Dvorak - The Wild Dove
Haydn - Symphony No.91
Holmboe - Lagerkvist Songs (partial)
Holmboe - Contrasti
Nordentoft - Doruntine
Rachmaninov - Six Songs, op.38
Schumann - Piano Sonata No.2
Vivaldi - Longe mala, umbrae, terrores (Away with woes, shadows, terrors), RV 629
Well, pop music didn't dominate in September quite as much as it did in August, although I think I listened to most of these works late in the month.
The highlight of the month would have to be the Rachmaninov songs. The last collection that the composer wrote, they differ from previous sets in being all for the one voice (soprano) and so they have a certain unity - although I wouldn't think they represent a "song cycle".
They are also very good, with a real sensitivity to the words being set. That's true of most of Rachmaninov's songs - at least, that's the impression I get from the recording I've been working through, with 7 different singers and Iain Burnside as the pianist. It's been a real discovery of new repertoire, a different side of Rachmaninov that I didn't know, and it's been clear that a lot of work went into the recording project precisely because they wanted people to get to know this music. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is curious.
Saturday, 17 October 2015
Saturday, 10 October 2015
Popular Music - September 2015
Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
David Bowie - Scary Monsters
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
Delirious? - World Service
george - Unity
David Gray - White Ladder
Nik Kershaw
Joni Mitchell - For the Roses
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Pearl Jam - Vs
Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science
Talk Talk - It's My Life
Tears for Fears - Raoul and the Kings of Spain
Thrice - Beggars
I'm actually slightly surprised the list for September is this long. My main memory of the month is undertaking "phase 2" of the Nik Kershaw discography, complete with 2 albums I bought in August to complete the set.
Speaking of a second phase makes sense because there was a gap of about a decade between Nik's last 1980s album and the arrival of 15 Minutes. In the intervening period he focused on work as a songwriter for others. Whatever he was doing, in my opinion it resulted in probably the best album of Kershaw's career.
For one thing, I'm impressed by the ambition and grandeur of the songs. There are several 6-minute efforts, and while length isn't everything, it's a sign that Kershaw is prepared to let the material breathe. It's also the album where he succeeds at having a more rock-oriented sound. On other albums, I typically feel the tracks where he attempts to move from pop to rock are among the weakest, but here they are a real strength.
And then there are the lyrics. Nik's concerns have changed just a little since the 1980s, with some more positive, domestic thoughts, but that strain of disillusionment with the world still crops up and on 15 Minutes it generates some sharply witty numbers.
Released a couple of years later, To Be Frank initially felt like a bit of a disappointment to me, with only a few songs standing out. I think this month is when I finally paid attention to it properly, and I've realised that it's intentionally a more relaxed, less ambitious album than its predecessor. Having a bit of a smile is actually the point in some tracks. It's lighter pop, but still fairly good pop.
Much the same can be said for You've Got To Laugh, although this time around there are a couple of genuine clunkers. I was initially put off by the album because the first song is one of them (whereas on every other one of Nik's albums, the first song is one of the best). Later on, "Loud, Confident and Wrong" is a badly judged attack on George W. Bush - not badly judged in terms of politics, but executed in an unsubtle way that ends up sounding like a schoolyard taunt. In both cases it feels like Kershaw's sense of humour has misfired. Elsewhere, though, there are some pretty strong pop songs, and "She Could Be The One" is genuinely warm-hearted.
The most recent album (and other new purchase) is Ei8ht, with a bunch of comments about the number 8 in the booklet... unfortunately the one that has a musical aspect is completely wrong, which is rather embarrassing. In terms of the music, there is pretty well a direct correlation between track number and quality. The opening "These Tears" is as good a pop song as Kershaw's ever done. "The Sky's The Limit" was the single, and while it does have a distinctly sentimental tone he makes it work. The next couple of tracks aren't classics but are enjoyable, and then things start to fall away a bit. By the time we get to "Stuff" and "Rock of Ages" the lyrics are embarrassingly uninspired.
If that last review sounds oddly familiar, it's because it's very similar to my thoughts on Kershaw's last 1980s album, The Works. There are some definite parallels between the two phases of his career, with 4 albums each at this stage. Although the gaps between albums are longer in the second phase, they do have quite a bit of stylistic similarity and form a group distinct from the 1980s albums. Most of Kershaw's stylistic development (such as it is) seems to have occurred in the 1990s.
And in each group, it feels to me like there's a falling off in quality towards the end. Which is a shame, as I'd prefer a sense that a musician I like is developing rather than running out of ways to do much the same thing. But there are still some rewards even on the weaker albums, and every one of them would definitely contribute something to my Nik Kershaw mixtape.
Okay, iTunes playlist. But I'm going to plan it just like a mixtape.
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
David Bowie - Scary Monsters
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
Delirious? - World Service
george - Unity
David Gray - White Ladder
Nik Kershaw
- 15 Minutes
- To Be Frank
- You've Got To Laugh
- Ei8ht
Joni Mitchell - For the Roses
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Pearl Jam - Vs
Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science
Talk Talk - It's My Life
Tears for Fears - Raoul and the Kings of Spain
Thrice - Beggars
I'm actually slightly surprised the list for September is this long. My main memory of the month is undertaking "phase 2" of the Nik Kershaw discography, complete with 2 albums I bought in August to complete the set.
Speaking of a second phase makes sense because there was a gap of about a decade between Nik's last 1980s album and the arrival of 15 Minutes. In the intervening period he focused on work as a songwriter for others. Whatever he was doing, in my opinion it resulted in probably the best album of Kershaw's career.
For one thing, I'm impressed by the ambition and grandeur of the songs. There are several 6-minute efforts, and while length isn't everything, it's a sign that Kershaw is prepared to let the material breathe. It's also the album where he succeeds at having a more rock-oriented sound. On other albums, I typically feel the tracks where he attempts to move from pop to rock are among the weakest, but here they are a real strength.
And then there are the lyrics. Nik's concerns have changed just a little since the 1980s, with some more positive, domestic thoughts, but that strain of disillusionment with the world still crops up and on 15 Minutes it generates some sharply witty numbers.
Released a couple of years later, To Be Frank initially felt like a bit of a disappointment to me, with only a few songs standing out. I think this month is when I finally paid attention to it properly, and I've realised that it's intentionally a more relaxed, less ambitious album than its predecessor. Having a bit of a smile is actually the point in some tracks. It's lighter pop, but still fairly good pop.
Much the same can be said for You've Got To Laugh, although this time around there are a couple of genuine clunkers. I was initially put off by the album because the first song is one of them (whereas on every other one of Nik's albums, the first song is one of the best). Later on, "Loud, Confident and Wrong" is a badly judged attack on George W. Bush - not badly judged in terms of politics, but executed in an unsubtle way that ends up sounding like a schoolyard taunt. In both cases it feels like Kershaw's sense of humour has misfired. Elsewhere, though, there are some pretty strong pop songs, and "She Could Be The One" is genuinely warm-hearted.
The most recent album (and other new purchase) is Ei8ht, with a bunch of comments about the number 8 in the booklet... unfortunately the one that has a musical aspect is completely wrong, which is rather embarrassing. In terms of the music, there is pretty well a direct correlation between track number and quality. The opening "These Tears" is as good a pop song as Kershaw's ever done. "The Sky's The Limit" was the single, and while it does have a distinctly sentimental tone he makes it work. The next couple of tracks aren't classics but are enjoyable, and then things start to fall away a bit. By the time we get to "Stuff" and "Rock of Ages" the lyrics are embarrassingly uninspired.
If that last review sounds oddly familiar, it's because it's very similar to my thoughts on Kershaw's last 1980s album, The Works. There are some definite parallels between the two phases of his career, with 4 albums each at this stage. Although the gaps between albums are longer in the second phase, they do have quite a bit of stylistic similarity and form a group distinct from the 1980s albums. Most of Kershaw's stylistic development (such as it is) seems to have occurred in the 1990s.
And in each group, it feels to me like there's a falling off in quality towards the end. Which is a shame, as I'd prefer a sense that a musician I like is developing rather than running out of ways to do much the same thing. But there are still some rewards even on the weaker albums, and every one of them would definitely contribute something to my Nik Kershaw mixtape.
Okay, iTunes playlist. But I'm going to plan it just like a mixtape.
Sunday, 4 October 2015
Classical Music - August 2015
Brahms - String Quintet No.2
Snider - Penelope
Was that really it?
Yes. That was really it.
Snider - Penelope
Was that really it?
Yes. That was really it.
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Popular Music - August 2015
Tori Amos
James Blake - Overgrown
Incubus - If Not Now, When?
Nik Kershaw
John Mayer - Heavier Things
Joni Mitchell - For the Roses
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Wilco - Star Wars
The revival of my interest in pop music led to another purchase, Wendy Matthews' Cafe Naturale. I also finally unearthed something I purchased very cheaply a while ago, the Baby Animals' self-titled debut album.
A small rant: the latter is a re-release with their second album (not yet listened to), and is missing one track compared to the original CD release. Why? Why do record companies do things like that? It makes absolutely no sense to perform that kind of alteration.
However, what really needs to be talked about is the fierce revival of my interest in Nik Kershaw. The interest has always been there, in fact he was one of the very first musicians that I became a fan of at a young age. I still remember listening to "Wouldn't It Be Good" and thinking how much I liked it. It's perhaps the first time I ever heard a song and thought it was clever.
It was also very successful. What's striking about listening to that song, though, and to Human Racing as a whole is how unlikely that success was in some ways. Sure, Nik Kershaw had the looks to be a pop idol in 1984, but his music was quirky and unconventional by the standards of mainstream pop. When there aren't surprising harmonic or rhythmic twists, there are things like background yelps or chipmunk voices.
And lyrically, the album is highly dystopian. The songs are filled with people dissatisfied with their lot, dreaming of a better life, suspicious of authority, or just giving up on the world. Opening track "Dancing Girls"starts with: Cold and lonely and tired and bored, just like the day before.
I don't remember enough about what was going on in 1984 culturally to know whether this tapped into the zeitgeist (other than being aware that it was the era of Thatcher in Kershaw's native UK), but listening to Human Racing now it's slightly surprising that something like this was rather popular.
The Riddle was released only 9 months later and is basically more of the same, only better - probably the best of his 1980s albums (yes, did you even know there were albums after the 1980s?). Whereas on Human Racing it's clear that the singles are the strongest songs, The Riddle is a lot more consistent. There are fewer attempts at being quirky just for the sake of it, and more of Kershaw's innovations are at the service of the song. (Note: the first 95 seconds of this video are NOT part of the song, which is a strange decision given that they edited out about 96 seconds of the original music to create this single.)
Thematically, it's much the same, although this time there's perhaps more of an emphasis on people that are not just disillusioned but delusional, and a more overt concern for the environment (hard to miss with a song called "Save the Whale", but "Roses" is also along those lines).
When Radio Musicola followed a couple of years later, Kershaw was also producing. The album is just a little grander, with longer songs; on the first 2 albums, at least half of the songs are under 4 minutes, whereas on Radio Musicola half the songs are over 5 minutes.
The degree to which it succeeds is... just a tiny, tiny bit variable. The album was nowhere as big a success as its predecessors, and personally I'm not sure whether the singles were chosen well (although any of the longer tracks would inevitably have been edited down). The only song I ever saw on music shows was "Nobody Knows", which is a song I'd describe as pretty good but not memorable, which is a description for a couple of others as well. And yet, there are also wonderful moments. One I'm always amazed by is the bridge of "Life Goes On", a miracle of compression where on 2 occasions Kershaw makes the end of one line into the start of the next one, both lyrically and musically.
And then, in 1989 came The Works. Kershaw went to America to make his 4th album, and it ends up sounding exactly like what you would expect when a quirky Englishman goes to America to make an album. Everything is smoothed and flattened and made nice, and frequently rather dull.
It's not all bad. The opening track (and first single) "One Step Ahead" is a fine example of Kershaw's qualities, with seamless harmonic changes.
But things go downhill after that. The music is always reasonably competent, and frequently displays his gift for melody, but rarely does it have distinctive qualities - for me "Cowboys & Indians" is probably the only other track that I'd label as something only Kershaw could have done.
And the lyrics... well the lyrics get pretty bad, frankly. "Elisabeth's Eyes" is a very sweet song with a nice sentimental melody, but it's also the most inappropriately jaunty song about being on death row you've ever heard. The absolute nadir is "Don't Ask Me", an uninspired list of random lines which are supposedly things that Nik would like to know, but doesn't. Let's just take a look at the second verse, shall we?
The origin of species
The date of Waterloo
Oppenheimer's shoe size
And the latitude of Timbuktu
The square root of thrity-eight
Why they call he-goats billy
The weight of Colonel Sanders
And the whereabouts of Chile
When he sings in the chorus "I just don't know what to do", it sounds like a sincere confession of his helplessness as he witnessed what was emerging from the recording sessions. The album deservedly bombed, and Nik retreated to writing songs for other people for about a decade...
- Strange Little Girls
- Abnormally Attracted to Sin
- Unrepentant Geraldines
James Blake - Overgrown
Incubus - If Not Now, When?
Nik Kershaw
- Human Racing
- The Riddle
- Radio Musicola
- The Works
John Mayer - Heavier Things
Joni Mitchell - For the Roses
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Wilco - Star Wars
The revival of my interest in pop music led to another purchase, Wendy Matthews' Cafe Naturale. I also finally unearthed something I purchased very cheaply a while ago, the Baby Animals' self-titled debut album.
A small rant: the latter is a re-release with their second album (not yet listened to), and is missing one track compared to the original CD release. Why? Why do record companies do things like that? It makes absolutely no sense to perform that kind of alteration.
However, what really needs to be talked about is the fierce revival of my interest in Nik Kershaw. The interest has always been there, in fact he was one of the very first musicians that I became a fan of at a young age. I still remember listening to "Wouldn't It Be Good" and thinking how much I liked it. It's perhaps the first time I ever heard a song and thought it was clever.
It was also very successful. What's striking about listening to that song, though, and to Human Racing as a whole is how unlikely that success was in some ways. Sure, Nik Kershaw had the looks to be a pop idol in 1984, but his music was quirky and unconventional by the standards of mainstream pop. When there aren't surprising harmonic or rhythmic twists, there are things like background yelps or chipmunk voices.
And lyrically, the album is highly dystopian. The songs are filled with people dissatisfied with their lot, dreaming of a better life, suspicious of authority, or just giving up on the world. Opening track "Dancing Girls"starts with: Cold and lonely and tired and bored, just like the day before.
I don't remember enough about what was going on in 1984 culturally to know whether this tapped into the zeitgeist (other than being aware that it was the era of Thatcher in Kershaw's native UK), but listening to Human Racing now it's slightly surprising that something like this was rather popular.
The Riddle was released only 9 months later and is basically more of the same, only better - probably the best of his 1980s albums (yes, did you even know there were albums after the 1980s?). Whereas on Human Racing it's clear that the singles are the strongest songs, The Riddle is a lot more consistent. There are fewer attempts at being quirky just for the sake of it, and more of Kershaw's innovations are at the service of the song. (Note: the first 95 seconds of this video are NOT part of the song, which is a strange decision given that they edited out about 96 seconds of the original music to create this single.)
Thematically, it's much the same, although this time there's perhaps more of an emphasis on people that are not just disillusioned but delusional, and a more overt concern for the environment (hard to miss with a song called "Save the Whale", but "Roses" is also along those lines).
When Radio Musicola followed a couple of years later, Kershaw was also producing. The album is just a little grander, with longer songs; on the first 2 albums, at least half of the songs are under 4 minutes, whereas on Radio Musicola half the songs are over 5 minutes.
The degree to which it succeeds is... just a tiny, tiny bit variable. The album was nowhere as big a success as its predecessors, and personally I'm not sure whether the singles were chosen well (although any of the longer tracks would inevitably have been edited down). The only song I ever saw on music shows was "Nobody Knows", which is a song I'd describe as pretty good but not memorable, which is a description for a couple of others as well. And yet, there are also wonderful moments. One I'm always amazed by is the bridge of "Life Goes On", a miracle of compression where on 2 occasions Kershaw makes the end of one line into the start of the next one, both lyrically and musically.
And then, in 1989 came The Works. Kershaw went to America to make his 4th album, and it ends up sounding exactly like what you would expect when a quirky Englishman goes to America to make an album. Everything is smoothed and flattened and made nice, and frequently rather dull.
It's not all bad. The opening track (and first single) "One Step Ahead" is a fine example of Kershaw's qualities, with seamless harmonic changes.
But things go downhill after that. The music is always reasonably competent, and frequently displays his gift for melody, but rarely does it have distinctive qualities - for me "Cowboys & Indians" is probably the only other track that I'd label as something only Kershaw could have done.
And the lyrics... well the lyrics get pretty bad, frankly. "Elisabeth's Eyes" is a very sweet song with a nice sentimental melody, but it's also the most inappropriately jaunty song about being on death row you've ever heard. The absolute nadir is "Don't Ask Me", an uninspired list of random lines which are supposedly things that Nik would like to know, but doesn't. Let's just take a look at the second verse, shall we?
The origin of species
The date of Waterloo
Oppenheimer's shoe size
And the latitude of Timbuktu
The square root of thrity-eight
Why they call he-goats billy
The weight of Colonel Sanders
And the whereabouts of Chile
When he sings in the chorus "I just don't know what to do", it sounds like a sincere confession of his helplessness as he witnessed what was emerging from the recording sessions. The album deservedly bombed, and Nik retreated to writing songs for other people for about a decade...
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Classical Music - July 2015
Bach, J.S - Wo soll ich fliehen hin (Where shall I flee)
Beethoven - Piano Trio No.7 (op.97)
Chopin
Haydn - Symphonies 85, 91 and 97
Haydn - 6 String Quartets, Op.76 (the 'Erdődy' quartets)
Holmboe - Sonatina for oboe and piano
Janacek - Violin Sonata
Schubert - Piano Sonata in B, D.575
Schumann - Humoreske in B flat
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.12
Sibelius - Pohjola's Daughter
Szymanowski - Fantasy for piano, op.14
Vine - String Quartet No.4
The shift in my listening in July towards popular music is shown by the shortness of this list compared to the classical lists for May and June. It should be pointed out, though, that those lists were sometimes inflated by listening to many smaller works. Most of the entries for this month are relatively substantial pieces.
The Beethoven piano trio, often known as the 'Archduke', was definitely a highlight. I think it was one of those pieces I knew about without having necessarily ever heard it. I was glad to make its acquaintance and will be reaching for it again when I want a bit of sunshine in my Beethoven.
Vine's string quartet is also worth a mention, because when I first listened to the Goldner Quartet's recording of the quartets it was No.3 that jumped out and grabbed me by the throat. Now, however, as I listen to each quartet quite separately from its fellows, I have found No.4 quite impressive as well. I have Vine's symphonies on my shopping list (and at some point I need to choose a recording of his completely fantastic first piano sonata, which is how I knew of him in the first place).
But the most substantial thing on this list is the entry for Haydn's op.76 quartets, which I inevitably listened to in full before lending the CDs to a friend. Some of the first classical music I ever bought on my own instead of listening to my father's record collection. First purchased on cassette, and then upgraded many years later. Still some very fine music indeed.
Beethoven - Piano Trio No.7 (op.97)
Chopin
- 4 Mazurkas, op.33
- 3 Waltzes, op.34
- Variation for 'Hexameron'
Haydn - Symphonies 85, 91 and 97
Haydn - 6 String Quartets, Op.76 (the 'Erdődy' quartets)
Holmboe - Sonatina for oboe and piano
Janacek - Violin Sonata
Schubert - Piano Sonata in B, D.575
Schumann - Humoreske in B flat
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.12
Sibelius - Pohjola's Daughter
Szymanowski - Fantasy for piano, op.14
Vine - String Quartet No.4
The shift in my listening in July towards popular music is shown by the shortness of this list compared to the classical lists for May and June. It should be pointed out, though, that those lists were sometimes inflated by listening to many smaller works. Most of the entries for this month are relatively substantial pieces.
The Beethoven piano trio, often known as the 'Archduke', was definitely a highlight. I think it was one of those pieces I knew about without having necessarily ever heard it. I was glad to make its acquaintance and will be reaching for it again when I want a bit of sunshine in my Beethoven.
Vine's string quartet is also worth a mention, because when I first listened to the Goldner Quartet's recording of the quartets it was No.3 that jumped out and grabbed me by the throat. Now, however, as I listen to each quartet quite separately from its fellows, I have found No.4 quite impressive as well. I have Vine's symphonies on my shopping list (and at some point I need to choose a recording of his completely fantastic first piano sonata, which is how I knew of him in the first place).
But the most substantial thing on this list is the entry for Haydn's op.76 quartets, which I inevitably listened to in full before lending the CDs to a friend. Some of the first classical music I ever bought on my own instead of listening to my father's record collection. First purchased on cassette, and then upgraded many years later. Still some very fine music indeed.
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Popular Music - July 2015
Tori Amos
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
James Blake - Overgrown
David Bowie - "Heroes"
dc Talk - Jesus Freak
Gomez - In Our Gun
Patty Griffin - Downtown Church
Incubus - Make Yourself
Incubus - If Not Now, When?
Level 42 - Running In The Family
Wendy Matthews - The Witness Tree
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Seal - Seal (II)
Sting - ...Nothing Like the Sun
Megan Washington - There There
At some point in July, my listening shifted strongly in favour of popular music over classical. Most of the time I'm not quite sure why these pendulum shifts occur. This time, I did have a bit of a sense that I was slightly tired of working through so much classical music, but also a sense that it was time to consciously freshen the popular music listening.
And so you see on this list some albums I hadn't listened to for quite a long time, and also some that I'd never heard before. James Blake's Overgrown was a new purchase. The album is of course a couple of years old, but in fact James Blake has been hovering on my radar since around 2011, the time of his first full album (he's also released a considerable number of EPs). At some point I was introduced to his version of a song called "Limit To Your Love" and it held my attention.
However, when I tried the first album during July (and not, I think, for the first time) I didn't find it very satisfying. It was too fragmentary - too many of the songs felt like sketches, not fully formed ideas. It was perhaps telling that "Limit To Your Love" was a cover. The impression I came away with was that Blake had production skills in abundance, and the ability to use them to match his plaintive voice, but was lacking as a songwriter.
When I listened to Overgrown for the first time, it was immediately apparent that his songwriting skills had improved considerably. While in truth some tracks still rely more on atmospherics than anything else, and the song structures tend to be fairly simple, they do actually sound like complete songs rather than undeveloped ideas. And the other strengths are still there - Blake's voice is haunting, and he knows how to shape the rest of the music to enhance that quality. It only took that one listen to add Overgrown to my shopping list and duly purchase it the next time I was near a CD shop (yes, I know I am quaint).
The other brand new entry here is Incubus' If Not Now, When?. I purchased the album in April on my travels, partly for the sheer novelty of where I bought it from (along with several other discs I've yet to listen to), but also because I quite liked the other 2 Incubus albums I already owned.
Subsequently, and before listening to the album, I read some fairly negative things about it. And I understand why the reviews were not positive, yet at the same time I think the reviews were a bit wrong. What we have here is yet another example of a music act deciding to do something different, and not taking all of its 'native' audience with it.
Because essentially, Incubus is known as an alternative rock band, with even a dash of metal, and If Not Now, When? is an album with a strong pop or adult contemporary flavour. There are plenty of signs that the band were well aware of what they were doing, consciously keeping the songs simple. The album also has a very warm, relaxed and intensely melodic feel to it. None of these are qualities you're likely to expect from an "alternative metal" band.
It's worth mentioning that there is some precedent for warm, happy-sounding songs on Incubus albums. But nevertheless If Not Now, When? takes that aspect of the band a lot further.
The shock of the different sound is heightened by the order of the songs, because it seems entirely intentional that the simpler songs come first. That's one of the the more intriguing things about the record. The opening title track is a slow, grand number with a soaring melody line, and it's followed by "Promises, Promises", which is about as blatant a singalong pop song as you could wish for.
"Friends and Lovers" comes next and is equally unthreatening apart from one verse where the music underneath changes. From there the album darkens by degrees - it could never be said to become truly dark, but the shift in tone to something a little closer to "regular" Incubus is clear and was remarked on in many reviews (usually along the lines of how some tracks in the second half saved the album from total disaster).
But is the album even a partial disaster? I would say no. It's true that some of the lyrics end up being a little too trite, but in musical terms the warm, relaxed, open-hearted approach works so long as you let it. So long as you don't demand that Incubus deliver the same thing that they previously delivered. But of course many people do demand that. The name of their favourite artist is a brand, with expectations attached.
For me, though, after a few listens it actually became really enjoyable to put some music on and relax into it. As much as anything, listening to the album became about enjoying Brandon Boyd's voice, which is a pretty magnificent instrument by the standards of male rock/pop singers.
- Boys for Pele
- Scarlet's Walk
- Unrepentant Geraldines
- Bliss (single)
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
James Blake - Overgrown
David Bowie - "Heroes"
dc Talk - Jesus Freak
Gomez - In Our Gun
Patty Griffin - Downtown Church
Incubus - Make Yourself
Incubus - If Not Now, When?
Level 42 - Running In The Family
Wendy Matthews - The Witness Tree
Wendy Matthews - Ghosts
Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Seal - Seal (II)
Sting - ...Nothing Like the Sun
Megan Washington - There There
At some point in July, my listening shifted strongly in favour of popular music over classical. Most of the time I'm not quite sure why these pendulum shifts occur. This time, I did have a bit of a sense that I was slightly tired of working through so much classical music, but also a sense that it was time to consciously freshen the popular music listening.
And so you see on this list some albums I hadn't listened to for quite a long time, and also some that I'd never heard before. James Blake's Overgrown was a new purchase. The album is of course a couple of years old, but in fact James Blake has been hovering on my radar since around 2011, the time of his first full album (he's also released a considerable number of EPs). At some point I was introduced to his version of a song called "Limit To Your Love" and it held my attention.
However, when I tried the first album during July (and not, I think, for the first time) I didn't find it very satisfying. It was too fragmentary - too many of the songs felt like sketches, not fully formed ideas. It was perhaps telling that "Limit To Your Love" was a cover. The impression I came away with was that Blake had production skills in abundance, and the ability to use them to match his plaintive voice, but was lacking as a songwriter.
When I listened to Overgrown for the first time, it was immediately apparent that his songwriting skills had improved considerably. While in truth some tracks still rely more on atmospherics than anything else, and the song structures tend to be fairly simple, they do actually sound like complete songs rather than undeveloped ideas. And the other strengths are still there - Blake's voice is haunting, and he knows how to shape the rest of the music to enhance that quality. It only took that one listen to add Overgrown to my shopping list and duly purchase it the next time I was near a CD shop (yes, I know I am quaint).
The other brand new entry here is Incubus' If Not Now, When?. I purchased the album in April on my travels, partly for the sheer novelty of where I bought it from (along with several other discs I've yet to listen to), but also because I quite liked the other 2 Incubus albums I already owned.
Subsequently, and before listening to the album, I read some fairly negative things about it. And I understand why the reviews were not positive, yet at the same time I think the reviews were a bit wrong. What we have here is yet another example of a music act deciding to do something different, and not taking all of its 'native' audience with it.
Because essentially, Incubus is known as an alternative rock band, with even a dash of metal, and If Not Now, When? is an album with a strong pop or adult contemporary flavour. There are plenty of signs that the band were well aware of what they were doing, consciously keeping the songs simple. The album also has a very warm, relaxed and intensely melodic feel to it. None of these are qualities you're likely to expect from an "alternative metal" band.
It's worth mentioning that there is some precedent for warm, happy-sounding songs on Incubus albums. But nevertheless If Not Now, When? takes that aspect of the band a lot further.
The shock of the different sound is heightened by the order of the songs, because it seems entirely intentional that the simpler songs come first. That's one of the the more intriguing things about the record. The opening title track is a slow, grand number with a soaring melody line, and it's followed by "Promises, Promises", which is about as blatant a singalong pop song as you could wish for.
"Friends and Lovers" comes next and is equally unthreatening apart from one verse where the music underneath changes. From there the album darkens by degrees - it could never be said to become truly dark, but the shift in tone to something a little closer to "regular" Incubus is clear and was remarked on in many reviews (usually along the lines of how some tracks in the second half saved the album from total disaster).
But is the album even a partial disaster? I would say no. It's true that some of the lyrics end up being a little too trite, but in musical terms the warm, relaxed, open-hearted approach works so long as you let it. So long as you don't demand that Incubus deliver the same thing that they previously delivered. But of course many people do demand that. The name of their favourite artist is a brand, with expectations attached.
For me, though, after a few listens it actually became really enjoyable to put some music on and relax into it. As much as anything, listening to the album became about enjoying Brandon Boyd's voice, which is a pretty magnificent instrument by the standards of male rock/pop singers.
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Classical Music - June 2015
Bach, J.S.
Brahms - Piano Trio No.3
Bridge
Dvorak - The Golden Spinning Wheel
Faure - Violin Sonata No.2
Haumann - Blomster fra de kejserlige haver (Flowers from the Imperial Gardens)
Haydn - Symphonies 82, 92, 95, 100 and 102
Holmboe
Koppel - Four Love Songs from Song of Solomon
Koppel - Epitaph
Mortensen - Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Nielsen - Piano Trio
Nordentoft - Three Studies for Brass Quintet
Nørgård - Spell
Nørholm - From the Merry Life of a Spy
Rovsing Olsen - Two Lagerkvist Songs
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in A minor and E flat D.537 and 568
Schubert - Symphony No.5
Schumann - Carnaval
Schumann - Symphonic Etudes
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.3
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues
Sibelius
Vine - String Quartet No.3
Whitwell
There's no rush with any of this...
The things I specifically want to mention in amongst this bounty are twofold.
The first is my first encounter with the music of Per Nørgård, his piece Spell for piano trio (apparently there's actually an original version with clarinet rather than violin, but the 'regular' piano trio version appears to be popular). I've no idea how it relates to the rest of his work, but on the basis of this one piece I definitely want to hear more. I found it riveting, with all the best potential of minimalism without the boredom I experience in some cases. I enjoyed it so much the first time that I played the CD again straight away.
The other thing to highlight is the music of Sally Whitwell. I believe she's recorded 3 albums of other composers' piano music (focusing on, ahem, minimalists), but now has an album of her own music. This recording is actually dominated by vocal and choral works (and also has some other instrumental groupings), but Whitwell's clear, crystalline piano playing is a feature throughout. The idiom is thoroughly tonal, and I suppose it would be labelled as "light" classical, but it is none the worse for that. It is highly enjoyable.
Here's a sample. Literally in the first case.
- Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our God)
- Herr Christ, der einige Gottesshon (Lord Christ, the only Son of God)
- Das neugeborne Kindelein (The newborn little child)
- Violin Concerto
- Piano Trios 5 and 6 (op.70)
- Violin Sonata No.9 (two versions)
- String Quartet No.16
Brahms - Piano Trio No.3
Bridge
- Berceuse (instrumental piece - orchestral version)
- Berceuse (song)
- Chant d'espérance (Song of Hope)
- Serenade (orchestral version)
- Adoration
- The Pageant of London
- Where She Lies Asleep
- Love Went A-Riding
- Thy Hand In Mine
- Mantle of Blue
- Blow Out, You Bugles
- 2 Songs of Rabindranath Tagore (orchestral versions)
- A Royal Night of Variety
- Scherzo No.2
- Etudes, op.25
- Nocturnes, opp. 27 and 32
- 4 Mazurkas, op.30
- Impromptu No.1
Dvorak - The Golden Spinning Wheel
Faure - Violin Sonata No.2
Haumann - Blomster fra de kejserlige haver (Flowers from the Imperial Gardens)
Haydn - Symphonies 82, 92, 95, 100 and 102
Holmboe
- Concertos 3 (for clarinet), 6 (for violin), 9 (for violin and viola), 12 (for trombone) and 13 (for oboe and viola)
- Epilog
- Piano Suite
- Small piano pieces
- Two Sarvig Psalms
- Speravi in Domino
- Simeon's Song of Praise
- Arrangement of Ólavur Riddararós
Koppel - Four Love Songs from Song of Solomon
Koppel - Epitaph
Mortensen - Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Nielsen - Piano Trio
Nordentoft - Three Studies for Brass Quintet
Nørgård - Spell
Nørholm - From the Merry Life of a Spy
Rovsing Olsen - Two Lagerkvist Songs
Schubert - Piano Sonatas in A minor and E flat D.537 and 568
Schubert - Symphony No.5
Schumann - Carnaval
Schumann - Symphonic Etudes
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.3
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues
Sibelius
- Symphony No.2
- The Dryad
- Dance-Intermezzo
Vine - String Quartet No.3
Whitwell
- Loopy Lady
- The Birds
- Some World Far From Ours
- In the Deep Heart's Core
- Warm Where Snowflakes Lie
- Flatworm's Heaven
- A Hundred Thousand Birds
- Echo
- Flying
- She Walks In Beauty
- Starlight Steeple
- To Your Shore
- Winter Love
- Road Trip
- The Insomnia Waltz
There's no rush with any of this...
The things I specifically want to mention in amongst this bounty are twofold.
The first is my first encounter with the music of Per Nørgård, his piece Spell for piano trio (apparently there's actually an original version with clarinet rather than violin, but the 'regular' piano trio version appears to be popular). I've no idea how it relates to the rest of his work, but on the basis of this one piece I definitely want to hear more. I found it riveting, with all the best potential of minimalism without the boredom I experience in some cases. I enjoyed it so much the first time that I played the CD again straight away.
The other thing to highlight is the music of Sally Whitwell. I believe she's recorded 3 albums of other composers' piano music (focusing on, ahem, minimalists), but now has an album of her own music. This recording is actually dominated by vocal and choral works (and also has some other instrumental groupings), but Whitwell's clear, crystalline piano playing is a feature throughout. The idiom is thoroughly tonal, and I suppose it would be labelled as "light" classical, but it is none the worse for that. It is highly enjoyable.
Here's a sample. Literally in the first case.
Friday, 24 July 2015
Popular Music - June 2015
Tori Amos - To Venus and Back (Venus Orbiting disc)
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Gomez - How We Operate
Jars of Clay - Who We Are Instead
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Thrice
Chronologically, the album belongs in between the other two Thrice albums that I bought earlier. In some ways it also fits between them stylistically, with less variety than the deliberate split personality of The Alchemy Index (which I know I still haven't discussed properly) but slightly more variety than what I've previously described as the "straightforward rock" of Major/Minor. The main characteristic of Beggars, though, is that it usually has a rawer, less polished sound. It's also a bleaker album, particularly the title track which appears at the end. (Well, come to think of it much of the The Alchemy Index is quite bleak...)
I'm making it sound like Thrice are a bit miserable, which is exactly the wrong impression. They are often in fact quite inspiring and uplifting, a reaction inspired partly by the Christian ethos behind many lyrics. It's just that on Beggars the emphasis tends to be on the broken nature of people, and on our need for redemption and rescue. There's a sense of catharsis, of giving expression to some of life's difficulties to help make them more bearable.
At this stage, I find it more difficult to select particular highlights from Beggars than from the other two albums. But I think that's a good thing; it's an album that is a satisfying experience as a whole. Still, in an effort to encourage any readers to sample what's on offer... let's go with "Doublespeak".
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Gomez - How We Operate
Jars of Clay - Who We Are Instead
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Thrice
- The Alchemy Index
- Beggars
- Major/Minor
Chronologically, the album belongs in between the other two Thrice albums that I bought earlier. In some ways it also fits between them stylistically, with less variety than the deliberate split personality of The Alchemy Index (which I know I still haven't discussed properly) but slightly more variety than what I've previously described as the "straightforward rock" of Major/Minor. The main characteristic of Beggars, though, is that it usually has a rawer, less polished sound. It's also a bleaker album, particularly the title track which appears at the end. (Well, come to think of it much of the The Alchemy Index is quite bleak...)
I'm making it sound like Thrice are a bit miserable, which is exactly the wrong impression. They are often in fact quite inspiring and uplifting, a reaction inspired partly by the Christian ethos behind many lyrics. It's just that on Beggars the emphasis tends to be on the broken nature of people, and on our need for redemption and rescue. There's a sense of catharsis, of giving expression to some of life's difficulties to help make them more bearable.
At this stage, I find it more difficult to select particular highlights from Beggars than from the other two albums. But I think that's a good thing; it's an album that is a satisfying experience as a whole. Still, in an effort to encourage any readers to sample what's on offer... let's go with "Doublespeak".
Saturday, 20 June 2015
Classical Music - May 2015
Beethoven
Brahms - Cello Sonata No.2
Chopin
Haydn - Symphonies 83, 88 and 96
Holmboe
Nielsen, T. - Fields and Meadows
Schierbeck - The Chinese Flute
Snider - Penelope
Syberg - Prelude, Intermezzo and Fugato for organ
My travels in April took me, among other places, to a major source of Holmboe discs. And you can see the results here in May. Every recording here was a first listen, although for some of the concertos I already have another recording.
The Requiem for Nietzsche demanded to be listed first because it is both a large-scale work (at just over 50 minutes, it's one of Holmboe's longest) and a very fine one. It's very "modern" sounding by Holmboe's standards, coming from a period in the 1960s when he was experimenting more. The choir often speaks rather than sings, in some places to stunning effect.
This time the Holmboe love spilled out to other Danish composers, as a number of the discs I bought were Danish anthologies rather than being devoted to his music. I finally acquired some (Carl) Nielsen - perhaps I will one day not mystify people by passing over Denmark's most widely celebrated composer. Of the material I listened to in May, however, the highlight was Poul Schierbeck's song cycle The Chinese Flute (or more properly Den kinesiske fløjte), really marvellous and evocative music that makes me interested in hearing more of this particular composer.
A few non-Danes did get a listen as well, guys you might have heard of such as Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn and Dvorak, and Sarah Kirkland Snider again. Perhaps the most notable thing here was my 'official' introduction to Beethoven's "Razumovsky" string quartets. All of them are up to his exalted standards.
- Violin Sonatas 6 to 8 (two versions of each)
- String Quartets 7 to 9
- Serenade for flute, violin and viola
Brahms - Cello Sonata No.2
Chopin
- Piano Concerto No.1
- Krakowiak
- Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
Haydn - Symphonies 83, 88 and 96
Holmboe
- Requiem for Nietzsche
- Concertos 1 (for piano), 2 (for flute and violin), 4 (for piano trio), 5 (for viola), 7 (for oboe), 8 ("Sinfonia Concertante), 10 ("Wood-Brass-Gut") and 11 (for trumpet)
- Brass Quintets 1 and 2
- Piano Trio
- Nuigen
- Moya (7 Japanese Songs)
- Sange mod Vårdybet (Songs Towards the Deep of Spring)
- Jeg ved en urt så dejlig og bold (I know a plant so lovely and fine)
- Two Border Ballads (two versions of each)
- Romanian Suite for piano
- Sonatina Briosa
- Lokkende toner (Enchanting music)
- Sæterjenten (The dairy maid)
- Høstfuglen (The harvest bird)
Nielsen, T. - Fields and Meadows
Schierbeck - The Chinese Flute
Snider - Penelope
Syberg - Prelude, Intermezzo and Fugato for organ
My travels in April took me, among other places, to a major source of Holmboe discs. And you can see the results here in May. Every recording here was a first listen, although for some of the concertos I already have another recording.
The Requiem for Nietzsche demanded to be listed first because it is both a large-scale work (at just over 50 minutes, it's one of Holmboe's longest) and a very fine one. It's very "modern" sounding by Holmboe's standards, coming from a period in the 1960s when he was experimenting more. The choir often speaks rather than sings, in some places to stunning effect.
This time the Holmboe love spilled out to other Danish composers, as a number of the discs I bought were Danish anthologies rather than being devoted to his music. I finally acquired some (Carl) Nielsen - perhaps I will one day not mystify people by passing over Denmark's most widely celebrated composer. Of the material I listened to in May, however, the highlight was Poul Schierbeck's song cycle The Chinese Flute (or more properly Den kinesiske fløjte), really marvellous and evocative music that makes me interested in hearing more of this particular composer.
A few non-Danes did get a listen as well, guys you might have heard of such as Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn and Dvorak, and Sarah Kirkland Snider again. Perhaps the most notable thing here was my 'official' introduction to Beethoven's "Razumovsky" string quartets. All of them are up to his exalted standards.
Monday, 15 June 2015
Popular Music - May 2015
Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel
Beyonce - Beyonce
Eurovision - Join Us (Copenhagen 2014)
Nik Kershaw - Radio Musicola
John Mayer - Paradise Valley
Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Moloko - Catalogue
Eurovision was on during May. So what did I do? After this year's competition, I pulled out the official album from last year's competition and finally listened to the whole thing, allowing it to meet the criterion for entry to this blog.
This year there were complaints that there wasn't anything terribly wacky about Eurovision. Too many acts were trying to have normal songs, they said. Well, that's partly true, but it reflects how the competition has been influenced by having professional judges again. Your crazy novelty act might win a fair amount of the popular vote, but it won't do well with the people familiar with the music business.
Or with me. Personally, I don't watch Eurovision for the bizarre acts, I watch it for the ones who have mastered the art of the 3-minute pop song.
And it most definitely is an art. It takes genuine skill to find the right mix of songwriting, staging and performance to do well at Eurovision. In 2015, I felt that there was a fairly clear gap between the best performances and the rest, and found myself pretty well in sync with the scoring.
In 2014, on the other hand, I thought there were a lot of fine songs, which is why I was motivated to buy the album. And I found myself all over the place with regards to the scoring.
Of course, listening now, I'm missing one genuinely crucial element of the equation, which is the live performance aspect. Stage presence can really elevate a song and lack of it can kill one... which might possibly explain why some quite good songs on the discs didn't even make it to the 2014 final. I mean yes, there are some genuine duds ("Cake to Bake" from Latvia, ugh) but there are also some songs like the entries from Albania, Estonia and Macedonia which I would have personally given a respectable mid-table position.
And I would have happily used them to replace a few songs in the final. One can't help the stupid "Moustache" from France because of the rules giving them direct entry (but at least the voters gave it the last place it deserved). I would easily dump Greece's "Rise Up", but then the target demographic was young partygoers who are more excited than I by young men jumping on trampolines.
The greatest mystery to me, in terms of songs being overrated, was the major popularity of "Not Alone" from the badly named Armenian act Aram mp3. Two-thirds of the song is absurdly repetitive to my ears. I have a vague memory he might have been a young heartthrob type.
But to turn to the good stuff... first of all, let me say that Conchita Wurst thoroughly deserved to win for Austria with "Rise Like a Phoenix". A decent song with a fine melody, but just as importantly a performer with a very good voice and truly massive stage presence. I was also perfectly satisfied with the Netherlands coming second with the understated "Calm After the Storm".
But some of the songs I enjoyed the most ended up doing quite poorly. I remember that on the night, I really enjoyed Malta's "Coming Home", an infectious toe-tapper with one really nice harmonic twist in the bridge...23rd place.
But now, listening to the studio versions, there are two songs that stand out to me as having been unjustly shunned. All in my opinion of course.
Beyonce - Beyonce
Eurovision - Join Us (Copenhagen 2014)
Nik Kershaw - Radio Musicola
John Mayer - Paradise Valley
Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Moloko - Catalogue
Eurovision was on during May. So what did I do? After this year's competition, I pulled out the official album from last year's competition and finally listened to the whole thing, allowing it to meet the criterion for entry to this blog.
This year there were complaints that there wasn't anything terribly wacky about Eurovision. Too many acts were trying to have normal songs, they said. Well, that's partly true, but it reflects how the competition has been influenced by having professional judges again. Your crazy novelty act might win a fair amount of the popular vote, but it won't do well with the people familiar with the music business.
Or with me. Personally, I don't watch Eurovision for the bizarre acts, I watch it for the ones who have mastered the art of the 3-minute pop song.
And it most definitely is an art. It takes genuine skill to find the right mix of songwriting, staging and performance to do well at Eurovision. In 2015, I felt that there was a fairly clear gap between the best performances and the rest, and found myself pretty well in sync with the scoring.
In 2014, on the other hand, I thought there were a lot of fine songs, which is why I was motivated to buy the album. And I found myself all over the place with regards to the scoring.
Of course, listening now, I'm missing one genuinely crucial element of the equation, which is the live performance aspect. Stage presence can really elevate a song and lack of it can kill one... which might possibly explain why some quite good songs on the discs didn't even make it to the 2014 final. I mean yes, there are some genuine duds ("Cake to Bake" from Latvia, ugh) but there are also some songs like the entries from Albania, Estonia and Macedonia which I would have personally given a respectable mid-table position.
And I would have happily used them to replace a few songs in the final. One can't help the stupid "Moustache" from France because of the rules giving them direct entry (but at least the voters gave it the last place it deserved). I would easily dump Greece's "Rise Up", but then the target demographic was young partygoers who are more excited than I by young men jumping on trampolines.
The greatest mystery to me, in terms of songs being overrated, was the major popularity of "Not Alone" from the badly named Armenian act Aram mp3. Two-thirds of the song is absurdly repetitive to my ears. I have a vague memory he might have been a young heartthrob type.
But to turn to the good stuff... first of all, let me say that Conchita Wurst thoroughly deserved to win for Austria with "Rise Like a Phoenix". A decent song with a fine melody, but just as importantly a performer with a very good voice and truly massive stage presence. I was also perfectly satisfied with the Netherlands coming second with the understated "Calm After the Storm".
But some of the songs I enjoyed the most ended up doing quite poorly. I remember that on the night, I really enjoyed Malta's "Coming Home", an infectious toe-tapper with one really nice harmonic twist in the bridge...23rd place.
But now, listening to the studio versions, there are two songs that stand out to me as having been unjustly shunned. All in my opinion of course.
The first is from Italy. Emma (Marrone) only managed 21st place with "La mia città". Perhaps that's partly due to the live performance not being quite at the top level, but also partly because in the live performance, everyone ended up so distracted by the shortness of her dress that they forgot about the music.
Because it's a fabulously tight and catchy pop-rock song. Best of all is the little coda on the end of each chorus. Here it is... studio version. I don't want you distracted by that dress.
The second song, the one that I remember being fairly enchanted by on the night, and the one that I simply couldn't get out of my head after listening to the 2014 album, is "Start a Fire" from Azerbaijan's Dilara Kazimova. Equal 21st place with Italy.
People just didn't like it much. I suppose it's positioning (3rd in a sequence of 26 songs) was a disadvantage. Maybe people didn't like the staging, though I thought it suited the song well. Reviewing the live performance, there's the occasional off note in a quite difficult melody.
But it is that melody that penetrates me so deeply. It's utterly beautiful, and haunting, and the use of the instrument that Wikipedia tells me is called a balaban is nigh on perfect for the tinge of melancholy that's already present.
In the world of Europop, a bit of a failure. But for me, this is something to treasure.
Friday, 22 May 2015
Classical Music - April 2015
Haydn - Symphonies 87, 89, 94 and 101
One of the things I took on my travels (via iPhone) was my collection of Haydn symphonies. I have recordings of 23 of them now - in fact the last 23, spanning the period from 1785 to 1795 when Haydn was an international star.
I had vague notions of listening to all of them during the month, but I only managed to listen to 4. Even that, though, was enough to show me that the symphonies are full of inventive ideas. However much Haydn might be thought to be the father of the 'standard' symphony, each work has something distinctive and memorable about it. Sometimes it's led to a nickname (rarely has a name been more apt than the 'Clock' for no.101), but the works that have to rely on a number each have some unique twist.
In fact, this was recognised at the time. Wikipedia helpfully tells me that a review of the first performance of that 'Clock' had this to say:
One of the things I took on my travels (via iPhone) was my collection of Haydn symphonies. I have recordings of 23 of them now - in fact the last 23, spanning the period from 1785 to 1795 when Haydn was an international star.
I had vague notions of listening to all of them during the month, but I only managed to listen to 4. Even that, though, was enough to show me that the symphonies are full of inventive ideas. However much Haydn might be thought to be the father of the 'standard' symphony, each work has something distinctive and memorable about it. Sometimes it's led to a nickname (rarely has a name been more apt than the 'Clock' for no.101), but the works that have to rely on a number each have some unique twist.
In fact, this was recognised at the time. Wikipedia helpfully tells me that a review of the first performance of that 'Clock' had this to say:
"Every new Overture he writes, we fear, till it is heard, he can only repeat himself; and we are every time mistaken."So while I already have more symphonies by Haydn than by any other composer, I see no reason to stop at 23. There's another 80 or so to explore when I get around to it.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Popular Music - April 2015
Nothing.
Well, not literally nothing. But it was just fragments, not albums.
This was caused by me spending the month travelling. I can't quite explain why this particular part of my usual routine - which I love - is so badly disrupted by travel, but this isn't the first time. I didn't even use music for drifting off to sleep, except for just a song or two on a couple of occasions.
I actually spent a considerable amount of travel time listening to podcasts, something I haven't had much interest in until a recent conversation, which led to a particular pop culture podcast, which led to a couple more dealing with a murder investigation and the story of starting a company.
But this is a music blog... Sorry, no music!
Well, not literally nothing. But it was just fragments, not albums.
This was caused by me spending the month travelling. I can't quite explain why this particular part of my usual routine - which I love - is so badly disrupted by travel, but this isn't the first time. I didn't even use music for drifting off to sleep, except for just a song or two on a couple of occasions.
I actually spent a considerable amount of travel time listening to podcasts, something I haven't had much interest in until a recent conversation, which led to a particular pop culture podcast, which led to a couple more dealing with a murder investigation and the story of starting a company.
But this is a music blog... Sorry, no music!
Monday, 18 May 2015
Classical Music - March 2015
Bach, J.S.
Bartok - Piano Concerto No.2
Beethoven
Dvorak - Suite in A, 'American' (orchestral version)
Holmboe
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.9
Sibelius - Finlandia
Sibelius - Symphony No.1
Snider - Penelope
Vine - String Quartet No.2
There was a veritable explosion of Beethoven activity in March. Through a complex series of events I ended up with even more new (or newish) Beethoven recordings to listen to than I expected.
This was pretty marvellous. It's hard to pick out highlights. At one end there was some truly delightful music from the early part of Beethoven's career. Special mention needs to be made of the string trios, as performed by the Leopold String Trio on Hyperion, because every bar on these discs sparkles. At the other extreme, I was introduced to the 3 string quartets that Beethoven wrote for Prince Galitzin - extraordinary pieces, alternately wild and grand as performed by the Takacs Quartet. The famous hymn in the Lydian mode in (the inaccurately numbered) 15th quartet showed me from the first hearing just why it is famous.
My Chopin chronology backtracked because I acquired a recording of his orchestral works... although it's fairly clear that the teenage Chopin was writing the orchestra to be in the background of fairly dazzling piano parts. I seem to remember quite liking the Fantasy.
March also provided me with a fairly unique puzzle, but it was a good puzzle to have. The problem was how to classify Penelope, a song cycle with some theatrical origins inspired by Homer's Odyssey, composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider to lyrics by playwright Ellen McLaughlin, sung by Shara Worden with instrumental accompaniment by the group Signal. Which half of my blog does this fit in? Is this classical music, or popular music?
The truth is it's both. And neither. It's a true hybrid - not one of these embarrassing crossovers that has plagued the world since Hooked on Classics became a hit, but a work of art that uses elements of both musical languages. While getting to know Penelope, I switched back and forth repeatedly as to where it would live in my collection. That's a pop melody there... but then this section is something a pop song would never do... but that's layering that could only be created in a studio...
The performers weren't any help, as in both cases they are known for straddling different styles. In the end, the reason that Penelope has ended up in the classical list is that the composer is given prominence - first billing, in a way that is alien to pop music. So it goes under 'S' for Snider.
But really, more important than its classification is its quality. It has the resonances that distinguish the best song cycles, the sense of unity, of emotional narrative, the marriage of music and words so that both are heightened. More than anything, it's flat out beautiful.
- Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God does is well done)
- Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost (Ah, dear Christians, be comforted)
- Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele (Adorn yourself, beloved soul)
Bartok - Piano Concerto No.2
Beethoven
- Triple Concerto
- Romances 1 & 2 for violin and orchestra
- Quintet for piano winds (original version and piano quartet version)
- String Quartets 12, 13 and 15
- Piano Trios 1 to 3, 9 and 10 (Op.1, WoO 38 and Op.44)
- Clarinet Trio (original version and violin version)
- String Trios 1 to 4
- Serenade for string trio
- Violin Sonatas 1 to 5 (two versions of each)
- Piano Trio No.2
- String Quintet No.1
- Cello Sonata No.2
- Piano Concerto No.2
- Fantasy on Polish Airs
- Variations on "Là ci darem la mano"
- 2 Polonaises, op.26
Dvorak - Suite in A, 'American' (orchestral version)
Holmboe
- Chamber Symphony No.1
- Intermezzo Concertante for tuba and orchestra
- Concerto giocondo e severo
- Violin Sonata No.2
- Primavera
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.9
Sibelius - Finlandia
Sibelius - Symphony No.1
Snider - Penelope
Vine - String Quartet No.2
There was a veritable explosion of Beethoven activity in March. Through a complex series of events I ended up with even more new (or newish) Beethoven recordings to listen to than I expected.
This was pretty marvellous. It's hard to pick out highlights. At one end there was some truly delightful music from the early part of Beethoven's career. Special mention needs to be made of the string trios, as performed by the Leopold String Trio on Hyperion, because every bar on these discs sparkles. At the other extreme, I was introduced to the 3 string quartets that Beethoven wrote for Prince Galitzin - extraordinary pieces, alternately wild and grand as performed by the Takacs Quartet. The famous hymn in the Lydian mode in (the inaccurately numbered) 15th quartet showed me from the first hearing just why it is famous.
My Chopin chronology backtracked because I acquired a recording of his orchestral works... although it's fairly clear that the teenage Chopin was writing the orchestra to be in the background of fairly dazzling piano parts. I seem to remember quite liking the Fantasy.
March also provided me with a fairly unique puzzle, but it was a good puzzle to have. The problem was how to classify Penelope, a song cycle with some theatrical origins inspired by Homer's Odyssey, composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider to lyrics by playwright Ellen McLaughlin, sung by Shara Worden with instrumental accompaniment by the group Signal. Which half of my blog does this fit in? Is this classical music, or popular music?
The truth is it's both. And neither. It's a true hybrid - not one of these embarrassing crossovers that has plagued the world since Hooked on Classics became a hit, but a work of art that uses elements of both musical languages. While getting to know Penelope, I switched back and forth repeatedly as to where it would live in my collection. That's a pop melody there... but then this section is something a pop song would never do... but that's layering that could only be created in a studio...
The performers weren't any help, as in both cases they are known for straddling different styles. In the end, the reason that Penelope has ended up in the classical list is that the composer is given prominence - first billing, in a way that is alien to pop music. So it goes under 'S' for Snider.
But really, more important than its classification is its quality. It has the resonances that distinguish the best song cycles, the sense of unity, of emotional narrative, the marriage of music and words so that both are heightened. More than anything, it's flat out beautiful.
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Popular Music - March 2015
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Missy Higgins - The Sound of White
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Sting - Mercury Falling
Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake
Chesapeake is Rachael Yamagata sounding relatively bright and happy.
Apparently, this is something she has semi-apologised for, promising fans that her next album will go back to being dark and miserable. First of all I worry about any fans that complained about her music not sounding tortured enough, but hey, she wouldn't be the first artist to get that reaction. But she really shouldn't have apologised in any shape or form.
It's not actually that happy anyway. The lyrics still have plenty of angst in them, with failed or flawed relationships making regular appearances. The main difference is that the music has a bit of energy and bounce to it.
It also, as a consequence, has variety. Yamagata's previous album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart has some fine music, but it is also seriously flawed due to the lack of variation. As much as anything this is due to her failure to wrestle Elephants into a single album, as she instead delivered 2 discs with contrasting musical styles. But the longer, ballad-laden disc needed an injection of energy from its companion.
And so Chesapeake is actually a vast improvement as a listening experience. I can't by any means say I've come to grips with the album yet, as I only had a relatively brief period of listening to it in March before having to lay it aside, but all the early impressions were favourable. As an overall album, it might well be Yamagata's best yet.
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Missy Higgins - The Sound of White
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Sting - Mercury Falling
Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake
Chesapeake is Rachael Yamagata sounding relatively bright and happy.
Apparently, this is something she has semi-apologised for, promising fans that her next album will go back to being dark and miserable. First of all I worry about any fans that complained about her music not sounding tortured enough, but hey, she wouldn't be the first artist to get that reaction. But she really shouldn't have apologised in any shape or form.
It's not actually that happy anyway. The lyrics still have plenty of angst in them, with failed or flawed relationships making regular appearances. The main difference is that the music has a bit of energy and bounce to it.
It also, as a consequence, has variety. Yamagata's previous album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart has some fine music, but it is also seriously flawed due to the lack of variation. As much as anything this is due to her failure to wrestle Elephants into a single album, as she instead delivered 2 discs with contrasting musical styles. But the longer, ballad-laden disc needed an injection of energy from its companion.
And so Chesapeake is actually a vast improvement as a listening experience. I can't by any means say I've come to grips with the album yet, as I only had a relatively brief period of listening to it in March before having to lay it aside, but all the early impressions were favourable. As an overall album, it might well be Yamagata's best yet.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Classical Music - February 2015
Bach, J.S.
Grieg - Borghild's Dream from Sigurd Jorsalfar
Handel - 'Larghetto' from Xerxes, arranged for oboe and orchestra
Haydn - Symphonies 88 to 92
Holmboe
Mozart - String Quartets 20 to 23
Rachmaninov - Songs, opp.26 and 34
Rachmaninov - A letter to K. S. Stanislavsky from S. Rachmaninov
Schumann -Lehn deine Wang' and Mein Wagen rollet langsam, op.142/2 and 4 (both rejected from Dichterliebe)
Shostakovich - String Quartets 1, 6, 11 and 15
Sibelius
Vivaldi
Among the highlights were the Brahms string quartets - particularly the first two - and the first of his violin sonatas. This music was new to me, and I can see myself returning to this music a great deal. One of the most striking things to me is that the range of Brahms' moods is greater than I had thought. I tend to associate him with slightly inward-looking music, and while that's true in some cases (and might be emphasised by some performances), he also wrote some quite bright and bold music.
My Chopin exploration was also rewarding, with works from his time in Vienna and early years in Paris. As in his teenage works, the emphasis is often on brilliance, but there is increasing sophistication. And then there's the first Ballade, which to me is probably Chopin's first out-and-out masterpiece and a work of real substance.
My Dvorak exploration (mostly of new purchases) also reached a key period, focused on his time in America. Personally I don't love the 12th string quartet, and suspect the reason it is performed so much more than any of Dvorak's other string quartets is simply the gimmick of it being 'American', but the other music listed here was all first class.
In Haydn, I was introduced to the symphonies between 'Paris' and 'London'. I think symphonies 90 to 92, which were planned as a set, are particularly good and no.90 is an early favourite. The false ending caught me by surprise even though I had read about it beforehand.
And that ramshackle collection of anecdotes is all I'm capable of writing at this distance. Apologies.
- Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben (Dearest God, when shall I die)
- Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (In you alone, Lord Jesus Christ)
- Jesu, der du meine Seele (Jesus, you who have my soul)
- Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut (Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good)
- Violin Sonatas 1 to 3
- Romance No.2 for violin and orchestra
- Triple Concerto
- String Quartet No.12
- String Quartets 1 to 3
- Piano Quartet No.3
- Violin Sonata No.1
- Suite for Strings
- Two Songs of Robert Bridges
- Two Old English Songs (orchestral version)
- Two Intermezzi from 'Threads'
- Two Entr'actes
- Sir Roger de Coverley (A Christmas Dance) (string orchestra version)
- Todessehnsucht (string orchestra version)
- Valse Intermezzo à cordes
- The Hag
- Ballade No.1
- Scherzo No.1
- 3 Nocturnes, op.15
- Mazurkas, opp. 17, 24 and 67/3, and in A flat, B flat, C and D
- Waltzes opp.18, 69/1 and 70/1
- Bolero
- Fantaisie-Impromptu
- Variations brillantes in B flat, op.12
- Rondo in E flat, op.16
- Prelude in A flat
- Cantabile in B flat
- Images for Orchestra
- Preludes, Book II
- Rhapsodie for clarinet and orchestra
- Jeux
- Symphony No.9
- String Sextet
- String Quintet No.3
- String Quartet No.12
- Piano Quintet No.2
Grieg - Borghild's Dream from Sigurd Jorsalfar
Handel - 'Larghetto' from Xerxes, arranged for oboe and orchestra
Haydn - Symphonies 88 to 92
Holmboe
- Concertos 7 (for oboe) and 10 ('Wood-Brass-Gut')
- Cello Concerto
- Tuba Concerto
- To the Calm Sea
- Brass Quintet No.1
- String Quartet No.6
- Triade
- Beatus Parvo
Mozart - String Quartets 20 to 23
Rachmaninov - Songs, opp.26 and 34
Rachmaninov - A letter to K. S. Stanislavsky from S. Rachmaninov
Schumann -Lehn deine Wang' and Mein Wagen rollet langsam, op.142/2 and 4 (both rejected from Dichterliebe)
Shostakovich - String Quartets 1, 6, 11 and 15
Sibelius
- Lemminkäinen Suite
- En Saga
- Karelia Suite
- The Wood-Nymph
- The Bard
- The Oceanides
Vivaldi
- Laudate pueri in G, RV 601
- Salve Regina in C minor, RV 616
- Salve Regina in G minor, RV 618
- Deus tuorum militum
- Sanctorum meritis
Among the highlights were the Brahms string quartets - particularly the first two - and the first of his violin sonatas. This music was new to me, and I can see myself returning to this music a great deal. One of the most striking things to me is that the range of Brahms' moods is greater than I had thought. I tend to associate him with slightly inward-looking music, and while that's true in some cases (and might be emphasised by some performances), he also wrote some quite bright and bold music.
My Chopin exploration was also rewarding, with works from his time in Vienna and early years in Paris. As in his teenage works, the emphasis is often on brilliance, but there is increasing sophistication. And then there's the first Ballade, which to me is probably Chopin's first out-and-out masterpiece and a work of real substance.
My Dvorak exploration (mostly of new purchases) also reached a key period, focused on his time in America. Personally I don't love the 12th string quartet, and suspect the reason it is performed so much more than any of Dvorak's other string quartets is simply the gimmick of it being 'American', but the other music listed here was all first class.
In Haydn, I was introduced to the symphonies between 'Paris' and 'London'. I think symphonies 90 to 92, which were planned as a set, are particularly good and no.90 is an early favourite. The false ending caught me by surprise even though I had read about it beforehand.
And that ramshackle collection of anecdotes is all I'm capable of writing at this distance. Apologies.
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Popular Music - February 2015
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Bjork - Homogenic
The Dissociatives - The Dissociatives
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady (Metropolis Suites IV and V)
Between streaming services and the discs I own, I've been exploring Bjork's discography over the last couple of months. And I've finally figured out what it is that I don't like about her music.
I don't mean to be nasty about it. The reason I keep going back to her music is because I keep sensing I get something out of it. And indeed, one thing this current exploration has shown is that there are quite a few of her songs that I really enjoy, and some of them are flat out beautiful.
It's sustaining that beauty and enjoyment over a full album that's the problem. Having said that, I'm now inclined to buy myself a copy of Vespertine because I think it might be the one fully successful album, and I might eventually buy most of the others so that I can then create myself some playlists of the best work. Yes, I could just buy individual tracks online, but that's not really how I roll. I'm too fair and would still give the rest of the tracks a chance to convince me that they're better than my current opinion of them.
I've given some of those tracks quite a few chances already, though. And the bad tracks on Homogenic, the one album I currently own on CD, are as good a demonstration of that as any. Here is an album that epitomises my frustration with Bjork, because it has some stunningly beautiful tracks - particularly "Joga" and "Unravel" - but several in the second half that are bad or boring.
And the biggest single difference? It's not the slightly odd singing voice (although it is one of the great things about "Joga" that Bjork really opens up her throat and creates a beautiful round sound instead of sounding like a pixie). Nor is it the slightly odd English lyrics, as their presence is almost a given.
No, the really big difference is the use of beats.
It's not simply that I dislike the presence of beats. "Joga" has beats. The problem, which I've finally put my finger on after listening to 7 different albums, is that Bjork has this habit of slapping big intrusive beats onto songs with all the subtlety of a charging rhinoceros. There are songs where there's simply no musical reason for them, and also songs where there doesn't seem to be any musical idea besides looping the same boring pattern of beats and singing over them.
So that's why I find myself unable to get on the Bjork fandom express. But I guess I shouldn't dwell on the songs that frustrate or repel me. I should focus on the ones that make me want to be a fan in the first place. Like this.
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Bjork - Homogenic
The Dissociatives - The Dissociatives
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady (Metropolis Suites IV and V)
Between streaming services and the discs I own, I've been exploring Bjork's discography over the last couple of months. And I've finally figured out what it is that I don't like about her music.
I don't mean to be nasty about it. The reason I keep going back to her music is because I keep sensing I get something out of it. And indeed, one thing this current exploration has shown is that there are quite a few of her songs that I really enjoy, and some of them are flat out beautiful.
It's sustaining that beauty and enjoyment over a full album that's the problem. Having said that, I'm now inclined to buy myself a copy of Vespertine because I think it might be the one fully successful album, and I might eventually buy most of the others so that I can then create myself some playlists of the best work. Yes, I could just buy individual tracks online, but that's not really how I roll. I'm too fair and would still give the rest of the tracks a chance to convince me that they're better than my current opinion of them.
I've given some of those tracks quite a few chances already, though. And the bad tracks on Homogenic, the one album I currently own on CD, are as good a demonstration of that as any. Here is an album that epitomises my frustration with Bjork, because it has some stunningly beautiful tracks - particularly "Joga" and "Unravel" - but several in the second half that are bad or boring.
And the biggest single difference? It's not the slightly odd singing voice (although it is one of the great things about "Joga" that Bjork really opens up her throat and creates a beautiful round sound instead of sounding like a pixie). Nor is it the slightly odd English lyrics, as their presence is almost a given.
No, the really big difference is the use of beats.
It's not simply that I dislike the presence of beats. "Joga" has beats. The problem, which I've finally put my finger on after listening to 7 different albums, is that Bjork has this habit of slapping big intrusive beats onto songs with all the subtlety of a charging rhinoceros. There are songs where there's simply no musical reason for them, and also songs where there doesn't seem to be any musical idea besides looping the same boring pattern of beats and singing over them.
So that's why I find myself unable to get on the Bjork fandom express. But I guess I shouldn't dwell on the songs that frustrate or repel me. I should focus on the ones that make me want to be a fan in the first place. Like this.
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Classical Music - January 2015
Bach, J.S. - Was willst du dich betrüben (Why do you let yourself be distressed)
Bridge
Debussy - La Mer
Mozart - String Quartet No.19, 'Dissonance'
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.5
There wasn't an enormous amount of classical music activity in January, and most of it was right towards the end of the month. I picked up where I'd left off with the Chopin and Mozart, revisited another disc of Bridge's orchestral music (one of the more substantial discs in the set, with Oration being one of the composer's biggest and boldest works), marked another week of Bach's second year in Leipzig off the calendar, listened to one of my favourite Shostakovich string quartets for the first time in a while, and introduced myself to La Mer.
Yes, introduced. I know it's supposed to be one of the great classics of the period and one of Debussy's finest pieces, but as far as I know I hadn't heard it before.
Yeah, it's pretty good. Lots of effective orchestral colour. And, um, that's about all I have to say about it at present. Debussy often doesn't seem to stay with me in the way that some composers do. I suspect that has to do with his approach to form, which doesn't contain some of the signals I usually register. Still, I definitely think he's worth listening to.
Bridge
- Oration (Concerto Elegiaco)
- Allegro moderato for strings
- Rebus Overture
- Lament
- A Prayer
Debussy - La Mer
Mozart - String Quartet No.19, 'Dissonance'
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.5
There wasn't an enormous amount of classical music activity in January, and most of it was right towards the end of the month. I picked up where I'd left off with the Chopin and Mozart, revisited another disc of Bridge's orchestral music (one of the more substantial discs in the set, with Oration being one of the composer's biggest and boldest works), marked another week of Bach's second year in Leipzig off the calendar, listened to one of my favourite Shostakovich string quartets for the first time in a while, and introduced myself to La Mer.
Yes, introduced. I know it's supposed to be one of the great classics of the period and one of Debussy's finest pieces, but as far as I know I hadn't heard it before.
Yeah, it's pretty good. Lots of effective orchestral colour. And, um, that's about all I have to say about it at present. Debussy often doesn't seem to stay with me in the way that some composers do. I suspect that has to do with his approach to form, which doesn't contain some of the signals I usually register. Still, I definitely think he's worth listening to.
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Popular Music - January 2015
Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel
Bjork - Biophilia
dc Talk - Jesus Freak
Frou Frou - Details
Incubus - Morning View
Wendy Matthews - Emigre
Wendy Matthews - Beautiful View
Joni Mitchell - Dog Eat Dog
Radiohead - Kid A
Something for Kate - Echolalia
Something for Kate - Desert Lights
Thrice - Alchemy Index
Thrice - Major/Minor
Suzanne Vega - Tried and True
Megan Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
"Tried and True" seems rather apt, because I'm not being all that adventurous lately. Although, the Thom Yorke, Megan Washington and one of the Thrice albums are all fairly recent additions to the collection. Also, daring to tackle Biophilia again was slightly adventurous, but sadly it continued to feel like a couple of fine songs placed together with a number of skeletal outlines of songs.
The album I probably paid most attention to in January was Major/Minor. I've never really talked about Thrice much in the context of The Alchemy Index, and I'm still not going to talk about The Alchemy Index. Well, not much anyway.
Thrice is a somewhat fascinating band to me. First of all, they operate in a genre that I wouldn't consider of much interest, or at least that's where they started. Their first couple of albums of punk-hardcore-something-or-other just sound like a lot of noise to me. But they had that one key ingredient of truly interesting musicians: restlessness. A desire to explore and try new things.
By album 4, Vheissu, they were distinctly experimenting, and on the 5th album The Alchemy Index they were basically experimenting in as many ways as possible all at once (more later!). The last two albums after that, though, seem to be a case of a band that has learnt what it wants to know and is returning with the lessons.
Major/Minor, which appears likely to be the last Thrice album for a considerable time if not forever, is an album of pretty straight-forward rock. What that statement hides, though, is that it actually takes a lot of damn hard work to make a piece of music sound straightforward without it also sounding utterly dull.
And Thrice have pretty much learnt the trick over the course of their career. These songs consistently have just the right amount of aural interest, of light and shade, of changes in instrumentation and volume to keep things fresh.
And then there's the other thing I keep finding fascinating: the lyrics.
Now let me say straight up that I don't think that Dustin Kensrue is a lyrical genius of the first order. There are times when the lyrics get a bit clunky. But often they're good, and what arouses my interest is how often they are based on the Bible. We're not talking about dry quotation here, like some of the unimaginative choruses you might encounter in a modern church. More often, Kensrue weaves together a wealth of references, in a way that won't necessarily sound very 'churchy' to a listener who is less Bible-literate but will grab the attention of anyone who knows where the references come from.
Take 'Cataracts', in context probably my favourite song on Major/Minor. At the very least, it lifts material from Jesus' parable of The Sower and two of the more famous passages from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. (Lyrics are reproduced on Youtube underneath the video, if you can't get them behind the squalling guitars.)
And then there's 'Blinded', which is perhaps my second-favourite song on the album. There's an obvious reference to whitewashed tombs, but it took several listens to the song before it hit me that, in all probability, the song is actually a description of the conversion of Saint Paul.
That's pretty literate stuff for what at first glance might seem like a fairly straightforward rock song.
Bjork - Biophilia
dc Talk - Jesus Freak
Frou Frou - Details
Incubus - Morning View
Wendy Matthews - Emigre
Wendy Matthews - Beautiful View
Joni Mitchell - Dog Eat Dog
Radiohead - Kid A
Something for Kate - Echolalia
Something for Kate - Desert Lights
Thrice - Alchemy Index
Thrice - Major/Minor
Suzanne Vega - Tried and True
Megan Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
"Tried and True" seems rather apt, because I'm not being all that adventurous lately. Although, the Thom Yorke, Megan Washington and one of the Thrice albums are all fairly recent additions to the collection. Also, daring to tackle Biophilia again was slightly adventurous, but sadly it continued to feel like a couple of fine songs placed together with a number of skeletal outlines of songs.
The album I probably paid most attention to in January was Major/Minor. I've never really talked about Thrice much in the context of The Alchemy Index, and I'm still not going to talk about The Alchemy Index. Well, not much anyway.
Thrice is a somewhat fascinating band to me. First of all, they operate in a genre that I wouldn't consider of much interest, or at least that's where they started. Their first couple of albums of punk-hardcore-something-or-other just sound like a lot of noise to me. But they had that one key ingredient of truly interesting musicians: restlessness. A desire to explore and try new things.
By album 4, Vheissu, they were distinctly experimenting, and on the 5th album The Alchemy Index they were basically experimenting in as many ways as possible all at once (more later!). The last two albums after that, though, seem to be a case of a band that has learnt what it wants to know and is returning with the lessons.
Major/Minor, which appears likely to be the last Thrice album for a considerable time if not forever, is an album of pretty straight-forward rock. What that statement hides, though, is that it actually takes a lot of damn hard work to make a piece of music sound straightforward without it also sounding utterly dull.
And Thrice have pretty much learnt the trick over the course of their career. These songs consistently have just the right amount of aural interest, of light and shade, of changes in instrumentation and volume to keep things fresh.
And then there's the other thing I keep finding fascinating: the lyrics.
Now let me say straight up that I don't think that Dustin Kensrue is a lyrical genius of the first order. There are times when the lyrics get a bit clunky. But often they're good, and what arouses my interest is how often they are based on the Bible. We're not talking about dry quotation here, like some of the unimaginative choruses you might encounter in a modern church. More often, Kensrue weaves together a wealth of references, in a way that won't necessarily sound very 'churchy' to a listener who is less Bible-literate but will grab the attention of anyone who knows where the references come from.
Take 'Cataracts', in context probably my favourite song on Major/Minor. At the very least, it lifts material from Jesus' parable of The Sower and two of the more famous passages from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. (Lyrics are reproduced on Youtube underneath the video, if you can't get them behind the squalling guitars.)
And then there's 'Blinded', which is perhaps my second-favourite song on the album. There's an obvious reference to whitewashed tombs, but it took several listens to the song before it hit me that, in all probability, the song is actually a description of the conversion of Saint Paul.
That's pretty literate stuff for what at first glance might seem like a fairly straightforward rock song.
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Classical Music - December 2014
Chopin - Etudes, op.10
Mozart - String Quartet No.19, 'Dissonance'
And, that was it for classical music in December. Of course, the music I did listen to was hardly insubstantial! Some of the finest piano studies ever produced, which helped change the genre from mindless exercises into real pieces of music (although from personal experience not enough credit is given to Ignaz Moscheles for also composing etudes of genuine musical interest). And the last of the set of six string quartets that were a landmark, dedicated by one great composer to another as they played together in his house.
-------------------------------------------
Despite that weak December, for the year as a whole my spreadsheets are suggesting I listened to 531 different recordings of classical works, large and small, which is a sizable jump on the 383 for 2013. It really was a year where I spent a lot of time on classical music, and I've no doubt the total was helped by the considerable number of new purchases I made - there were three major bundles when previously it would be more typical for me to get just one. I still haven't listened to everything, either.
Really, much of that activity is happening with only a fairly small number of composers. My Dvorak collection received a major injection, and I've enjoyed that so much that I expect there'll be more to come. There's also a fair bit of Beethoven, much of which hasn't been heard yet but with more to come shortly because I'm getting to the stage of filling in specific gaps. There was a decent amount of Mozart, Brahms, Sibelius and Holmboe added, and a few more besides.
What I'm not doing a great deal of is adding new or weakly represented composers to the catalogue. There was a disc of Szymanowski and 2 discs of Vine, those are the only examples I can think of right now of consciously selecting someone new. This doesn't actually mean I'm not listening to new composers at all, because much of that listening is currently being done on streaming services such as Spotify and now Rdio (which I'm finding easier to work with at times, avoiding one profoundly irritating Spotify glitch). It is highly likely that some of the composers of interest will find their way into my collection in the next big chunk of purchases. But for now, streaming doesn't count for this blog. It's my equivalent of trying out an album in a CD shop, back when there were plenty of CD shops.
Mozart - String Quartet No.19, 'Dissonance'
And, that was it for classical music in December. Of course, the music I did listen to was hardly insubstantial! Some of the finest piano studies ever produced, which helped change the genre from mindless exercises into real pieces of music (although from personal experience not enough credit is given to Ignaz Moscheles for also composing etudes of genuine musical interest). And the last of the set of six string quartets that were a landmark, dedicated by one great composer to another as they played together in his house.
-------------------------------------------
Despite that weak December, for the year as a whole my spreadsheets are suggesting I listened to 531 different recordings of classical works, large and small, which is a sizable jump on the 383 for 2013. It really was a year where I spent a lot of time on classical music, and I've no doubt the total was helped by the considerable number of new purchases I made - there were three major bundles when previously it would be more typical for me to get just one. I still haven't listened to everything, either.
Really, much of that activity is happening with only a fairly small number of composers. My Dvorak collection received a major injection, and I've enjoyed that so much that I expect there'll be more to come. There's also a fair bit of Beethoven, much of which hasn't been heard yet but with more to come shortly because I'm getting to the stage of filling in specific gaps. There was a decent amount of Mozart, Brahms, Sibelius and Holmboe added, and a few more besides.
What I'm not doing a great deal of is adding new or weakly represented composers to the catalogue. There was a disc of Szymanowski and 2 discs of Vine, those are the only examples I can think of right now of consciously selecting someone new. This doesn't actually mean I'm not listening to new composers at all, because much of that listening is currently being done on streaming services such as Spotify and now Rdio (which I'm finding easier to work with at times, avoiding one profoundly irritating Spotify glitch). It is highly likely that some of the composers of interest will find their way into my collection in the next big chunk of purchases. But for now, streaming doesn't count for this blog. It's my equivalent of trying out an album in a CD shop, back when there were plenty of CD shops.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Popular Music - December 2014
Tori Amos
Live - Awake: The Best of Live
Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Something for Kate - Beautiful Sharks
U2 - Songs of Innocence
Megan Washington - There There
Y Kant Tori Read - Y Kant Tori Read
Well, as you can see I went on one of those binges... In one mad week I went through every Tori studio album, including both the orchestral album Gold Dust and the before-she-was-famous Y Kant Tori Read band's single self-titled album, which I hadn't listened to in quite a few years. The latter does have its poor moments (I may never, ever come to terms with her embarrassing attempt to rap) but it also has some pretty good ones.
And no, I don't own a genuine copy. There are rare exceptions to my commitment to buying proper, physical versions of my music, and one of them is when something costs hundreds of dollars, might still be fake and none of the money will go to the artist.
I finally listened to my free U2 album, spammed across the world by Apple. And frankly it was difficult to care one way or the other. Inoffensive wallpaper on first listen. I will certainly give it another go, and pay more attention than I did on this first occasion.
And for Christmas, by request, I received There There.
I already flagged my interest in Megan Washington's new album in my entry for September, in which I said not to wait for the review. Well here's the review: I love it. This is one of the finest straight-up pop albums I've heard in a long time.
The truth is I don't really fall in love with that much of what is usually thought of as pop music. Much of my preferred music can be found in shops under labels like 'Alternative'. There certainly are pop acts I like hearing on the radio (not that I listen much nowadays) or on television, but rarely does that enjoyment translate to wanting an entire album's worth of material. Not unless it's a hits package further down the track.
But There There is a pop album that I was eager to own. The melodies are wonderfully smooth, and delivered in Washington's sultry voice they become a heavenly mix of sweetness and sorrow. On one level the songs are pretty simple, but it actually takes a fair bit of skill to sound this effortless. The lyrics aren't plumbing the profound depths, but there's a lot of wordplay which seems to be all about building sounds as much as meaning, making the vocals oscillate.
There's probably no better demonstration of that than the song which first got my attention, and which became one of those relatively rare songs that I played obsessively for a period. Any time I can play a song 6 or 7 times in a row, I know it's got to me.
So here's "My Heart Is A Wheel".
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The spreadsheet tells me I listened to 101 pop recordings this past year. Which is an increase on the previous year (73), but still down on the couple of years before that (134 and 116).
Obviously, having obsessive Tori Amos binges takes away time for listening to other things. Another interesting factor, though is that I've actually being making more use of Spotify to explore music that I don't own, and I'm not counting that in my total even if I listened to an entire album. If the album didn't make it into my library, that is - there were several new acquisitions based on listening to the album on the service first, including There There and Thrice's Major/Minor.
I'm still working, intermittently, on fully completing the list of the pop music that I own so I know just what is buried in the dark corners. Maybe 2015 is the year. If so, it may well still take a while to listen to it all, and there's always a growing list of other things to explore. Current interest is in the British band Elbow. Stay tuned for developments!
- Little Earthquakes
- Under the Pink
- Boys for Pele
- From the Choirgirl Hotel
- To Venus and Back (both discs)
- Strange Little Girls
- Scarlet's Walk
- Scarlet's Hidden Treasures
- The Beekeeper
- American Doll Posse
- Abnormally Attracted to Sin
- Midwinter Graces
- Night of Hunters
- Gold Dust
- Unrepentant Geraldines
- Audience bootlegs: Melbourne 15 November 2014, Adelaide 16 November 2014, Perth 18 November 2014
Live - Awake: The Best of Live
Midnight Oil - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Something for Kate - Beautiful Sharks
U2 - Songs of Innocence
Megan Washington - There There
Y Kant Tori Read - Y Kant Tori Read
Well, as you can see I went on one of those binges... In one mad week I went through every Tori studio album, including both the orchestral album Gold Dust and the before-she-was-famous Y Kant Tori Read band's single self-titled album, which I hadn't listened to in quite a few years. The latter does have its poor moments (I may never, ever come to terms with her embarrassing attempt to rap) but it also has some pretty good ones.
And no, I don't own a genuine copy. There are rare exceptions to my commitment to buying proper, physical versions of my music, and one of them is when something costs hundreds of dollars, might still be fake and none of the money will go to the artist.
I finally listened to my free U2 album, spammed across the world by Apple. And frankly it was difficult to care one way or the other. Inoffensive wallpaper on first listen. I will certainly give it another go, and pay more attention than I did on this first occasion.
And for Christmas, by request, I received There There.
I already flagged my interest in Megan Washington's new album in my entry for September, in which I said not to wait for the review. Well here's the review: I love it. This is one of the finest straight-up pop albums I've heard in a long time.
The truth is I don't really fall in love with that much of what is usually thought of as pop music. Much of my preferred music can be found in shops under labels like 'Alternative'. There certainly are pop acts I like hearing on the radio (not that I listen much nowadays) or on television, but rarely does that enjoyment translate to wanting an entire album's worth of material. Not unless it's a hits package further down the track.
But There There is a pop album that I was eager to own. The melodies are wonderfully smooth, and delivered in Washington's sultry voice they become a heavenly mix of sweetness and sorrow. On one level the songs are pretty simple, but it actually takes a fair bit of skill to sound this effortless. The lyrics aren't plumbing the profound depths, but there's a lot of wordplay which seems to be all about building sounds as much as meaning, making the vocals oscillate.
There's probably no better demonstration of that than the song which first got my attention, and which became one of those relatively rare songs that I played obsessively for a period. Any time I can play a song 6 or 7 times in a row, I know it's got to me.
So here's "My Heart Is A Wheel".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The spreadsheet tells me I listened to 101 pop recordings this past year. Which is an increase on the previous year (73), but still down on the couple of years before that (134 and 116).
Obviously, having obsessive Tori Amos binges takes away time for listening to other things. Another interesting factor, though is that I've actually being making more use of Spotify to explore music that I don't own, and I'm not counting that in my total even if I listened to an entire album. If the album didn't make it into my library, that is - there were several new acquisitions based on listening to the album on the service first, including There There and Thrice's Major/Minor.
I'm still working, intermittently, on fully completing the list of the pop music that I own so I know just what is buried in the dark corners. Maybe 2015 is the year. If so, it may well still take a while to listen to it all, and there's always a growing list of other things to explore. Current interest is in the British band Elbow. Stay tuned for developments!
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Classical Music - November 2014
Bach, J.S. - Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (If God the Lord is not with us)
Beethoven - Piano Trio, op.11 (violin version)
Brahms - Horn Trio
Chopin - Mazurkas, opp. 6 and 7
Chopin - 3 Nocturnes, op.9
Dvorak - String Quintet No.2
Haydn - Symphony No.87
Holmboe - Concerto No.12 (for trombone)
Thomas Linley the Younger - Ye Nymphs of Albion's Beauty-Blooming Isle
Rachmaninov - 12 Songs, op.21
Schumann - Cello Concerto
Sibelius - Night Ride and Sunrise
Vivaldi - Confitebor tibi, Domine
At the time of writing, my attention has been firmly off classical music for a while and so yet again I find it difficult to say anything. The vast majority of these pieces were first listens, and while I'm sure I enjoyed these they seem to have had a limited impact at this distance. I do seem to have snatches of both the Sibelius and Schumann works in my head (new and near-new, respectively).
But instead I'm drawn to the pieces I do know. The Brahms, with its mix of the two archetypal kinds of horn music, part romantic melancholy and part hunting calls. And the Chopin, the music of a young man of 20 or 21, moving out into the world to make a name for himself. These pieces were most likely written around the time that Chopin was in Vienna, moving from his native Poland towards his ultimate home in Paris. They're arguably the start of a new phase in his works, and are among the earliest of the solo piano pieces to have a regular home in the repertoire.
And very good they are, too.
Beethoven - Piano Trio, op.11 (violin version)
Brahms - Horn Trio
Chopin - Mazurkas, opp. 6 and 7
Chopin - 3 Nocturnes, op.9
Dvorak - String Quintet No.2
Haydn - Symphony No.87
Holmboe - Concerto No.12 (for trombone)
Thomas Linley the Younger - Ye Nymphs of Albion's Beauty-Blooming Isle
Rachmaninov - 12 Songs, op.21
Schumann - Cello Concerto
Sibelius - Night Ride and Sunrise
Vivaldi - Confitebor tibi, Domine
At the time of writing, my attention has been firmly off classical music for a while and so yet again I find it difficult to say anything. The vast majority of these pieces were first listens, and while I'm sure I enjoyed these they seem to have had a limited impact at this distance. I do seem to have snatches of both the Sibelius and Schumann works in my head (new and near-new, respectively).
But instead I'm drawn to the pieces I do know. The Brahms, with its mix of the two archetypal kinds of horn music, part romantic melancholy and part hunting calls. And the Chopin, the music of a young man of 20 or 21, moving out into the world to make a name for himself. These pieces were most likely written around the time that Chopin was in Vienna, moving from his native Poland towards his ultimate home in Paris. They're arguably the start of a new phase in his works, and are among the earliest of the solo piano pieces to have a regular home in the repertoire.
And very good they are, too.
Friday, 2 January 2015
Popular Music - November 2014
Tori Amos
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Alex Lloyd - Watching Angels Mend
Aimee Mann - Bachelor No.2
No Doubt - The Singles (1992-2003)
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
Something for Kate - The Official Fiction
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
I really don't have a lot to say about these, and I'm not going to force it. But I will say two things.
Firstly, Watching Angels Mend is a very nice little album that it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with. It was Alex Lloyd's biggest commercial success. I'm minded to explore his other work. I have a feeling that his first album might have been the most daring, but it's worth confirming that rather than just relying on vague memories from the radio.
Secondly, The Official Fiction proved itself invaluable on an emotionally difficult day. I've spoken at least once before about the album's unique qualities, it's combination of intensity and brightness, and I was very grateful that I had added it to my iPhone before going on a journey during November. It once again showed why it needed to be in my music library.
- Midwinter Graces
- Unrepentant Geraldines
- Audience bootlegs - Adelaide 16 November 2014, Brisbane 21 November 2014
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Alex Lloyd - Watching Angels Mend
Aimee Mann - Bachelor No.2
No Doubt - The Singles (1992-2003)
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
Something for Kate - The Official Fiction
Thom Yorke - Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
I really don't have a lot to say about these, and I'm not going to force it. But I will say two things.
Firstly, Watching Angels Mend is a very nice little album that it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with. It was Alex Lloyd's biggest commercial success. I'm minded to explore his other work. I have a feeling that his first album might have been the most daring, but it's worth confirming that rather than just relying on vague memories from the radio.
Secondly, The Official Fiction proved itself invaluable on an emotionally difficult day. I've spoken at least once before about the album's unique qualities, it's combination of intensity and brightness, and I was very grateful that I had added it to my iPhone before going on a journey during November. It once again showed why it needed to be in my music library.
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