I know that Neill Hannon lists The Magnetic Fields, along with Burt Bacharach and Scott Walker, as his influences but when I first listened to Stephin Merritt sing Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing, I’d have sworn on my life that it was Neil Hannon. While Neil did do some collaborations with The Magnetic Fields, it was not on this song. Does everybody with a dramatic baratone voice sound the same? And who is influencing who?
I love The Divine Comedy and I can see why the two bands might look to each other for inspiration. I think of The Divine Comedy as very European and The Magnetic Fields as very East Coast-ish, which they are! Neil’s music is the Old World and Merrit is New World in flavour, taking itself slightly less seriously.
When I listen to the Magnetic Fields, I can’t help thinking that their music comes off as The Beach Boys meets Leonard Cohen. While there’s something refreshingly uplifting in many of the tunes, especially on 69 Love Songs, the lyrics are Tim Burton-ish … oddly and entertainingly morbid and offbeat. That’s exactly what I love about them.
Take these lyrics from the unapologetically upbeat tune of I’m The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side …
My car is ugly but then I’m ugly too. I know you’d
never give me a second glance but when the weather’s
nice, all the other guys don’t stand a chance …
I only keep this heap for you
cause I’m the ugliest guy on the Lower East Side
but I’ve got wheels and you want to go for a ride
Be sure to listen to Reno Dakota for another great example!
Neil Hannon’s lyrics tend to be more old-fashionedly tragic and upfront ironic. I do love both bands .. a lot … but if I had to choose, I’d stick with my first love … The Divine Comedy.
She may be 15 generations further along the line but Captain Kathryn Janeway has Irish roots. Virgin is running episodes of Voyager daily and today’s episode saw Janeway reflect back on the woman who inspired her scientific curiosity and ultimately her journey into space, her ancestor Shannon O’Donnell, who met and married Henry Janeway in 1999. And so began the Janeway line in the Captain’s ancestry!
The O’Donnell’s are an ancient Irish family who ruled the territory of Tirconnell for thirteen generations. So there you have it. The clue was also in Janeway’s choice of dog, Molly the Irish setter. You have to wonder just how much input Kate Mulgrew has on these small details in story lines such as character names and choice of dog.
On landing the role of Janeway, (after Geneviève Bujold quit, or was sacked … you guess!) Kate Mulgrew did request that the Captain’s name be changed from the original choice of Nicole to Kathryn. The Captain also fell in love with an Irishman, Michael Sullivan, in the episode, Fair Haven, in which Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill, also with Irish connections) created a holodeck program set in an Irish village. Janeway even killed off the wife Tom gave the character and considered the ethical dilemma of falling in love with a hologram!! I can’t believe I haven’t see this episode yet … another excuse to buy the boxset!
It’s well known that Kate Mulgrew is proud of her Irish heritage. In an interview with Matthew Lombardo back in 2002, when asked if she had been to Ireland she replied,
Certainly I have! Many times and this is for all of you Irish people: my husband’s and my dream is to retire on the west coast of Ireland. There is no more beautiful place in the entire world.
Absolutley delighted to see that Neil Hannon has got his latest album completed and will be releasing it on May 31st. Can’t wait. Just looking at the cover has me excited. Getting a sense of self mocking opulence from the cover with a teany-weany hint of steampunk! The Divine Comedy seldom disappoint so here’s hoping the talent on the tracks matches the genius of the cover!
It’s a 10th for the Divine Comedy so something extra special to celebrate for Neil.
I’m particularly looking forward to the tracks “The Complete Banker”, “When and Man Cries” and “Can You Stand Upon One Leg” … as bizarre and original a title as you’d expect from one of Ireland’s most idiosyncratically-unique artists!
Here’s the full playlist for the album :
1. Down In The Street Below
2. The Complete Banker
3. Neapolitan Girl
4. Bang Goes The Knighthood
5. At The Indie Disco
6. Have You Ever Been In Love
7. Assume the Perpendicular
8. The Lost Art of Conversation
9. Island Life
10. When A Man Cries
11. Can You Stand Upon One Leg
12. I Like
That’s a first .. the same movie being released into cinemas twice within 12 months. Amazing I know but it is Avatar so are you really that suprised? It’s on the cards to happen in the Autumn. Looks like James Cameron is not happy with his $2.6 billion (and still growing) profit from this movie. The big guy is hearing from the exhibitors that there was a couple of hundred million more to be had from screenings … had the movie not been pushed out of the cinema to make room for Disney’s 3D take on Alice in Wonderland.
So will the appetite be there for the re-release? Yep, I imagine so. It’s hard to believe, but I do know people who still haven’t seen it (that’s you Bernie) and I have no doubt that I’d go again, family in tow! Plus, according to Cameron, there are 40 minutes of cuts that didn’t make the movie, which will be included, with some action scenes of Jack Scully proving himself to the Na’vi. Can’t wait!
Of course, 3D TV’s are coming on sale in April so I can catch all the spectacular-ness of it from the comfort of my own couch too!
I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the fall. I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles. I love Paris in the summewhen it sizzles. I love Paris evry moment ev’ry moment of the year
That’s how Ella Fitzgerald sang it. Me, I love Paris in the winter … something to do with cheap flights and affordable accommodation. I have been once in the summer when I was 30 but the memories of cold nights and warm restaurants with snow falling outside are far more romantic and so my winter trips are far more memorable.
If you go to Paris in the winter, be sure to skate in front of the Hotel de Ville. Winter evenings there are full of atmosphere … people skating, brightly light merry go rounds and warm crepes bought from street stalls.
I’m a web designer, internet marketer, writer of very odd poetry, digital artist, film lover, mother of four, wanna be photographer, happy go lucky, agnostic dog lover. This is my blog.
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