About sleep

Many people, given the amount of brainless pop and boring new age I listen to, will be quite surprised to learn that one of my favorite bands is Sopor Aeternus & the Ensamble of Shadows, fronted by the lovely person below.

Source

Now let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don't care about musicians, unless they have been dead for long enough to have an interesting biography or biographic movie. I'm not sure if I could recognize in a photo even musicians I actually like and listen to on a regular basis, like Late Night Alumni or Purity Ring. Unless that musician is Anna-Varney Cantodea. As you can see, it's quite impossible not to know how she looks like. Also, she takes her name from the antagonist of a Gothic novel, Varney the Vampire which by the way is not a book, it's literary Chinese water torture. Seriously, it has to be the slowest read in history and not because it's bad, but because you'll end up reading the same pages over and over again trying to find the bits you skipped but guess what, you'll never find them, because they don't exist. Just like Anna-Varney's marbles. But that doesn't change the fact that she is a brilliant musician. My favorite part of any Sopor song is the music, which is usually a clean, harmonious construction of classical instruments with minimal production. If I were to use one word to describe it, it would be "cleansing". In fact, one of my favorite songs, Les Fleurs du Mal, is a perfect example of Anna-Varney masterful composition, with two eargasmic violin solos. 

Anna-Varney's voice is interesting enough, but like most artists, it's at its best when subdued. The moment she starts wailing she looses me and (I'm not gonna make any fans for this) her weird cry-wail-scream thing she does just pisses me off. 

I like the lyrics, and despite the weird, disconnected thematic of some songs, I still feel an emotional connection to them. For example, the German lyrics speak to my prolonged suffering at the metaphorical hands of  German grammar. Seriously though. When you are "the weird one", it's comforting to have someone who's in the same position even if it's a different kind of weird. It helps you sleep better at night. Supposing you're not cowering under your pillows for fear of Anna-Varney coming to eat your soul. 

If this is nightmare fuel, you're welcome.

 Oh well. have some more awesome music.

Good night, kiddies.