#8 Soleil

ColeMarie Soleil has been performing in Second Life for a long time now. Since I have known her she has moved several times and pretty much has a suitcase of possessions. Things don't mean alot to her, it's all about people. In contrast there are others such as me who have boxes of valentines cards which they haven't looked at since grade 2, but feel the need to carry them about from apartment to apartment for some reason. She has a freedom uncommon in our materialistic world. And through her I have been inspired by some of the truly generous people that make up Second Life.
Cole was trained in violin, but tends to use whatever instrument is available to her at the time. Her hands are too small for a guitar but most of us know and love her intimate acoustic guitar shows. One day I was building and she was practicing. I recorded her singing without her knowing and this is what I got. Cole practicing
This is also without proper filters and microphones etc. It's just her singing in front of a computer. Most performers have fancy little dodads to purify their work and there is nothing wrong with that, but I always like to hear directly from the source sometimes and this is one of those.
Cole met Tasuku Ghost and that meeting is an example of what makes SL unique. Tasuku is from Japan and at the time had very limited english. I think it is safe to say they never would have met had it not been for SL, other side of the world, language barrier and so on. But they did meet and overcame the obstacles to create the band Soleil. I was blown away when Cole sent me some of Tasuku's music compositions. I used one of his pieces in a machinima called Format which you can listen to here if you want to listen to the pre-cole sound he created.
For the last six months they have been working together creating their first album. In support of this album and their live performances Ayaka Ochello created a wonderful set with Cole doing a particle performance composed for each song. Each performance is almost a narrative with acts or stages. So not only is their album brilliant but they also have used the unique traits of SL to create a compelling experience for those who come to the shows. Some would say that its just the music which is important, yet there have always been those who try to go further (Pink Floyd for example). What is nice to see about Soleil is that its not just a SL phenomenon. They have become wildly popular in a short time despite not playing for the last few months as they work on new material, but they also have had acclaim from media outlets which have no idea what SL even is. If you are one of the few who have not yet heard Soleil then you have a range of places to go to have a listen. From the itunes store to bandcamp. I know you can preview the songs at Bandcamp but you probably can at itunes as well.

#8 from 2008 Jojo Runoruno's Pervy Room

#8 from 2009 The Cornfield by Linden Labs