(no subject)

[oyceter]

Nabbed Jane Yolen and Charles Mikolaycak's Tam Lin (picture book) from the store, and ooo, the pretty.

Funnily, despite having read a few different takes on Tam Lin in novel form, I realized I really don't know the original ballad at all! Now I want to find a big book of ballads or something...

This is partially inspired by the fact that I apparently have a bit of a pre-Elizabethan and Elizabethan era thing, as sparked by The Perilous Gard and now Lymond. Plus, I've always wondered if that ballad Randall composes about Kate in The Perilous Gard actually exists or not.

Maybe I should try Loreena McKennitt. Hrm.

My ear is still plugged, despite attempts with Sudafed and Debrox, so I think I am going to have to make a doctor's appointment. Argh. And I'm getting a physical checkup next week, and my health insurance sucks, so all in all, the month is being more expensive than anticipated. Of course, it always is, isn't it?

My stomach has lately been notifying me that it is now that time in which it does not accept dairy, or too much oil, or anything that is too salty and tastes artificial, or even anything that tastes too strong. It's pretty strange... it's on a monthly cycle, and I go through a period in which basically the only thing I want to eat is bread and vegetables and fruit and maybe seafood, which eventually blossoms into the pizza-craving, must eat chocolate and cheese and lots of salty stuff phase.

I was also jolted abruptly out of my nice (and much needed) sleep this morning by the noise of the leaf-blowers. Luckily, I have calmed down some since then, because if I had been on LJ, it would have been something like: WHAT THE FUCK SHUT THE FUCK UP OH MY GOD JUST GO AWAY *&^&^%$$%#^%!!!!! *bangs head on walls repeatedly*

I really, really, really hate those things.

(and I am using my cool new icon of me and Fool-rat, drawn by the guy at work)

Comments

Ballads!

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

(This is Mely. I should make a macro for that for the next week.)

I'm sure Randal's ballad is a real one, although I don't know of a cover offhand. For "Tam Lin," you MUST hear Fairport Convention's version from "Liege and Leaf." It's also on Sandy Denny's Best of collection (Who Knows Where the Time Goes?), but a 3-CD set is perhaps too much to suggest to someone who's never heard the singer before. ;) I think she's got an amazing voice, though.

Re: Ballads!

[oyceter]

Oh, new journal name! Hee, I keep thinking of it as pouring ink in coffee instead of milk.

Ooo. Recorded ballads recs!! I've only been able to read a few text versions before and never have listened to a recording before, so recs are highly appreciated.

Re: Ballads!

[ericaceous.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest the same version of "Tam Lin"! The FC version is definitely my favorite, and you should be able to find "Leige and Leaf" for a pretty inexpensive price. Sandy Denny does have a great voice.

Steeleye Span also has a decent Tam Lin and many many other fabulous ballads, some of which are gruesome but well worth a listen. Their discography is rather confusing so I'll just tell you to take a look for their stuff.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Have you read Diana Wynne Jones's Fire & Hemlock? It's half "Tam Lin", half "Thomas the Rhymer" and told in her own inimitable way - it's really a wonderful read!

"Tam Lin" has always, for some reason, been one of my favorite fairy-tale/ballad-thingummies and I like to try to read every possible version of it ;)

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

queenofthorns: You've read Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, right?


oyceter: That's an adorable icon!

Other ballad/folk rock singers

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

You already know Loreena McKennitt, and other people have mentioned Steeleye Span. So I'll say: Kate Rusby, who has one of the most ethereal lovely voices I've ever heard (and who does a great cover of Suzanne Vega's "The Queen and the Soldier" with Kathryn Roberts on their eponymous album); Anne Briggs; Richard Thompson (formerly of Fairport Convention, although a lot of his solo work is new writing); and ... hmm. I should have done this at home. Oh! The Oysterband ("The Oxford Girl" is not a folk song. It's a song about the folk process. I love it with a mad passion), and June Tabor, and Maddy Prior.

[anneth.livejournal.com]

I loves your icon. I'm not Gollum. My brain is tired. I want a coworker to draw a picture of me and my Pickles. Then we can be Icons-that-are-drawings-of-us-with-our-pets Twins!

(Anneth would like to apologise for the foregoing comments. She's not sure where she is these days, but she'll surely be back soon.)

Re: Ballads!

[oyceter]

Thanks!!

[oyceter]

Hee, thanks ^_^.

[oyceter]

Oh I love Fire and Hemlock! It started me on my DWJ spree about two years ago.

Re: Other ballad/folk rock singers

[oyceter]

Oh, thanks!!

Yes, more lists for things to find ^_^.

[oyceter]

*giggles*

It's ok... most of me is still in the 1550s.