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Music Reviews

Faith and Disease
Tracks reviewed from the Faith and Disease page on MP3.com. CDs available for purchase from Projekt Records.
E-mail -- Eric Cooley: bb23@pacbell.net or Dara Rosenwassen: d_rosenwassen@hotmail.com

Faith and Disease have been around since 1991, so many of you are probably acquainted with this band from Seattle. The band's current lineup consists mainly of songwriters Eric Cooley and Dara Rosenwassen, and multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Sather, with additional members drummer Barry Semple, and keyboardist John Clough. I am reviewing the songs available at their MP3.com page, and concentrating primarily on the songs from their latest album on Projekt, Beneath The Trees.

Mayim: Water Is Flowing is a truly beautiful song. Dara and Charlotte's lovely vocals, combined with tribal drums, flute, cello, bass, violin and guitar, blend together to create a listening experience that is melodic and soothing. If I Drink From This Cup continues the beautiful music with a flowing guitar line, fine orchestration, and more outstanding vocal harmonies. The song is about "accepting and relinquishing the faults we so easily find in ourselves and others." Beneath These Trees is the short, Á Capella title track that also leads off the CD. It showcases Dara and Charlotte's vocal talents that can obviously stand on their own without any instrumental accompaniment. Before I read the song description, "a reinterpreted version of Handel's Ombra Mai Fu from the 18th century," I thought to myself that it sounded like a hymn. By going to the Faith and Disease page on MP3.com and downloading these songs, you can get a good idea of what the entire CD sounds like before choosing to purchase it.

Now, a short description of the other songs available for download. These songs may include musicians who were formerly with the band. Jardeau Blue was the band's first single release with Crown of Sorrow appearing on the b-side and both songs eventually appearing on their CD Fortune His Sleep. These two songs have a more traditional Goth sound than the songs I've heard from Beneath The Trees -- compelling precursors of what was to come. Another track from Fortune His Sleep that is here on this site, is Hashivenu. This is a 4,000 year-old Hebrew prayer sung in dual vocals by Dara R. and Suzanne Alee. Closure Song was recorded live in 1995 and is on the CD Livesongs: Third Body. The lyrics are about someone named Hildegard who sang unto her God. I can only surmise that this is about Hildegard Von Bingen, a nun who lived in 12th century Germany and who composed and sang extraordinary musical pieces. That's another story, but if you've never heard of her, I urge you to check out the recreations of her music (sometimes these CDs are in the Classical section, and sometimes in the New Age section). The last Faith and Disease song available for download is Baudelaire, and it appears on two CDs, Insularia and Lamentations: A Collection. This is, as you may have guessed, a tribute to the poet Charles Baudelaire.

St. John's Eve
Tracks reviewed from the St. John's Eve page on IUMA.com.
Additional songs available on the SJE MP3.com page.
For a free copy of SJE's latest CD, Standing In A Crowd In The Corner Near The Wall, send an e-mail to: stjohnseve@mindspring.com with your name and snail mail address.

St. John's Eve is based out of Goshen, IN, and is the work of one person, J.K. Wiechert. I would describe the music as a combination of Industrial, Electronic and Darkwave, and the artist classifies it as Hard Core/Industrial and Experimental. SJE has completed three CDs, with several songs from each CD being available on IUMA. I will concentrate this review on the four tracks from the most recent work Standing In A Crowd In The Corner Near The Wall with mentions of other notable songs.

She Said starts out as a melodic instrumental, but halfway through, it becomes full of noise and distorted vocals. Despite the lyrics being mostly unintelligible (and that's not necessarily a bad thing), I like this. Don't Go is much different from the last track. It's fits more in the category of Darkwave, and the music slithers and pulses along with the whispered vocals. A Love Song is a true Industrial song, complete with machine-like noises. When I streamed or downloaded the title track from the most recent CD, Standing In A Crowd In The Corner Near The Wall, the information in my Real player said the song was called Reflect. Regardless of the song's correct name, it is a creepy-sounding instrumental. The main sound reminds me of insects scratching, or the shuffling feet of a zombie.

Criminal, from the CD Killing With Malice Aforethought, is a really cool song. It holds it's own against any well-known Industrial artist, and has a unique, underlying Electronic element. The last song I'm going to review is The Filmprojector And the Madman, from the CD Reviviscence. The artist specified that I should listen to this song. I think he had a pretty good idea of what I would like! This sounds exactly like the track to a horror film that has been terribly distorted. As the song title suggests, it sounds like someone is manipulating a film projector so that it runs slowly and causes the track to sound like the noises heard in the depths of an insane mind. Very original.

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