Eclectic, or what?! (Top 10 Albums)

Member Name: kimgraham

Product:	Top 10 Albums
Date:	26/09/02 (372 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I like them

Disadvantages: you may not!

I started writing this in August, but it seemed an uphill task. As a professional classical musician I didn't see how I could do it, but then it was suggested to me that I could do five of each. That should have made life easier, but..... so here we are 7 weeks later and I suddenly had the urge, in the middle of the night, to finish it!



DARK SIDE OF THE MOON - PINK FLOYD

Dark Side of the moon is for me, the epitome of the seventies. It was released in 1973 and remained in the album charts in excess of 566 weeks. I think that is an amazing achievement!

It was Pink Floyd's 9th album and was considered seriously ahead of it?s time.It was in the album charts from 73-86 and sold 10 million in the States alone during that period. Amazing!

The lyrics deal with the shortcomings and brevity of the human condition. All the songs are linked thematically, rather than being a collection of individual songs.

In the states it was Pink Floyd's first album to reach the top 20. Currently sales have topped 23 million and it is among the top 10 selling CD's of all time. This album is surely a timeless classic.

Why do I like it so much? Well, it is mood music, enormously evocative and atmospheric. I also think it has an interesting spatial feel to it. DSOM was recorded during 1972 when there was much technological innovation. The band capitalised on this and some experimental techniques were used in the recording of it.
The timbre is very interesting in places with the use of multi layering, sound effects, voice overs and synthesizers. We all take synthesizers for granted, but they were still something of a novelty back then.

I was at school when it was released and bought an LP straight away. My parents hated it, thought it sounded like "druggy music", if there is such a thing! I used to lie on the floor, close my eyes and just let the wonderfulness of it wash over me. I have don

e that at interva
ls all my life ever since. It is an album with which I could never become bored, or outgrow.

Probably the most famous track is Money, with it's tinkly cash register at the beginning. It is very catchy but not my favourite. I am quite partial to the very sexy sax solo in Us and Them. It is just so erotic and dreamy. There is a non vocal track- On the Run, which consists of a synthesizer playing ostinato ( repeated) semiquavers ( notes which are fast, for those who don't understand musical terminology!). It is almost hypnotic, especially if you have had a few! It can really make your head spin!

My favourite track is Brain Damage- don't say a word!! It is almost surreal and begins to calm the whole thing down, if anything can be calm that has a loony laughing manically in the background! Nonetheless, the level of everything drops and it is a moment of sheer magic when it drops into the gentle conclusion "Eclipse".
The album ends peacefully and I always feel it has taken me on a complete journey.
Lovely, lovely stuff- highly recommend it!


CCS- CCS

You may not all remember CCS. However, many of you will have heard them without knowing! For very many years Whole Lotto Love, as performed by CCS was the theme music for Top of the Pops.

Now, before going any further I should admit to a slight bias. My father was a member of CCS and I was at all the recording for the three albums. That being said, I still think they were a wonderful band, and it was a shame they were so short lived.

I had difficulty choosing which of the three albums to choose, but opted for the first, called simply, CCS.

Alexis Korner and Micky Most who was a record producer formed CCS in 1970. Micky had just started the new RAK label, and it was on this that CCS recorded out of Morgan studios. The idea was to combine a rock band with jazz. A second singer, Peter Thorup was se
conde
d too. He was a perfect foil for the gravelly voiced Korner, being mellifluous and considerably higher pitched. Alexis Korner?s singing voice almost bordered on speech sometimes!


With the two excellent singers in place and the wonderful arranger John Cameron they set about employing the crème de la crème of London's session and jazz players. The idea was to bridge the gap between jazz and rock as it was felt that the big band era and jazz had been quite badly affected by the likes of Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Elvis. Frankly, I think there is enough room in this world for all musical tastes to be catered for side by side, so for me this was a terrific initiative.

CCS stands for Collective Consciousness Society, just in case anyone was interested!
The music was meaty, with lots of heavy brass and some pretty amazing woodwind sounds as well. They had two percussion players sometimes for a bit of extra beef! Some of the songs were bluesy and these tended to be sung by Korner. The more poppy ones were usually sung by Pete Thorup. He used to wear pink or yellow trousers! Great singer though. I am not sure what happened to him when the band disbanded.

On the first album CCS there were 13 tracks
Boom Boom
Satisfaction (interesting arrangement of Jagger number)
Waiting Song
Looking for Fun
Living in the Past
Sunrise
Dos Cantos
Wade in the water
Tap turns on the Water (what was with the water obsession?! )
Walking
Salome
Save the World

If you remember Whole Lotta Love (originally recorded by Led Zeppelin of course) you might also remember Tap Turns on the Water? The band were very popular at the time and were in the top 20 five times in a row, with Walkin', Tap Turns on the Water, Brother and Band Plays the Boogie. One of my personal favourites was Cannibal Sheep, but I always was a sucker for Alexis' singing. He nicked my lager just as he started to record
this one as h
e had a sore throat. We found out later he had cancer, Very sad.
.

Alexis Korner didn't like touring and gave up singing to do voice overs for adverts. What a waste!
CCS disbanded in 1973. Shame! The three albums were CCS, CCS II, and The Best Band in the Land. There have been two compilation albums released on CD with most of the material on them. If you haven't heard this band I would recommend them. You will rarely find a band with so many supreme musicians playing. Excellent!


SAMUEL BARBER - VIOLIN CONCERTO

I am a violinist, so I felt I had to have a major violin work. Goodness me, it was hard to choose. Eventually I settled on the concerto by Samuel Barber.

Barber was an American composer who lived from 1910-1981, so relatively contemporary. You would probably expect him to be a bit avant-garde? Well, not really. Barber is one of those rare composers who doesn?t have a particular style, no musical thumbprint to check him by! One thing he could do though was to write a gorgeous melody. Most of his well-known works, such as the Adagio for Strings have sumptuous erotic/ romantic melodies. The violin concerto is no exception.

The fiddle concerto was written in 1939 and consists of three movements. It is harmonically complex and sometimes very discordant but always with a fabulous tune or fragment emerging. The orchestration is also quite fragmented- a conductors nightmare!

The first two movements are intensely lyrical. The second is probably my favourite, a beautiful slow movement with such hidden depths. It starts, calm as a millpond, and build up with huge intervals (nasty to get in tune so have spent many an hour practising it I can tell you!) building up discordantly and causing great tension and passion. Having built the tension to an almost unbearable level, a bit like sex, it explodes into the last movement, which is an absolutely frenetic molto perpetuo
(perpetual motion)
. It just motors on and on, watch out orchestra, it's easy to get lost! Finally it grinds to a halt, having spent all its force.


I have played this as a soloist and orchestrally and it is the most wonderful work, so exciting. I would always have to have a copy of this one, I think!


THE MESSIAH - HANDEL


This is another work, which I could not live without. I have performed in it countless times in this country and on tour abroad. I have led the orchestra, sometimes sung the soprano solos and at other times padded out a choir.

I am not sure which I enjoy most. Possibly playing in the orchestra as the orchestral writing is excellent fun.

The Messiah was premiered in Dublin in 1742 with the composer conducting. A bit like the Rite of Spring it was considered ahead of its time and a bit controversial. The Messiah is an Oratorio. An Oratorio is a very large-scale choral work with soloists and an orchestra. The difference between an Oratorio and an Opera is that an Oratorio is not staged. Quite often it will have a religious theme, too. The Messiah consists of an Overture followed by the most ravishing tenor solo " Comfort Ye". It then takes the form of choruses interspersed with recitatives and solo arias for soprano, counter tenor (usually a female alto these days), tenor and bass.

The libretto is taken directly from the bible. It tells the story of Christ- his birth, passion and resurrection. It was this that caused the controversy, as people thought that to take the bible and set it to music and perform it in a theatre, even though not acted, was blasphemy.

The Messiah is one of the world's best-loved and known pieces of music. After the first performance success did not come. It took until 1750 for its popularity to slowly increase. Beethoven, upon hearing it some years later was so moved by it that he undertook to write out by hand the entire
text and all the music.
This was to help him have a richer understanding, he said. Beethoven's handwritten manuscript can still be seen today
.

It is a mammoth work, which takes over two hours to perform. For this reason many conductors make judicious cuts! It requires enormous stamina from all concerned. It is exhausting to perform but is so uplifting to listen to (or perform actually). It is full of emotion and power and spirituality. The music is beautiful beyond all belief. I find it hard not to believe in something when I hear this work performed. It is utterly magnificent!

There are some dubious arrangements with clarinets in the orchestra. Clarinets had not been invented in Baroque times, call me a purist, but I do prefer things to sound mildly authentic, and honky clarinets and Handel don?t go hand in glove!! Sorry all you budding Acker Bilks!!

To the music itself- it is very powerful stuff. To contrast there are some florid choruses and arias that get things moving a bit! Some movements are really uplifting, He shall Purify and the Hallelujah Chorus, to name but two.

It is customary for the audience to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus. I love tradition but goodness; all those people standing up all together make such a commotion I sometimes can't hear where I am! I think we all play it on autopilot and watch like mad and hope for the best! The last time I played it was in Germany and the conductor leaned over me and said "See you at the finishing line". That was a scary moment.

I expect you are wondering why the audience stand for the Hallelujah Chorus?

There are two stories, but both blame King George II. I will tell you both, and you can decide which one you want to believe, if any!

The first story is quite simple. It is said that the King was so moved by the pomp and majesty of the Chorus, that he rose to his feet. The audience then were obliged to follow suit. We
ll, he was the King!

<br
>The second story is more entertaining! Apparently the King fell asleep and was rudely awoken by the sheer volume of the chorus. He was disorientated, jumped to his feet and shouted out; something along the lines of where was his cup of tea! In order to cover His Majesties humiliation the audience all jumped up too.


This is one work that really makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!
I could never be without this, either!




TRAVELLIN' WITHOUT MOVING - JAMIROQUAI

I will freely admit that I am a Jamiroquai nut! Perhaps it is because of my jazz background. That I am so keen on acid jazz. My daughters and I have all the albums and choosing one of them was tricky. I nearly went for Synkronised, but Travellin' just pipped it to the post.

It is similar in style to the other albums, but to me it just seems that bit more cohesive. The lyrics are a bit naff, but Jamiroquai lyrics often are. The quality of the music makes up for that. This one is semi political as are the earlier albums, saying what a great world we live in and how we should be nice to each other!

This album was released in 1996 and reached number two in the album charts. The track I particularly like is Virtual Insanity. Funny that, as I liked Brain Damage on Dark Side of the Moon!! You could read something into that, but please don't!

Jamiroquai are easily recognisable from the amazing bass guitar writing/ playing and the Latin American percussion. Their music has a depth (of pitch and timbre) that some other bands lack. So often the bass line is just a loud, dull thud!
This album has a musical structure and beauty all of its own. The music is a combination of jazz wizardry and dance floor music.

The ubiquitous didgeridoo is used again; Jay Kay seems to have a thing for this aboriginal instrument as it is on all the albums! In the track Drifting Along t
hey " drift" into Reggae with J
ay Kay doing a reasonable impersonation of Bob Marley!
The other nice thing about Jamiroquai is that they use real instruments as well as Jay Kay has an easily recognisable voice with an amazing range and flexibility. Perhaps he inherited it from his Mother, who is a jazz singer!


BEETHOVEN - The 9 Symphonies

Now, panic not, I am not going to talk to you about all nine. I am a musician; you can't be a musician and not have these symphonies! I am going to talk to you about my favourite- no 7 in A major op 92.

Beethoven completed his 7th symphony in 1812. By this time he was almost totally deaf and suffering from depression. Somehow he managed to compose this wonderful exuberant masterpiece. It is the second largest symphony, second only to the ninth. It is believed to have been Beethoven's favourite of them all, and I have no difficulty seeing why.

Despite it's light optimism the 7th symphony is one of the most complex. It is also very long; the sostenuto introduction is almost a movement in its own right.
My favourite is the slow movement, the second. It starts with a ponderous opening with minimal instrumentation, only celli and violas playing quietly with an ostinato rhythm. Gradually, bit-by-bit, the whole orchestra join in, still with the ostinato rhythm. It is skilfully built and climaxed as only Beethoven can! You can really feel the desolation and despair as the movement progresses. It ebbs and flows but always with a bubbling undercurrent of hope.
It turns into a gentle Pastorale section with a lovely flute melody. Gradually more new thematic material is added giving the feel of a Rondo as the original theme keeps returning.

This movement is my absolute favourite piece of Beethoven. You can really let yourself go and feel your soul soar.

The 3rd and 4th movements are more fun. They are lively and vivacious to offset the solemni
ty of the slow movement and bring things to a more che
erful conclusion. The last movement is a killer to play. I made the mistake of having a drink before I played it last time. I had had such a struggle to get my fingers to go that fast! It is a romp from start to finish. Lovely!



THE RITE OF SPRING - STRAVINSKY

This has got to be one of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century. I absolutely love it.

The Rite of Spring was originally a ballet, performed by the Ballet Russe, choreographed by Diaghilev and the main dancer was Nijinsky. These days it is more often performed as an orchestral work in it?s own right.

The story is of a pagan rite, there is a spring ritual with abduction, sex and ultimately the sacrifice of a young girl dancing herself to death.
You may have heard some of the music on Fantasia. It is the bit with the dinosaurs.

The first performance of the Rite of Spring took place in Paris in 1913. This work was enormously ahead of it's time- really out on a limb. There were outrageous costumes, the dancing was angular and highly suggestive and the music like nothing people had heard before. There was a riot and chaos afterwards in the Champs Elysees. Tomatoes were thrown, people leapt onto the stage, there was jeering, all the usual rioty things.
The audience thought it was filthy and perverse.

To fully appreciate this you need to remember that this was performed not long after Elgar wrote his last Pomp and Circumstance March. (Not the Land of Hope and Glory one!)
It was years before the music was given its rightful place in the annals of music history for being a work of genius.

The music starts quietly with a lone bassoon playing very high, almost out of range. Stravinsky always pushes his players to the limits! It sets the scene for a very bleak plain before the pagan rite begins. As it progresses the music becomes both polyrhythmic and ammetric
but also polytonal, for good measure. That means there are
sometimes several keys being played at once! It is therefore, largely
dissonant.

Stravinsky loved his Russian roots and the folk music and lore of his homeland. You can spot bits of traditional Russian folk songs in the Rite, which are developed to build up eeriness and tension. There are some magical moments of pure simplicity usually followed by a barrage of sheer orchestral firepower. There is some barbaric and aggressive music in this work, to be sure! You can really feel the force, sometimes. Stravinsky uses a massive orchestra and uses many unusual instruments, particularly in the wind section. There is even a part for basset horn; you rarely come across those, these days!

Sometimes the music feels very ambivalent. Is it major or minor, or modal? Possibly all at once in some places. Using the old modes sometimes is a clever ploy, as it gives a feeling of ancient pagan times every now and again despite the score being very modern.
If you do not like very modern music then you may well not like this, but I really would not want to live without hearing it sometimes!

The Rite survived the riot and the controversy. It should perhaps have been realised that in 1913 no audience would have been quite prepared or ready for what they were about to see and hear. They must have been really shocked!

I was able to see a live production of this at the Albert Hall with the composer conducting, not long before he died. He also gave a lecture on the work and the first performance, riot et al! It was truly fascinating, and one of the most stunning live performances I have ever attended.


FANTASIA on a theme of Thomas Tallis - Vaughan Williams

This is another of my absolute must haves. It is a wonderful work for double string orchestra written in 1910. Vaughan Williams wrote it for the Three Choirs Festival . He said it was for a string c
hoir. It is based on a hymn tune by the renaissance composer, Th
omas Tallis. VW uses the stringed instruments like voices. It is a quintes
sentially English work. It is barren and aloof with the most stunning tune soaring around. I once lay on Bodmin Moor and listened to this on my walkman. The music seemed to sum up the moor- this was before the days of the beast, I might add!

You can almost hear the birds and smell the grass when you listen to this piece of music. Listening to it can drain every last drop of tension from your body. I am not going to say more- just try it, it's beautiful.


BROTHERS IN ARMS - DIRE STRAITS

Brothers in Arms is another classic. It was released in 1985 and is one of the worlds best selling albums, with over 25 million copies sold to date! This was Dire Straits' fifth album and is a mixture of moody, lyrical songs with a small number of more lively, upbeat numbers.
The two really popular upbeat numbers are Money for Nothing and Walk of Life. Both of which are quite catchy.These are both quite buoyount in contrast to the more mournful love songs which, sadly, don't have happy endings!

For me, Dire Straits are characterised by Mark Knopfler?s individual sounding voice. It is full of character, and in a strange way reminds me of a younger, higher pitched sounding, Alexis Korner. There's some super guitar playing,too.

I have had this album since it came out and it is great to do the ironing to!





SOUNDS OF SILENCE - SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

This probably has to be my number one choice, the rest will be in a random order!

This was released in 1966, it was S & G?s second album and the first of four consecutive LP hits. I have had a copy of this for more years than are decent to admit! I can remember playing it full blast in the car all the time when I was learning to drive. Poor Dad, he used to get so fe
d up!

I love this album. It was in the charts for 143 weeks,
although I find it surprising that it only reached number 21.

If you like 60?s music
and I know some of us do, then this is a classic, a real must-have. It has a typical 60's sound and I like S & G's minimalism. Less really is more in this case! You can hear the voices and some pretty nifty guitar playing because it is not overpowered by electronic additives where the band can hardly play a note for themselves!- my pet hate. It gives me aural indigestion! The beauty of this music is in its simplicity, there is a fairly basic and simple harmonic structure over a typical metric 60's type of rhythm.
As with many songs of the period the lyrics tend towards the rebellious, although as you would expect, there are Love Songs, thoughtful songs and dis-satisfaction with self songs, ie Richard Cory. Thinking about it that's pretty much what we still get today, only without the quality of these two!

I have recently bought a new remastered copy of Sounds, as my LP was jumping all over the place. It seems really odd listening to it without scratches and hiss, and with all the notes there! My new CD has some bonus tracks on, which are quite good. They are:

Blues Run the Game
Barbriallen
Rose of Aberdeen
Roving Gambler

The last three of those were previously unreleased.

I could tell you loads about this album, but this is only a taster op, and I have waffled on quite enough already. If you want to know more go and look it up as I am sure it has been done in its own right at least once!


Hmm, that was 10, but I have a problem I have to sneak another one in- I won't tellyou anything about it because technically I am cheating, but I just have to have Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic tone poem "Scheherazade", it is just one of those works that does it for me. It cuts between bone and marrow, if yo
u know whay I mean.Perhaps it is because of the gorgeous violin solo and I am a sloppy violinist!

Well, I never thought I would ever get this opinion done! I need to thank John and Iain for encouraging me to all summer. Thanks, chaps! I had begun to think it just wasnt going to happen! Choices- aren't they difficult!

Summary: