From the Hazel Tree
I'm delighted to report that Echo's Children, a.k.a. Cat Faber and Callie Hills, have released their latest (and, sadly, probably their last, now that they live on opposite sides of the country) album: From the Hazel Tree, featuring 21 original songs for $17. I haven't ordered it yet because I'm slow, but I will soon.
(I'm never sure whether I need to repeat the standard "filk isn't all silly parodies, and anyway some people like silly parodies" speech. Just like I'm never sure whether I need to repeat the standard "comic books aren't just for kids, and there are some pretty good ones that are for kids" speech, or the standard "roleplaying games aren't devil worship" speech, or the standard "not all furry stuff is porn, and what's wrong with porn anyway?" speech, or the standard "science fiction isn't all rocket ships, and what's wrong with rocket ships anyway?" speech. People love to categorize, and to vilify things in the categories they don't like, don't understand, or don't know much about. Anyway, if you need the filk speech, think of your favorite variation that you use to explain why the things you enjoy are worth enjoying, and then plug "filk" into it. It's really all the same speech. Aside over.)
For once, I haven't yet heard most of the songs on the album, but I'm very much looking forward to it based on the ones I have heard ("Columbia," "High Frontier," "Wedding Promises").
You can also order any of their previous three albums, if you're so inclined, or their songbook. As Good As Any is now available again in a second edition, minus "Tibbeth of Hale." I like a lot of the songs on that album, only partly because some of them grew roundaboutly out of a roleplaying game that I was running and Cat was playing in; and I'm still quite fond of many of the songs on their first album, Under the Gripping Beast; but A Dancing World, the third album (24 songs!), is still my favorite so far. We'll see if it's supplanted by the new one in my affections. You can listen to audio samples from all of the first three albums if you're interested; my favorites of the ones there are samples for are "Right and Left Grand" and "Acts of Creation."