Music To Say WTF To

My taste in music is broad and eclectic. I have very few prescriptive standards. But I’m not quite jaded. It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then I hear something that totally confuses me. It’s usually the kind of stuff that sends other people screaming in the opposite direction (remember Ween’s “Push th’Little Daisies”?) but I like that WTF feeling.

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Fire-Toolz

The discovery that inspired this post, Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace) has way too much going on, and most of it is abrasive. So why is the overall effect so calm and meditative? I’d try to summarize what Fire-Toolz is up to, but it’s already been done better than I could by Bandcamp Daily.

an unholy combination of extreme metal, experimental noise, pop, and vaporwave…

combine New Age tranquility (complete with bird calls) with distorted spoken word, bombastic guitar solos ripped out of a racing game for the Sega Dreamcast, and paint-stripping shrieks. ..

Bandcamp Daily https://daily.bandcamp.com/2019/09/12/fire-toolz-field-whispers-into-the-crystal-palace-review/#more-108834

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Laura Palmer’s DEATH PARADE

The TV show Twin Peaks ran during the years I didn’t own a TV, so even though it seems like it would be right up my alley, I missed it. By all accounts, it was the kind of show to make you say, “WTF?”

So there’s a band in Portland (of course) inspired by the show. They are called Laura Palmer’s DEATH PARADE, which is apparently a reference to the show. And their music sounds like it belongs on the Twin Peaks soundtrack (which I have heard – that music was everywhere back in the day). I don’t really get it. But I like it.

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Lindsey Stirling

A dancing violinist is absurd for reasons that are obvious reasons if you’ve ever once drawn a bow across strings and tried to make it sound good. But the absurd captures attention. Dancer/violinist/cosplayer Lindsey Stirling has built a career on elaborate YouTube videos in which she dances and plays violin, usually at the same time. As a fan of both ballet and violin music, I remember when she first started to get attention.

Then, I did an article on Jennifer Thomas and discovered a whole world of classical YouTubers. But Stirling is the original.

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Fishslaughter

At first, Fishslaughter sounds like a typical heavy metal band name: animal + death word. But on closer inspection, they’re dead serious about the name, which references the impact of pollution and overfishing on the oceans. The bio “true aquatic black metal” is not a reference to Metalocalypse.

Ecological destruction is a fitting topic for a genre that deals in pain and rage. And environmental awareness is not enough to make you say, “WTF?” But add unusual instrumentation – in this case, an octave mandolin (what’s an octave mandolin?) – and you get some seriously weird shit.

Fishslaughter put their money where their mouth is. They have a newer album out, but all proceeds from their August, 2019 release Morfar go to Ocean Conservancy. In fact, if you provide evidence of a direct donation to the Conservancy, they’ll send you the album for free.

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