ode to kristian

  "Rumor has it that I wasn’t born/ I just walked in one frosty morn..." 

(on “Burden of Tomorrow”), 

Originally, my goal for today was to write about my love of Canadian music, and truly, there is a great variety of fabulous, uniquely Canadian music here.

Then I got distracted by the gem from Sweden that is The Tallest Man On Earth. That man is Kristian Matssen, a small, wiry, finger-picking genius and poet.

Have a listen:



So beautifully raw. Matsson is a troubadour in the true sense of the word. On stage, it's mostly just him and his guitar. In today's climate of gadgets and flash, he's good enough to command your sustained attention on his own.

English is his second language, perhaps this explains the unusual metaphors. His dream-like imagery combined with an emotionally intense delivery, provoke a strong response in the listener. He plays the guitar beautifully. The finger-picking prowess and unassuming inwardly focused stance make you feel as though you're just hanging out at a jam session when all of a sudden someone begins to play and leaves everyone else slack-jawed... All too often compared to Bob Dylan for his folk sensibilities, Matsson can stand tall on his own.

My friend D introduced me to TTMOE, she told me I would love his music. Of course, she was right. It's partly the simplicity of the delivery, that lack of fear to appear emotionally "naked" while performing. You can't help but feel like a bit of a voyeur into his private world.

Here's another performance. This concert footage is of rather poor quality, but I'm choosing to include it for the quality of the performance:



He's growing musically. I love his earlier works, but the videos I've shared so far are more recent creations... Here's one of the songs that originally stole my heart:




This last offering is the official video for the song "Love is all". As the song progresses, it becomes more hauntingly beautiful, like a long lost memory that resurfaces, and your heart aches.




I dare you not to become smitten with his music. And his voice.

not for the faint at heart

Today's guest author,`Lil' G:

  

Lil' G is a globetrotter, who divides time between East Canada and West Europe. A part time musician (guitar, drums, and some keys) and hobby photographer, Lil' G loves pop quizzes as much as good food. Lil' G has written articles and columns for several websites, with topics ranging from graphic novels, travel to music and eye candy.

With all the singer/songwriter blog posts I suddenly feel the need to stir things up a bit and introduce you to something else. Don’t get me wrong: I love singer/songwriters. My first contribution was about Serena Ryder. Besides Serena Ryder, my music collection includes Bruce Springsteen, Indigo Girls, Sass Jordan, Marvin Gaye, Tool, and Tchaikovsky - to name a few - and I’m hoping to introduce you to some “new” names in due time.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Otep Shamaya. She’s a singer/songwriter, just not the kind that gets on stage with a guitar like Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell. She’s also a spoken word artist. Check out a clip of her appearance at HBO’s Def Poetry Jam here. Not exactly for the faint hearted, eh? Even though the stuff she writes are all pretty intense, she also has another - gentler - side; listen to her recite her poem “My lover”. Otep also draws her own stuff, like this little thing:

Anyway, I’m starting to digress. I’m here to introduce you to her music. Don’t be surprised if, before today, you’ve never heard of her. Metal isn’t exactly a genre embraced by the masses and Otep is, as far as I know, the only out lady in metal. (Holler if you happen to know of other queer ladies in that genre.)

I was fortunate to catch a short performance of her and her band (simply called Otep) at Milwaukee’s PrideFest earlier this year. It was very apparent by the looks on the faces of some bystanders that at PrideFest my friend Stacey and I were two of very few people who are into this genre of music, (it was Stacey’s introduction to Otep). It doesn’t really come as a surprise to me, and truth be told, I’m very happy Otep played PrideFest; not everybody is into the bubblegum pop music many gays and young people seem to like these days. (Listen to a fairly recent radio interview with Otep on SistersTalk Radio in which host Genia Stevens talks about the music genre.)

What I really appreciate about Otep is that she’s involved (she’s created an online safe haven, where people can come together and talk body and self esteem issues on All Shapes and Sizes, and she’s done the same for queer girls who can meet on Girls out now!), she’s highly opinionated (as you can probably tell from her song lyrics) and she likes to keep herself informed. Despite the fact their single "Rise, rebel, resist" was released in 2009, watching the video I couldn’t help but wonder if they had any idea, in light of the huge BP oil spill earlier this year, how prophetic that video would turn out to be.

Did you know Otep was nominated for sexiest vegetarian this year? (Actress Olivia Wilde won, in case you’re wondering.)

At PrideFest Otep kicked off their short setlist with “Smash the control machine”, and Stacey and I rushed to the front (the perimeters of the VIP section) to rock out to the band. When they ended it with their cover of Nirvana’s “Breed”, I thought it was over all too soon. 

 

Photo credit: Tasya Van Ree

Otep Shamaya and girlfriend/model Djosefin Maurer rallying against Prop8 in California earlier this year.

If the music doesn’t appeal to you I invite you to check out her song lyrics, or her poetry. (She’s published 3 books to date.) She also contributes to Blurt. Her articles are funny, interesting, sarcastic, angry... They certainly give you food for thought, just like her songs. And that’s exactly what Otep wants.