Here's something I used to do in my original journal. Simple enough, like most of my ideas. I dump all my record collection into a randomiser player and then write about whatever comes out. Since my music taste is not quite as eclectic as some, but still relatively varied, it could be anything from country to classical or metal to ambient, soundtrack, maybe even the odd prog rock! Hey, stranger things have happened. Could be something I love, something I hate, something I have not yet heard, something I've even forgotten I had. You know, random.

Anyway, here's what fell out of the machine today.

Title: "Said She Loves Me"
Artist: Miss Crazy
Format: Band
Year 2014
Genre: Hard Rock
Nationality: American
Taken from: Their fourth album Inception
Familiarity with artist: Zero
Familiarity with album/track: Zero
Comments: Before I hear a note, I have to say a band who calls themselves Miss Crazy sound, well, not up to much, but I've been wrong before. This is taken from what appears to be their last album, released in 2014, seems like they may fit in to the idea of glam rock? Lots of tributes on their website, mostly to Eddie Van Halen and Jeff LaBar of Cinderella as well as Frankie Banali of Quiet Riot. Whether they have anything to do with the band or not is something I don't know, but they call LaBar anyway "one of the family". Hmm. Not much actual information on the band itself (why do bands make official websites and then not even include a goddamn bio?), so what's the music like? Meh, it's basic glam rock all right, with the singer sounding like Noddy Holder after a bad night, or maybe yer man from Bonfire. Hard rockin' guitars but this could be any hair/glam/pop metal band really. Nothing memorable.

So unmemorable, in fact, that nobody could be bothered putting up a YouTube! Hey, I'll give them points for "Make America Crazy Again". But that's all I'll give them points for.




Title: "Master of the House"
Artist: Cast
Format: Cast
Year Not at all sure: 1987?
Genre: Soundtrack/Musical
Nationality: Multi, I assume
Taken from: Soundtrack to Les Miserables
Familiarity with artist: N/A
Familiarity with album/track: Not this, but I have seen the musical, at least the musical 2012 film on telly.
Comments:  I don't honestly know which version this is from - I think it says "original Broadway cast recording"? Probably doesn't matter. Fantastic music all the way through, and the book, if you haven't read it, is of course a masterpiece, even if it does get slightly bogged down (to say the least!) in the Napoleonic Wars. This is I believe sung in the tavern owned by (for those who are familiar with the story) Thénardier and his wife, to which little Cosette is brought by Fantine at the beginning of the story. It's basically a "look how great it is to be running your own pub" sort of song, and unless you know what scumbags the landlord and his wife are, it's a pretty upbeat, harmless drinking song. More or less.




Title: "In Your Mind"
Artist: Imperia
Format: Band
Year 2004
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Nationality: Dutch
Taken from: Their debut album The Ancient Dance of Qetesh
Familiarity with artist: Zero
Familiarity with album/track: Zero
Comments: For a symphonic metal track, I'm glad to hear it has less of the usual forced operatic stuff that bands - which I do like but still - like Nightwish, Within Temptation, Epica et al all tend to do too much, making the whole thing very theatrical and over-bombastic. This is a ballad anyway, or a slow song, and the singer's voice is quite soothing. Nice enough, though I'd not say enough to make me want to check them out further at this point.




Title: "RCA (-)"
Artist: Carbon Based Lifeforms
Format: Band
Year 2013
Genre: Ambient, electronic
Nationality: Swedish
Taken from: Motion Picture Soundtrack to Refuge, seventh in their discography but first soundtrack I think
Familiarity with artist: Some; I've heard about three of their albums
Familiarity with album/track: I believe I may have heard it once before, as this is one of those three albums.
Comments: Very ambient and atmospheric, not really too much in the way of music; more electronic groans and hums and not quite a drone, as it does change, but for at least half of the way through it's just buzzing and low humming. Easy to see it's from the soundtrack of a movie. Not the greatest introduction to CBL if you haven't heard them before, but decent enough.