Ceph/Deep Sea-inspired music

[Octomatt]

Hi folks -

Thought I'd share a very interesting bit of music with the TONMO community. I have long been a fan of Gothic musician OMEWENNE. She is currently located in Amsterdam and is recording a double-length album of music inspired by the deep sea. The album has been in the works for quite some time now, and I'm not sure when it will see completion/distribution. However, you can go to www.mp3.com/omewenne and check out two of her songs, "Nautilus" and "Waves." Omewenne's music is VERY different from what you'd hear on top 40 radio, and is definately an aquired taste. You can learn more about Omewenne at www.omewenne.com. Unfortunately, there isn't much of her music available to the public. Her most recent offering was a tribute to the late goth rocker Rozz Williams on the Rozz Williams Tribute album "The Tongue Achieves the Dialect" available through www.darkvinyl.de in Germany. (This is a bit shameless, as I too have a track on that record.)

Anyway, take a listen...

:band:

Octomatt

[Phil]

Hey!

That's really good. It sounds like the Sisters of Mercy crossed with early Cure. It sounds like it should have been recorded twenty-years ago-but hey, I always loved Goth.

BTW, Fields of the Nephilim recorded 'The Watchman' back in 1988. 'Cthulhu Calls!' quoth Carl McCoy.

(About time I found a life.....)

[WhiteKiboko]

well, if you include lovecrafty stuff, you could throw the band Gwar into this topic..im not a huge fan but some of their stuff isnt bad.... among their "mythos" is reference to a 'cuttlefish of cthulhu' which is in line with a long ago post of mine regarding the phallic nature of some cephs...

[Clem]

North Carolina's own Squirrel Nut Zippers recorded a tune called "The Kraken" on their album Perennial Favorites.

[tonmo]

I hear good things about those guys -- are they big band / swing type stuff?

[Melissa]

The Squirrel Nut Zippers are lots of fun, more country swing/rockabilly than big band. The music has its roots in the same things as big band and big band is one of its roots, but SQN have a much more rock feel. It's all swing danceable, too.

Melissa

[Clem]

The SNZ's are awfully prickly about being classified, especially with regards to Swing. Say "swing" around them, and they'll swing at you. I'd say they had more in common with New Orleans jazz, but that still doesn't cover them. I was lucky enough to see them perform at UNC Chapel Hill's stadium on a Fourth of July. Jazz you can pogo to.

If you want to give them a listen, their album Hot is a great introduction.
Fierce party music.

[tonmo]

Sounds good... When I meet them I'll be sure to be very careful about classifying their music...
:roll: :D

[Clem]

Hopefully, they've gotten over their bad selves.

:band: - :x = :meso:

[WhiteKiboko]

imagine that, the squirrel nut zippers in chapel hill... :) i think big band/swing fit them more than jazz....hot is imho their best album.... but that's just my 2.4 yen...

[Clem]

Careful with that "swing" talk, WK: you're within their field of fire.

[WhiteKiboko]

Careful with that "swing" talk, WK: you're within their field of fire.

hehe i fear nary a creature from Chapel Hill..... :) back onto the subject, (yes, i know its unusual for me) metallica has a song called "the the call of ktulu"...i guess they were trying to make things easier for headbangers..... :band:

[tonmo]

Nice job bringing this discussion back on track WK :) ...

There was a discussion about this on the "old" board... and so here is a nugget from the [Old Board Archives]...

-- tonmo

=================================

ceph hearing???|tintenfisch|
hey all you music enthusiasts! we've had squid & octo sightings galore but no talk of hearing about them. so - songs about cephs? who knows some good ones?
those i can think of off the top of my head (other than the classic beatles' one) would be a nice little ditty done by several artists, not sure who the original is, called "squid-jiggin' ground," which i first heard on mpr's morning show (other dale & jim ed fans?) by schooner fare. there's a different version by newfoundland as well.
and searching an mp3 database, many techno tunes come up with the title octopus (by groups like van der graaf generator) but alas, rarely have words at all, let alone mentions of our betentacled friends.
also - german speakers? - there's a song by the wise guys, a spoof of an old popular song , called 'flunder gibt es immer wieder' which is about a guy in love with a jellyfish, who is tired of all the available flounder, eels, salmon and, yes, octopus - but alas, his lady love reserves her affections for - ha ha - a loan shark.
ok, someone else's turn!

Re: ceph hearing???|tonmo|
Great subject! I quote Syd Barrett on the About TONMO.com page. Syd Barrett was the founder of the classic/progressive rock band Pink Floyd. On his first solo album in 1968 his single was a song called Octopus. Anyone who knows anything about Syd Barrett knows that he was a casualty of the LSD scene of the late 60's. He never fully recovered, and went into seclusion in the early 70's, where he still remains. ANYway, Octopus is a great song, if a little obscure. Syd was a poet, his music was mostly accoustic in his waning days, and his lyrics were outstanding, in my opinion. He is widely regarded as being way ahead of his time musically and lyrically... I agree. His work was raw, yet rich and pure. Worth listening to!

Re: ceph hearing???|Colin|
The late Frank Zappa had a song devoted to the Edgewater Inn where allegedly you can fish from the balcony of your room in the hotel. The foyer even rented out fishing rods and sold bait....

The actual contents explain how is was quite common to catch octopuses as well as the famous Mudshark, which is also a kind of dance patented by FZ.

When I was getting the right spelling of "Edgewater" I stumbled apon this site http://www.mmsc11856.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/doctoroctopus/doctoroctopus.htm A band called Doctor Octopus with references to FZ on their pages..... be warned, I never actully clicked on a "listen to us" button! :)

Colin

Re: ceph hearing???|amniote|
That ZAPPA track is on the album "Live at Filmore East 1971", which also features Flo and Eddie, ex The Byrds, singing "Happy Together".

As to what use people could have for a baby octopus? Well, this is ZAPPA at his most risque. Suffice to say it does not end up in a nice aquarium...

When were "Van der Graff Generator" ever considered a techno band? Overblown, pretentious, prog-rock yes, but techno?

One track of theirs may be of interest to teuthists. Called "Killer"...

So you live in the bottom of the sea
and you kill all that come near you
but you are very lonely, because all the other fish fear you.....

And you crave the companionship and someone to call your own,
because for the whole of your life you've been living alone

On a black day in a black month
at the black bottom of the sea
Your mother gave birth to you and died immediately.

I won't go on, but I'm sure Peter Hammill had tentacles in mind when he was writing it!

Re: ceph hearing???|colin|
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Playground Psychotics' but 'Filamore' is a much better album so I'll go along with that AND Flo and Eddie were singers in The Turtles. (aka Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan):p

C

[Phil]

you could throw the band Gwar into this topic..

Weren't they the band who used to dress up in full papier-mache outfits as demons and prance about on stage playing death-metal threatening to destroy the universe?

Or was this a dream I had?

[WhiteKiboko]

i think it was more latex than paper mache, but yes you are correct...they hijacked the whole aliens frozen in antarctica trying to rule the world thing from lovecraft.... really odd style though.... kinda death metal with a definite ska/gogo influence....

[Clem]

Tom Chapin recorded a song called "Billy the Squid," released on an album of the same name. You can find it on Amazon.com, along with an image of the cover art.

He's a little outlaw squid, that's what he is. Got that look in his eye.

[scarmig]

For lovecraftian music I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets (http://www.holycow.com/thickets/home2.html).

They have sort of a punk style in their older music (there 3 albums of lovecraftian stuff) and have a good range of styles in their newer stuff.

To give you a taste of the lyrics...

I met her at the E.O.D.
She sank her dew claws into me
We stepped out to watch the tide come in
She said a little swim would do some wonders for your skin
I shed my old self, slipped into the sea
One glance was all it took
She gave me the Innsmouth Look

[/url]

[WhiteKiboko]

probably wouldve mentioned them except for one small detail.....this is the first ive ever heard of them...

[Colin]

GWAR were one of the first live bands i ever seen!!!!

i remember sneaking in to Edinburgh and getting pretty damn drunk (prolly about 15 or thereabouts) and all was well until GWAR actually came onstage. Throughout the show the band and all the extras were throwing fake blood and stuff about and we got covered! Not exactly what we had in mind but great fun!

i went looking for a cool pic of them to share here but the online sites are perhaps not suitable for all viewers!!!! LOLOL 8)

And another thing is that MetallicA had an instrumental on Ride the Lighting called The call of Ktulu.......... is that a variation?

C

[WhiteKiboko]

challenge for any of our more musically/lyrically inclined members:

corrupting Jay-z's "99 Problems (but a squid aint one)*"

the great thing is with a rap song its less reliant on harmony and more of a fast tempo free style....




*italics and title corruption mine

[Infusoria]

Here I go again coming back from friday drinks and posting rubbish, like that's ever stopped me before...

I'd just like to add a couple of my fave Cure songs in here, pausing to fire up itunes on his beloved G4 to play one of them...

'From the edge of the deep green sea' and 'the same deep water as you'

Goth, moi?

[Phil]

'From the edge of the deep green sea' and 'the same deep water as you'



Oh yes, both classics, very moody. Speaking of The Cure, here's a dusty old rare 10" from my archives at home called "Half an Octopus", aka Quadpus in some releases.

It dates from 1985 and features "Close to Me", "A Man Inside My Mouth"(!), "Stop Dead" and "New Day". I don't think many of these were issued, but I'm not sure.

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/files/Half_an_Octopus.JPG

[Clem]

Say, this is pretty funny:

I Crush Everything (http://www.jonathancoulton.com/lyrics/i-crush-everything)

Jonathan Coulton is a songwriter here in NYC. You can listen to "I Crush Everything" as streaming media if you click on the songs box above the lyrics. The song seems to be about a giant squid who's had some bad experiences with love and boats.

Clem

[Melissa]

Bad music about bad experiences with love

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/0507/msr5/13_-_Dick_Kent_-_Octopus_Woman_Please_Let_Me_Go.mp3

[Melissa]

The Black Lodge Singers sing the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme!

http://www.wfmu.org/listen.m3u?show=16140&archive=22109&starttime=1:20:04

This is a whole radio show archived, but this is the first song.

[erich orser]

Geez, Melissa -

I just went and started listening again until I realized it was "Octopus Woman" - just dreadful!

[Tigerkatze_82]

The thread-title suggests this is the thread for posts about cephalopods in music, right? :confused:

Found a nice song for kids called "Mira and the Giant Squid"... located for free download here http://msn-cnet.com.com/kidszongoftheweek/3600-8173_32-100241298.html?tag=MDL_listing_song_arti st (it's the second last song in the list)

:headphon:

There are some more cephs-related songs in the archive, but they are by far not as nice...

:sink: K

[SeaN]

A song you don't know by a band you've never heard of but can google.Go on, they're great.

Joining the Plankton by Cardiacs

Die time!
jump out of life's egg and join the plankton
inking off across the beds
Inking off across the, and across the thing
'cross the thing

Ink me (woo!)
come to me exploring ah!
and joining the plankton inking off across the beds
Inking off always
So we'll swim and froth with limbs the blue

This much, the ultimate in devotion
and sensitive suckers, beating and cleaning and
keeping me sweet and serene
inked in my face and jetted off
Enough please RELEASE MY HEAD!
hand offered with thanks
mistakes my turgid gland for my hand

Die time!
jump out of life's egg and join the plankton
inking off across the beds
Ink my face and froth with limbs the blue-ah!
Jetting off with thanks mistakes my turgid gland
for my hand


Wonder what that's about then?