Music
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If I didn't have, um, access to someone's Disney+ account, I wouldn't have paid much attention to this. Who needs another Beatles documentary? But I do have access, so I have watched part of it…and now I think, more or less, who needs another Beatles documentary? Or book, or re-master re-issue re-organization of their recordings,…
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I went to hear the Mobile Symphony on Saturday. There were three works on the fairly short program: Rossini's overture to The Thieving Magpie, Saint-Seans's Violin Concerto #3, and Mendelssohn's Symphony #4, known as "The Italian." I was slightly surprised to find that I recognized the overture–just slightly, not very. I knew it was one of…
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Kompakt is a German electronica label which I think is mainly oriented toward the types of music that those of us who aren’t into them lump together as “techno.” EDM, for “electronic dance music,” is the preferred term, I think. Whatever you call it there are actually quite a number of sub-genres; see this Wikipedia…
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A few days ago I was looking for a CD to play while I was doing some not-very-demanding software work–something more or less in the ambient vein, not too insistent on attention. I noticed this one, which I hadn't heard for quite some time, put it on, and very quickly wondered why I even had…
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Benjamin Britten: Serenade for Tenor Solo, Horn, and Strings, Op 21; Les Illuminations for Tenor Solo and Strings, Op. 18. Peter Pears, tenor; Dennis Brain, horn; The New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Goosens. London LL 994 Clearly, the use of the word "perfect" requires some justification and explanation. What I mean is that this…
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When I watched the series I was so struck by this segment that I went looking for the soundtrack. It's called "New Queen," with apparently semi-ironic intent, since it occurs at the end of Series 3, Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. I absolutely love that piece. I just wish it went on longer. There are other good…
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I've never been inclined to mourn celebrity deaths, especially in cases like that of Charlie Watts, who died this week at the age of 80 after a long and spectacularly successful career–and I hope his private life was equally successful. But I certainly don't feel any sense of personal loss. And anyway I lost interest…
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I ran across this when I was working on that Laki Mera post, and I love it. It's a rare instance of a cover that's neither a mere copy nor a complete transformation–not that there is anything wrong with complete transformation, if it works. Everyone who knows Kate Bush's music at all knows this song,…
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I've been meaning to write about this album for well over a year now. When I first got the CD (thanks, Rob), I left it in the car player for a while, which meant that I heard it several times, but not very attentively. What with the distractions of driving and the interference of various…
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John Darnielle, as you may know, is the principal in The Mountain Goats. In effect, he is the mountain goat, as the band seems to be (or at least to have been for some time), essentially a one-man project consisting of Darnielle and various accompanists. He's a brilliant (and astonishingly prolific) songwriter, and the great…
Light On Dark Water 