What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (VOL V)

The Necks - Silverwater - named after the suburb of Sydney near the Olympic Park, I used to cycle round here regularly. First listen, will probably not be such easy listening.



BBC Review - The Necks are among the world’s most consistently great exponents of improvised music. While their last album Townesville (2007) was an inspired example of what they do onstage, Silverwater (named after one of Sydney’s industrial suburbs, synonymous with its jail) returns them to the studio, and finds them on typically fine form.
Although they created it spontaneously, much of the appeal of this single 67-minute piece lies in the way individual parts have been edited into and out of the mix as it unfolds in an ever-changing series of overlapping tableaux. The music pulses and flows with all the chaotic, natural logic of passing weather systems. It isn’t always easy listening, largely as a result of Tony Buck’s drums and percussion, which may at times try the nerves. Silverwater is the kind of album you might put on at the end, rather than the middle of a dinner party, perhaps as an incentive for recalcitrant guests to leave.
The trio’s arrangement of piano (Chris Abrahams), drums (Buck) and double bass (Lloyd Swanton) still forms the basic musical template. But Silverwater has a greater variety of sounds – many beautiful and intriguing, others more unsettling – than most of its makers’ recent albums. There are sumptuous gongs, a loitering organ, twitchy, low-key electronica, waves of electric guitar ambience, the clattering sound of the anklung (a tuned bamboo rattle used in Indonesian traditional music) and even some whistling.
To take one inspired sequence as an example, at around 17 minutes in, against a rising four-note bass motif and some rather shamanic tom rolls, you suddenly notice the introduction of a gently tapped cymbal. A short while later, what sounds like some sort of night insect (but could be a synthesised effect) appears, followed by shimmering keyboard… and so it goes on.
The last third of the album is unusually quiet, but listen closely and you can hear a funk rhythm section pounding away in the room next door to the studio… or is it coming through the walls of your flat? Aural hallucinations abound. Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Necks is how obscure and unique they remain, at the cutting edge of Australian music.

Shelley Short "A Cave, A Canoo"

The Temper Trap "Conditions"

Marsha Swanson "Sentient Stardust"

Josh Rouse "The Best of the Rykodisc Tears"
disc 1 - highlights of his initial 4 releases



good, good stuff by another under-appreciated artist

1981..the return from recluse album...

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:
The Necks - Silverwater - named after the suburb of Sydney near the Olympic Park, I used to cycle round here regularly. First listen, will probably not be such easy listening.

It would be hard to follow that listening experience so I have not. Challenging, abstract, highly absorbing and quite compelling on first listen. I look forward to revisiting this one very soon.

~<>~ Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe ~<>~
(c.1640 - 1700)

Les Voix humaines

Margaret Little viola da gamba
Barak Norman, London 1703

Susie Napper viola da gamba
Bernard Prunier, Paris 1982

Concerts a deux violes esgales

VolumeII: Concerts XIX

ATMA Classique CD @ 2004

Vinyl, Vivaldi & I Musici to match the feathery snow outside.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Lute Music Volumes 1 & 2, Eduardo Egüez (Lute), MA Recordings

Prelude, Fugue and Allegro for Lute in E flat major, BWV 998
Suite for Lute in G minor, BWV 995
Partita for Lute in C minor, BWV 997

Partita for Lute in E major, BWV 1006a
Sonata for Violin solo no 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: 1st movement, Adagio
Fugue for Lute in G minor, BWV 1000
Sonata for Violin solo no 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: 3rd mvoement, Siciliano
Sonata for Violin solo no 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: 4th movement, Presto
Prelude for Lute in C minor, BWV 999
Suite for Cello solo no 1 in G major, BWV 1007

Very relaxing, intimate music to play on a cold, wintery night. With flickering candlelight, a good book, and a little port it's easy to imagine being back in a much simpler time several centuries ago.





Hi Debs,
I just saw your post. I didn't even realize Haim was listening to the Cello Suites as well!

I haven't heard the Maurice Gendron either but you've piqued my interest. I have put it on my list of things to get in the new year!

I've only listened to Zeller now 3 times in the last 2 days. To me, he offers such a relaxed, unassuming take that I couldn't help but warm up to it immediately. I really appreciate how he takes his time with it; especially when he digs into some of the lower notes (a real plus for me!). The recorded sound quality makes this such a very special disc as well. I have most of the major names playing the Cello suites as well with Fournier and Rostropovich getting a lot of play around here. Queyras and Maisky are just as good. Everyone brings something good to the table. So I'm looking forward to hearing Gendron now....

Doug

Because it is sublime.

Thanks Doug,

I’ve not heard either yet, but would guess they are both excellent in their ways, and we know Martin Zeller’s is most likely the better sound reproduction (and so more expensive to buy). Maurice Gredron’s recording is on the Philips label, and is a digitally remastered take from a 1964 recording, but i bet it's very good. I'll probably end up buying both versions.

A lot of nice things are said about Maurice Gredron (1920-1990)

From Wikipedia... Gendron played with many musical stars of his time, including Benjamin Britten and Rudolf Serkin. His 18th Century Stradivarius, which has become known as the "Ex-Gendron" cello is currently on loan to German cellist Maria Kliegel.
Gendron taught at the Menuhin School and at the Paris Conservatoire. His students include Colin Carr, Chu Yibing and Jacqueline du Pré, among many others.

Apparently... when the 6 cello suites was first getting performed it was very successful at promoting the cello, at a time when the viola de gamba was considered dated, and unable to produce enough volume.
Although personally I have a greater affection for viols, I do admit that in the right hands the cello has it’s charm : )

Debs

Julian Bream ~ Baroque Guitar Recital

Pavanas
Composed by Gaspar Sanz

Canarios
Composed by Gaspar Sanz

Prelude in C minor
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

Fugue in G minor
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

Thème Varié et un Minuet
Composed by Fernando Sor

Passacaglia
Composed by Silvius Leopold Weiss

Fantasie
Composed by Silvius Leopold Weiss

Suite in D minor
Composed by Robert de Visée

Tombeau sur la mort de M. Comte de Logy
Composed by Silvius Leopold Weiss

Suite in E minor
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

~<>~

RCA cd @ 2003

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