Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
Tori Amos - Native Invader
Beyonce - Beyonce
Kate Bush - Never For Ever
Marc Cohn - The Rainy Season
Crowded House - Temple of Low Men
Paul Dempsey - Strange Loop
Bryan Duncan - Mercy
Peter Gabriel - So
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
Nik Kershaw - The Riddle
Nik Kershaw - Radio Musicola
Joni Mitchell - Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
Agnes Obel - Aventine
Simply Red - Picture Book
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
Thrice - The Alchemy Index
Early November was one of those times when I listened to quite a lot of pop music. The Tori Amos/Joni Mitchell comparison completely stopped in this period, and my focus was very much on established favourites. I was clearly out to enjoy myself rather than educate myself.
Which is fine. The purpose of the spreadsheets where I keep records of what I listen to, which led to this blog, is to stop myself from listening to the same things all the time, and I do set myself all these listening projects. But I also don't want to turn listening simply into a task with checklists.
Besides, quite a few of the albums on this list were things I had not listened to for over a year. In a couple of cases the gap between listens was several years. My collection is quite large enough for this to happen.
So here is the Beyonce album that made me a Beyonce fan, my favourite Kate Bush album, the Marc Cohn album that I've been in love with for a couple of decades, my favourite Crowded House, Bryan Duncan's masterpiece, the best EP in history disguised as a Peter Gabriel album, Elton John's best and biggest secret, and the best moments of Simply Red, Talk Talk and Thrice. That should be plenty to explore for those so inclined.
Monday, 29 January 2018
Friday, 26 January 2018
Classical Music - October 2017
Bach, J.S.
Brahms - Serenade No.2
Bridge
Dvorak
Holmboe
Mozart - Piano Concerto No.8
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.1
Rachmaninov - Symphony No.3
Schumann
Snider - Penelope
Telemann - Violin Sonata in A from "Tafelmusik"
Villa-Lobos - Choros No.1
Villa-Lobos - Quintet in the form of a Choros
Vivaldi - Violin Sonata in D minor, RV 15
There are times when you realise a piece of music is obscure for good reasons. Beethoven's stage music provides an excellent example in King Stephen, a work that was apparently a great success when it premiered in Budapest, but that sounds pretty uninspiring when divorced from that very specific context. If you're not a 19th century nationalist Hungarian it's unlikely to be a favourite.
There's nothing particularly wrong with that. I mean, I've long held the view that different pieces of music have different functions and purposes, and it makes no sense to judge a piece of music as a failure if it doesn't meet criteria the composer was never trying to fulfil.
And then, as I keep looking at this list, Rachmaninov's 3rd symphony jumps out as a work I've never quite embraced (unlike almost every other later Rachmaninov work). I couldn't tell you why just at the moment, it being several months since my last listen and probably a few years since the one before that. I just don't like it as much as I would expect.
So why am I focusing on the things that I listened to and didn't enjoy? I don't know. It could be that I'm trying to create some variety in the blog. It could also be I'm generally grumpy at the time of writing. The world is an annoying place right now for several reasons, including the weather. Let's just leave it at that and move on.
- Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht (I wretched man, a servant to sin)
- Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (Ah God, how much heartbreak) (BWV 58)
- Also hat Gott die Welt Geliebt (God so loved the world)
- Adagio for Strings
- 3 Songs, op.10
- Early unpublished songs
- Egmont overture and incidental music
- King Stephen
- Violin Sonatas 2 and 6
Brahms - Serenade No.2
Bridge
- Isabella
- Dance Rhapsody
- String Quartet No.1
- Phantasie Piano Trio
Dvorak
- Serenade for Strings
- String Quintet No.2
- String Quartet No.7
- Piano Trio No.1
Holmboe
- Symphonies 2 and 8
- Sinfonia in Memoriam
- Violin Sonata No.3
Mozart - Piano Concerto No.8
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.1
Rachmaninov - Symphony No.3
Schumann
- Arabeske
- Humoresque
- Piano Sonata No.2
- Nachtstücke
- 12 Etudes, op.8
- 4 Preludes, op.22
- Poème-Nocturne, op.61
Snider - Penelope
Telemann - Violin Sonata in A from "Tafelmusik"
Villa-Lobos - Choros No.1
Villa-Lobos - Quintet in the form of a Choros
Vivaldi - Violin Sonata in D minor, RV 15
There are times when you realise a piece of music is obscure for good reasons. Beethoven's stage music provides an excellent example in King Stephen, a work that was apparently a great success when it premiered in Budapest, but that sounds pretty uninspiring when divorced from that very specific context. If you're not a 19th century nationalist Hungarian it's unlikely to be a favourite.
There's nothing particularly wrong with that. I mean, I've long held the view that different pieces of music have different functions and purposes, and it makes no sense to judge a piece of music as a failure if it doesn't meet criteria the composer was never trying to fulfil.
And then, as I keep looking at this list, Rachmaninov's 3rd symphony jumps out as a work I've never quite embraced (unlike almost every other later Rachmaninov work). I couldn't tell you why just at the moment, it being several months since my last listen and probably a few years since the one before that. I just don't like it as much as I would expect.
So why am I focusing on the things that I listened to and didn't enjoy? I don't know. It could be that I'm trying to create some variety in the blog. It could also be I'm generally grumpy at the time of writing. The world is an annoying place right now for several reasons, including the weather. Let's just leave it at that and move on.
Tuesday, 2 January 2018
Popular Music - October 2017
Tori Amos
Christine and the Queens - Christine and the Queens
Missy Higgins - The Ol' Razzle Dazzle
Level 42 - Running in the Family
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Mike and the Mechanics - Mike and the Mechanics
Joni Mitchell
Megan Washington - There There
Megan Washington - Saint Lo (single)
The Tori Amos/Joni Mitchell face-off continued in October, though at a slower pace with only 4 pairings of albums. Both artists were, at this point in their careers, changing styles and becoming less popular than before.
While most Tori Amos albums get a hearing pretty frequently, it sometimes surprises me how long I haven't listened to something. Which I guess is one reason I keep proper records in the first place, but it was startling to discover that these particular Missy Higgins, John Mayer and Roisin Murphy albums were all last listened to in 2014. All of those albums seem familiar, as if I've heard them pretty recently. And apparently, this was the first time I'd listened to Mike and the Mechanics since I began keeping pop music data.
Not only does a lot of time elapse between listens, but sometimes a lot of time elapses before I discover music. Yes, it can take me years to buy an album, but it turns out that it's possible for me to miss the existence of music, even from artists I like a great deal.
And so it was that it took me almost a year to realise that Megan Washington (who has reverted back to calling herself just "Washington") had released a new song, Saint Lo.
And it's heavenly.
I thought her last album There There was a major breakthrough and one of the best pop albums I'd heard in a long time. Saint Lo is just one song, but it's possibly even better. Certainly, I became utterly obsessed with it once I found out about it. I bought it on iTunes soon after first hearing it, and played it to death over the next couple of days.
It's moody, it's sensual, and it has a heck of a groove.
I won't go on a rant about the stupidity of an official YouTube account engaging in geoblocking, but the video below might not work for everyone.
So here is a link to a version on Vimeo which is more likely to work for everyone. If you find it as addictive as I do, don't blame me. You have been warned.
- The Beekeeper
- American Doll Posse
- Abnormally Attracted to Sin
- Midwinter Graces
- Native Invader
Christine and the Queens - Christine and the Queens
Missy Higgins - The Ol' Razzle Dazzle
Level 42 - Running in the Family
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Mike and the Mechanics - Mike and the Mechanics
Joni Mitchell
- Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
- Mingus
- Wild Things Run Fast
- Dog Eat Dog
Megan Washington - There There
Megan Washington - Saint Lo (single)
The Tori Amos/Joni Mitchell face-off continued in October, though at a slower pace with only 4 pairings of albums. Both artists were, at this point in their careers, changing styles and becoming less popular than before.
While most Tori Amos albums get a hearing pretty frequently, it sometimes surprises me how long I haven't listened to something. Which I guess is one reason I keep proper records in the first place, but it was startling to discover that these particular Missy Higgins, John Mayer and Roisin Murphy albums were all last listened to in 2014. All of those albums seem familiar, as if I've heard them pretty recently. And apparently, this was the first time I'd listened to Mike and the Mechanics since I began keeping pop music data.
Not only does a lot of time elapse between listens, but sometimes a lot of time elapses before I discover music. Yes, it can take me years to buy an album, but it turns out that it's possible for me to miss the existence of music, even from artists I like a great deal.
And so it was that it took me almost a year to realise that Megan Washington (who has reverted back to calling herself just "Washington") had released a new song, Saint Lo.
And it's heavenly.
I thought her last album There There was a major breakthrough and one of the best pop albums I'd heard in a long time. Saint Lo is just one song, but it's possibly even better. Certainly, I became utterly obsessed with it once I found out about it. I bought it on iTunes soon after first hearing it, and played it to death over the next couple of days.
It's moody, it's sensual, and it has a heck of a groove.
I won't go on a rant about the stupidity of an official YouTube account engaging in geoblocking, but the video below might not work for everyone.
So here is a link to a version on Vimeo which is more likely to work for everyone. If you find it as addictive as I do, don't blame me. You have been warned.
Monday, 1 January 2018
Classical Music - September 2017
Bach, J.S. - Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht (False world, I do not trust you)
Bach, J.S. - Ich habe genug (I have enough) (version for bass)
Barber - Symphony No.1
Barber - Music for a scene from Shelley
Beethoven
Bridge
Dvorak
Haydn - Symphonies 43, 44, 45, 48 and 49
Medtner - Skazki, opp.26, 34 and 35
Mozart - Symphonies 25 and 28
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.2
Nielsen
Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances
Schumann
Sibelius - 5 Pieces for violin and piano, op.81
Sibelius - Erloschen
Villa-Lobos - 12 Etudes for guitar
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.8
This is one of those times when I look at the list and think, do I have anything I want to talk about?
It turns out the answer is, I want to talk about Haydn symphonies. It's taking a long time to work through the box of symphonies I bought in November 2016, but there's scarcely a disappointment in there. It's possible to argue there's a somewhat standard formula to Haydn's symphonies, but first of all Haydn practically invented that formula, and secondly there is a lot of invention and wit poured into that formula. So listening to each new work is always enjoyable.
And in September I was reaching the so-called Sturm and Drang period, where the symphonies are perhaps a touch more dramatic than before. Of the 5 symphonies listed here, 3 are in minor keys (though not all of them stay in the minor for long), which is as many as there were in 40+ symphonies before this. They're also larger in scale than before. So there's a great deal of interest in the music even after hearing a lot of Haydn over the previous months.
30 CDs of new Haydn is an awful lot to take on, but so far it's undoubtedly been worth it.
Bach, J.S. - Ich habe genug (I have enough) (version for bass)
Barber - Symphony No.1
Barber - Music for a scene from Shelley
Beethoven
- Coriolan Overture
- Scene from "Vestas Feuer"
- Original introduction to Act 2 of "Leonore"
- Violin Sonata No.9
Bridge
- Norse Legend (orchestral version)
- 2 Songs of Robert Bridges
- Adoration
- 3 Idylls for string quartet
Dvorak
- Symphony No.4
- String Quartet No.6
- Andante appassionato for string quartet
Haydn - Symphonies 43, 44, 45, 48 and 49
Medtner - Skazki, opp.26, 34 and 35
Mozart - Symphonies 25 and 28
Mozart - Piano Sonata No.2
Nielsen
- Symphony No.2, "The Four Temperaments"
- Helios Overture
- Suite from "Snefrid"
Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances
Schumann
- Davidsbundlertanze
- Kinderszenen
- Kreisleriana
- Fantasy in C
- Violin Sonata No.1
- Piano Sonata No.5
- Allegro de Concert
- 2 Impromptus, op.12
Sibelius - 5 Pieces for violin and piano, op.81
Sibelius - Erloschen
Villa-Lobos - 12 Etudes for guitar
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No.8
This is one of those times when I look at the list and think, do I have anything I want to talk about?
It turns out the answer is, I want to talk about Haydn symphonies. It's taking a long time to work through the box of symphonies I bought in November 2016, but there's scarcely a disappointment in there. It's possible to argue there's a somewhat standard formula to Haydn's symphonies, but first of all Haydn practically invented that formula, and secondly there is a lot of invention and wit poured into that formula. So listening to each new work is always enjoyable.
And in September I was reaching the so-called Sturm and Drang period, where the symphonies are perhaps a touch more dramatic than before. Of the 5 symphonies listed here, 3 are in minor keys (though not all of them stay in the minor for long), which is as many as there were in 40+ symphonies before this. They're also larger in scale than before. So there's a great deal of interest in the music even after hearing a lot of Haydn over the previous months.
30 CDs of new Haydn is an awful lot to take on, but so far it's undoubtedly been worth it.
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