Indie Music Note: Dec. 11/11

Beck Goldsmith's home page

Regular followers of this blog will know that from time to time I like to post a short feature on indie musicians I happen to come across during my cyber-travels. On October 24 of this year I made note of Indie Music Filter, a terrific blog spotlighting indies such as Savoir Adore, Adam & The Amethysts, M83, and the High Highs, and on November 6 I posted on Michael Martyn of Orillia, Ontario.

Today I'd like to draw your attention to a remarkable talent I came across while reading a blog post by Karen de Lange, an indie writer whose website and short stories deserve your attention. Karen describes how she was inspired by a song recorded by Beck Goldsmith, an English indie musician originally from Nottingham. I followed the link she provided in her blog and discovered a sound I could instantly fall in love with.

Beck Goldsmith's website describes the "soundscape" she creates as "uncharacteristic of the traditional singer-songwriter. Growling textures, shifting time signatures and instrumental peculiarities all create an atmospheric backdrop to Beck’s stark lyrics and haunting voice." There are four songs available for play, and all I had to do was listen to "Shards," the song that in particular inspired Karen de Lange, and I was hooked. But just to be sure, I then listened to "Stella's Telescope." Okay. Wow. These songs are innovative, creepy, engaging and exciting all at once. When I listen to "Stella's Telesecope" again, as I just did now as I was writing this post, I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me I'm listening to something exceptionally good. All I can say is, go go go, click on the link above and listen for yourself!

I've said it before and I'll say it again (repeatedly, no doubt): the world is teeming with innovative, fresh, new independent talent that you will enjoy reading and listening to, so take a few moments to look them up and give them a try!

Indie Music Note

Thanks to this great, buzzing, crowded, noisy platform on which we're all working, trying to draw attention to the product of our creativity, it's possible to find all kinds of wonderful people doing terrific things.

In another post dedicated to our brothers and sisters in the indie music scene, I'm pleased to direct your attention to Michael Martyn, formerly of the Michael Martyn Trio. His current website is deliberately cryptic and offers little more than a selection of mp3s and some great photos, but if you want to hear a guy with an acoustic guitar and a compelling voice singing some very good songs, bang on this link and enjoy: http://www.michaelmartyn.ca/.

I did a bit of a Google search looking for background on Michael and discovered he was active a few years ago in my home town, Peterborough, Ontario, and was organizer of the Peterborough Folk Festival. His Myspace page and Twitter profile (@michael_martyn) tell us he's now employed by the city of Orillia, Gordon Lightfoot's home town. As I say, his current website is a little cryptic and I think it's because he's offering us a challenge: listen to the music as it is, and judge it on its own merits. Well, all I had to do was listen to "Long Way Down" and I was convinced. (By the way, I hope it's okay that I copied your pic and stuck it here.)

Record the rest of that stuff you mentioned, Michael. And good luck.

Thanks to Kate Burns, Ottawa author of The Ophelia Trap, for a great tip in her blog, which you can read here: http://kateburnsauthor.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/a-little-saturday-music/#comment-23.