SOUNDTRACK: LUDICRA-“A Larger Silence” (2010).
Ludicra’s The Tenant came in at #9 on Viking’s Top Ten. Ludicra was the first band they played in the (downloadable) show and I knew that this was going to be a different Top Ten list as soon as it started. Ludicra plays pounding black metal but they have a real difference: both of their singers are women. True, they use the same growling screaming vocals (and I first thought it was a guy with a higher pitched voice) until the two-minute mark hits and both women harmonize beautifully. Suddenly the song jumps several notches ahead of its peers.
It’s quite disconcerting to hear thudding double-bass drums and pounding snares behind two women who are harmonizing (a little creepily) over extended notes. At the end of the track (about 5 minutes in) the song shifts gears into an acoustic guitar and drum thumping near-folk song. It doesn’t last long, but the respite prepares you for the wailing end which features a really catchy guitar solo.
This is band I’d like to watch a live video of to see how they do their singing and harmonizing (oh, here ya go–wow, the singer looks inSANE!). Man, I’d be afraid to see them live.
[READ: January 5, 2011] “Radical Will”
I’ve enjoyed Unferth’s fiction quite a bit. And fortunately, this memoir uses her distinct writing style to huge advantage. At age 18 (in 1987), Unferth ran away from college and traveled to Central America with her boyfriend to be in a revolutionary movement.
In this excerpt, Unferth and “George” travel to San Salvador. Unlike other stories where the young, innocent Americans are stopped at gunpoint and left to endure excruciating torments, for the most part these two seem to be ignored. By almost everyone. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 