-=- SHGZ -=- * Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal * ARTIST..: Virginia Astley ALBUM...: Had I The Heavens GENRE...: Ambient STYLE...: Dream Pop, Neoclassical New Age, Baroque Pop, New Age STYLE...: Ethereal Wave, Chamber Folk, Indie Folk, Indie-Classical YEAR....: 1996 LABEL...: Happy Valley COUNTRY.: United Kingdom PLACE...: Garston, Hertfordshire ENCODER.: LAME 3.100 -V0 BITRATE.: 239 kbps avg QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo SOURCE..: CD TRACKS..: 11 SIZE....: 72.52 MB URL..: https://www.virginiaastley.com/disc/albums/html/heavens.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Astley https://www.virginiaastley.com/biography https://www.bing.com/k/celebrities/virginia-astley/timeline - TRACKLIST 1 It's Over Now 3:37 2 Over The Edge Of The World 3:38 3 Nothing Is As It Seems 4:10 4 Broken 4:47 5 Where I Belong 5:00 6 I Can't Say Goodbye 4:11 7 Had I The Heavens 2:52 8 Another Road 3:24 9 How Can I Do This To You 3:07 10 I Know A Tune We Could Sing 4:23 11 A Long Long Year 2:37 Total Playtime: 41:46 NOTICE: Typo on back cover Track 10: I Know ATune We Could Sing Correct is: I Know A Tune We Could Sing https://virginiaastley.bandcamp.com/album/had-i-the-heavens https://www.virginiaastley.com/disc/albums/html/heavens.html https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/virginia-astley/had-i-the-heavens/ Another Reissue has this corrected. See images at: https://www.discogs.com/release/1432291-Virginia-Astley-Had-I-The-Heavens * Virginia Astely featured on Bandcamp Daily: https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/virginia-astley-discography * Virginia Astley is a call from lost summers, her harmonies are gentle and her intensions feels like they come from an unspoiled heart. This album was originally titled The Woodlanders after the novel by Thomas Hardy. Virginia had worked on a possible musical based on the book and some of the songs on this album were an offshoot of that original idea. The title of the album, and the words to the song 'Had I The Heavens', is taken from the poem He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by WB Yeats. 'A Long Long Year' was one of the few songs that had originally been inspired by The Woodlanders musical project. 'I Know A Tune We Could Sing' features vocals by Virginia's daughter Florence. * Guided by WB Yeats, Virginia Astley places her fragile melodies in a chamber-folk environment, more academic and less impressionistic, that suits her perfectly. Had I the Heavens' embroidered cloths Enwrought with golden and silver light The blue and the dim and dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light I would spread the cloths under your feet But I, being poor, have only my dreams I have spread my dreams under your feet Tread softly because you tread on my dreams I have spread my dreams under your feet Tread softly because you tread on my dreams Tread softly because you tread on my dreams I have spread my dreams under your feet Tread softly because you tread on my dreams Tread softly because you tread on my dreams * Bio: Virginia Astley is more widely known for the people she's played with than her own records. A classically trained British pianist and flutist who also happens to be Pete Townshend's sister-in-law, she contributed piano to Townshend's "Slit Skirts," and has played sessions for Siouxsie & the Banshees. Her late-'70s band, the Ravishing Beauties, also included future Dream Academy singer Kate St. John and Nicky Holland, who would work with Tears for Fears and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Astley's sparse body of work combines ambient, even experimental textures and song structures with her pretty soprano vocals. Producing three albums (only the last of which was released in the U.S.) and a handful of single and EP tracks, she remains virtually unknown to American audiences. Her records are recommended to listeners looking for intriguing ambient British pop. -=- SHGZ -=- -=-=-==-=-=- Shoegaze is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the late 80s. The genre is very difficult to define, and it is even more difficult to evaluate music within it. Generally, the genre is characterized by its shimmering vocals, reverberating guitars, and textural distortion that create a tranquil, opaque feeling. ---==--==---