Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children!
Encyclopedia
Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children! (commonly abbreviated to Riding a Black Unicorn...) is the eighth studio album by Cuban American
dark cabaret
/Dark Wave singer Voltaire
. It was released on September 1, 2011, initially via digital download on the website CD Baby
. The physical CD was released on September 20, 2011 via Projekt Records and Voltaire's own label, Mars Needs Music.
According to Voltaire on his official website, the album has this name because of a comment by a fan on his Facebook
page, in which he compares Voltaire's music to the "audio equivalent of 'riding a black unicorn down the side of an erupting volcano while drinking from a goblet filled with the laughter of small children'".
This album marks Voltaire's longest song, "Oh, Lord (Wake the Dead)", which is 6 minutes and 33 seconds long.
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
dark cabaret
Dark Cabaret
Dark cabaret may be a simple description of the theme and mood of a cabaret performance, but more recently has come to define a particular musical genre which draws on the aesthetics of the decadent, risqué German Weimar-era cabarets, burlesque and vaudeville shows with the stylings of post-1970s...
/Dark Wave singer Voltaire
Voltaire (musician)
Voltaire , is a popular dark cabaret Cuban-American musician...
. It was released on September 1, 2011, initially via digital download on the website CD Baby
CD Baby
CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
. The physical CD was released on September 20, 2011 via Projekt Records and Voltaire's own label, Mars Needs Music.
According to Voltaire on his official website, the album has this name because of a comment by a fan on his Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, in which he compares Voltaire's music to the "audio equivalent of 'riding a black unicorn down the side of an erupting volcano while drinking from a goblet filled with the laughter of small children'".
This album marks Voltaire's longest song, "Oh, Lord (Wake the Dead)", which is 6 minutes and 33 seconds long.
Track listing
Personnel
- VoltaireVoltaire (musician)Voltaire , is a popular dark cabaret Cuban-American musician...
— VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Brian ViglioneBrian ViglioneBrian Viglione is the drummer for The Dresden Dolls. Additionally, he was a prominent member of New York City's cabaret punk orchestra, The WORLD/INFERNO Friendship Society...
— DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Melora CreagerMelora CreagerMelora Creager, formerly Melora Mather, is an American cellist and singer-songwriter best known for her role as lead singer and chief composer of the cello rock trio Rasputina....
— CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - David JDavid JDavid John Haskins , better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician. He was the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and Love and Rockets....
— BassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles... - The Red Hook Ramblers — HornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Franz NicolayFranz NicolayFranz Nicolay is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is perhaps best known for playing the accordion and the piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and playing keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010...
— AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.... - Hannah Thiem, Maxim Moston, Ben Lively — ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....