urgency to bleed

This post is going to be really random and all over the place because I have a few different things that I want to mention but I'm too impatient to give them all separate posts, so I'm just going to cram them all together.

KATE BUSH

So I've posted a few of her songs as part of themed posts but I've never really talked specifically about her. I admittedly do not venture much further back than the '90s as far as music goes for reasons that I can't really explain and are probably stupid. Kate, though, is the one huge exception to this rule of mine. I used to be a lot more obsessed with her a few years ago and I haven't listened to her much lately, but I still think she is extremely talented. While some of her work is a bit disappointing (her last three albums, for example, in my opinion), she also has a lot of absolutely genius moments, especially the trio of albums Never for Ever, The Dreaming, and Hounds of Love, which are most definitely her peak creatively. Her voice can be more than slightly grating at times (though that's more of a problem with her early albums than her later ones) and the production is very '80s and could definitely do with a re-master or something, but ignoring these things that can't really be helped, she is a brilliant, unique, slightly kooky songwriter who is an inspiration to countless more current female artists.

• The Infant Kiss (simply a pretty ballad... until you realize what the lyrics are saying and then it becomes slightly disturbing)
• Leave It Open (maybe the vocal effects seem a bit cheesy now but I'm sure this was very innovative at the time and it contains one of my favorite lines of hers: "I kept it in a cage, watched it weeping, then made it stay" - so cruelly beautiful)
• Night of the Swallow (I love how many different things are going on here, vocal and music-wise; it's really fun and energetic but still gorgeous at the same time)
• Jig of Life (this is one of my very favorite songs, definitely; it is very similar to "Night of the Swallow" in that it has kind of Celtic/Irish feel to it and is very catchy; I adore the instrumental breakdown partway through)

KRISTIN HERSH

Kristin has been making music for a very long time now and it is still really good, possibly even the best of her career so far depending on who you ask. I just found out about this, but apparently Kristin has been making new songs available once a month since the end of last year which will eventually create an entire new album - or something like that. The technical details don't matter, just that I am very impressed by these songs so far. If you're not sure you want to download everything right now, my favorites are "Static", "Krait", "Around Dusk", "Torque", and "Slippershell". And each song is available in multiple formats - high (320kbps) or low (128kbps) quality mp3 and lossless FLAC; lyrics and cover art are also provided for each and some even have demo versions available for download along with the final versions. So it's definitely something to check out and to keep your eye on every once in awhile for another new track. Check it out here.

LYDIA

Everyone knows I love Lydia, right? Well, basically, if you haven't checked them out yet, you should, because I think it's my personal mission or something to make the whole world love them as much as I do. And so here are some nice acoustic videos which are way too short but they're lovely besides and plus, staring at Leighton is definitely pretty easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean.


And since I'm veering into overkill territory by posting about them so much, instead of another song from them, here is a cover of "This Is Twice Now" by Justin Richards from the band Brighten. It's pretty simple and straightforward but a good cover, though it doesn't touch the original, of course. (Which you can find by clicking on the Lydia tag, though I'm disappointed in you if you haven't already heard it by now! :P)

• Justin Richards - This Is Twice Now

Andddd... since it actually does relate to the topic at hand this time, here is my plea I've posted a few times before that is still relevant. Go to the Lydia images page and vote for a more recent picture! Preferably this one since it's the only one that features the current line-up (and lags way behind in votes due to their mindboggling system) but as long as it's not one of the really old ones (this, this, or this - vote thumbs down on those) it's fine. They just need an up-to-date image, damn it, and apparently there aren't enough fans to get one as the default! (Actually, a more recent image has been bounced back up to the top, but it's still pretty old, so vote on the others anyway.)