I stopped by the wrecka stow tonight and discovered there's a new Diamanda Galas DOUBLE album of live material out called "La Serpenta Canta"...all traditional folk, blues and spiritual songs, performed by Diva D., her freakishly amazing voice, and her piano. Listening to it now, I'm blown away by the woman once again. She's not for everyone, but if you like your music a little on the dark side, to say she hits the mark would be an understatement. Fanfreakintastic.





You Must Be Certain Of The Edit
[This message was edited Sun Dec 7 15:42:39 PST 2003 by Anxiety]

I just rated her album "The sporting life" in launchcast and they played "Skotoseme" from that album. All I can say is :OMFG: She sounds like a Hybrid of Middle Eastern chants, Bruce Lee, a guitar solo, & a cat in heat. Overall pretty amazing/intriguing stuff, I'm surprised I've never heard anything by her, looking forward to hearing somemore of the album, I think.

Check out "You Must Be Certain of the Devil" or "The Singer" if you want a good intro to Diamanda. Some of her stuff can be really, really obtuse - like "Vena Cava" or "Shrie X" - but the way she handles old blues and spiritual songs is beyond belief. And for heaven's sake, if you get the chance, catch her live.

Diamanda Galas, whose voice was used to suggest the sounds of demonic possession in the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow", closes out her "Litanies of Satan" album with these words, "To thee, O Satan, glory be, and praise. Grant that my soul, one day, beneath the Tree of Knowledge, may rest near Thee."


[This message was edited Sun Dec 7 16:22:26 PST 2003 by Jasziah]

sinisterpentatonic said:

Is that the album where she and John Paul Jones collaborate?

Supernova said:

Yep! The song that I heard definetly had that Led Zep vibe, well at least after the first 5 minutes of it.

Jasziah said:

Yup, and she wrote a book called "The Shit of God", too.

And she has recorded versions of "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" and "Swing Lo, Sweet Chariot".

And she has studied with Ornette Coleman.

And she's an AIDS activist.

And her musical hero is Ray Charles.

And she kissed me on the lips once.

God created multitudes of angels, including at least three archangels: Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel. Angels are spirit beings which may or may not manifest themselves in a visible form (usually not). All angels were created good and holy but Lucifer, the chief worship angel decided to exalt himself and led a rebellion in heaven against God (Ezek. 28:13-15; Is 14:12-14). Lucifer and his angels were cast out of heaven and became Satan and his evil spirits (2 Peter 2:4). Satan is active today in the air (Eph 2:2), in the earth (Job 1:7) and also under the earth, in hell. Not being everywhere at once, as God is, he works through his forces, including fallen angels and demons. These spirits seek to live in and work through people, usually in a hidden way - usually not openly. The results of Satan’s work are still evident in our world today. Jesus came to destroy these works. (1 John 3:8).

Satan is therefore the author of evil. His chief desire is to receive the worship that belongs only to God the Creator (Matt. 4:8-10; Rev. 13:4).

"To thee, O Satan, glory be, and praise. Grant that my soul, one day, beneath the Tree of Knowledge, may rest near Thee" (Diamanda Galas).

How much evil has Satan done? Rapes, murders, incest, molestation, genocide, etc. A worthy person to be praised? I think not!!

Listening to Diamanda Galas' song called "Unclean" -- it's obvious who she calls Master. Her "tongues" are not of the Holy Spirit.
[This message was edited Sun Dec 7 17:01:08 PST 2003 by Jasziah]

Jasziah said:

You're completely missing the metaphor in her work. Satan is a metaphor for despair and praising Satan was a metaphor for giving in to despair. Listen to the "You Must Be Certain of the Devil" album, read the lyrics sheet, and get back with me. Most of her work is about grief and despair, as she dedicated an entire trilogy of work to the AIDS epidemic in which she compared the final stages of the disease to hell itself. She has also recorded projects in which she has advocated for the mentally ill and abused women. Her father was a gospel choir director, for pete's sake. Sorry, but your sources on Ms. Galas are extremely selective in what they choose to illustrate, and there indeed IS a rich, beautiful spirituality to her work, however intense and brooding it may appear on the surface.

Jasziah said:

Almost all exclusively spearheaded by religious leaders and power-crazed 'leaders', btw. I find thinking of 'satan', if this being/thing exists, as one of the most simplistic, mind-numbingly stupid things on this planet.

By labelling things like this under this umbrealla of a 'being' or whatever, almost everything is just lumped under 'satan', when people don't want to think about the REAL reasons why these things happen.

cynicalbastard said:

But is the REAL reason "almost all exclusively spearheaded by relgious leaders and power-crazed 'leaders'"? Watch the news and see. This world's got a lot of crazy shit going on, most of which is done by nothing more than crazy-ass people. Yes, it's sad what people do in the name of religion, using religion for the sake of their own selfish gain, but really, I wonder, would the god they believe in really approve? If so, then what's that say about that god and its religion? If not, then what does that say about God and His so-called followers?

Anxiety said:

WOW she studied with Ornette!? I most def have to dig a little deeper in her collection.

When she kised you on the lips, you didn't try to slip her a little tounge?

The trick to saying prayers
When the Devil's in the way
Is to help God pull the trigger
On the dogs this Judgment Day
Amen

- Diamanda Galas, "Double Barrel Prayer"

Anxiety said:

But that's what high-level satanists (many of which won't call themselves satanists) do. "It's just a metaphor..." I know the way she does these things. I've read her interviews. But what "good" can any of this do? Her work and her fruit smells rotten to me.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Well, between being a little tipsy, a bit frightened for my life, and a lot gay, I didn't think to slip ol' Diamanda the tongue, no.

But I will say this - in person, she's a lot warmer than you'd think. She's like a cute little goth Gilda Radner.

Jasziah said:

I think it's the simple minded judgmentalism of people just like you that keeps her work powerful and relevent, so please, by all means, don't try to understand the meanings behind her work (which, if you really HAVE read interviews with her, you would - she's always very direct and "cut the crap" about discussing her music) - I want her to put out more albums as strong as what she's already released.

Jasziah said:

Wrong. You don't see the reasons because they're not brought to you by the propagandists controlling the media networks. You receive a heavily filtered glossed-over view in favour with your country's politics. I don't believe in simple "crazy-ass people", unless it comes in the form of chemical/nutritional imbalances. Many are fighting for survival out there. Many are being treated unjustly. What we see is a small piece, and by and large, we enjoy the power of our position as citizens of countries with major wealth.

Lumping things under "crazy-ass people" and Satan is non-thinking and unwillingness to explore what is really going on. Which I can't totally blame people for since so much of what they see is warped, lies and half-truths.

Anxiety said:

To a satanist:
prayers = almost every religion prays
God = Lucifer
"devil" = not a being, an obstacle or annoyance
dogs = those seen as "less-powerful" than them
Judgment Day = in this poem: the day a life was taken by one of them

cynicalbastard said:

So you don't believe the average person has a choice to do right or wrong, but instead we are controlled by a force outside ourselves whether it be the government, the media, dialectics, psychology, electromagnetic waves, or whatever? Are we not flesh? If given a choice, do we not sin?

Anxiety said:

Judging by her material and that pic you posted, she does seem to be a bit intimidating, but damn man you should've got her phone number or something, despite you being "a lot gay", I'm sure with enough wailing, she would've given you an erection.

BTW I almost forgot to ululate.

To me:

Jasziah = closed-minded, stubborn

Which I'm sure, at the end of the day, you're not. But all I have is the one-dimensional representation of you from this conversation to go by, so based on your logic regarding Diamanda, I am safe in assuming you're nothing more than a hard-headed zealot.

Unless there might be more to you that I'm missing or refuse to acknowledge? Hmmm, fancy that...

sinisterpentatonic said:

LOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOO!!!

Anxiety said:[quote]

Jasziah said:

I was once engaged to a bride-of-Satan who worked with a high-level coven to infilitrate very successful Christian ministries. She was part of that "inner circle" and has done things like this herself. It just adds to the confusion and evil in this world.

Jasziah said:

She has done things like what?

You're confusing your past with people who had a reverence to a particular faith with an artist who uses figures (ostensibly) from that faith to convey a completely different message. The most "ungodly" thing Diamanda Galas has ever done is show support for the gay community and criticize homophobia and our government's turning a blind eye to the AIDS epidemic. If that makes her a full-fledged Satanist because she compares the victims of hypocrisy to demons and hell, then I guess I'd better run down to the joke shop and buy myself a plastic pitchfork and a red satin cape, because I think her analogies are spot on.

from http://www.choler.com/art...alas.shtml

…well I know that a lot of your work is about empowerment ...

Yep.

I was walking around the other day and I had a revelation about your music. I realized that, when I hear it, I don’t feel annoyed or scared. It actually kind of pumps me up.

Oh cool. I like that.

And that seems to be the response from most of my friends who listen to you as well.

Oh, I like that! We did a show at Carnegie Hall at Halloween. And I did it in dedication to my best friend who just died of AIDS a few months ago. And I put it on that day because I see that day, Halloween, because I see it as a day that recognizes the saints. It’s the day before All Soul’s Day, it recognizes the saints who are defined in the American College Dictionary as "formally recognized by the Christian Church as worthy of veneration on Earth and a place in Heaven." And I had to change but one word in order to make sense of this, which is to say "persons who were formerly recognized by the Christian Church as being worthy of veneration on Earth and a place in Heaven," but who are now attacked and stalked like witches. And that makes perfect sense.

And that corresponds to the efforts by some people who have tried to pigeonhole you by saying that, "She just makes Satanic music." And you’ve responded by saying, in a sense, you do make Satanic music, in that Satan is the spiritual resource of those people who were "formerly recognized by the Christian Church…"

Right. Exactly. It’s the same as what Baudelaire says, "O Prince of Exile." He refers to Satan as a "Prince of Exile…who once ruled." It’s the same thing, and so I talk a lot about this kind of inversion of power, but I think a lot of the things I talk about can not be understood in very traditional terms. I think that, when people think about Satanism, they think about Anton LaVey and they think about all these things which, for me, represent a kind of Las Vegas Satanism. It’s not really what I’m talking about.

It’s a glitzy, fun Satanism.

Yeah. I mean, I have nothing against him. I think he’s probably very entertaining, I don’t know his stuff, but it really isn’t what I’m talking about.

Jasziah said:

First of all, I don't believe in 'sin' if you define it as the guilt-ridden thing religions have evolved to tell us they are, and to avoid at all costs. I don't believe in it. I believe the real meaning of 'sin' was to 'forget'. I prefer to keep it that way.

Example:
You see some "crazy-ass" people fighting on the news. Killing, looting, you name it. All you see are the results. Just like when you see that ad for shampoo on TV, never knowing or caring where, why or how it's made, and who or what was abused in the process. We see end-results on TV. We rarely ever get a real glimpse into the lives of the ones killing and why they do it. I can assure you everything comes down to logic in the end and not some "being". Treat people with respect, you will be respected. People don't just start killing for FUN. How they were brought up and their environment, the injustices in their lives, their very survival being disrespected and abused has a LOT to do with what sort of decisions they make and what they end up doing in the end. Garbage in = garbage out.

Or do you still believe the earth is flat and flatulence is devilish? Both common beliefs at one stage, and anyone that tried to challenge it was seen as 'from the devil', if again, you define the devil as a being/spirit/entity whatever as it promoted now.

TRON said:

...betta GET yo little purple head out that box!! Ya big SATANIST!!!

Anxiety said:

That's why I'm hiding. She scares me.

TRON said:

Oh, she's a pussycat. She kissed me on the lips and I survived. Of course, she ripped off one of my legs afterwards as part of her bizarre preying mantis mating ritual, but that's okay. I've got another leg.