Decorative Christmas Music.

Yesterday was our Christmas decorating day.

  I love the yearly decorating day, for it means great music; Mostly choral, some symphonic and a healthy smattering of pop-y (almost said poopy) renditions.

  In my house it also means a ceremonious dusting off of the record player. Yes, a huge majority of our Christmas collection is in a beautiful, unabashed, analog format for which I am well thankful. Vinyl records have (in my humble opinion) the most honest and real sound to be experienced in a recorded media. There is one other thing about them that really gets my motors humming.

 

THE JACKETS!

   "They just do not make them like they used to." a.

  I adore these things. The colors give you the feeling that they have been dobbed on with an oil paint -brush and then fogged out to conceal any real definition to edges and lines for that "Oh so smooth and silky"b. look. Not only that, but our artistic media awareness/prowess has brought us to the point where this...

  ...is no longer considered a viable option for presentation. I am at a loss as to why this is the case.

  Oh, how I love the sounds of the great artists of our time. These names in music mean everything to me. (cough, cough)

  So, for about a month, this library of music will get an outstanding work-out and I will spend this time wearing a precise grin that says, "This is how I decorate my brain for Christmas."


a. Anonymous older person.
b. Anonymous smooth radio personallity.

Drab Day Ditties for Me.

  I find that some days just call out for melancholy melodies.

  When this occurs I find myself struggling to find the right album to wallow with and because of this, end up listening to something that changes my mood. This really is not a major problem. Music is enjoyable to me even if it has an unintended a effect.
  Oddly enough, it happens to be on the days when I am chipper and looking for some happy tunes that I stumble across Hayden's Elk Lake Serenade. Now do not get me wrong, this is a great album, but I find myself in a state of hum-drums after taking in this musical snack. It has the right elements for those chilly, somewhat dark days. Mumbled lyrics, simple instrumentation and a lot of minor key melodies.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00026KGHO/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img

One of these days I will play this in the appropriate mood. Until then it will continue to surprise me.

Why I love soundtracks.

  The impact that a soundtrack has on a multi-media experience is one of the most important aspects for me.

  For instance, my decision to buy The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was influenced greatly by its accompanying musical tracks. I ordered the soundtrack months before I purchased the game and the effect it had on the gaming experience was awesome! To see the landscapes, objects and characters that had inspired the music after the fact, was very interesting. Normally I will have watched the movie or played the game for which a soundtrack is written before dissecting it from its greater whole.

  Soundtracks, believe it or not, can be great works. The Star Wars saga would not have had the impact it did without John Williams at the wheel with the London Symphony Orchestra performing. I would also argue that Howard Shore captured the spirit of middle earth perfectly with his score for the Lord of the Rings films.

  Today I purchased the soundtrack to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and look foward to getting to know this music before I enter its virtual reality counter-part.

https://www.directsong.com/index.php#/shop/product/SR102

  http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Return-Complete-Recordings/dp/B000V6BE6M/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1321735150&sr=8-8

  Renée Fleming performs on a number of the Lord of the Rings tracks along with Annie Lennox and Enya. I love how Mr. Shore, who is a Canadian I might add, succeeds at utilizing these different vocal styles to enhance his scoring to such great effect.

Shostakovich!

No other composer has inspired me more deeply than Shostakovich.

  Go and listen to his 10th symphony. I do not believe you will tell me that your time was wasted. This work is incredible. It haunts me, sends me into fits of ecstacy, has me jumping out of my seat in high energy and leaves me singing its melodies for the remainder of the day.
 
  #13  This symphony was not a quick love for me. It grew slowly, but all the more intensely for it. Shostakovich had a powerful way of commenting on tragedy. His personal sense of horror at the treatment of the Jews during World War II is astounding. He took a personal stake in revealing and reminding people of the holocaust.

  "...It would be good if Jews could live peacefully and happily in Russia, where they were born. But we must never forget about the dangers of anti-Semitism and keep reminding others of it, because the infection is still alive and who knows if it will ever disappear."  (quoted from Volkov, Testimony, 158—159.)


 

 10th Mvmt. I   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zA5lv8uZHw&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL973071124207D84A

10th Mvmt. II  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZbJOE9zNjw

10th Mvmt. III  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTGNZrkcDQ&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL973071124207D84A

10th Mvmt.  IV  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFDLGj_SJRM&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL973071124207D84A

13th  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpSnWW1du0Q&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL541BB26B3C9099C5

  Playing Cello was fun right from the beginning, but I did not awaken to the emotional impact and soulical effect it had on me until I learned Shostakovich's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40.

  From then on, the world of music became a more intense place for me.

  It is November 11th today and in Canada it is a time for remembering those who fight and have fought on our behalf to bring peace.

  I am thankful for the heroic actions taken by our veterans to stop the violence that had infected many during WWII.

PRINCE

It is my birthday today and I have received one of the best things I could have hoped for:

Tickets to a Prince concert in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

  My wife and I agree on only a few pop artists. Prince happens to be the one that we end up gushing about the most. As far as we are both concerned his talent and skill are superior to all other pop artists. Yes, I know that this statement may cause controversy amongst Michael Jackson fans, but that is just too bad.
  Prince can stand in one place on stage and clap and his charisma will draw you in instantly. That is all he has to do. He does so much more, but he is not required to in order to catch your complete attention. I also respect him for the fact that he writes, produces, and performs all his own work. The man can play a guitar superbly, as well.

  As far as albums go, he has yet to produce the perfect album. That being said Diamonds and Pearls is the closest thing to it in my opinion.


I would post a picture and a link to samples if it were not for the fact that Prince will not allow it. He is fairly strict when it comes to licensing issues. It is alright, I love him anyways.

A very large bit of symphonic music.

 In light of the fact that my Mom is attending a performance of Mahler's 3rd Symphony, I decided to write something on it.

  I began listening to this particular symphony a few years ago and to say that I was hooked promptly would be a fallacy. It received a good number of scrutinizing listens before it settled in proper. That being said, every time I hear it played it receives rapt attention. I now consider it among my favorites.
  If the opportunity arrises for me to hear this work in a live performance, I will be attending with a euphoric sense of expectation.

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1040831/a/Mahler+3+%2F+Solti,+Helga+Dernesch,+Chicago+Symphony.htm

This is one of the greatest syphonies written. It also happens to be quite lengthy, which suits me just fine. Why would you want such fantastic music to end quickly? (P.S. Mom, I hope you enjoy the performance to the utmost degree.)

Years in the making.

This album followed a quiet spell of twenty years.

  Steely Dan had released Gaucho in 1980 and with it, created possibly one of the best musical creations to date. (My opinion) Musicianship, creativity and all-around cleverness seemed to have peaked.
  This style of music was not on my radar until about two years ago when my Piano Master, Mark Cramer, introduced me. I have never looked back.
  Two Against Nature is brilliant and lives up to the steady progress that the Dan had left off with. This is clearly a piece of genius.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00004GOXS/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img

  The lyrics might not make you giggle like it does me, if you do not have quite the dark sense of humor that I do, but the grooves should give you the urge to jive.

Something very unique. (in concept at least)

I've discovered a new genre. Well, a sub-genre I have been told.

Battle Metal...

  Yeah, I know right? But shock and after-shock, this stuff is good. It has a lot of elements I really enjoy. One of those being that my sons think it is outrageously fun.
  This album has got fist pumping anthems, speedy shredding bits, foreign accents, pirates and an instrumental track that has me in stitches with giddy excitement every time I hear it. (Venetoi! - Prasinoi!)

http://www.myspace.com/turisasofficial

  Just in case you have not noticed yet, I will not be sticking to any one genre.

  If this does hurt your feelings it is not really my fault. If it does not? Great! I look forward to writing to you in the near future.

A Morning Musical Surprise

  I am not a strong believer in cover-bands or covers in general.  Usually they drive me nuts due to the fact that the artist covering will either try to copy the original exactly or create some sort of way-out-there rendition.

  Why copy, the original is awesome and to try to mimic it should be something you do at home for yourself.

  This is a generalization but massively altered and downright changed covers usually appear to be an attempt at proving musical savvey.

That being said, surprises do show up every once in a while. For instance this morning I went looking for Sufjan Steven's Seven Swans artwork and stumbled across this. 

http://onjoyfulwings.bandcamp.com/album/seven-swans-reimagined

  Seven Swans is an album that I hold in great esteem. It is solidly written and produced. To me it has a perfect blend of moody, joyful, out in the woods sentimentalities. One of those albums that if the suggestion had been made to cover, I would have scoffed at.

  I would have been wrong...