Veil & Subdue Update
by Paul on May.21, 2009, under Events, News
Long belated update! Where have I been, you ask? Well, took some time off to get married to the lovely Tina Huggins, who is MASQUE’s resident videographer, photographer, and Veil & Subdue’s own Femme de la Morte! Now she is all mine!!
The CD is now selling briskly, and hopefully the quarter-page ad in Gothic Beauty magazine #28 will pull in a more expansive audience. I’m quite pleased with the whole final package – DiscMakers did an outstanding job of manufacturing the whole thing, and call me particular but I’m especially pleased with the varnish they put on the outer packaging – feels almost like leather, and looks dark and frosty. And of course their final mastering really took the whole thing over the top. I’m truly blown away to have the final product in my hands, and on shelves, and online!!
Locally, just wrapped up an interview for an article about Veil & Subdue which will appear in the local free press paper, Folio Weekly. Now I just need to find some time to run these CDs around to some more stores, including down to Orlando where the goth undercurrent is much more lively.
Now that sales are underway, the next project for the CD is to create a video for the veilandsubdue.com website, as well as for YouTube, etc. I believe the song will be Bed of Ashes, and I have a few ideas brewing for that.
Well, that’s all for now. Hold your candle high in the dark, and buy a CD if you haven’t already!! ;^D
Paul
May 24th, 2009 on 8:38 am
Paul, I am so proud.
I wrote the following review during only my initial two listens, and have not even had time yet to read the liner notes, so my impressions are sans any knowledge of the true interior details of your work. I have told my experience exactly as I felt it, without editing, without knowing the full story, and included the very few criticisms I have. I am overjoyed with how GREAT an accomplishment this is and can’t wait to share it. This is truly your masterpiece to date.
Veil & Subdue
With the versatile and captivating Anna K. Meade as co-creator, Paul Ramey has achieved his most mature, broad and epic accomplishment thus far in the musical realm. Veil & Subdue fuses many genres and musical influences, from Queen to Marc Almond to The The to Tears for Fears to Morrissey and the Smiths to Poe to Rufus Wainwright to Sarah McLaughlin to Dead Can Dance to Brian Ferry to David Bowie to Joni Mitchell to Renaissance to Prince to Tori Amos to Laura Nyro to Kate Bush to Candy Says to Radio Head to Todd Rundgren to early Pink Floyd – and many more. The result is a beautiful, enfolding, morphing, sensitive gothic rock opera that bathes us in mythic kaleidoscope of shadows and light, innocence and fear, as it encapsulates a particularly challenging and horribly frightening event in the lives of very real people and tells their story through the musically cathartic fairy tale of the Black Sultan and his mortal love. Through this amazing feat, Paul and Anna (with help from Tina) have closed a chapter in their complex history, and turned a page that opens gateways to new worlds apart.
Veil & Subdue – Awesome, dynamic, creative, funky and catchy 80s retro theme song that foreshadows a little bit of everything to come and keeps you putting CD 1 on yet once again as soon as CD 2 pops out.
More – Great concept and excellent songwriting. While truly a marvelous piece in the ideal, it suffers a little from its position as the second track because of a tonal flatness at times. It’s merit comes from the fact that it is a difficult piece to even try.
Iris Green/I’d Know Him So Well – Our first intro to Anna’s eerie and beautiful voice paints a picture of her on a rocky coastline or in a hollow castle. Rhythm and effects are subtle and restrained and mature.
Arrival – One of the best tracks in the entire opera. It’s progression is mesmerizing! This is a must-listen and a great introduction to the genre Paul has created.
Heart in Velvet – Bathed in shadows, this haunting anachronistic piece takes us into an imaginary literary past and surrounds the listener with magic and stone, black and white. The final round is a hypnotic maze of musical meanderings. Spectacular!
Just Like Freedom – Also one of the best tracks, here Anna brings her full power and scope of sensitivity to the opera, and carries us deeper into the emotional nature of her character. Excellent orchestration and beautiful melody.
One Green Rose – The layers of darkness here are intoxicating. Great balance of rhythm and vocals, with satirical hints of rap, reminding me of Todd Rundgren’s ironic rap pieces.
Here in His Arms – The rhythmic mandolin here matched with ethereal vocals takes one back to Joni Mitchell’s first album. Wow!
It Might Tonight – A torrent that carries us floating through the next transition of events. Great modern and retro feel to this one, a real stoner mix. Rufus will love it.
My Piano – A bright and traditional ditty in the tradition of revisiting old Broadway through a modern filter, also in the vein of Rufus Wainwright.
I Will – With a “standard” Masque sound and effective harmonies, this reflective number reminiscent of early Todd Rundgren, sets us up for the movement to Act II.
Veils – Magical and progressive, a flowing elegiac echo to I Will, introducing the new Act and leaving us with scenes of vast countryside traveled over rapidly on horseback – or wings.
You Don’t See It? – Horrific and frantic, this song leaves no doubt of the serious nature of the operatic problem at hand. Layered voice overdubs bring back Poe and, for Lexingtonians of old, Candy Says. Scenes of terror flash before our eyes. Vivid!
Not – Emotions run high and we feel that we get very personal in this, the most autobiographical piece in the opera. Very Bowiesque and dramatic. A winning gesture.
Bed of Ashes – A true homage to a huge influence of Paul’s, Marc Almond, this dark Melungeon song gives us the full sexual power of the sultan’s madness. It rocks.
I’ll Never Sleep Again – A well-written melody, this song offers a thematic and idealistic solution to the issues at hand. Here the pace doesn’t allow the full strength of Anna’s vocals to shine, but a beautiful effort nonetheless.
Waiting – Another somber tune that shows the depth of Paul’s influence by the haunting Gregorian cadences and melodies of Marc Almond. One of the strongest numbers on the double set, vocals are right on, rhythms rapturous and harmonies subtle. We really sympathize with the sad sultan!
Pieces on Me – A fun dynamic riff that reminds one of the plays on words by the tongue-in-cheek band Darkness. A nice break in the tension, and Paul’s falling “Noooooooooo” in the background sounds like his oft-heard admonishment to his dog Salvador.
Innocence – The dark theme is carried on from the previous track in a more serious vein and we are reminded of Rundgren’s work on the innovative No World Order. Madrigal-like melodies are interwoven in an impressive patchwork that makes this song one of the most memorable and mature of all.
The End of Dreams – An homage to Bowie, this song brings us closer to the final stage of the opera. The epic landscape it paints, the tonal quality of musical transitions, the powerful duet and ending keyboard monologue provide a superb dramatic climax.
Burning Embers – Another Bowiesque piece, ripped with deep feeling. Here, like on the second track, I don’t feel that Paul’s vocals quite live up to the complex arrangement and concept he has created.
Turn the Page – My favorite of all, a simple yet powerful hymn to close this majestic epic, with chords not unlike early Roger Waters and David Gilmour, and melodies that pay tribute to Rufus Wainwright. This song is the perfect closing to an amazing piece of work.
Paul I am so proud.
May 24th, 2009 on 9:42 am
WOW! Thanks so much for your review, Frances! You are so wonderfully steeped in music history and essence, and it’s amazing and thrilling to hear how you’ve experienced V&S! Thoroughly fulfilling feedback, and has given me new and valuable insight into this project.
Love to you!
Paul