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| 25 new of 268 responses total. |
chelsea
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response 175 of 268:
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Dec 19 05:41 UTC 1993 |
Curiosity got the best of me and a twenty dollar bill. I purchased
Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No.3 done by the London Sinfonietta,
David Zinman, conducting. It is a very interesting piece, part
Barber's Adagio for Strings and part Mahler with a truly haunting
soprano woven through it all. It begins with a slow rumble of
solo double bases building to something akin to thunder before
other voices enter in what eventually sounds quite fugue-like.
The composer was born and has spent most of his life living
near Auschwitz, Poland. The death camp, and specifically a poem
written on a cell block wall, is both the symphony's inspiration
and theme.
This is what I refer to as earphone music. Be alone, in the dark,
and listen as the story unfolds. A CD worth owning.
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aa8ij
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response 176 of 268:
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Dec 19 22:48 UTC 1993 |
Does anyone know if 2001: A space oddesey is on CD yet?
I MUST have it.
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md
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response 177 of 268:
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Dec 20 17:06 UTC 1993 |
At Natural Wonders at Twelve Oaks Mall, I picked up a CD called
"The Tao of Cello," twenty-something solo cello improvisations
supposedly inspired by passages from Tao Te Ching and performed
and recorded in an old barn in Connecticut. It sounded too
good to be true, and of course it was. Not a glimpse of the
Tao did I catch in any of these snippets.
I also bought three "nature sounds" CDs. The thunderstorms and
woods 'n' meadows are okay, but the seashore is awesome. Wave
after wave comes thudding and hissing in, with asymmetric
relentlessness. Quite hypnotic, as is the real thing. I want
to say that *here* is digital Tao, but a sage would doubtless
reply that the true Tao can be found in the silences *between*
the waves. You can't win with those guys.
Btw, I'm sorry to say that a reaction against Gorecki's Third
Symphony has been developing. A number of letters to BBC Music
magazine have expressed the opinion that Gorecki's Third is
boring and lowbrow; and the December SPY magazine includes it
in a list of "The 100 Worst People, Places and Things of 1993."
It was bound to happen. (I'm sure Maestro Gorecki is crying
all the way to the bank.)
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remmers
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response 178 of 268:
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Dec 20 19:48 UTC 1993 |
On the other hand, some things that end up on such lists actually
*are* boring and lowbrow. I must say I was favorably impressed
on listening to Gorecki's Third, though, and I think I have
*something* of an ear for music.
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chelsea
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response 179 of 268:
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Dec 21 23:42 UTC 1993 |
Michael, that "Tao of Cello" sounds intriguing. I trust you
it's not very Taoish but what is it? Also, is anyone familiar
with Kronos and maybe able to point me toward their entry level
(least experimental) disk?
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md
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response 180 of 268:
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Dec 22 14:20 UTC 1993 |
"Tao of Cello" is simple, tonal, and mostly very pre-Schoenberg
European sounding. Childish, almost. I don't even hear the old
barn in Connecticut in it, much less the Tao. I've been trying
to work up the energy to listen to some Kronos myself. I hear they
have a new hit recording out, and I might go pick it up soon.
If anyone else knows about them, however, do please share your
impressions.
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md
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response 181 of 268:
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Dec 22 17:12 UTC 1993 |
I relistened to The Tao of Cello, and there are a couple of
oriental-sounding cuts on it, as well as some pop-inspired stuff
and one improvisation on Bach. The "oriental" cuts are just
chinoiseries, nothing authentic. The pop roots of a couple of
the cuts are vague - I think I recognize Joni Mitchell in cut
#19. It's all very pleasant and insubstantial.
The cellist is David Darling, and the CD is produced by
something called The Relaxation Company. I see from the
enclosed catalog that they're the ones who produced the CD
(#CD572 for those interested) that literally drove me out of a
bookstore on Cape Cod a couple of summers ago. It consists of
the same performance of Pachelbel's Canon repeated over and over
and over again for about an hour, against a background of nature
sounds. I just couldn't stand another minute of it.
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chelsea
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response 182 of 268:
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Dec 22 19:41 UTC 1993 |
Ah, I know of David Darling. He is on the New Age disk "Amber"
along with a pianist whose name I can't recall. It's okay music
to have in the background while reading or behind conversation.
Nobody out there has any Kronos?
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md
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response 183 of 268:
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Dec 29 15:52 UTC 1993 |
Blomstedt/SF playing Sibelius, and Giulini/LSO playing Falla.
This is my first Sibelius 2nd on CD. It's a good performance and
a nice crisp DDD recording. The 2nd was the first Sibelius
symphony I ever heard. You can still hear what made it seem so
fresh and radical when it was new. Coupling the pop hit Valse
Triste with the forbidding Tapiola is a novel idea. The liner
notes comment that even though Siegfried journeyed through the
woods without fear, two minutes in the forest of Tapiola and he'd
be scared shitless. It isn't an easy piece to listen to at
first. Despite the frantic pace of a couple of the episodes, the
overall pace is slow - unbelievably slow. There's nothing else
like it in music.
If sun never breaks through the clouds in Tapiola (well, maybe
one wan ray transfixes the very last chord), The Three-Cornered
Hat is all sunlight and wine and horseplay. It's gotta be the
most good-natured piece of music ever written. It never fails to
cheer me up. El Amor Brujo is less conventional and more
dramatic, Nights in the Gardens of Spain is more musicianly, but
El Sombrero de Tres Picos will always be my favorite. The
Giulini version of these three pieces is expansive with just the
right amount of bite.
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remmers
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response 184 of 268:
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Dec 29 18:44 UTC 1993 |
Sibelius' 2nd is the first Sibelius symphony I ever heard also, and is
one of my favorite pieces of music, especially the last movement. I
wouldn't mind acquiring a CD version sometime, so thanks for the review.
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shaymu
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response 185 of 268:
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Dec 31 01:28 UTC 1993 |
Has anyone heard "Cyborgasm"? If so, what was it like?
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sandeep
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response 186 of 268:
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Dec 31 08:45 UTC 1993 |
Has anybody heard the Breeders' "Last Splash" in its entirety? I've only
heard "Cannonball" and "Divine Hammer"- they're great, and I'm wondering
if the rest of the album is as good.
What would you all recommend as your top albums of 1993? Off the top of my
head I would have to include Dinosaur Jr's "Where You Been," Smashing
Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream," and Greg Osby's "3-D Picnic."
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krj
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response 187 of 268:
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Jan 3 06:19 UTC 1994 |
Hi, we're just back from a long holiday trip, and we are way behind.
Mary, were you looking to borrow a Kronos CD? We have PIECES OF AFRICA
floating around here somewhere.
Sandeep, I'm afraid that "Cannonball" has become something of a
laughingstock around here. It's so painfully evident that Kelly Deal
picked up her guitar about four months earlier... I dunno, this sort
of thing seemed more interesting when The Raincoats did it, or maybe
I was younger then.
Top albums of 1993? Still working on my list, but at the top of the
list are Hedningarna/KAKSI, Cordelia's DadHOW CAN I SLEEP, and
The Poozies/CHANTOOZIES.
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sandeep
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response 188 of 268:
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Jan 3 09:30 UTC 1994 |
Ken, I thoroughly agree with your comment about Kelly Deal, but I
still appreciate the DIY ethos of pun/ post-punk enough to actually
find it charming. I also like the sound of Kim Deal's voice over the
noisiness of the song in general, and I must confess that the video
for "Cannonball" also wins me over- Kim Deal looks like she's having a
great time.
>
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chelsea
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response 189 of 268:
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Jan 6 15:23 UTC 1994 |
I'd like to borrow that Kronos disk, Ken. Should you find it
please let me know and I'll walk on over and pick it up. Thanks.
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krj
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response 190 of 268:
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Jan 8 04:04 UTC 1994 |
Ack, I have mislaid it. I'm still looking.
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bartlett
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response 191 of 268:
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Jan 10 05:09 UTC 1994 |
With Christmas gift certificates I recently renewed my acquaintance with
Steely Dan through the "Katey Lied" and "Pretzel Logic" albums. I very much
like Pretzel Logic, it's cool jazzy style appeals to the musician in me.
"Katey Lied" left me a little cold, but it may grow on me.
I also found Stan Rogers' "Between the Breaks Live" which I've been playing
to death ever since. For any of you folk-likers out there who don't know
who Stan Rogers was (alas he is no more) I cannot urge you strongly enough
to go thou and buy buy buy!!! Between the Breaks Live is a collection of
live cuts that is a wonderful group of sometimes rousing, sometimes deeply
moving songs.
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krj
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response 192 of 268:
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Jan 12 06:07 UTC 1994 |
Ack, chelsea, I have *really* mislaid it. It's in a missing stack of
discs, I think, and I may just have to wait for the house to regurgitate
them. (I did find a valuable & missing network management book while I
was looking, thanks....)
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remmers
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response 193 of 268:
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Jan 12 12:18 UTC 1994 |
(Well, perhaps we could borrow the network management book then,
and I could carry out my long-standing threat to set up a computer
network in this house... :)
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chelsea
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response 194 of 268:
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Jan 13 00:46 UTC 1994 |
No prob, Ken, thanks for looking.
Ethernet cable is hazardous to your health, Remmers. Trust me
on this one. (To those wondering... I consider spouses linking
their computers together something akin to sharing the same toothbrush.
Like why?)
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rcurl
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response 195 of 268:
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Jan 13 07:13 UTC 1994 |
Like, they are different genders?
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danr
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response 196 of 268:
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Jan 16 00:18 UTC 1994 |
Well, to connect the computers via an Ethernet, he would have to
mate a male connector with a female connector.
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md
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response 197 of 268:
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Jan 27 14:24 UTC 1994 |
The latest offering from BBC Music arrived yesterday. It's a
live-performance recording of Schubert's "Great" C major
symphony. It was Schubert's 7th when I first heard Toscanini
perform it when I was a kid, but it's since been elevated to #9.
I actually let out a whoop of joy when I opened the package and
saw what was inside. This symphony is one of my oldest friends.
It's an awesome piece of music. Someone once likened the
momentum of the last movement to that of an orbiting planet.
Schubert composed it when he was only twenty-nine years old,
which I'm sure seemed like a plausibly advanced age to me when I
myself was twelve.
Autobiographical tidbit: After listening to my first recording
of this symphony umpteen times, I found that I had acquired a
minor form of perfect pitch. I could hear middle C any time I
liked, just by imagining the first note of this symphony played
by the French horns, and I could produce any other note by
counting up or down from middle C. I can still do it, although I
find middle C varies from one recording to another and from one
instrument to another, which must drive people with *real*
perfect pitch crazy. Also, although if you ask me to sing a
specific note anywhere within my vocal range I can usually come
within a quarter-tone of it, I've never learned to identify a
specific random note when it's played. This separates Schubert's
little gift to me from the big one people like my friend Jane
Schecter got directly from God.
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md
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response 198 of 268:
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Jan 31 15:52 UTC 1994 |
Slatkin/St. Louis performing Aaron Copland's Symphony #3 and
"Music for a great City." The latter is a reworking of Copland's
score for the film "Something Wild." I don't care for it.
I've known Copland's Third Symphony since the original Antal
Dorati recording came out way back when. It's from the
composer's populist period. The themes are all very simple;
anyone can follow their progress through the symphony. There are
some folk-like melodies scattered throughout. Copland's
celebrated "Fanfare for the Common Man" not only provides most of
the symphony's themes, but is quoted in full at the beginning of
the fourth movement. This is as much a historical document as
anything else, like Shostakovich's "Leningrad" Symphony.
The secret heart of the symphony is the conclusion of its first
movement. After a fortissimo climax, the music settles down into
a long quiet meditation on the first theme. I have no idea what
Copland had in mind when he wrote it, apart from considerations
of structure and contrast. But it's the least calculated, most
inspired passage in the symphony, and one of the loveliest things
Copland ever wrote. The mood is the thing. Imagine standing
alone on a New England village common on a winter evening.
Silence, snow falling. As the twilight deepens, one by one the
lights come on in the houses on the common. You watch the scene
for a few minutes, then walk home.
Slatkin does a very nice job. This is the best recorded
performance since Bernstein's.
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chelsea
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response 199 of 268:
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Feb 5 15:25 UTC 1994 |
Last night I had this irresistible urge to visit Tower Records and check
out Middle Earth's window display. The window display could be titled,
"When Snowmen Go Bad". I left Tower with the Kronos CD, "White Man
Sleeps".
Yowser, I can see why folks have a difficult time describing Kronos music.
There are eight cuts on the disk. The last is Bartok's "String Quartet
No.3" done with an edge I've not heard before, anywhere. "Amazing Grace"
is an incredible 12 minute display of variations on the theme of the
gorgeous gospel psalm. There are a couple of mostly atonal pieces where
the ensemble gets to showcase their amazing technical skills - the cello
is slapped and a rough, base-style pizzicato is background for upper
instrument strings being stretched while notes are slid into key. It's
throaty, sweaty, jazzy and defies being labeled. "Morengo... Almost a
Tango" is an exquisite, moody piece, and my favorite on the disk.
Kronos is made up of four voices, two violins, a viola, and a cello.
Sounds traditional enough but what comes out is more toward jazz than
classical. It's unpredictable, earthy, and screams talent.
I'll be back for more.
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