Silk and Steel: The Second Year of Killing Fairies

I should have called this compilation “Songs that Get Stuck in My Head.” Bit clunky as a title, though, apt as it is. I loved compilations when I was in college, which is how I discovered some of the random songs here. I also love what is usually termed “World Music”, which again covers a large portion of my collection. On this disc are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!


1. Teardrop--Massive Attack

This song is on here purely to show off. I owned the theme to “House” long before it was the theme to “House.” It’s also a strange little song, but I like it.

2. Numb (New Mix)--U2

This is my favorite B-side U2 song. The Edge is the lead vocalist, and he wrote the lyrics. It’s different, but good.

3. Snow on the Sahara--Anggun

Anggun caught my attention nearly ten years ago when she broke into the Top 100 Videos on VH1 with this song. I’m eclectic in my music tastes and I really like the world music flavor to this song.

4. I Walk The Line--Live

I like this better than the original Johnny Cash version. Don’t shoot me, Auntie K!

5. Heroine--The Edge & Sinéad O'Connor

Last year, IamRoch included “Rowena’s Theme” on his mix, which was also written by The Edge and has some hauntingly beautiful guitar work. I don’t own the soundtrack that these two songs are found on (for the movie Captive), but this song and “Rowena’s Theme” were on a Celtic compilation CD I picked up many moons ago. I’m just a fan of The Edge, I think.

6. Tremble For My Beloved--Collective Soul

The first Collective Soul album I ever owned was Dosage. I bought it while I was at BYU, playing around with the idea of carrying a music minor. The shift of sound in the beginning of this song reminds me of the Music Recording class I took—I know how to create that effect on the soundboard, thank you very much!

7. Bury My Lovely--October Project

InOregon introduced me to Pandora a couple of years ago, and October Project was one of the first groups to really strike my fancy. The lead vocalist has a fantastic second-soprano/alto range voice, which means I can sing along with all the songs comfortably. Oh, and I like the song.

8. Shimmer--Shawn Mullens

I really liked “Lullaby” when it came out *coughtenyearsagomymusicisoldcough* and I promptly bought the CD. I like “Shimmer” too, for the message as well as the music, and it wasn’t until a week ago, when I was looking Shawn Mullens up on Wikipedia, that I realized it had been used in “Dawson’s Creek.” Still a good song.

9. Don't Leave Home--Dido

Dido’s voice is another one of my favorites, and I love the “I will protect you and take care of you” theme of this song. It also applies greatly to my husband, who hates to travel.

10. Breathing--Lifehouse

“I want nothing more/Than to sit outside heaven’s door/And listen to you breathing…” To me, this song is so very romantic.

11. The River Sings--Enya

What? You thought I could put together a CD and leave off Enya? I think not!

12. Pachelbel: Canon in D major--New Bach Collegium Musicum

My favorite classical piece, bar none. It’s the only one that I can pick out readily, too. If it ain’t got words, I can’t tell them apart—which is why I nearly failed Music 101.

13. Babylon--Clandestine

And now we get into the non-mainstream portion of the CD. I love Renaissance Faires, and not just for the costumes! There are some great people out there dedicated to making awesome folk music, and Clandestine is one of them. I haven’t seen them live, but apparently they shared members with Tartanic, the next band on the CD. Anyway, I love this song and the chorus gets stuck in my head on a regular basis.

14. The Brewery Tap--Tartanic

Tartanic is a band that is now dedicated to showing that bagpipe music can really rock. Last year, however, before the band was revamped, they were more dedicated to a world music theme, using percussion from Asia and musical themes from everywhere in history. (Everytime in history? Something like that.) This is my favorite piece of theirs, but it doesn’t compare to seeing them live. They have a fantastic amount of energy that really communicates to the audience when they perform.

15. "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana--Cast In Bronze

Cast in Bronze is one of the more dramatic and bizarre shows I’ve ever seen at a ren faire. The performer is dressed in all black, including a tight black hood, over which he/she wears a bronze bird-beaked mask. He/She plays fantastically loud and dramatic pieces on a portable carillon (a keyboard of bells). Actually not that interesting to watch, and the music has been “enhanced” with electronic instruments on the CD, but you can still get a sense of the majestic sound he/she can get out of the carillon. You can also hear the show halfway across the faire.

16. Dowland: Can She Excuse My Wrongs?--Sting, Eden Karamazov

Not too long ago, I read a fantastic biography on Elizabeth the First, by Alison Weir. Highly readable and puts me firmly in the Elizabeth camp in the Elizabeth I vs. Mary, Queen of Scots battle. Anyway. I also read Churchill’s abridged History of the English-speaking Peoples. While I was immersed in all this Anglophilia, Sting came out with his newest CD, a re-creation of the songs of John Dowland. Dowland was a prominent court musician during the time of Elizabeth the First and his songs are catchy and sweet and still relatively applicable, as they deal with love and angst. This one, “Can She Excuse My Wrongs?” is written from the perspective of Robert Devereaux just before his execution for treason against the crown.

17. Hear Me--Waking Ned Devine

The entire soundtrack to Waking Ned Devine is one of my favorites. I highly recommend it. Of all the songs on that soundtrack, however, this one and “The Parting Glass” are the ones that get stuck in my head the most.

18. Balle Balle--Bride & Prejudice

I greatly annoyed my husband when we rented this for a class project of his, because I kept backing up to the dance segment this song is featured on and playing it over and over again. For some reason, he wanted to finish the movie.

19. Ghoom Tana--Junoon

When Orson Scott Card recommended Magnatune.com in one of his columns (Uncle Orson Reviews Everything, hatrack.com), I decided to do a little browsing. I came across Junoon in the rock section, where the band was described as the U2 of the Muslim world. Being a U2 fanatic, I had to check them out, and I’m glad I did. My almost-three-year-old loves the song too, though hearing her say “Ghoom Tana” in her little voice is always funny.