heavy electronica dancy gothy sound

–Good live show

Two thumbs up!  GLOW STICKS FOR EVERYONE.

 

26 Days to Dragon*Con Band Profile, Marc Gunn

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So according to Marc Gunn‘s Dragon*Con profile, he calls himself the “Celtfather”  Celtic music is Marc Gunn’s deal.  If you like Celtic music, read on.  If not, well, I’m guessing you don’t frequent the Pern or Filk or Tolkien tracks at Dragon*Con.   I don’t like Celtic music.  I’m just going to put that out there.

Did you watch the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics?  I did!  I loved it, despite people being all “WAH IT WASN’T BEIJING,” which, hello, nothing can be Beijing, and also it was SO. BRITISH in all the best ways.  I also really loved when the children’s choirs from the England., Wales, Scotland, and Ireland sang traditional songs from their countries.  Marc Gunn does a bit of this–the difference is, I don’t tear up with emotion (the children, guys, the children all united!) when Marc Gunn sings “Danny Boy.”

I am really into neo-folk music: Fleet Foxes, Joanna Newsom, Decemberists, Beirut.  But these all have a bit of winky irony to them, and also move forward with their genre.  Marc Gunn is firmly–from what I can tell, correct me if I am wrong as I am literally being introduced to his music today–in the un-ironic, actual folk-song camp.  I mean, check out this video: the long hair and the pirates and the kilts and the autoharp (which makes me think of the incomparable Catherine O’Hara in A Mighty Wind).

Guys, it is so Ren Fest!  And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you like that, but I can only do it in very small doses.  So here is another small dose:

Okay so that was about cats.  I like cats.  I don’t think I liked that?

One more, just to see if I can handle it:

So that’s from Dragon*Con 2011 and, um…no, no I still don’t like it.  I take back my earlier statement about him not having any irony–I think it is there, it just isn’t really my kind of irony.  Or sarcasm.  I like things with snark and no, there’s no snark here.  He has a nice voice, and he’s clearly good at what he does, but it just isn’t for me at all.

Talking points:

–A man and his autoharp

—Utilikilt

–Celtfather

Two thumbs down.  I’m sorry, Marc Gunn, I am sure you have a very large following, I’m just not going to be a part of 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.

 

35 Days to Dragon*Con: Band Profile, Ego Likeness

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So my first reaction to Ego Likeness‘ website was “eeee gothy.”  The group was created by Steven Archer and Donna Lynch, who are married and live in the DC area with two hairless cats, which is awesome.

English: Ego Likeness
English: Ego Likeness (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pretty gothy right?  So I said to myself: “I bet they sound like the Crüxshadows.”Lo and behold:

Okay, so maybe not as dancey as the Crüxshadows, but it definitely has the dark, electronica vibe going for it.  Shall we try another?

That’s a little dancier, right?  Also, lady vocals!

Here’s some grainy, shaky footage of their live act:

As is to be expected, they have toured frequently with the Crüxshadows and have played Dragon*Con several times.   They’ve also opened for Voltaire.  They fall squarely into the gothy electronica group of bands at Dragon*Con, which I generally prefer to the folksy Celtic music group of bands at Dragon*Con–even though all the gothy electronica groups sort of blend together for me unless I specifically know them or their music (ie: Crüxshadows).  Still, it is easier for me to dance to the gothy electronica music than the folksy Celtic music–sorry men in kilts.  Just in case you were curious, here is their Dragon*Con website profile.

Talking points:

-Anchored by a married couple

-Opened for the Crüxshadows and Voltaire

-Gothy electronica

Two thumbs up!  More black eyeliner and synth please!