Showing posts with label Bach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bach. Show all posts

Friday 27 November 2020

Classical Ruination


I said this year I wouldn't post as much, last year it was over a post a day, but this is post 188 so that is still and average of a post every two days, although some gaps between postings have been bigger than that , and obviously this is a post straight after yesterdays post.

I've listened to a chepo compilation called "Rock Instrumental Classics: Volume 3 - The Seventies" which barring Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" , Electric Light Orchestra's "Daybreaker" and "Apricot Brandy" by Rhinoceros , is made up of funk and pop. There is "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter (and yes Paul Gadd , is an evil , vile person quite rightly behind bars, but should that stop us from appreciating the work of the rest of the band and his cowriter Mike Leander?) which it compares to "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac , in that there's no real tune just a relentless sound with primeval calls and is still, in my opinion and impressive pop record , but I hope Gadd's royalties have been sequestered to help the sort of people the vile man abused.

Anyway in the songs on th ealbum are "Joy" by Apollo 100 a take on "Jesu Joy of Man's Desire", one of my favourite Bach pieces , "Also Sprach Zarathustra(2001)" an jazz take on the Strauss piece by Deodato , and "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy , all of which are more than enjoyable , especially the Deodato one. That's three classical lifts on one single disc compilation.

Manfred Mann's Earthband got permission from Gustav Holst's estate to use the composer's theme from "Jupiter" in "The Planets" suite in their single "Joybringer" . Keith Emerson with The Nice and Emerson Lake and Palmer plundered the classics  impressively over the years , with Mussorsky and Copland featuring highly in the band's repetoire.

Lots of pop songs left classical themes and melodies , Pachelbel's "Canon" reappearing so many times in the charts in various guises.

I've hardly scratched the surface on this, but will leave it here for now.

Friday 20 November 2020

Listen Now



We often do things that may become monotonous if they are seemingly long tasks. I like walking , but the nature of walking means it takes time , and in this lockdown often the paths I take are repetitive. It's the same with work, you often have to do repetitive tasks or do tasks that require repetition.

Although your mind needs to be on the task it also wants (or mine does) something to break up the repetition , and I find listening to music is a great way of making repetitive things fly by. I had been walking but not listening to music and this week (because it's cold and my headphones keep my ears warm) I goy out the headphones and have listened to Roxy Music and Janelle Monae , and given that it's only 2°C outside I will need them today.

Workwise , working from home, enables me to listen while I do work , and share what I'm listening to on my Instagram channel. My Rhino box sets (when they came out it was roughly five albums for a tenner) have provided a lot of listening, recently that has been Grunge , Jean-Luc Ponty , Cockney Rebel and De John,

Each day I don't know what I am going to listen to , and this actually means I am not listening to the radio , but sometimes your own choice is a good thing to trust . During th eseventies there were two instrumentals that I loved , one was Deodato's take on Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" the the theme from Stanley Kubrick's "2001" , and  Roger Williams take of Bach's "Toccata" used as the them to "Rollerball" in 1975 , so I will share both of those with you , which you may or may not enjoy on this cold Friday Morning.

Sunday 27 April 2014

Orphan Black and Gilbert and Sullivan and Todd Rundgren



After the excitement of last week, this weekend has been fairly quiet, which is nice for a change, though I've still had plenty to do, but most of it has been very mundane.

I'm reading The Humans by Matt Haig and thoroughly enjoying it. I hope everyone I've given it to enjoys it as much, and I am listening to lots of music as usual but haven't done much composing recently, reminds of a quip by WS Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) when a lady asked him a question:

                           Lady: Is Bach still composing?
                           Gilbert: No Madam, He's Decomposing!



Always makes me chuckle.

Orphan Black ... so many

There's a lot of local festivals coming up so I will publish a list on the Spoongig site. Also TV seems to be rammed with brilliant TV series such as The Blacklist, Orphan Black is returning so how Tatiana Maslany remembers who she is or is playing I haven't a clue, but I am so looking forward to that.

Next week is another Bank Holiday, I could easily get used to a four day week.

Sports wise today Liverpool play Chelsea in what could be the Premier League Title decider, If Liverpool win then need another point to guarantee the title , and given their final game of the season is against Newcastle I think that wold be nailed on.

So anyway I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday, but I've included a live recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" from Iolanthe, which I first heard on his album Todd in the seventies. Rundgren is one of the most amazing musicians ever managing to include in his canon almost every strand of worthy popular music.I could do a blog post on him , maybe I will this week.

Monday 17 June 2013

Classical Gas

Back to work today and still coughing like hell. Tonight we had a lovely sunset though and the weather is still great , though most of the public will forget about it when it next rains.

Anyway I put on an album of obscureish seventies rock instrumental and the first song on is Joy by Apollo 100, a modern take on one of my favourite Bach pieces "Jesu Joy of Man's Desire". I'm not particularly God fearing or religious but sometimes enjoy classical massacres (see Emerson Lake and Palmer) and this is not too bad barring the "tasteful" guitar bits. Anyway today's June's Tune is here: