Plans for the Future

As Eclectica's kind of dead (or, at least for the moment), I thought I'd make this place especially for my singing & vocal careers. Here's where I'll place all my YouTube vocal videos, and where you'll find links to new pieces where I appear in voiceover roles. :)

I've a lot going on w/Halloween quickly approaching, but as soon as I get another video up, record another voice or voiceover track, or have another audio drama featuring yours truly air, I'll let you know! :D

Thanks for keeping your ear to the ground where I'm concerned, and have a great day, night week, month, Hallowe'en and so on. ;D

Yours Always in Song,

DJ Selchie

Eclectica to be Henceforth on Hiatus

Due to lack of active listenership (aside from my dearest friends & family, who've supported me all the way; and to whom I'm tremendously grateful), Eclectica has been put on the proverbial back-burner. The time & involvement each episode requires in direct comparison to the receipt & exposure the show seems to be getting is grossly disproportionate, so the Selchie is gonna take a little break for a while. (In part, to gather better resources for a potential re-release of the show; but also to focus on other things; re-prioritize, pursue other avenues of creativity, and recoop from a variety of situations.)

However, if you do listen and would still like the show to continue, please let me hear from you. :) Folks can still reach me via djselchie@gmail.com, & I will still be looking for music off and on, with the hope of getting Eclectica back into production at some point.

But for now (and perhaps indefinitely), this little waterling needs to delve into her wee bag of tricks, and see if she can't come out with something even better for a potential next time.

Thanks to those of you who showed me-and the podcast-your limitless devotion, boundless enthusiasm and unending support. Mehopes that if the show is to reincarnate, that it returns bigger, better, brighter, (more regularly), and is even more meaningful than its previous incarnations. ;)

Yours Forever in Song,
DJ Selchie

Le CeltiSode 2010 C'est Un Fait Accompli!

At last, the Celtic (formerly the St. Patrick's Day) episode for 2010 is FINISHED!!! ^_^ The show is up & ready, and the links are all set to go! If you have the chance, go on over & take a listen! :D

There are a number of pieces which I'd love to play on the show if I could. So for fun (& future plans ;)) I thought I'd list some of them here:

- - -

Enya - Boadicea (In addition to about 90% of her work.)

Anything by Clannad

Everything from "The Secret of Roan Inish" Soundtrack

Many tracks from "Waking Ned Divine"

Maire Brennan - Peacemaker

Manau - La Tribu de Dana

Dead Can Dance - Fields of Barley

Karen Matheson - An Fhideag Airgid (Though it's Scottish, this holiday's about celebrating all Celtic culture to me, not just one particular strain.)

-and Many, Many More!

- - -

Want more St. Pat's inspired tune-age? Check out my station on Blip.fm!

(And listen to Eclectica's previous eps for a great mix of other types of music-

including more Celtic-inspired & derived goodness!!)

Yours Always in Song,

DJ Selchie

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Recently Eclectica got a new episode, spontaneously inspired by the arrival of Mother's Day. Well as there was a pretty decent amount of data on the actual show-posting, I thought I'd share a few things here with you, that I might not get the opportunity to over on Eclectica's main page.

If I could play anything on the topic of mothers, (podsafe or no):

• My #1 choice would be Disney's "Baby Mine," from the "Dumbo" soundtrack. For those of us who've felt like outcasts at one time or another in our lives, this song typifies the ideal of motherly love, maternal protection, gentle solace, and unwaivering, omni-present acceptance. This tune almost always makes me bust up crying and sticks a wrench right into my heart, And no one (imho) can ever do it better than they did in the original animated movie recording.
• Next would be Shawn Colvin's "Seal Lullaby." Who ever thought that a selchie would be attached to songs about seals??? ;) This is an emotionally rich tune w/its gorgeous, evocative lyrics, & evokes much of the same feelings as the Disney song does. But as my first phrase probably gave you a hint at, this piece depicts the languid image of seals being rocked to sleep by Mother Ocean. When I first heard this song, I had to have it. Given the holiday, this song would be -perfect- for today. :)
• Thirdly, Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" would have to step in. Let's face it, no relationship with anyone is Perfect. And sometimes even relationships with the people we love the most can.. rub us the wrong way. So to express the less-than-perfect aspects of many mother & child relationships, this song would be quite appropriate for Mother's Day. ;)
• After that would come Gypsy, with "Heaven's Gift." This is a song from a mom to her child- one that will certainly put a lump in your throat, if not bring a tear (or two) to your eye. What kid doesn't want to be the apple of a parent's eye? And what parent doesn't wish they could express just what feelings lay in their hearts for their beloved children? Well this song expresses exactly these.
• Then there would be Kathy Kallik, with "Use a Napkin (NOT Your MOM!)" I heard a portion of this briefly last year during this time and (unfortunately) lost track of it. Well having heard this again on the morning of Mother's Day this year, I was determined to track it down. It's just too funny to ignore, and illustratively choice. ^_^
• Fnally (for this set, anyway) I'd add to these rankings Christine Lavin's "Sometimes Mother Really Does Know Best." This made me laugh and groan and think of my mom all at the same time. :) This was my first exposure to Christine's work (that I'm aware of), and you can be sure that because of these last two selections (which I heard on SideTracks, coming out of WV today), I'll be looking into other works of theirs henceforth! Plus, my mom just went to a Christine Lavin show & got pulled up on stage! So I think it's an omen. ;)

There are a lot of other beautiful lullabies and touching mother-related songs I'd choose (like "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride, "I Turn to You" by Christina Aguilera, "You Raise me Up" by Josh Groban, "Wind Beneath my Wings" by Bette Midler, that "Butterfly Kisses" song whose singer I can't recall the name of right now, and Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me." But these are mostly pretty well-known songs, and I'd like to speak the words of my heart with songs that cut straight to the quick of my meaning, which these do. Plus, I prefer using music that hasn't been splathered all over pop culture yet. (Both to help boost popularity for the musicians who created them, and because they haven't become trite or overly used.)

I hope you enjoyed the selections I played for you over on Eclectica, and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, ideas or suggestions you may have. Oh! And you can also find the show on iTunes and Facebook, just by searching for "Eclectica, Diversity Audified."

Thanks everyone, and happy Mother's Day!

Yours Forever in Song,

DJ Selchie