Chelsea Wolfe for Crossover

This is not a proper bio, but if this is added then I will write something better. If accepted I request that I be permitted and given notice of acceptance so that I can do the addition myself.

Chelsea Wolfe (born November 14, 1983), not to be confused with the competitive American BMX racer of the same name, is a singer-songwriter and musician who was born and raised in the state of California in the United States of America. Her work, which can be quite experimental, incorporates gothic rock, doom metal, folk music and can have ethereal wave, darkwave, dark folk, industrial, as well as neo-folk and psychedelic qualities. She is quite eclectic across her albums.

Her first album, Mistake in Parting, was released in 2006. It was more on the alternative rock with goth rock qualities side.

The period I know well for her music is 2011 to 2017, with Ἀποκάλυψις (aka Apokalypsis) (2011), Pain is Beauty (2013), Abyss (2015) and Hiss Spin (2107) which has post-metal and doom metal qualities. Those are the albums that I am considering.

This is something of an out of the usual Prog box suggestion (it's not The Flower Kings), and she would primarily be associated, methinks with Gothic Rock, Darkwave and Ethereal Wave, but I definitely associate her with a great woman in Crossover, the amazing Anna von Hausswolff. There are also some similarities to Swans music and she has similarities to Dead Can Dance music, some Current 93, Coil, some Nine Inch Nails, Susanne Sundfor....

Here is the bandcamp page: https://chelseawolfe.bandcamp.com
The rate your music page: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/chelsea-wolfe

Here are the albums I considered:









And she can really rock. In or out of PA, awesome stuff I think.

Edited by Logan - May 31 2023 at 12:04

ok, noted. 

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Wonderful artist.

Absolutely.

Cristi wrote: ok, noted.

Thanks.

Saperlipopette! wrote: I don't have much to say. She's on my to investigate further list. But what I've heard makes sense (all of Abyss and a few other, later songs) for PA inclusion. Progressive and "heavy", hypnotic sort of industrial "gothic rock". And more.

Yep, I think she'd be a good addition with various precedents. I hope the evaluation goes quite smoothly and I can be adding her to these fine archives ere too long (hopefully if accepted this thread will be updated). I might well write some reviews after that.

I get a bit nervous when someone is waiting to see if an artist is cleared as a precedent for suggesting another, . It reminds me of those kinds of if this then this whataboutery/ whatiffery posts that used to be quite common and often annoying when someone would suggest someone a bit, or more than a bit, out of the box and someone would respond with a and then after this gets in, what about this, and this, and this, soon we'll have Lady Gaga in, and what about Nickleback type of slippery slope, thin end of the wedge absurdities. While it is true that we evaluate each act on its own merits, of course we do consider what has been accepted. Some have said that we should never do if X is here then Y type suggestions, but we think in those associative terms anyway. The what if ones that really annoyed to epic facepalm levels were the ones that were not even at all good comparisons (not musically that similar).

{EDIT: I see from Necrotica's post below that Darkher is already in, which I support, and general sentiments hold true.}

Speaking of anyway... I have thought that Chelsea Wolfe needs one more vote to be cleared. I expect that this topic likely will be updated when/if cleared partially to give me a heads up so I can start on the addition.

Edited by Logan - June 21 2023 at 18:45

Necrotica wrote: bardberic wrote: Hey what's the status on this one? If it goes through I'd like to try to add Darkher here, too! It appears to have been cleared at Progfreak. Darkher's already on the site! I was the one who added her  (actually, it might have been Cristi who added her, I'm trying to remember... but I at least did the bio and discog ) https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=12044

Oh so she is, isn't she Well good to know - I just rated her new-ish album since I own a copy of it

Logan wrote: I get a bit nervous when someone is waiting to see if an artist is cleared as a precedent for suggesting another, . It reminds me of those kinds of if this then this whataboutery/ whatiffery posts that used to be quite common and often annoying when someone would suggest someone a bit, or more than a bit, out of the box and someone would respond with a and then after this gets in, what about this, and this, and this, soon we'll have Lady Gaga in, and what about Nickleback type of slippery slope, thin end of the wedge absurdities. While it is true that we evaluate each act on its own merits, of course we do consider what has been accepted. Some have said that we should never do if X is here then Y type suggestions, but we think in those associative terms anyway. The what if ones that really annoyed to epic facepalm levels were the ones that were not even at all good comparisons (not musically that similar). {EDIT: I see from Necrotica's post below that Darkher is already in, which I support, and general sentiments hold true.} Speaking of anyway... I have thought that Chelsea Wolfe needs one more vote to be cleared. I expect that this topic likely will be updated when/if cleared partially to give me a heads up so I can start on the addition.

No you have it wrong. This isn't me waiting for Chelsea's approval so I can use it as a a "precedent," per se, such that if she added then Darkher should be, too. It's more so me seeing what is tolerated on this site in general. Sure, these artists share many similarities, but it never occurred to me that they should be on this site, so seeing Chelsea Wolfe here reminded me about Darkher. Anyway, I'm working on Avenged Sevenfold, Avatar, Boris, and Ichiko Aoba right now, so Darkher wasn't even a priority hence the so-called "wait."


Edited by bardberic - June 21 2023 at 19:41

Edited by suitkees - June 22 2023 at 10:34

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - June 22 2023 at 12:59

Sweet

^ Prog Archives is in the only Prog circle I frequent (the seventh circle of hell?) ;) It's not your grandma's Prog nor a purists perception of Prog methinks. Whether I think of it as Prog or not has no bearings on my appreciation, but to me it has enough similarities with various others to make her admissible. And for me it is progressive music, but not traditionally Prog. I would start with any of those albums I linked to in the OP. I think you might really like Abyss. Pain Is Beauty is the one that I have played the most. If it were me, I would just play music from all those four albums at first and see what appeals most to me. Hope you enjoy music by her. I would think you would.

I'm actually much more interested in music that is more on the peripheries of progressive rock than traditional Prog generally. Prog is such a nebulous and amorphous thing, and I often find music that tries to be Prog to be kind of cringy and ughh. I have a big progressive music umbrella that includes a lot of music I relate to art rock.

^ And actually it has been an acceptance of music that would not nearly so much traditionally be linked to progressive rock that makes Crossover one of the most interesting categories at PA. I suggested one to Crossover called Chrome Hoof, and while I felt it was progressive and had lots of the qualities that I would associate with Prog and with the category I was still questioning whether that was suitable. I'm confident it was, and the more I thought about it the more links I made (which can be misleading as we naturally are pattern seekers). I questioned Stereolab (which has an obvious Krautrock influence) and Pram before (two I love, and Pram is in) but I'd be happy to see both in PA. I love various Björk albums and I'm happy to have the chance to review her here is I want to, but I do not consider her Prog. And having a band added or excluded from PA does not change my perception really of if it is Prog. To me it was more about does it fit the category than is it Prog proper (Crossover was one of those that split from our old Art Rock sub, and I would think, does this have Art Rock qualities?) Tori Amos is not one I associate with Prog. Don't know her that well. Nine Inch Nails I do for Ghosts.

There's music I see suggested and people are really insistent that this should be included that to me does not sound right for this site either in Prog categories or Prog Related. Different people have different ears for that and make different associations.

Most of what I listen to these days especially in post-classic era music that I think progressive or has a Prog relation is not what I would describe as Prog even if I think it could fit certain categories at PA (for evaluations I think on the category level rather than Prog writ large).

Buy yes, Gordy, I suggest you try Abyss, Pain Is Beauty, Apokalypsis, and Hiss Spun. Whether you think it progressive rock or not, I just think it's awesome music and worth hearing on its own music merits. And I think good music that can be described as progressive rock commonly does not fit a cookie-cutter Prog mold. It's funny that once you codify and limit Prog as a "genre" it becomes less progressive. Being progressive involves openness, change. Prog as genre can be seen as anti-progressive music. One way I have defined prog is as music without borders. It is music that can progress away from the expected and move into new music areas. It can draw on any number of influences. It is non-canonical.

It has been said before that some see the Prog label as badge of honour, and I don't. Being included may change what is acceptable to this site, and there are precedents, but it does not change the nature of the music nor does that affect my appreciation or much how I view the music or the "genre". It does effect how I see the category at PA. More important to me than genre always is, do I like the music? But of course liking the music is not why we add music, but it can help, and it can help get you added, and liked music is more likely to be suggested obviously.


Edited by Logan - August 09 2023 at 11:23