What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
My listening amongst others these past few days when I have been working away
ewemon posted:
Ewemon,
I have heard a few tracks from this and it sounds good - I have put it on my list to buy.
The triple vinyl version of this master work from the Who, which arrived today. I'm just playing it through for the second time. The live show at the Young Vic is really good - great sound, some audience banter from Pete and well played too. Not bad for a tenner! I call that a bargain.
CD Rip. I subscribed to BBC Music magazine for a couple of years (probably 20 or 25 years ago), the cover discs were usually oretty good quality. A good performance here of the Archduke and a very good Dvorak.
Tommy Flanagan - Jazz poet
From allmusic.com:
By the time of this recording, pianist Tommy Flanagan had been performing for decades -- mostly as a sideman -- for a who's who of jazz: players such as Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson, and Sonny Rollins, to name a few. His perfect, yet unassuming style made him the pianist of choice for dozens of musicians. While he has recorded as a leader from time to time, this album may be the best representation of his work available. He performs a set of great tunes ("Caravan," "Willow Weep for Me," "St. Louis Blues," "Lament," and others) in a topflight trio, with George Mraz on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. Flanagan is at the peak of his powers. Never flashy, never showy, this is just outstanding music performed by a true master who is one of the great bop pianists of the 20th century.
seakayaker posted:Now Playing
k d lang - Ingenue
Sweet voice and sweet songs.......
Your post the other day reminded me to play this. It's still one of my favourites albums and the one to i'm listening to now as i type.
Her voice, the musicianship and some absolutely beautiful songs. Perfect.
Excellent SBD recording of The Dan on their 2011 "Shuffle Diplomacy" tour. Playing is impeccable as you'd expect although DF's voice sounds a little strained to begin with. WB's humorous interludes sounding poignant and will be sadly missed.
Jeroen20 posted:Sviatoslav RIchter - The Well-Tempered Clavier
Watching Sir Andras Schiff play Book 1 from memory at the Royal Albert Hall on BBC 4 at this very moment. 1 hr left! I listen through my system using a 5m toslink into the nDAC. Great SQ all things considered.
Phil
"Schirmer shares with Glenn Gould the ability to clarify lines of music in complex pieces that are always on the verge of becoming musical noise in the hands of less skilled performers. And she does not sing along. This makes her particularly suited to music that, even when quiet or slow, can have several things going on at once."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpWDeUmPAP0
Now Playing......
Bill Frisell - Before We Were Born
Bill Frisell (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo), Hank Roberts (vocals, cello), Arto Lindsay (vocals, electric guitar), Julius Hemphill (alto saxophone), Billy Drewes (alto saxophone), Doug Wieselman (baritone saxophone), Peter Scherer (keyboards), Kermit Driscoll (electric bass), Joey Baron (drums, percussion) Cyro Baptista (shaker).
Spending some time with Bill this evening, no a bad way of spending one's time.....
Now Playing.....
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Listening to an album that is new to me, I own a few of Tori's albums but have not heard this one. Taking Tori out for a spin.......
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Helmut Walcha (harpsichord Ammer)
After years and years of having this set on my wishlist, the day has finally arrived. The reason is in acknowledgement of my total respect and admiration of Helmut Walcha, the person. While his approach and viewpoint on the music of Bach is not one that I am totally convinced of I still find that I can learn something from his playing and perspective.
The difficulties I have are mostly the same, in general, when one gets into the 'type' of keyboard used. The Pharisees usually go on about the authenticity and unchanging rules and styles (typical of an academic who has lost touch with reality). Rarely do they talk about the music itself. Today, if you look at comments on youtube (which I rarely do as most often they are immature and boorish) you will most always see a stock comment on a Bach recording on a piano of "he/she plays this like it is Chopin - this is Bach" and much more nasty comments than this. Whatever this means it simply shows an incompetency or shortcomings in the emotional department. Rules are the only thing that matter here as the 'type' of keyboard is placed on the alter and worshipped rather than the musical nourishment.
For me, it might matter on the mood I'm in. When I received this a few days ago I had a listen and was totally depressed afterwards. Today, I am warming up to it a little more but the core problem still remains.
For certain, you cannot get away from the sound. You have to 'want' the harpsichord sound, I would imagine? In fact, you insist on it. When one has the best recordings on a modern grand then comparison is inevitable and one has to wonder about what sound quality adds to the equation (one expects to always seek the more pleasing medium?) This harpsichord is not as soft as some and not as twangy as others. You also have to desire metronomic precision and the predictability that comes with this. Walcha loathed rubato. It is like understanding how a very complicated mechanical chronograph functions (looking at all the gears, springs, tolerances and all mathematics and calculations simply allow everything to function perfectly) but not realizing that all that effort is only for telling us the time or the date etc. For those who look beyond the minutiae you marvel at all the nuts and bolts and find that checking the time of a marvellous mechanical watch becomes a special event in itself. It is the complete package.
That is what I miss here. It seems focused on some aspects of Bach's wondrous works and avoids or dictates that other parts of its beauty should be avoided lest one become overindulged or god forbid-too romantic or too emotional. As a result, I think I can only take this in small doses. The sameness in approach from disc to disc becomes predictable and monotonous. This seems to poke creativity in the eye and leaves musicality out of the equation let alone rhythm and other musical notions. For the most part though I do not mind his tempos.
I realize that for some this is purity in the highest form and they only need one recording (on a harpsichord) to be fulfilled. Here, we just have to agree to disagree. It is interesting that two polar opposite views can exist for the same music such as say the e-minor Prelude in WTC I. On a harpsichord, Walcha clearly aims for staunch defiance in the face of tragedy. There is no damn way he is going to yield on this and drop a tear. On a piano, under the right hands (and attitude) one relishes in the tears of despair or even just the profound sadness one can feel (such as realizing how small and insignificant we are in a large and vast universe. This music somehow is so consoling when you realize Bach was giving us an antidote and utter respect for our Creator through music.
Of course, we can only speculate but I choose to believe that even though Bach may have put on a front in public settings I think that based on some of his music (easily disguised on the surface but there for those who know the password) it is clear he also had a soul, heart and plenty of human emotion.
Now Playing.....
Amina Alaoui & Ahmed Piro - Arabo-Andalusian Music of Marocco
After listening to an album featuring Amina Alaoui last evening I wanted to hear more of her music and found this out on Tidal. Here goes.......
The new Cat Stevens/Yusuf
Long time since I listened to a Paul Brady album