Mimi Goese & Ben Neill

Category: Blog

Review on Direct Current site

Direct Current has posted a review of Songs for Persephone

Mimi Goese and Ben Neill – Five years in the making, this ambitious work of grand art/pop is a compelling and dramatic synthesis of Neill’s sweeping electronica and swelling symphonic layers utilizing touchstones of 19th century romantic classics mixed with Goese’s captivating vocals and lyrics: think Cocteau Twins meet Bat for Lashes…the project was originally commissioned for the NY indie stage and presented to rave reviews last year… // Release: Songs for Persephone (August 30) // Sounds like: what could have been a cerebral exercise in arty excess is instead a work of vividly emotional power and goose-bump inducing beauty…(hint: check out “Roma” below at around the 45 second mark)… // Quote: “At its bewitching best the production evokes a French neoclassical painting that has magically bloomed into three dimensions… shimmery electro-pop songs sung by Ms. Goese in a throaty voice that recalls Kate Bush and a number of other alt-radio goddesses.” NY Times //What we like: Lead track “Roma” glows and glimmers with layers of brass, strings, synths and Goese’s celestial singing on a melody that gently takes the top of your head off while you look up happily to see your cerebellum drift away..

Read More

Playlist from WCR FM

This is a playlist from a show called The Curve Ball based in Wolverhampton, UK. Nice company to be in,

Gimme All the Love You Can – Wonderful – Wake Up To Dreamland -2011
Mister Stormalong – Seedhill Bruiser – Granite Fists – 2011
Shooting at the Moon – Kevin Ayers and the Whole World – Shooting at the Moon (Featured album)- 1970
Love Is an Island –Mimi – Soak – 1995
Roma – Mimi Goese and Ben Neill – Songs for Persephone – 2011
Summer 68 – Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother -1970
Heavy Weather – North Sea Radio Orchestra – I a Moon – 2011
May I? – Kevin Ayers and the Whole World – Shooting at the Moon – 1970
Where Have They All Gone? – Thirteen Moons – Little Dreaming Boy – 1989
Flying – Ho Orchestra – Spoon River Project – 2011
Desert Song – The Title Sequence – Straight To Video – 2011
Stormy Waters – I Am Your Autopilot – Unreleased – 2011
Red Green and You Blue – Kevin Ayers and the Whole World – Shooting at the Moon – 1970
Everybody Says I’m Beautiful – Corey Dargel – Someone Will Take Care of Me – 2011
Falling Things – Fovea Hex – Here Is Where We Used To Sing – 2011
Iron – Woodkid – Iron EP – 2011
Mississippi Honeymoon – David Yazbek – The Laughing Man – 1994
Hourglass Part 2 – Keith Jarrett – Staircase – 1976.
Rheinhardt & Geraldine: Colores Para Dolores – Kevin Ayers and the Whole World – Shooting at the Moon – 1970
Pour – Brian Eno and Rick Holland – Drums Between The Bells – 2011
Read More

Utne Reader July music sampler

Our song Blackpool is part of the Utne Reader July music sampler.  Here’s what they said about Songs for Persephone.

Mimi Goese and Ben Neill
Goese and Neill make art songs for the indie set, fusing melodies by classical composers—Berlioz, Strauss, Grieg, and more—with fresh lyrics on Songs for Persephone, which comes out August 30 on Ramseur Records. The result is ageless and arresting music.

Read more: http://www.utne.com/Utne-Reader-Music-Sampler-July-2011.aspx#ixzz1R3MSz0MW

Read More

WELCOME from Mimi and Ben

We began collaborating in 2006 on a set of songs based on 19th century Romantic compositions. Our inspirations were the natural beauty of New York’s Hudson Valley and the expressive possibilities of new technologies. The music was presented in Persephone with Ridge Theater featuring Julia Stiles at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival in 2010. The CD Songs for Persephone will be released on Ramseur Records on August 30, 2011. You can download Roma, the first song on the album, from the link to the right.

Read More