Creativity seldom follows just one path, so it’s hardly surprising that science fiction fans should develop a thriving sub-culture of accomplished musicians and songwriters. This includes many published authors, starting with old school masters like Poul Anderson, Gordy Dickson, and Peter Beagle, and continuing through Steven Brust, Emma Bull, Neil Gaiman, and Mercedes Lackey.
Some of the music you’ll find in the community falls into the peculiar folk music sub-genre known as “filk“, or variants such as “filk-rock”, while other examples are just plain good music that happens to be performed by genre devotees. In any case, if you tune in, you’ll find that “the literature of ideas” tends to spin off some very inventive music.
Divine Intervention — Julia Ecklar
This is perhaps the most ambitious filk music album ever created. The arrangements are highly orchestrated — rumor held that they hired a substantial fraction of the Pittsburgh Symphony — and the sound is incredibly rich. Combine this with Julia’s incredible voice and an excellent assortment of songs and you have an album like no other. The songs are inspired largely by literature such as The Book of the New Sun and The Silver Metal Lover and movies such as Ladyhawk and Karate Kid (as well as unwritten novels by soon-to-be John Campbell award winner Ecklar herself). They also include songs by top filkers such as Cynthia McQuillin and T.J. Burnside-Clapp.
Keepers of the Flame — Phoenyx
This album, from 1990, combined the fantastic writing and performing skills of Heather Alexander with a talented crew of San Francisco musicians, producing a synergistic mix that has never quite been duplicated in her later work. Featuring two electric violins, along with guitars, drums and a full complement of vocalists, Phoenyx produced hardcore filk-rock at a level of energy that could not be matched. Unfortunately, they broke up soon after the album was recorded, and the album has long since become a collector’s item.
The songs concerned themselves with fantastic peoples and beasts, from the folk of Elfland to Moorcock’s Stormbringer to various unnamed creatures that you certainly wouldn’t want to meet on a dark and stormy night. This was Celtic music and Celtic myth brought through the fannish tradition into the modern era with a healthy infusion of driving rock.
Luckily, many of the album’s best tracks have been released on newer albums, and if they don’t have quite the energy of the older recording, they are still worth having in your collection. Creature of the Wood and Stormbringer may be found on Life’s Flame, and Yo Ho!, Black Unicorn, and Up in the Loft can be found on Enchantment, by her new band “Uffington Horse”.
The Last Hero on Earth — Tom Smith
Every year, the 24 Hour Comics Day asks cartoonists to create complete comic books in just 24 hours. Since Tom Smith is a songwriter, he doesn’t bother drawing — he just produces comical songs. However, in 2005 he decided to create a complete musical comic book — a comic opera — in 24 hours. He handicapped himself in every way possible, by getting other folks to propose the names of the characters (“The Waffle”, “Sir Wilfred P. Huffelbaggins III”) and the titles of the songs (“With Great Power Come Great Power Bills”, “Warning! Wimbledon!”, “Hey, Didn’t You Die?”), and still managed to come up with a coherent plotline; complete lyrics; singable tunes; and a happy ending. All of this, in 24 hours. Not only is it a marvel of high-speed craftsmanship — it’s just plain fine craftsmanship in general. If you are a fan of super-hero comics, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try.
Less Than Art — Ookla the Mok
I’ve reviewed Ookla’s latest album elsewhere, but Less Than Art is actually their first studio album, released about 10 years ago. It’s out of print at the moment, but I have it on good authority that it’ll be re-released “real soon now”. It shows more of a fannish bent then their latest album, with two songs based on Star Trek; one on Aquaman; and one on classic horror movies. There’s also nostalgia, TV, romance and just plain great rock music.
I love where Ookla have gone with their music in the last 10 years, but I’ll always have a soft spot for this first album, and it should have a place in everyone’s collection. (Heck, this is the album that should have gotten them discovered and enshrined next to They Might be Giants and Barenaked Ladies. Fannish or not, I think the songs are that good.)
To Touch the Stars — Various
Science fiction fans have been writing fictional and non-fictional songs about the space program for longer than there has been a space program. Many fans were inspired by a classic filk music tape entitled Minus Ten and Counting, which is now long out of print. But Prometheus Music has come to the rescue and produced To Touch the Stars, a new album with some of the classic songs that inspired many of us, including Hope Eyrie, Fire in the Sky, and Witness’s Waltz; along with newer songs that reflect a new generation of dreamers, such as The Pioneers of Mars and Dog on the Moon. It also includes a truly excellent track by Christine Lavin — If We Had No Moon — that is a must for every science geek.
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