MUSIC: MY GREATEST PASSION
Music is the Single Most Evocative Art Form that I have encountered, and by far my Greatest Passion. It is the language of the Soul, an emotional and atmospheric thing, an encompassing, overwhelming transport that I seek to lose myself in completely. So it is that I never cease searching for new music, and searching for ways to bring the music that I know to what I call the Perfect Rendition--that is, the ultimate experience of each of the pieces of music that I love so well.
Although music has compelled me strongly throughout my life, it wasn't until relatively recently that I began to encounter music that spoke to my passions. 'Twas in the summer of 1990 that my old friend Jeremy Jewell introduced me to the Cornerstone of Dark Music: The Sisters of Mercy's Floodland. The introduction could not have been more fortuitous, nor the choice of material better. I had never heard music like Floodland, and those ominous sounds shook me to the foundations of my being. As I listened, I realized that I had at last stumbled across the music that I had been seeking for as long as I had been conscious of music. I still well recall Dr. Avalanche's sharp, staccatto opening into "Dominion," the strident chorus that opens "This Corrosion," and throughout all, the deep, hollow, driven tones of Mr. Eldritch's voice and the tantalizing obscurity of his words.
That music shook my soul, and I haven't looked back since. I've found all manner of related music in the intervening years, some of it stylistically similar, some of it very different, but always it contains an element of darkness, of melancholy, of loss and longing that hearkens back to that seminal experience with the Gothic genre.
Of course, the preceding is not to say that my musical tastes are exclusively Gothic. I've a very strong appreciation for various denominations of aetherial music, and also of industrial, both of which share many stylistic elements with the Gothic genre. I'm strongly compelled by trip hop, and also have a bit of a taste for shoegazer, dub, and even the occasional folk/singer-songwriter piece. Also, I've begun exploring the various denominations of electronica. Almost without exception, though, there is a degree of darkness in any piece of music that compels my attention. It's such for me that I've been known to say, "All good music is dark in some way or another."
Recommendations?
Anyone who's interested in understanding my perspective on music should consider the following albums:
- Sisters of Mercy, Floodland.
- Stoa, Urthona, and Porta VIII.
- Delerium, Semantic Spaces, and Karma.
Copyright © 2006, Troy Hunt. All rights reserved.