Musings from the March Hare

Video Play List: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4DE45DF56E9A5013

Falling Down the Hole

01     Blue Pill Red Pill.  The Wachowski brothers were inspired by a very large collection of fiction and non-fiction books, graphic novels, and other works that were all swirled into The Matrix.  There are many references and parallels between Alice’s story and Neo’s including this pivotal scene. 

02     I’m Late!  Follow the White Rabbit.

03     White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.  It is a moral imperative to include this track on any Alice in Wonderland compilation. 

04     Tea Party by Kerli.  I found Kerli when her first CD Love is Dead was released in 2008 and was curious how a singer from nowhere, Estonia could vault onto the US music scene.  I quickly put the disc into heavy rotation for a while.  How pleased was I to find her on the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland adaption?  Pleased enough to include her entry here.

05     Who are You by Ezra Weiss.  This is the only track I don’t have a video for, yet it conjures vivid images all on its own.  It comes from a 2009 musical adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that is a fun listen.

Feelings of Doubt

06     Don’t Come Around Here No More by Tom Petty.  This song has absolutely nothing to do with anything related to Lewis Carroll.  However, it is the best Alice in Wonderland themed video ever made.  Check it out in the accompanying video playlist.  Yummy.

07     Very Good Advice by Robert Smith.  A faithful and sorrowful cover of Alice’s tearful self-introspection originally sung in the 1951 Disney animated adaptation.  The Cure sorrowful?  Total typecasting.

08     The Girl That’s Never Been by Escape Key.  A fantastic story that could be about Alice after she is back or a modern day girl who thinks she is Alice or both.  Either way, everyone thinks she’s crazy, excepting Alice.  That’s right; I just worked Alice’s Restaurant into the liner notes.

Looking Up

09     Sunshine by Aerosmith.  I consider myself an Aerosmith fan, yet had never heard this track.  Turns out my fandom focused from Dream On to Janie’s Got a Gun.  It’s always nice to find something fresh from an artist you think you already know.  Great visuals in this video as well.

10     Alice in Wonderland by Neil Sedaka.  Neil’s massive popularity started a decline in 1963 that would last more than a decade.  This song was his best from that ugly year, briefly peeking at #17 on the charts.  Though I’m not sure how it got that high.

11     Wonderland by Monkey Majik.  Composed of two Canadians and two Japanese members, this band has been officially tapped to help celebrate long-standing relations between the two countries.  This recent light pop song is the emotional high point of this collection, so enjoy it while it lasts.

12     Falling Alice by Chick Corea.  He is one of the most important Jazz artists in the modern era (post-Coltrane).  His 5 Grammy nominations this year (including one for an instrumental track called Alice in Wonderland) push him to 61 total nominations and 20 Grammys.  Despite his own standing as an artist, he defines himself in terms of Lewis Carroll, referring to himself as the Mad Hatter and publishing under Mad Hatter Records.  In 1978 he released an album called The Mad Hatter that is derived from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and included this track.  He is on tour this month in Europe but will spend four nights performing sets in Seattle this May.

13     Alice by Stevie Nicks.  From the 2007 album The Other Side of the Mirror, this bit of self-introspection implies that like all things Stevie Nicks encounters, this book is about her.  And as is the case in all compilations, the Stevie Nicks track signals a turn away from the light.

Slipping Into Darkness

14     Jaberwocky by The Cruxshadows.  I had never heard of this band prior to making this CD, but I am now fascinated by them.  So many rock \ metal \ goth bands try to appear intellectual by including references to literature both popular and obscure (just like that book by Nabokov).  But this group seems genuinely influenced by literature, religion, mythology and history.  They recorded a track called Wake the White Queen for a Neil Gaiman tribute CD.  Though not on any album, during performances they are prone to break into Jaberwocky, the nonsense poem from Through the Looking Glass.

15     The Mad Hatter by Linda Eder.  Think Dirty Deeds by AC/DC, but more like something out of the play Sweeney Todd.  This song was written for the play Wonderland: A New Alice that ran on Broadway for one month in 2011.  Linda’s actual contribution to the show was a song called Anything Can Happen that was cut from the production.  Apparently she prefers to perform this song instead and she does it quite well.  I was very happy to find it for this compilation.

16     Alice by The Sisters of Mercy.  Produced by John Ashton of the Psychedelic Furs, this was the first great song from this fantastic 80’s English Goth band.  With a lead singer and songwriter prone to melodrama and all around madness, this group has changed line-ups more often that Yes.  Despite playing many previously-unheard songs in the shows they continue to put on, their distrust of even small labels and the whole music industry has resulted in not releasing any new material in more than a decade.

17     Alice by Tom Waits.  Another theatrical connection, most of this album was written for the opera Alice.  It is considered by some to be Waits’ masterpiece; the album received critical acclaim in every forum and sold well in many countries.  It was recorded in 2001, released in 2002 even though the songs were written at least a decade earlier before the opera launched in Hamburg and ran for 18 months.    Rather than being directly based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the opera Alice takes inspiration from feelings remembered and dreams recalled after reading the books.

18     Blue Alice by Ayria.  Warning, not safe for little ears for multiple reasons.  Ayria is another act I found while compiling this disc.  Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Ayria opened for the Cruxshadows on their 2008 tour.  This Canadian synthpop act puts on some fun live shows even while covering some pretty dark topics.  You can catch them on the 2013 Gothic Circus Cruise launching out of Point Canaveral on September 15.  THAT would be a trip down the rabbit hole.  Yeah, I dare you.  Highlights from 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGzzlZw6FNc

Blue Pill by Cypher.