Katharine Blake
Topic: August

Featured Artist 8/2007

KATHARINE BLAKE

I have been in adoration of this charming siren's voice ever since I first heard her in the group Mediaeval Baebes!  This woman has helped shape my ideas of what is "good" music... something well put-together, meaningful, fun to listen to, and no matter what genre it has to have beauty in it's own right.  In her debut solo album, Midnight Flower, Ms. Blake has certainly lived up to those standards she herself helped instill in me.

The CD is gorgeous, haunting, and melodic.  It evokes images of a dark night in a cottage, far away from the world and its troubles.  It pulls the idea of mothers singing to their children before bed.  It conjures polite medieval dancers in sets, moving in a dreamlike haze of opium and wine and cloaked in opulance.  For me, this is not just an ordinary CD, but a work of art!  Ms. Blake will have a difficult time topping her debut album, certainly... however, if her past work with Mediaeval Baebes and Miranda Sex Garden is any indication, she will rise to the challenge.

Katharine Blake is an artist that anyone should have in their collection.  Seductive, sultry, evocative- this is music that caresses your soul, knocks you on your ass, and leaves you begging for more.  Go on, buy the album- get a little culture going for yourself other than the bacteria in your intestinal tract!

Links for Katherine Blake:

Midnight Flower on CDBaby.com
(recommended for U.S. buyers!)
Midnight Flower on CCNow.com
(recommended for International buyers!)
Katherine Blake on MySpace.com

Lacuna Coil (Featured Group 8/2006)
Topic: August
Italian group Lacuna Coil may be fairly mainstream now, but they continually reinvent the Ambient/Gothic music scene, which is why I feel they are worthy to grace this page. The haunting voice of Cristina Scabbia and driving vocals of Andrea Ferro are just the tip of the iceburg! The rest of the group (Cristiano Migliore on guitar, Marco Coti Zelati on bass, and Christiano Mozzati on drums) form one of the most cohesive sounds I've ever heard. This entire group has a solid direction and a great sense of who they are, and it comes across in their music. Lacuna Coil's lyrics are darkly divine, innately inspired, luminously lovely. The musical background for the lyrics is always right-on, matching the mood like a pearl necklace matches a little black cocktail dress. In every release, Lacuna Coil has spun an amazing web of sound with brilliant gems waiting for the listener to discover them. Their latest offering, Karmacode, has got to be my favorite to date- no matter how you look at it, they just keep getting better!
Check this terrific group out at:
LacunaCoil.it/
MySpace.com/LacunaCoil
Lacuna Coil at StarPulse.com
Karmacode album site
Adore Lacuna Coil?:
EmptySpiral.net- a Lacuna Coil fan community
Lacuna Coil merch
Click to be added to the Lacuna Coil Mail List
HotTopic.com (Lacuna Coil search)