Higher Plain Music » Sarah Slean

Sarah Slean New Album Update

Higher Plain Music — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:11:11 +0000

Sarah Slean has been working on her double album and half of it is now recorded. Entitled “Land and Sea” her website describes the completed Land CD as groove happy, which leads me to think more “Day One” than “Baroness”. Infact Sarah has been very busy as she has annouced she’ll be making another songbook where she will cover Bjork and PJ Harvey! That’ll be something definately worth while keeping an eye out for. Finally, she’ll be making all her previous albums sheet music available to buy soon too.

Tagged: Sarah Slean

Sarah Slean: Solo Concert Stream

Higher Plain Music — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:22:11 +0000

Living in the UK, I’ve not had the chance to see Sarah Slean live however a streamable live solo concert is one of the next best things. Listen to some beautiful piano and vocal renditions of some of Sarah’s best new songs by popping over here. Here starts a live DVD campaign!

Tagged: Sarah Slean

Most Viewed: January 2010

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:27:13 +0000

Well first month of the new decade is behind us and it certainly was a busy one! Just about averaged a post a day (phew – new years resolution not broken immediately!) and site traffic rose after a quiet December back to normal figures again. However, top of the bill was a certain Lisa Gerrard with the news of The Black Opal’s release and the review of “Balibo” really setting the readers alight. Here’s the top 10 artist’s and top 5 games of the month.

01) Lisa Gerrard

02) Brendan Perry

03) Jesper Kyd

04) Musashi Hamauzu

05) Imogen Heap

06) Utada

07) Mike Reagan / Cris Velasco

08) Akira Yamaoka

09) Yasunori Mitsuda

10) Sarah Slean

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Games

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01) Battle Tanks (PS3)

02) Winter Sports 2010 (PS3)

03) Vancouver 2010 (PS3)

04) Hyperballoid (Ps3)

05) .detuned (PS3)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Cris Velasco, Imogen Heap, Jesper Kyd, Lisa Gerrard, Mike Reagan, musashi hamauzu, Sarah Slean, Utada, Yasunori Mitsuda

Most Viewed – November 2009

Higher Plain Music — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:54:25 +0000

Well November was a bit of a wash out for new posts due to my house move, but that didn’t stop November being the fifth busiest month of all time for hits! It was primarily down to one lady, Lisa Gerrard, who’s new album more than tripled the hits of the second placed artist. We’ll be reviewing all three new releases of Lisa’s this month.

01) Lisa Gerrard (2 months)

02) Tori Amos (^)

03) Brendan Perry (^)

04) Christopher Tin (v)

05) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

06) Imogen Heap (v)

07) Akira Yamaoka (RE)

08) Sarah Slean (RE)

09) Anonymous 4 (v)

10) Utada (RE)

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Games

01) .detuned (PS3)

02) Battle Tanks (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) GripShaft (PS3)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Anonymous 4, Brendan Perry, Christopher Tin, Hiroki Kikuta, Imogen Heap, Lisa Gerrard, Sarah Slean, Tori Amos, Utada

Most Viewed – June 09

Higher Plain Music — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:45:37 +0000

June missed being our most busiest month by just 21 hits so March 09 still holds the crown of busiest month – however for the first time ever one artist completely outrun everyone else by such a margin, their top post (our most viewed post this month) had more hits than the second, third and fourth busiest posts combined! Well done the Imogen Heap – everyone’s gone mad over the tracklist for Ellipse and we’ll be buying the album on release day so expect a sharp review on the day (provided its in shops – we couldn’t get a copy for Speak For Yourself in a store and had to buy online and wait). Patrick Wolf, Dead Can Dance & Vienna Teng’s album reviews all followed behind. Here’s the top 10 artists followed by the only two game reviews on site (we will be doing a top 5 game hits too). Congrats to Lisa Germano for making a new entry and Tori Amos, number 1 last month, dropped straight back out the charts again! June should be a busy month with lots of reviews not just here, but over on new site I Love Disaster Movies, which is another personal indulgence to another hobby of mine! Enjoy the summer!

01) Imogen Heap (1 Month)

02) Patrick Wolf (RE)

03) Dead Can Dance (RE)

04) Vienna Teng (-)

05) Akira Yamaoka (^)

06) Utada (v)

07) Brendan Perry (-)

08) Sarah Slean (v)

09) Lisa Germano (NE)

10) Yasunori Mitsuda (RE)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance, Imogen Heap, Lisa Germano, Patrick Wolf, Sarah Slean, Utada, Vienna Teng, Yasunori Mitsuda

Most Viewed – May 2009

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:48:50 +0000

For the first time in HPM’s history there hasn’t been a clear-cut winner with two artists almost drawing for first place on the most viewed list. Tori Amos however nudged it just from Utada to take top honours for the first time. It was our third most busiest month with visitors yet it was our equal second quietest in posts. This will change in June with an action packed month ahead! Here’s the top 10:

01) Tori Amos (^) 1 Month

02) Utada (v)

03) Sarah Slean (^)

04) Vienna Teng (v)

05) Reiko Nomura (NE)

06) Akira Yamaoka (^)

07) Brendan Perry (v)

08) Seiji Honda (NE)

09) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

10) OCRemix (v)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, kiroki kikuta, OCRemix, reiko monura, Sarah Slean, Seiji Honda, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed – April 2009

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:29:51 +0000

Slightly delayed it may be, but here are the top ten artists that have been viewed for April 2009 which saw a bit of a change at the top with Utada taking top step from Tori Amos, Vienna Teng & Sarah Slean! Congrats to everyone on the list and here’s to another great month which will be full of new content (and a bit more prolific than last month!). However, it was our second busiest month of the sites history despite it being one of the quietest in terms of new content. May will be a busy one!
01) Utada (RE)

02) Tori Amos (^)

03) Vienna Teng (^)

04) Sarah Slean (v)

05) Brendan Perry (v)

06) Dead Can Dance (NE)

07) OverClocked Remix (v)

08) PJ Harvey (RE)

09) Akira Yamaoka (v)

10) Hiroki Kikuta (RE)

Tagged: akira yanmaoka, Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance, Hiroki Kikuta, OverClocked ReMix, PJ Harvey, Sarah Slean, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed March 2009

Higher Plain Music — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:03:35 +0000

Well March was a big month! HPM hit a new high for hits and we should pass the 20,000 mark at some point in April – not too shabby for a site that’s dedicated to music that’s half about alternative, largely unknown artists, and half about video game music. This month was all about two artists who went blow to blow all the way until the final days however OverClocked Remix became the most viewed artist of the month and should become the most viewed artist of our site completely if things continue! The release of Summoning of Spirits and the interview with the project managers combined beat of the review of Utada’s anticipated second English album. Tori Amos’ latest album announcement slipped her into third while Vienna Teng slides down to fourth. Here’s the complete top 10:

01) OverClocked Remix (NE)

02) Utada (NE)

03) Tori Amos (^)

04) Vienna Teng (v)

05) Akira Yamaoka (v)

06) PJ Harvey & John Parish (NE)

07) Sarah Slean (<>)

08) Brendan Perry (v)

09) Hiroki Kikuta (v)

10) Yasunori Mitsuda (RE)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Hiroki Kikuta, john parish, OverClocked ReMix, PJ Harvey, Sarah Slean, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng, Yasunori Mitsuda

Sarah Slean – “The Baroness Redecorates” Review

Higher Plain Music — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:54:17 +0000

Following on from The Baroness, an album which was possibly the “safest” album Sarah has done to date, Sarah Slean returned at the end of 2008 with an EP entitled “The Baroness Redecorates” which seems to be a compilation of b-sides, out-takes and string arrangements.

It opens with “Parasol” which was the track released for download if you pre-ordered the original album. This has an old Sarah style about it. It really rocks out in the chorus and has that whimsical cabaret feel about it which so many of Sarah’s previous songs have had too. “Lonely Side of the Moon” is an altogether darker edge to it with its waltzing string background marching behind smooth piano playing. Sarah’s vocals are aching beautiful too. This song trumps most of The Baroness hands down.

“Modern Man I and II” begins with a minute string arrangement that is both technical and buoyant before a piano and string led ballad slowly unveils which harks back to her Blue Parade era for me. It’s beautiful and understated. “Compatriots” is a much more speedy affair with swash buckling waltz beat which once again features some excellent piano and string work. It reminds me of an acoustic version of “The Score” for some reason but doesn’t sound anything like it.

“The Rose” is a serene ballad that still has pace but really see’s Sarah’s high vocals shine through with some lovely pitch shifts and note changes. “Hear Me Out” has a great string riff to open with and the damp chords used and the atmosphere of the track really hit you. It’s an immediate favourite although the chorus is slightly more upbeat than the verses which is interesting. I could see this song working really well with a band rendition. Finally “The Disarm Suite” is a six minute string piece written by Sarah which is quite epic and film-esque. It would work great as a standalone piece or to a visual display. It’s more for fans of orchestral symphonies but everyone should be able to see something good in it.

This selection of songs have the edge over half of “The Baroness” for me. “The Baroness” works well as a single piece of work as its production keeps everything tightly woven together. However in doing that it took a fair chunk of character away with it. “The Baroness Redecorates” is more bare bones and less safe with its production and overall feel. Sarah’s fans should immediately pick this up, especially if you’re a fan of her earlier albums. A definite contender for best b-side compilation of the last few years.

Tagged: Sarah Slean

Most Viewed – Feb 09

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:49:17 +0000

Not since we reviewed Sarah Slean’s “The Baroness” have we had such a clear winner. Vienna Teng has by far and away our most viewed artist this month with previews of her fourth album plastered everywhere. Her top two related posts contain more hits than half the next artist’s post hits combined. So without hesitation – well done to Vienna (2 months now!) and here’s the top 10!

01) Vienna Teng (2 Months)

02) Akira Yamaoka (^)

03) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

04) Brendan Perry (^)

05) Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (=)

06) Lisa Miskovsky (NE)

07) Sarah Slean (^)

08) Tori Amos (RE)

09) Ayumi Hamasaki (v)

10) Sitorimon (NE)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Ayumi Hamasaki, Brendan Perry, Hiroki Kikuta, Lisa Miskovsky, Sarah Slean, Sitorimon, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Tori Amos, Vienna Teng