Song of the Day: "Violet" by Marika Hackman

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"Violet" by Marika Hackman is song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica.

The first thing I noticed, while clicking on this song on my favorite music discovery site letsloop.com was the name. "Violet" is the name of one of the best songs off Hole's breakthrough album "Live Through This," which was everything to me when I was new in college and just aging out of my teen years. That, along with "Miss World," was one of the first songs I ever tackled on guitar.

But back to this "Violet." The name is appropriate because while it's more of a whisper than a roar, it's proof positive that the grunge girl, the riot grrl of the early '90s hasn't gone away. She's just gotten wise to the situation.

If you have a touch of goth outlining your heart in charcoal, you'll also resonate with the eerie melancholy of this tune.

And now, onto the meat and potatoes of this post. Who is Marika Hackman? Could she be Gene Hackman's daughter, or is that just wishful thinking?

According to the internet, Marika Hackman is an English vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. She's also an aquarius, for those of you who are astrologically inclined, sharing a birthday of February 17 with my dear father.

She made a splash previously with a song called "Boyfriend," which I will now dutifully listen to and which will hopefully rock my socks off.

Sometimes I ask myself, what is Battlestar Eclectica about. Certainly, I've let myself off the hook by including the word eclectic in its title, meaning I can post about pretty much anything.

The truth is, though, amid this glut of information out there, I—a classically trained journalist and all-around writer—am always loathe to post anything I think will just add to the chatter out there. Our brains deserve a break today, by which I mean give me good information or give me none.

I think when it comes to posting music, new and old, that listeners may like, my goal is one of curation. I listen to four songs and like one of them. I then share the one I like. If you are a kindred spirit or kindred to a kindred spirit, you may like it too.

I have yet to learn whether Marika Hackman, age 25 and author of a new album called "I"m Not Your Man," will be part of my permanent sonic landscape.

But this song is cool. Real cool.

Is it just me or does the cover art for the song evoke a David Hockney painting?



—Sarah Torribio