This week, I’m delighted to introduce you to some tracks from Kuutana’s new album, Dreamscapes 2. Choosing tracks from the album to play for you meant I didn’t have to think of a theme, because there it was right there! I hope you’ve enjoyed all the sky-themed tracks tonight, and that they’ve fired your imagination, as they did mine. I mean, what can one write about the sky? I’m a Brit, but it wasn’t really weather than sprang to mind, but more horizons – and how gazing at the sky often brings back memories, evokes feelings or simply makes one feel a little wistful. I’ve included some images to show you what I mean, and cleverly (?) titled them to the Kuutana tracks I’ve played.
Warming Spirits
The sky in this image is almost on fire, the glow from the rising sun burning the clouds through the last of the night. The light itself seems to promise the opportunity of new things with the new day. My avatar thinks so, clearly, as her thoughts swirl like clouds around her. Yes, it would be nice to start a new day and believe one could fly – maybe not literally (although in Second Life, my avatar can fly), but at least in terms of lifestyle and personal development. Each new day should offer the opportunity of anything – but we often define it before we’ve even started it.
First Light
In this second image, also with a sunrise theme, you can see the thoughts evoked are very different. In this picture, the dawn heralds someone leaving – and my avatar’s wistful look says it all, although the text in the picture is a bit of a giveaway, too. Maybe it’s just me who’s a closet romantic, but I’ve looked at a sky before and watched a ‘plane go by, and wondered if someone I loved was on that particular one when it flew over. Even the colours of the sky show her emotions – she’s missing the dawn and the possibility of new things, because she’s too busy remembering the person who was there when the skies were darker – the night before.
New Horizons
The third picture is different again. This picture is sunset, and my avatar is looking away from the sky that we can see. She’s turning her back on the previous day, and getting ready for the new one. The messages in the sky give a pretty big clue about what she’s looking forward to, and her expression shows that she’s deep in thought, but other than that it’s pretty neutral. Worried about her big move, maybe? Or just planning for it?
Like many of the wonders of nature, the sky brings out emotions. I think that’s pretty evident when you consider that I had no problem at all doing a whole set with a sky theme, and could probably have done a couple more and not broken a sweat. Artists find the sky inspiring, and hopefully you’ll find the music inspiring too.
The thing is, even though I’m here with a leaden sky as usual and you may well be in the middle of a beautiful sunny day when you read this, we are still looking at the same thing. It’s unifying, even if what we see appears different. It’s a reminder that we’re all one planet and share the same sky.
And here are the tracks you heard tonight, in the order you heard them:
Kuutana – Warming Spirits
Paul Vnuk Jr. – City Night Sky
Joe McMahon – The Empty Sky
Frore – Sky Glow
Motionfield – Northern Sky
Puffin On My Side – Sky Dreamer is Dying Out
Kuutana – First Light
Quosp – Sky
Paul Adams – The Far Sky
Arcticology – Something in the Sky
EugeneKha – Green Sky
Feldmaus – The Sky Turned
Asura – Interlude Sky
Celestial Aeon Project – Hymn of the Sky
Deuter – Deeper than the Sky
Kuutana – New Horizons
And here’s my poem for this week. I hope you like it. In each sky are all the colours of a rainbow, and I’ve chosen this to frame my poem.
“Sunrise”
by Gypsy Witch (D Smethurst)
A sliver of red – the horizon’s on fire,
Orange fingers reach out, stretching higher and higher.
The yellow ball peeks and turns darkened land green,
And the sky becomes blue, now there’s colour between.
The last of the indigo night fades away,
As violets look on at the stunning new day.
Each sunrise is different, but the sky’s always blue,
Because I know I’m seeing the same sky as you.
Around the Campfire 