August 26 - Saxophone

Bom-bom-bom-ba-da-baaaaa!
Bum-bum-bom-ba-da-daaaaaaaa...
Bom-bum-bum-bada-buhhhh-buhhhhh-bah-buh.
Bom-bum bum bada dadaduh da-dadaduh da-daduhduhduhduh...

Way down here down in Baker Street.
Hmmm ... .mmm mmooor ...on your feet.
Mmmmmm ground mmmhmmmm around ...
mmmmhhhmmmm about everything.

When you wake up it's a new morning ...
The sun is shinin' it's a new morning.
Your nohmmm, go mohmmm oooooon.

Bom-bom-bom-ba-da-baaaaa!
Bum-bum-bom-ba-da-daaaaaaaa...

~ Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
   (lyrics as sung by me)

I saw an image of a saxophone similar to this on Pintrest but wasn't able to find anyone in a reverse image search to give original credit.  (If anyone knows who to credit with this or anything I haven't credited in previous posts, please list them!)

The saxophone has a reputation for being a sexy instrument for some reason ... when I close my eyes and think about the sound it makes, I hear 'conversational goose'.  

(view other musical balloons)

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January 20 - Cult of Luna

I never used to care much for 'cookie monster' vocals. As someone who’s been a metalhead for mathity-math years, they used to grate on me—until someone reframed it.

Don't think of it as singing, it is simply an emotionally charged instrument.

It's bleu cheese -- super weird, maybe even a little gross when you first taste it.  But not only might you get used to it -- you might actually start to crave it a little.

I feel so lucky to have stumbled across Cult of Luna through a random YouTube next click. Not only are they brilliant musicians, but they’re also pushing boundaries - for their recent release, they put out a video game on Steam that syncs so perfectly with one of their songs ..  I am the perfect demographic I will grant you -- but it was a serious next-level idea and experience.  I was blown away.

(YouTube Link - A Greater Call)

January 21 - The Mask of the Horned God

Inside the night there's a firelight
Between the worlds, at the edge of dark.

Inside the fire there's a blinding light,
The flame that burns between the worlds.
At the edge of the dark.

When a shadow is forced into the light
It rips through your chest and burns like a fire.

~ Swallow The Sun
   When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light

The Mask of the Horned God bestows upon its wearer both virility and fertility, but is cursed and once worn can never be removed.  In the days approaching Yule, the bearer will grow weak as his life force is withdrawn and used to rekindle the Horned God, leaving the mask to where it fell.  Yet even with this sacrifice there are those who willingly seek it out.  Children born of those who wear the Mask of the Horned God are exclusively female and likely to be powerful witches.

The Horned God in traditional Wicca is the "Divine Male Principle", considered opposite and equal to the Goddess.  He is born in winter, impregnates Her in spring and then dies in early winter to be reborn by the Goddess at Yule and start the cycle anew.

The inspiration for this balloon is the band Swallow the Sun and their emotional album When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light.  I have already talked about them in an earlier post, so I will leave it to you if you want to read more about the band - the cover of the album has a grim figure wearing a deer antler mask.

I do like the way the robe works .. but I am not satisfied with how the arms attach to this style of body and won't do anything but *sproing!* up without tying them down.

May 10 - Maria Franz

~ Heilung - Othan

Hariuha laþu laukar gakar alu ole lule laukar

The balloon today is dedicated to Maria Franz, Norwegian singer and co-founder of the bands Euzen and Heilung.  This image is based on the shaman she portrays in Heilung.

I tend to like a wide variety of music, my kids never know what will be playing in the car when I pick them up: choral music, reggae, 80's rock/metal, perhaps some songs I might be practicing for my next time at Karaoke.  Recently it's been a selection of Norwegian folk music, but to describe Heilung as music seems somehow insufficient - it's more like magic.

The video above is for the song Othan, the text of which is from Hávamál - The Sayings of Hár, the second poem in the Poetic Edda - which is said to be one of the most important works regarding Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Maria's vocals are as hauntingly beautiful as she is herself.