Metaverse Music: Recap

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

This week has been a whirlwind for me and that's why this edition is a bit late. I have been caught up with people who are upset with me and what I wrote from all sides of the isle. But I think though soon it will all become less pronounced when people starts to see the bigger picture and realize that this is just a review amongst the many. (Check my From the Editor's series on the right to read up on what I think.)

So I have a little less artists to choose from this week so the super hot list is a tad bit shorter. But these are my absolute favorite from this week. There were others that I enjoyed tremendously too and I'll mention them later. There is also one that isn't about an artist but about a music project that I thought is super hot and worthy of the list!

My Super Hot List - Dec. 12
Damian Carbenell @ D2TK
Ayden Kruh @ Romantica Yacht Club
Thom Dowd & Gorse Ferraris @ Cairo
Crap Mariner's Tunes in SL Gallery Project

Damian has just got a fantastic voice and his show is just wonderful to listen to from top to bottom. He has some great original music that deserves our attention and I will definitely get to those in the future. I only wish he plays them up more during his show.

Ayden also has a brilliant voice doing all the covers he does. He has got some nice originals too. I am just disappointed that not enough people are requesting him to sing his originals instead of constantly asking him to do covers.

Thom Dowd and Gorse Ferraris are just fantastic musicians and presents a totally different point of view of Second Life music that is well deserving of our attention. They are definitely something to enjoy this holiday season as their music is just fitting to get into the spirit of things.

Crap Mariner's Tunes in SL Gallery Project is definitely note worthy in my books as he's an avid lover of Second Life original artists. He decidedly to go and buy albums by Second Life musicians on itunes and also sets up their album covers in his venues to help promote them. I definitely believe this is something that's worthy of our support and embrace and we should all be more encouraging in the advancement of original music. But do not put these musicians in a bubble. Be nice but be honest. Your musicians will love you and appreciate you in the end to keep them in check. If they are so into their own world and refuse to at least hear you out, chances are they are not really worthy of your support. Remember we only intervene with those who we love! We let those who we hate out in the cold to fend for themselves.

There are a few other people I thought worthy of some attention. I thought KevinMThomas has some fantastic original sounds. Though at times it was way too much belting for my own taste but still thought they are worth checking out. Jaggpro McCann had some great music and a good voice to enjoy and listen to from down under. FrankLee Anatra has a pretty solid voice to offer to his crowd too. Dakota7z7 also offers some really good country sounds as an alternative to the other musicians for me this week. I also thought Djaj puts on a fun and engaging show that is very entertaining and full of original material.

Things are really being put into perspective here for me. I am also seeing the who's who of what camp in Second Life music and I am actually very glad that I was in no camp before going into this to be a little more objective then I would be if I was already going to some people's concerts on a consistent basis. It's fascinating to hear about reputations after I actually hear the music. Some are in line with what I heard, some are not quite. The ones that are not has a lot to do with hype and the aftermath of hype overload. I am learning a lot about this as I continue my journey around Second Life Music. And I hope you are all going to continue to ride along with me for this awesome ride for the good and the bad.

>> Dec. 10, 2008
KevinMThomas Carpool @ Red Rock
Jaggpro McCann @ Dolphin's Dream

>> Dec. 9, 2008
Djai Skjellerup @ SL Globe Theatre
Ayden Kruh @ Romantica Yacht Club
Mike00 Carnell @ Italia Vera: Milano Vera

>> Dec. 8, 2008
Dres Forder @ Pixel Hill
Doubledown Tandino @ Pixel Hill

>> Dec. 7, 2008
FrankLee Anatra @ Woodstock

>> Dec. 6, 2008
Strummer Vultee @ BarrioBeat Productions
Dakota7z7 Pluto @ Close to the Edge
Thom Dowd & Gorse Ferraris @ Cairo
Jackdog Snook @ The Warehouse

>> Dec. 5, 2008
Damian Carbenell @ D2TK
Al Hofmann @ Bibi's Beach
Russell Eponym @ Unity

Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

It's been one whole week since I started this blog and it seems like it's an eternity. But I am really only just getting started. I feel like I still don't know most of what is out there even though I have done 33 reviews in 7 days!

I thought here would be the perfect time to write up an article that lists every review's link for easy reference as well as a basic recap of who are the musicians to check out and (unfortunately someone's gotta say it) who to avoid.

All in all I had a great week in Second Life's music scene, and got a lot of interesting anecdotes some of which I probably shouldn't share publicly. I also did discovered some wonderful sounds from brilliant artists from all genres and realized that the world of Second Life is much greater and bigger then what I first thought it to be, even though I knew it was pretty big to begin with.

So here we are at the next weekend and I would love to present to you my thoughts in a condensed format, the "Reader's Digest" version of things so that when you get bombarded with the literally hundreds of IM's and notices this weekend, you have a little more information that would help you made a better decision.

But without even forcing you to jump, I am going to give you my top 5 choices of the week, which I guess I will call it:

"MM SUPER HOT LIST - Dec. 4, 2008"
Blue4u Nowicka @ Endeavor Cove
JeanChristophe Chevalier @ Star Bar Martini Jazz Club
jaynine Scarborough @ Appassionato Concert Hall
Young Zeid @ The Ocean Amphitheatre
Lonnie Nightfire @ The Hummingbird Cafe & Jar's Pub

The entire list of reviews from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 (total of 33) along with mroe thoughts...after the jump.

I will focus my attention on the good stuff, to let you know who are the people you should definitely keep your eyes peeled for a concert this weekend. Visit their website and find their calendar (I hope to eventually push out a nice calender here too, but one thing at a time, I do too much.)

The MM Super Hot List is not about who's the best musician. They all are. It is just my list of people I thought everyone absolutely must find at least one hour of their lives on Second Life to go and listen to this weekend or whenever they perform again. And if they don't have any concert this weekend, contact them and ask or better yet hire them for your own venue or party!

This week was the first time I heard all five of these musicians so don't think I am promoting my friends here. Though I am becoming friends with some of these individuals though a little, but don't worry, if they mess up and do bad in the future (which I'm sure will rarely happen), rest assured I will call them out on it. But I am sure they are not the type to be upset about that as long as I am honest and not mean spirited which I really try hard not to be.

Blue4u Nowicka performed at Endeavor Cove this week and I was just mesmerized with her voice. I was just absolutely enthralled to hear such a rich auto voice with a solid guitar performance to accompany her that I just had to put her at the very top of the list. I want you all to make sure you head out to a Blue4u concert as soon as you can to hear this different voice that isn't another girly pop singer.

Next is JeanChristophe Chevalier who performed at the Star Bar Martini Jazz Club his acoustic guitar where I thought there was a little bit of heaven being dropped down on me! It was light and beautiful and just refreshing to have the sounds land on my ears. I think both him and Joaquin Gustav are both great guitarist, but this week perhaps it's the first time I heard him where I felt he was just much more refreshing on my ears then Joaquin was, though he was still fantastic.

jaynine Scarborough who performed at Young Zeid's Appassionato Concert Hall I was told was also a long time friend (7 years) with Blue4u Nowicka. It just happens to turn out that three of the five on this weeks list are friends of each other. Honest I have no idea they were friends to begin with. This really was the first week I met them all, mostly separately. Though I have heard Young's name before. jaynine's performance this week was just so entertaining and so diverse. She took risks and crossed boundaries, performing music in just her unique way. But I will point out I am not particularly found of what's on her myspace. If I herad those like that I probably wouldn't put her on the top of my list this week. So yes, this week is about what I heard this week, not about what they have done before.

Young Zeid's performance at The Ocean Amphitheatre I thought was just the perfect setting to have a full Classical music program. I am of course certain that most of you are so inclined to just skip him over completely but please just at least check him out for 10 minutes to know the level of playing he brings to the stage. Be an informed audience and know that there are absolutely amazing musicians here, not just good.

Finally out of all the singers/songwriters this week, I picked Lonnie Nightfire who performed at The Hummingbird Cafe & Jar's Pub. Yes I know there are a lot of fans of Takamura Keiko, Mankind Tracer and Cylindrian Rutabaga all of whom I thought were great but you don't need me to tell you that. Well I would have picked one of them though if I didn't hear Lonnie. To me Lonnie stood out because the harmonies of his originals took risks that were very rewarding to listen to. His music was intimate and I felt present there listening to him and the time just moved right by.

The other people I would still recommend of course are Takamura Keiko, Mankind Tracer and Cylindrian Rutabaga. And along with them I would also suggest everyone to check out also Onehempcat Oldrich, Linus Radford, Fyrm Fouroux, Katia Keres, TB andel and Joaquin Gustav. You'll have to find their link down below to get them. I'm really spending too much time already on this post!!!

As for the rest, some are still good and definitely if you have more time on your hands to check out. I was debating whether or not I should flat out list the people whom you should totally avoid but I think I will refrain from doing that here again. I would suggest that everyone actually read the articles that I wrote about the rest of them if you want to know whether or not I thought they were really bad. I will say there were 3 that I would say to probably avoid if you want good music, and a couple others that were on the edge.

All in all it was an absolutely fruitful week for me. I learned a lot and I am looking forward to this coming weekend for more music and more reviews!

Enjoy your musical exploration this weekend everyone! Maybe I'll even run into some of you!

Here's a quick link to all the reviews this week!

Dec. 4, 2008

Dec. 3, 2008

Dec. 2, 2008

Dec. 1, 2008

Nov. 30, 2008

Nov. 29. 2008:

Nov. 28, 2008:

Friday, December 12, 2008

This Week in the Metaverse (Second Life) - Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 12, 2008

Thursday, December 4, 2008

This Week in the Metaverse (Second Life) - Nov. 28, 2008 to Dec. 4, 2008