CD Review - 'Aurora' by Rastaban

Genre: Tribal Folk

Review:
This is one of my Castlefest CDs, and you may recall that in my review post I complained that I just couldn't enjoy this CD after seeing the band live. Well, my 'gig hangover' has passed and I am now not only listening to this disk but loving it.

I don't really know where to start so I'll do the easy and inconsequential bit: the cover (above). Isn't it beautiful? In all fairness, it has a beautiful dancer, in silhouette, against a lovely coloured background (with little patterns and a dragon). Anyone who knows me at all will know that these are probably some of my favourite things and therefore that the cover was always going to appeal to me! Opening the CD up you have the credits and what is, most probably, the most heartfelt and profoundly written thanks that I have read in a CD. It all goes to show that Rastaban is a band formed from nice people as I had previously thought!

When you've got over the cover (could you ever get over the cover?) and put the CD into the player you're greeted with the opening of Désert. It's a slow, mystic opening that really builds atmosphere and, no matter how many times I listen to this CD, it's really exciting! It then develops into a rhythmic piece of music. That seems to be the standard for their songs: each one is a rhythmic tune that makes you want to move yet has this slightly otherworldly atmosphere.

And atmosphere - that's what really develops from track six onwards because track six is when the live songs start. I had explained how wonderful Rastaban were live, how engaged the audience became, and a fraction of this comes across on the live tracks. I realise that this actually sounds quite negative but in reality there is no way that any recording artist could capture the energy of a good live show and because Rastaban are such fantastic live performers it notices more. 

Another aspect worth a mention is the fact that I find it impossible to choose a single, or a few, favourite tracks off of this CD. As I type now I am listening to Aumgaia, and it's becoming my current favourite. I'm sure that will change as the track changes!

Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable recording that would be wonderful as background noise yet stands up to being the centre of attention too and it's vary rare that a piece of music steps up to both those roles!

To listen to a track from the CD, and for information on buying it, please see the post below from Rastaban's facebook page.

Post by RASTABAN.

Getting into the autumnal mood

Well, if you know me well then you'll probably have noticed that I've been unnaturally down recently (and with good reason!). Today, however, I decided to pull my mood up through whatever means possible so had a morning of 'cello playing, which felt like heaven, and am spending my evening painting.

I felt in the mood for autumnal colours (and really fancy a toffee apple, incidentally) so decided to pull some of them out of my ever growing paint collection and just see what happened.

Didn't use the green in the end. Whoops.

The dangers of gold paint a.k.a. I think a small faerie's
 been taking a bath in my water.

I don't know how I managed to match the canvas colour
to that of my desk but it wasn't my aim!

And let there be trees, a camera flash, and some really
awful orange coloured over-exposure.

See, I can't take a photo of a painting to save my life. I guess I'll have to wait until daylight and try again! Oh well. I'm pleased with the real thing!

Book review: 'Runemarks' by Joanne Harris

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis:

"Seven o'clock, on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the end of the world, and goblins had been at the cellar again...

Maddy Smith was born with a rusty-coloured runemark on her hand - a symbol of the old gods and definitely cause for suspicion. For magic is dangerous. Or so everyone thinks. But Maddy enjoys working magic. Even if it is just to control some pesky goblins. And every time her friend, One-Eye - a good-for-nowt Outlander - comes by, he teaches her more and more about the gods and the runes.

Now he wants Maddy to open Red Horse Hill and descend into World Below to retrieve a relic of the old gods. Otherwise it is likely to be the End of Everything. Again . . .

An epic romp into the heart of the old Norse tales: wild, dangerous, richly inventive and superbly imaginative."

-from 'Runemarks' on Goodreads

Review:

I bought this book a fair few years ago, about 2008, I should think and tried to read it then. Sadly, I dropped it after the second part as it simply didn't hold me. Since then it's been sat on my bookshelf staring at me accusingly because, after all, it's a book with a stunning cover (which matters when it's sat on a shelf!), a great premise, and a humorous style so why couldn't I read it? That said, I never felt any real urge to attempt once again to read it so it wasn't until today when I needed a non electronic book to read in the bath that it got grabbed.

This book was a strange one for me, and I'll admit that, as I write this review, I don't know what star rating I want to give it. My overall feeling of the book is both positive and negative which, of course, makes it incredibly difficult to score.

Well, we'll start with the overwhelmingly positive, shall we? I managed to finish it this time! I did enjoy the story, and feel that it's rather an epic tale as opposed to a children's novel and this is where I think it falls down.

Lets start with the fact that it's a book rooted in Norse mythology. Set in a sleepy village five hundred years after Ragnarök, 'Runemarks' is almost a sequel to the stories told about the Norse pantheons. I'll be honest and say that this is a positive for me because, as you'll know if you've read my reviews before, I am a complete history and mythology nerd. Of course, Norse mythology isn't as well known in pop-culture as, say, Greek myths and therefore a bit more background is necessary. Joanne Harris does explain relevant aspects of the original mythology as she goes along but this makes different aspects seem really random and therefore breaks up the plot somewhat. I don't know how she could have done this better as, after all, she's retelling, building upon, and manipulating the stories of probably one of the more confusing faiths (the fact there's two pantheons and nine worlds should give you a clue!). Sadly, it does affect the story that she is telling.

'Runemarks' has a lot of characters.Some are from mythology, some aren't, and some are from mythology but in the form of someone who isn't. Confused? Well, the book does explain it better than that but I must admit that it's not always simple to follow. Lets not mention the fact that there are characters who are mentioned once or twice, play a key role at the time, and that's it. It sets your head buzzing somewhat. However, the fact that there are a few constants such as Maddy, Loki, Sugar, One-Eye makes this more feasible. It also makes it work well enough for it not to have an impact.

My biggest problem with the novel has got to be that I have no idea what they heck happened at the end. Due to attempting to keep reviews spoiler free I won't go into too much detail but, suffice to say, I was left rather befuddled. I might understand it better if I read it again but I'm not really compelled to do so.

It's strange. I gave this book a star rating as soon as I finished it, three stars, so something must have caught me about it but as I write this, a few weeks after finishing I have no idea what that was. I think that the passage of time has made the confusing ending more obvious to me and the star rating is slipping in my mind. That said, I don't think it's fair to change my original view which was made with the book a lot fresher in  my mind so three stars it is.

If you want to give Runemarks a go then you can buy it in paperback form or for kindle. They're about the same cost but the paperback is glittery!

Book review - 'Highwayman: Ironside' by Michael Arnold

Rating: 4/5 stars

Plot:

"England: 1655.

A nation reeling from the turmoil of bloody civil war. An island in the iron grip of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.

The forces of King Charles have been utterly defeated. The sovereign is dead, his supporters beaten, humiliated and scattered. But it is not just former Cavaliers who find themselves hounded by the new regime. Many of those who fought for Parliament have fallen foul of the oppressive rule of the Major-Generals.

One such man is Major Samson Lyle: Roundhead, outlaw, fugitive. Forced into exile after a dispute with the ruling elite, he has returned, intent on waging war against those now in command. Skilled with pistol and blade, Lyle takes the fight onto the busy roads south of the capital, forging a formidable reputation as a notorious highwayman.

 Along with his trusted young ward Bella, and Eustace Grumm, an irascible former smuggler, Lyle dodges the ever-present threat of capture to menace those against whom he has sworn revenge. But when the robbery of a powerful lawyer alerts Lyle to the imprisonment of a former comrade, the Major is plunged into a dangerous game of intrigue and deceit that may finally prove his undoing. And he must tread carefully, for Parliament have dispatched their own man to hunt the elusive outlaw. The villainous Colonel John Maddocks is tracking Lyle's every move, and soon he will come face to face with the Ironside Highwayman."

-from 'Highwayman: Ironside' on Goodreads

Review:

When I first started this book I was a little put out about the amount of description. Lets be honest, those books that contain a tonne of imagery tend to have issues with plot and pacing. However, feeling less than well today I curled up and decided to plough on. 

I am pleased that I did as I quickly became absorbed in the writing, in the story, and in the characters.

I would say that the plot pacing of the story is quite slow, at least for the first two parts. However, this doesn't affect the enjoyment because Arnold manages to make the introduction of the characters, and general scenario and setting fascinating. The history of the characters, and their reasons for behaving as they do, are revealed slowly, yet the way in which Arnold writes means that, despite being unaware of the reasons, the behaviour is realistic and not confusing. In this sense, Highwayman: Ironside has a lot of features common to books that I don't get on with but somehow manages to use these features to its advantage.

Another aspect that I really appreciated was the history, and, more importantly, historical accuracy. Although I have looked at Arnold's website and it says he didn't study history beyond A level it is clear that this book has been constructed by a scholar and not just a brilliant writer. The casual references to Civil War events, and just to period aspects of life, serve to pad out characters and settings, making it seem realistic and natural. It also made the nerd in me extremely happy.

So, why didn't this book get five stars if I enjoyed it so much? The answer is simple. It's just that bit too short to really wow and get the full five star rating. It feels like a prequel to a series as opposed to the first instalment in its own right so, despite being a wonderful read, I don't feel quite able to give it the full rating.  That said, I will be reading any following instalments and will also be having a look at other books by Michael Arnold.

I managed to get this ebook on a free promotion but the kindle version is available from Amazon, and now at a very reasonable £1.99

Family cooking time!

The last couple of days have been family bonding time as we've been cooking at all hours. Well, lets be honest it's been more like "get out of my kitchen while I do my bit" time but the fact is that we've all been cooking fairly non-stop.

So what's this been in aid of? Darling father seemed to have volunteered himself for catering at one of the festivals, one that I'm not even going to, and therefore we're all having to chip in. I'm not really complaining because I do adore cooking and, in all fairness, it's a really interesting experience to cook such volumes of different stuff in a domestic kitchen.

So, this will be my dinner then. Yep, I'm eating straight out
 the slow cooker. Bye bye manners!

Different curries with different flavours and intensities, different types of rice, a heck of a lot of coconut... it's been a good fun time. The gutting of several trout wasn't such fun although I believe that my father had fun catching them. I haven't seen them go into anything yet either so guessing we're not going to see the back of them for a while.

Also going to use my father's absence this weekend as an excuse to cook something without meat or heavy spice in it (seriously, everything he eats has to be meat based and hot as anything)... maybe spinach pie or something!

I did it!!

Only going to be a quick post as I don't really have that much to say but, for those of you who are interested, I thought I should say that today was the day of The Singing Lesson.

So, from the title, you can probably guess that I didn't chicken out last minute. Even better, my ear managed to clear up this morning meaning that for the first time in over a week I could hear through my right ear. Seriously, I didn't need inability to hear myself to make things any worse.

As for the lesson itself, it went well. The teacher seems to think that I'm not all bad which is a good thing, of course, but it's probably going to be some time before I can have any real confidence in myself and believe that. The really positive thing for me was that I could hear myself improving, albeit in a minor fashion, so that says that I've not got a totally negative warped view of my voice, at least.

It's going to take a while to get anywhere, I know, but I feel ready to really stick at it. I also feel that this teacher might just be the right one for me as she seems to be dedicated to enabling her students and that's exactly what I need. I'm determined to get over my fears and learn to sing, to be able to sing along with people, to do the thing I love without fear and embarrassment. I only regret leaving it so long.

And, I'll leave you with the song that I ultimately chose to sing today. You'll remember that I was having a hard job deciding which piece to pick... well, I did it on impulse at five a.m. today!

Book Review - 'Snow White and Rose Red: The Curse of the Huntsman' by Lilly Fang

Rating: 3/5 stars (and a little bit more)

Plot:

"Welcome to the Festival of Roses, a world full of magic and romance. Every year during the festival each boy leaves a flower at the door of the girl he believes is the "fairest of them all." Naturally, Snow White gets dozens of flowers, while her younger sister Rose Red is ignored. This year, though, things are different. For the first time, Rose Red has a mysterious admirer, and this year she isn't the only one jealous of her sister's beauty. But even though it’s a time of celebration, when girls begin disappearing, the festival turns deadly. With mysterious strangers arriving every day, an ominous marriage proposal, and magic and danger everywhere, Snow White and Rose Red will need to work together to survive the festival and solve the mystery."

-from 'Snow White and Rose Red' on Goodreads

Personally I don't feel this plot summary does it justice and makes the novella seem a lot more juvenile in tone than it actually is. I'm still too lazy to write my own summary.

Review:

At approximately ninety pages, it’s a quick read by anyone’s standards. That said, I don’t think it suffers for this. We seem to be given enough information about the characters so as to allow us to engage in the story and there’s enough room for a plot to develop quite successfully. If anything, I feel that some of the pacing in the early-mid sections could have been increased.

Perhaps the most successful aspect of this story is the way in which it is told from the points of view of both Snow White and of Rose Red which is probably the only way the reader could have fully engaged with the characters in such a short period. The girl’s emotions are, for the most part, realistic and suitable for situation. I would say that Snow White has some more typical ‘teen heroine’ moments which as less believable, such as when she gets to know the Huntsman, but as opposed to drawing away from the plot, these serve to build a contrast between her and Rose Red. The two girls are distinct in voice and in personality.

The plot-line itself, although I won’t go over it here, was better than expected. It was loosely based on the fairytale with the addition of some more magic. Again, as is unusual with this style of retellings, it somehow manages to build upon the story, adding a whole new twist, without veering too far away from the original. Something of this has got to do with the tone in which Lilly Fang writes. The book could easily be read around a campfire!

So why do I only want to give this book three stars (and a half, okay, it should get three and a half)? Something about it just jarred. I think it was probably the pacing issue. Although I enjoyed the key aspects of the novel, something about the whole just wasn’t quite right and that impacted on the reading experience as a whole. It was a lovely read, really enjoyable, and something I’d probably read again, but it wasn’t a great read. That said, I would recommend this book as it’s a modern retelling of a fairytale story that manages to retain the dark whimsy that such tales are rooted in.

If you would like to buy this book the kindle version is available from Amazon.

Nursing an old friend back to health!

This is a blog of good news. Isn't it nice to have a bit of good news once in a while? Yep, I think so too.

Anyway, casual rambling over, lets have some targeted rambling ;-)

So, drum roll please...

I have mended the 'cello!

You might remember that she had a bit of an accident involving my father shoving her behind a wardrobe. It wouldn't do anyone any good to be treated in that way and she ended up quite injured but, thank the gods, not as badly hurt as she could have been. All the same it has taken me quite a lot of work to get her playable again, and she could still do with a new bridge at some point. I'm not complaining though because I didn't think I'd be able to do it. I'm also lucky there wasn't any internal damage because not only would that have been beyond my skills to repair it would also have been in the realms of the expensive.

I made sure she wasn't going to slip (and damage herself again) when
posing for this photo by jamming her spike into the floorboards hehe

I've also, naturally, had a little play with her today. It's weird because I haven't been able to play for over six months now - it's hard to be a nomad while carrying such a big bundle! I want to go back to playing the same as I was before my little break but physically can't do it. I seriously can't remember feeling such a burning feeling in my left fingers and right arm, and certainly not from playing for such a short period. On the plus side, I don't seem to have lost all the technique which was something that concerned me a little bit. I can't wait to get back to playing properly!

The other accomplishment of the day was the uploading of part three of Marie Antoinette, my current subtitling project. Technical problems galore but it's finally online. I won't bore you with ranting about that here but you can read about it on my subtitling livejournal account if you want. I genuinely feel that I've been productive today.

Now I'm going to go and relax with a nice cup of tea!

Book Review - 'Myths of the Middle Ages' by Sabine Baring-Gould

Rating: 2/5 stars

Synopsis:

"Have you ever heard of Sabine Baring-Gould? Besides being the author of the famous hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers", as well as scores of folk songs, essays, articles, and over 200 books, Gould was at one time the most prolific English author alive! Selected from his well-received collection of essays Curious Myths, here are the best of the best, edited with a very light touch in order to preserve the sometimes outlandish opinions and occasionally odd punctuation. An avid collector of rare and unusual information, and known for his linguistic ability and strange habit of insisting upon writing everything in longhand while standing at a lectern, he loved to delve deep into the odd comers of the world. This collection of myths will have you delving deeper too."

-from 'Myths of the Middle Ages' on Goodreads

Review:

On the day I received my exam results I visited Bath with the aim of buying myself a piece of jewellery, something I do on every significant day. This didn't work out so well with the woman in the jewellery shop being rather rude and me walking out empty handed. However, this did mean I had some extra time, and money, which was put to good use in the local Oxfam second hand bookshop.

I will admit that I bought this book because of the pictures. Call me fickle if you like but since I received an illustrated Odyssey and Iliad for Christmas when I was about eight I have been a sucker for illustrated mythologies. The illustrations, which I believe are by Peter Komarnyckyj who certainly drew the cover image, are really lovely and remain my favourite part of this book. In fact, they are what lift the rating.

'Myths of the Middle Ages' seems to jump from being a story book, telling the reader about the myths, to an interpretation of the myths and an academic account, to a biography of Sabine Baring-Gould, his life, and works. All of these aspects were very interesting but I didn't feel that they went together all that well. It made for rather a jerking, jittering read. If I'm completely honest, I enjoyed the introduction section to each myth the most out of all of the writing. I found myself reminded of Herodotus, in style, when reading Gould's writing on the myths and that is not a compliment!

The stories themselves, are usually told in brief. Gould then ties in pieces of 'evidence' to give a fuller picture of stories around the myths in question. Although this means that you get 'all' the story, although I've no doubt that the tales included were chosen as relevant by Gould, leading to omissions, it means that it's not really a story at all but rather a list of happenings. The tales wouldn't be interesting to someone who hadn't already got an interest in Medieval myths.

Then you get onto interpretation and ideas about where the stories and myths might have come from. The biggest complaint I have read about this book regards the somewhat tunnel visioned interpretation that Gould offers of the myths detailed, he being both Victorian, and a Christian Reverend. I would agree that there is a Christian emphasis to the myths, both in the choosing, and in the telling. That said, writing often tells us more about the people who wrote it and the times in which they lived than the times about which they are writing and I think that, if we can keep that in mind, it's not a bad thing at all. It's impossible to be objective. However, I do think Gould was trying to be objective, stating, "Like many another ancient myth, it was laid hold of  by Christian hands and baptised". All the same, it's probably not the most objective academic study of mythology available.

And that's the problem really. 'Myths of the Middle Ages' doesn't tell you the stories well. It doesn't give a seemingly full interpretation. It sets out to do too much and in trying to do that doesn't really do any of it. Overall, the book was a disappointment, I'm sorry to say.

To buy a physical copy of this novel on amazon click here. Although I don't think there's a kindle version available, Gould's work 'Curious Myths of the Middle Ages' is available from Project Gutenberg for free.

Because life wouldn't be life without a little chaos

Yesterday, I slept in late because I was ill. Eventually, I got woken by the doorbell and, upon answering it, found two Jehovah's Witnesses. This was bad for two reasons

1. They woke me up
2. I was too ill to actually have a theological discussion. 

Yes, I am one of those strange people who loves talking to religious 'cold callers' because religion, well faith, is such a magical thing. Don't get me started on organised religion, however... or any organisation, for that matter.

Sadly, once I was up, I was up.

Of course, things got 'worse' from there with an email from my singing teacher talking about my first lesson which should be on Monday, tomorrow. Eheh, it's been slid back a week because someone has no voice and no working ears either.

That said, I can't get away from the fact that I am going to have to sing in front of her. As I expected, she has asked me to bring something along to sing either with a CD, accompanied, or unaccompanied. My mother was very logical about this: "Just take a song that you really enjoy singing to when you're singing alone". Shame is, those songs I enjoy singing to tend to be the most technically difficult and I point blank refuse to kill this poor woman's ears with my rendition of "Der Hölle Rache" even if it's darn fun to sing along to! If anyone has any suggestions for what I could sing then please set them forward now!

For those of you who don't know "Der Hölle Rache" - you'll recognise 

it for sure. And no, my rendition is not half as good as this ;-)

Of course, things couldn't stop there because we then found out that my father, who was meant to be staying with friends, was staying in a hotel that night. Of course, we didn't find this out from him and he maintained that he was staying at a friend's. As you can imagine, the mother is furious and I really don't envy him when he gets in today. In fact, I don't envy me either because I'm in the same house! Anyone got a bomb shelter I could borrow?

On the plus side, my replacement Sims 2 disk arrived yesterday so (mwahahaha) I can control their lives even if my own is a little bit out of control!