So where the heck is Stubby? Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the election of Cheeto Jesus to the U.S. presidency. You think I wanna write about cheery Christmas songs with that going on? I really don't. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham! If that offends you, good. If you voted for Cheeto Jesus, you should be ashamed of yourself. As Ed Asner once said, "I can be a patient man with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it." I could say a lot more. I should. I want to. But I won't. About the only thing I have the patience for right now is something free. So here you go.
EDIT: I'm so distraught about Cheeto Jesus that I wrote up Patrick Ovenden as Paul Ovenden. Apologies.
Patrick Ovenden is a British multi-instrumentalist who has recorded a lot of stuff in what I'm guessing is a home studio. Some hit, some miss, some experimental. He's very much influenced by Classic Rock groups like the Moody Blues and Jethro Tull (also Mike Oldfield). Recently, he decided to put up an awful lot of his works on Bandcamp--stuff going back to 1990, for Christmas sake--most of it free for the taking.
Three of Patrick's records are Christmas related. The earliest, "Winter In White Pages Lost", is one big long piece that plays off that Mike Oldfield influence. The most recent of the Christmas sets, "A Traditional Christmas", is from last year. Some of its very good ("We Three Kings" and "Away In A Manger", for example), some less so. But the one that grabbed me was the one that shows off those Moody Blues/Jethro Tull roots.
"Christmas Shopping" shows a 2014 date and its got a couple of tracks I couldn't warm up to but, for the most part (as I, too, love the Moodys and the Tull), its a fun little record that is very much in the Classic Rock, orchestral Folk Psych vein. Now keep in mind that Jethro Tull had a lot of people in the group and the Moodys had an actual orchestra backing them on "Nights In White Satin". So Patrick, whom I'm guessing is responsible for all the instruments and almost all the vocals himself in his home studio, is at a bit of a disadvantage. That translates to a tad of a lo-fi sound, but not so much. Among the highlights for me were "A Winter Garland" (though the opening bit lasts too long for my taste), the title track, "Christmas Morning", "Christmas Star" and "How Majestic Is Your Name".
So head on over to Bandcamp, if you're intrigued, and listen to Patrick Ovenden do his thing. Heck, listen to him doing all of his things. Maybe it'll take your mind off of Cheeto Jesus for a few minutes.
Three of Patrick's records are Christmas related. The earliest, "Winter In White Pages Lost", is one big long piece that plays off that Mike Oldfield influence. The most recent of the Christmas sets, "A Traditional Christmas", is from last year. Some of its very good ("We Three Kings" and "Away In A Manger", for example), some less so. But the one that grabbed me was the one that shows off those Moody Blues/Jethro Tull roots.
"Christmas Shopping" shows a 2014 date and its got a couple of tracks I couldn't warm up to but, for the most part (as I, too, love the Moodys and the Tull), its a fun little record that is very much in the Classic Rock, orchestral Folk Psych vein. Now keep in mind that Jethro Tull had a lot of people in the group and the Moodys had an actual orchestra backing them on "Nights In White Satin". So Patrick, whom I'm guessing is responsible for all the instruments and almost all the vocals himself in his home studio, is at a bit of a disadvantage. That translates to a tad of a lo-fi sound, but not so much. Among the highlights for me were "A Winter Garland" (though the opening bit lasts too long for my taste), the title track, "Christmas Morning", "Christmas Star" and "How Majestic Is Your Name".
So head on over to Bandcamp, if you're intrigued, and listen to Patrick Ovenden do his thing. Heck, listen to him doing all of his things. Maybe it'll take your mind off of Cheeto Jesus for a few minutes.
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