What Are You Listening To?

[SteveO]

Reminds me of the great album covers from ECM Records!

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ecm+album+covers+pictures&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0_ZiPsczTAhVDKCYKHdL4B2YQsAQIIQ&biw=1366&bih=643#spf=1

some really cool album covers on that page SteveO...
if I was just looking through a discount bin and saw some of these covers I would definitely buy purely for the cover.

[Ruby]

Not sure what this qualifies as - Progressive Flamenco??! AMG pegs it as New Age.

Stumbled upon Juan Martin's Picasso Portraits from 1981 - his musical interpretation of some of Picasso's works. Nice - I like Spanish guitar so this really works for me - I see he took lessons from Paco de Lucía. 


Quite a line-up of musicians too - of a very proggy persuasion! 

Juan Martin / Spanish guitars
- Rod Edwards / keyboards
- Tony Hymas / keyboards, keyboard solos
- John Gustafson / bass
- John G. Perry / bass
- Simon Phillips / drums
- Ian Mosley / drums

The opening track - difficult to find good clips. Going on the endless list!

[Jerome]

Posted this before but it's such a magnificent piece of work - Yo Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone - https://youtu.be/2jSotUeV0WI

[Ruby]

Penguin Cafe - The Red Book



Released in 2014, the precursor to 2017's The Imperfect Sea, which I like very much. Decided to listen to this one and will then go back to their first album, A Matter of Life. 

Always enjoy checking out who's playing what, and while doing so, found this tidbit on Discogs re the naming of the album:

"The name ‘The Red Book’ comes from the book by Karl Jung of the same name. One day early on in the recording process Rebecca (our cellist) asked me what the album was going to be called and as I glanced over I saw this book on the desk next to where she was and it popped into my head to say ‘The Red Book?’. The book is about, among other things, the way our sub-conscious interacts with and intrudes into our daily lives. I thought this fitted what we were trying to achieve with the second album quite neatly – namely, exploring musical words that are at once both familiar and strange. There is another meaning which is that the main mastered disc you end up with, the one from which all other copies will be made, is called the ‘Red Book Master’ – so somewhere at some point there will be a disc on which will be written ‘The Red Book Master – Red Book Master’…" https://www.discogs.com/Penguin-Cafe-The-Red-Book/release/5410203?ev=rr

Seven of the 11 tracks pass muster - the others were a bit too looping and repetitive (which is a construct they use quite a lot) so on the whole, The Imperfect Sea remains a better listen for me. Modern classical - some say chamber jazz - I dunno - just know that when they get it right, they make lovely warm waves of sound that it's a pleasure to sink into. 

Like this one ... the first track on The Red Book ... 

[Ruby]

Seventh Heaven – Anthony Phillips & Andrew Skeet

Library music has been popping up on my radar lately, for some reason. There was a new release recently called Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music which I listened to – shortish tracks by various musicians specifically made for the purpose. I am picturing vast numbers of undiscovered and unheard recordings to suit any possible scene/occasion, languishing lost on mysterious dusty shelves throughout the world! Making music for libraries is never going to result in fame and fortune but I would think that it does allow for some creative licence, to a degree, and at least some small form of financial compensation for the work, even if it never sees the light of day, which is a sad thought … 

This album is not languishing anywhere, but it IS very cinematic and sweeping and conjures up all sorts of imagery, hence the association. I remembered speaking about it before and am listening again now; my opinion remains the same as it was two years ago. Must get a copy …. 

What a pleasure to listen to Seventh Heaven, a fairly recent album by Mr Phillips and Andrew Skeet. An absolutely delightful recording … showcasing exquisite, delicate melodies and a rare finesse. IMHO there is a lot to be said for exercising restraint knowing when to put down the paintbrush, so to speak, and I think that’s what they achieved here. I would say it’s neo classical/neo romantic instrumental if one has to categorise, with very little vocal work and when there is, it’s operatic. The orchestration is superb as are the arrangements - they used an ensemble of leading strings session players (stunning violins and cello) as well as a full 70 piece orchestra for some parts which lends something of a cinematic sound. In their own words, this is a double album of orchestral and acoustic portraits.

Sometimes protracted light (as opposed to more serious and heavy) works can descend into the domain of the banal, so I’m pleased to say that this transcends that horrible fate. There’s variation and texture in the pieces, and plenty of different instruments to prick up the ears, eight of which Anthony Phillips himself plays here, including the oud and bazouki and a whole range of guitars. In a word, it’s exquisite!

"Old Sarum Suite" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDRLkf-T2_o

"Grand Central Station" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbSlpPUZiTk

"Under the Infinite Sky" - 

[Jerome]

Mike Oldfield - The Music of the Spheres - not my favourite MO album but today it just seems to fit the mood.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ROGER WATERS "Igor Stavinsky's The Soldiers Tale"

release date:  26th October 2018

chart high: no info

ive had to re-listen to this one via Spotify as my copy has not arrived as yet...
So, Waters narrates the Stavinsky classical piece of music...
im not sure whether Waters wrote the lyrics/story or not...
its not about his father, it appears to be set earlier than WWII...
Waters plays the three characters, Soldier, Devil and Narrator in this story...
its emotive, its dark, both in content and humour...
Waters does a fine job on this album...
as previously mentioned in the post as a new release, it would be cool to hear Waters reimagine
The Final Cut with an Orchestra now ive heard this...
as someone wrote as part of a review on Amazon, it could slip between "vera"  and "bring
the boys back home" effortlessly, and I tend to agree with that...
impossible to rate this one as individual tracks as it is meant to be listened to as a complete
piece of work but...

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

a sample of the album:

[Ruby]

^He adapted it from the original libretto CH, which was written for the music by someone other than Stravinsky -  German writer - can't remember the name. I should imagine that the story remains the same.

[bruckner6]

Mendelssohn String Quartet 6
Why's it taken me almost 50 years to learn of its existence!

[Ruby]

Estas Tonne - Internal Flight

Fingerstyle guitar - distinctly 'new age' with gypsy and flamenco influences - he uses loops and other effects and it's most compelling. I kept on not turning it off when I thought I might  . He hails from the Ukraine and built his audience playing on the streets - now has a large following all over the world - https://estastonne.bandcamp.com/album/in...ar-version

I've had this playing while drawing which seems to work quite well!