When I logged onto SL later on Saturday afternoon I arrived back at Fleure's Enchanted Corner. By chance I found myself listening to the last 10 minutes of an exceptionally talented artist. Dottie arrived soon afterwards and we knew we had to listen to this artist again and again !! I don't normally write more than one blog in a single day but Saturday was an exceptional day !! And so I began....
I'm talking about Skye Galaxy, real life name Sean Ryan - musician, vocalist and producer. On Saturday evening we heard his full performance at Sweet Whispers where he received the adulation of an audience of 57 people.
Skye writes on his own profile "I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process"
.
I'm tempted to compare Skye to Mozart or Beethoven - he has something of that sort of brilliance. He is truly of that calibre - with a touch of genius !
From Dallas, Texas ...21 years old, and 2 yrs 1 month in SL Skye is young and fun loving. He made his first recordings when he was 16 - he's a prodigy !!
His music comes deeply from inside him - it's intense - almost primal. Singing to his own backing tracks he creates a soundscape, a landscape of sound like an impressionist painting. Hearing popular songs like this is like viewing something familiar through a mist.
This impressionist soundscape has the essence and heart of the original song - the important part. He deliberately slurs his words to give inflection to sound - and they become part of the soundscape.
Skye had created a single unified backing track for the major part of his show. Seamless and unbroken music, varying in intensity, light and dark, the melodies and words of popular songs could be discerned coming out of the mist as in a dream.
Among them were Down to the River to Pray popularised recently by Alison Krauss -
As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin' about that good ole way and who
Shall wear the starry crown good lord show me the way
O sisters let’s go down, let’s go down
Come on down
O sisters let’s go down, down in the river to pray ..... .... ...
And as part of the same continuum the Burt Bacharach song I'll Never Fall in Love Again -
What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble
I'll never fall in love again
I'll never fall in love again ..... .... ...
I found these two quotes among Skye's Profile Picks -
"The adorable Lauren Bentham, wrote . . .
"Your voice has a rare, soft, but haunting quality to it that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up ..... So unique and beautiful, like all your music it seems, other worldly, as if it occupies a space and time all of its very own. You are a rare talent, indeed, Mr. Galaxy and it would be a crying shame for the masses not to hear you."
"The ever humble Liz Harley, co-owner of Key West Resort and Marina wrote
".. it's the feelings his performances evoke in me that are so special ... His pure joy in creating and performing music is evident with every note he plays and sings. Skye is truly one of the most extraordinary artists I have had the pleasure of listening to in Second Life (and in Real Life for that matter). From the first moments of experiencing a "Skye High" performance in October 2009, I knew he had to have a regular presence at Key West. His interpretation of well-known songs are unique and refreshing; his originals are heart-felt and complex; his voice, mesmerizing and haunting; his vocal range exceptional."
Dottie and I went to listen to him again, this time at Key West Marina, last night, Wednesday.
He began .. slow piano ... power building ....
Come with me
Into the trees
We'll lay on the grass
And let the hours pass .....
let me hear you speaking just for me .....
DePeche Mode - Breathing in Fumes merged into some eerie backing music .... tension and anticipation in the sound .... a whining voice
I know you think that I shouldn't still love you,
Or tell you that.
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it
where's the sense in that?
Dido - White Flag again it was powerful and primal.
Skye dresses as a faun, that mythical half-human half-goat creature which would help or hinder humans at whim.
WE CRASHED !!!! The whole sim went down !! Who knows how many people were there !!
Back again to more powerful piano music -
When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways,
Taking different roads.
Love Will Tear Us Apart Again .... Joy Division but it was slowed down, his interpretation was very different !!
WE CRASHED AGAIN !!!! We just had to get around this to continue listening ! So using the stream information which Skye gives us in his profile we logged into Avination and listened in a quieter place.
This time he had given the music a threatening quality -
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields ......
Michael Jackson - Earth Song
then the backing became faster and lighter -
it's only been a week ....
waiting for a love to come by ....
Royksopp - Remind Me
Next from Garbage The backing track became threatening with an insistent beat !!! echoing !! bum chic a bum... chic a bum... chic a bum...
The sounds were layered on top of each other, the rhythm and singing had a primitive ethnic quality ...
With acceleration and screams came the dramatic finale of amazing electronic chattering and shorting sounds .....
Then silence .......................................
You'd better go and hear him quick before he's snapped up and gone !!
Join his Group Skye High.
He is managed by Lo Bloch. Owner of 'My Wish'
http://tinyurl.com/LoBloch-Management
Skye invites us to utilize his stream URL:
http://38.96.148.45:8894/listen.pls
Here's the Link to his calendar: tinyurl.com/skyegalaxy
More about Skye and many other Second Life live music performers can be found in our linked blog - HERE
Sweet Whispers is a large and beautiful open-air venue and a great and imposing setting for a major performance like this. There are two stages on opposite edges of the dance floor and this system allows the next artist to set up his gear before the current one has finished - good for continuity.
It is owned by by Jessica Gabardini.
Here's the SLURL to get to Sweet Whispers:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sweet%20Whisper/190/184/22/
More about Key West Marina in a future blog I'm sure :))
Here's the SLURL for Key West:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/key%20west%20island/48/71/22/
..
No comments:
Post a Comment