A postmortem of Hymns of the Apostate lead me to believe that I forced myself to streamline some aspects of the plot that I would have rather developed a little more during the story. In retrospect, I wish I had built up the importance of the Runeam Library and it’s impact on international politics, and I wanted to comment on how a large portion of the Alvaran population was living abroad as mercenaries and cheap labor. When I think about some of my motivations when I was actually making the pages of HotA, a lot of these points were streamlined because I was unable to update regularly due to my deployment schedule and then afterwards when I was working for the DoD in Japan. I felt pressured to “move the story along.” A lot of these plot points are eventually tied up in the Cast page (which I encourage you to read), but they also come to a head in Canto XXXVII which is arguably my favorite story beat in the entire series. I fret because a lot of readers overlooked some points when this canto was released, and I attribute a lot of that to the streamlining instincts that I had when making Hymns of the Apostate. For Lost Noise, I will resist the temptation to push the story along because moments like this are important. So, I apologize for the delay. I don’t want to compromise on Lost Noise, and I’m really happy how this episode came out.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback in the comments sections on this site or by tweeting at me.

I’ve recently fallen in love with the album Rebel Woman by Chiwoniso Maraire- a Zimbabwean songwriter who tragically passed away in 2013 at age 37.

This album really hits all of the high points that I tend to gravitate towards as a listener. I was introduced to West African music by a college roommate from Cameroon, and a few of my “desert island album” contenders come out of Mali and Senegal. This is my first real foray into East African music, and, while I lack a lot of the formal and informal tools to truly appreciate this album, it is already a contender for a desert island album. I have been absolutely charmed by this album the past few weeks.

The album is a healthy synthesis of modern, Western instruments like trumpets with traditional African instruments such as talking drums, balafons, and shekere that creates a warm, vitalizing sound throughout the playlist. The kalimba (I believe) is used in lieu of a bass throughout every song, and metal tinniness of this instrument is actually quite evocative and propels my foot to tap along to the beat. Chiwoniso has an powerful voice, and she switches between English and Shona throughout the album with ease. The titular song is performed completely in English, and the lyrics are so well written that I am frustrated that I have been unable to find a decent translation of the other songs.

The whole album is uplifting, inspiring, and would be generally fun to put on at a medium volume as background music at a party or while exercising. I recommend listening to the 3rd track- Gomo– which is the best representative song of the styles used throughout the album. It has a strong female lead vocalist with super deep male backup that creates a compelling contrast. The use of horns throughout the song illustrate the generally jazzy feel of the album and inspires the experimentation and variation of the hooks and refrains. The song is long enough that I feel satisfied after listening to it, but it doesn’t wear out its welcome or become a repetitive earworm.

My favorite song on the album is the 9th song- Pamuromo. However, I do not recommend that you listen to this song first as it is not as good of a representation of the album as a whole. I simply love male/female duets, and Pamuromo scratches that itch in a way that forces me to listen to it a few times before moving on.