Dreamsville Oracle, Part 2

Electric Angels created a video of their Song Superstar/Anita Berber using a remixed version of the song. The mix is cleaner than in the original version. The video collages historic photographs of Anita Berber, short video snippets of contemporary tributes to the German dancer and shots of Bob and Eric.

Dreamsville's Oracle

Dreamsville's Oracle was the first deliberately collaborative music project on Dreamsville's The World and His Wife forum. In a posting on the general topics portion of the forum, The World Outside The Window, Carole Young, a frequent contributor to the forum made the offhanded comment during a discussion of recorded poetry, "Gary in Maryland, bless, just said... that if he could play music, he'd set my poetry to some!! Wow! That is an absolute dream of mine! Maybe one day..."

At the time, we were trying to come up with a theme for our next project. The thought occurred to me-and not just because I hate writing lyrics- that this might be not only an interesting musical challenge, but a way to include a member of the forum who was an unabashed fan of Bill Nelson and wonderfully supportive of all of us. Carole would lament that even her own family did not take her writing seriously. As a group of musicians who have a wide range of experience (and I will admit, talent, placing myself at the bottom of the heep in the rank amateur/neophyte category, just above idiot-savante) who have always been supportive and encouraging of one another's work, casting the net a bit further to include the work of a poet was never a stretch.

Carole had been emailing her poems to members of the forum for years, some of us had amassed large collections of her work. We posted a number of them on the forum and told people to choose whatever they liked, expecting that some of us would choose the same poem, thereby creating the opportunity for multiple interpretations of the same work. Luckily, we had several duplicates. The forum entire discussion may be followed here.

The songs were originally posted on a Soundclick page, Dreamsville's Oracle Soundclick.

Individual songs are posted below, and you may download MP3s of the entire collection at Radio Dreamsville

As an aside, a number of us have continued to work with Carole, both outside Dreamsville and on additional music projects which will be posted here in the future. Dedicated to our anagram Oracle, Carole.

Various Artists-Dreamsville's Oracle 2010.

Jett Farley's semiromaticpostmodern: The Oracle
Jett leads off with a slice of electro pop.

Electric Angels: Fountain of Heaven
Guitar driven Power Pop from the Electric Angels, this poem was written by Carole years before her own near-death experience.

Strange Formations: Shangri-La
A dreamy bongo and bass song by the Punslinger.

Fanfan: Sentir Les Fleurs
A dreamy electronic french translation of Smell the Flowers by John and Isabelle Izzard.

Electric Angels: Beams of Light
Bob K explores his psychedelic side

Quantum Mechanix: The Last War
Tribal drums and electronic noises. Punslinger's reading of the poem about the end of the world.

Strange Formations: Ankh
Punslinger's dreamy world view and the sensuous guitar of Gavin Baker

Electric Angels: Superstar/Anita Berber
Art funk about the Weimar-era German dancer. The Angels had been working on this song when Carole sent her poem Superstar...

Strange Formations: Smell the Flowers
Punslinger with a delightful little electro pop song.

Radio Dreamsville: Cheeky Jingle
Dj John from a former lightship, somewhere in the North Sea...

The Quinault Jazz Quintet: Always a Pretty Child
Be-bop from Outer Space.

Triple Dog Dare: Music!
A psychedelic jam, Punslinger explores Kraut Rock

Core Ten: Sparkling Big Blue Planet
Electro Pop from lovers of rusty steel.

Strange Formations (w/Worra): Fountain of Heaven
Punslinger's Art Pop reading of Fountains, Caroles poem about a near death experience.

The Architect Sketch: Shells on the Beach (The Sea At Ismara)
An adaptation of a piece from the Odyssey cycle.

Quantum Mechanix: Tumbling Toward Tomorrow
Punslinger's space pop gives birth to a killer bass-line.

The Architect Sketch: The Last War
The end of the world...

Strange Formations: Dream Taxi
Punslinger with a lovely naive pop reading of Carole's autobiographical poem.

Worra: Blood Red (Lullaby for a Vampire) BONUS TRACK
Swedish multi-instrumentalist, Worra tackles Carole's obsession with Vampires.

Should you choose to burn a CD Album Art is available for download as pdf's.

X-Mass-X

X-Mass-X, is the 2010 Christmas-themed project by the Dreamsville Artists. The name was proposed by Michael Punslinger who with his band, Quantum Mechanix, contributed two songs to the project. A wide range of musical styles are represented by the artists, but all of them capture the mood of the season. Have a wonderful Holiday and may the blessings of the New Year be with you.

First Song up, Mick Wilson's Bloonoise: A Good Old Fashioned Christmas Miracle
A collage of Christmas sounds to an elctro beat

Electro A Go-Go: Cold Night, Warm World:

Quantum Mechanix: Santa's Little Workshop:

The Architect Sketch: Merry Christmas, Darling

Jett Farley's semiromanticpostmodern: Sea Holly,
with guest artist Gavin Baker on lead guitar. Musings from Santa as a Power Pop gem.

Peter Cook: Venus in Aspic
A reverie for Ebow and Sax

Electric Angels: I'll Bet It's Santa Claus
A little dose of Power Pop

Gavin Baker: You Are Not Alone
A lovely very personal piece written for his brother.

Quantum Mechanix: Christmas Everyday
A Christmas Bossa Nova

Logan5: Penelope's Party ,
A cassette sound collage.

The Symbolists: Christmas Bells

Santa's Little Workshop; image by Michael Honsinger.

What is Radio Dreamsville?

Welcome to the Radio Dreamsville Blog.

We started this blog as a place on the web to consolidate the Dreamsville Music Projects. "So what is Dreamsville and what are the Projects?" you ask. An explanation is in order.

Dreamsville is the website of wonderfully talented British guitarist and composer, Bill Nelson. During the 1970's, he was the leader of Be-Bop Deluxe and later of Bill Nelson's Red Noise. Since the early 80's, has produced an enormous body of work as a solo artist. This amazingly prolific and criminally overlooked artist runs a wonderful website for his fans which includes an active and vibrant Forum. Bill's annual conventions, known as Nelsonicas in Yorkshire attract fans from around the world and are the real world adjunct to the virtual community of his forum.
Bill's generous and supportive nature have molded the mood of the Forum, which is a place where many firm friendships have been made.
One of the Forums on Dreamsville Inn Forum, is called "The World and His Wife", taking it's title from a 1983 Nelson single on his own Cocteau Records.
On TWAHW, as it is called, members post links to their own music and videos. Over time, we have collaborated on a number of projects based around a theme, often connected to a holiday. Since members host their music on a variety of sites, this blog will provide an opportunity to consolidate the music projects under one virtual roof.

We have enjoyed working on these projects together and they have led to many wonderful opportunities for musicians from around the world to collaborate. Several virtual bands have been created in the process. We hope you will enjoy listening to the projects and explore the work of the musicians included within.

Visit Dreamsville at: http://www.billnelson.com/html/park/inn.php