Music Hunting
I spent a chunk of my weekend burning new CDs to keep in the van, collections of favorite music and the like. That always has the potential to be a real time-killer for me, because it is so easy for me to get sidetracked by the search for different music that I've always wanted. Some of the searches that inadvertantly derailed me and ate up a few moments this weekend:
(1) A good recording of "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult - I have never broken down and purchased a BOC CD, because the best I can tell Reaper is the only BOC song I care for. Instead, I've downloaded Reaper about a dozen times... and until now, every copy has stunk. It's something with the cymbals in the set - they have a tinny, wavy quality that is really distracting to the overall song. Anyway, I was actually successful in this one this weekend finally, as I found an extended version of Reaper from a live BOC album on iTunes. It's got the extra live performance blemishes in the performance you'd expect, but overall, I call it a "win".
(2) Classical Rock - No, NOT "classic rock", and that's the problem. What I particularly like, and have been looking for for years, are instrumental rock versions of classical music. It DOESN'T COUNT if someone sings anywhere in the song, so pop songs that rip off parts of classical melodies don't count. A few optimum examples: "A Fifth of Beethoven" (the '70s dance version of Beethoven's 5th symphony), or "Sprach Zachustra" a la the rock funk version from the soundtrack to the Peter Sellers movie "Being There". I love that stuff, and I KNOW there is a lot more of it out there, but can't for the life of me find it. I came across two imperfect solutions in my short continuation of the quest this weekend. First, there is a version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" that I noticed in the end of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" this weekend, according to the credits performed by a group that seems very promising from the 70s, but which iTunes does not carry at all, and which appears only to be available on CD as a purchase of an expensive import. Second, a much less close fit, but interesting nonetheless, is a British group of four female violists who perform dance rock arrangements of classical pieces. I listened to some samples on iTunes and they sound a bit TOO dancey for me (plus all the literature and album art turns me off because of the over-sexing of the performers, I guess on the mistaken assumption that they need to sell these women as sex objects rather than as musicians because so much of the pathetic, shallow pop industry already has that screwed up value), but I think I'll end up giving them a try too.
(3) Gregorian Chants, modernized - Sort of related to #2, I guess. I specifically remember sometime in the '90s a CD coming out and being popular featuring Gregorian chants, set to rock beats and with light bass and synth accompaniment. Now, all my searches either turn up straightforward and genuine Gregorian chants, or (believe it or not) Gregorian chant versions of pop songs (the exact photo negative of what I'm looking for).
(4) The Foremen - Folk Political group that my friend Mark introduced me to, but whom broke up years ago, and now I can't find their albums, nor are they available on iTunes. Very funny stuff, and sorely needed in the current political climate.
(5) Rhapsodic, creatively instrumental music - Not solely instrumental here, but were talking a certain type of rock that I really enjoy, that has creative melody and musicality, non-adherence to the dull and overused conventions of common, static time signatures and melody patterns, and that feel more like a journey through several different melodies, rather than just a verse and a chorus over and over again. Some good examples: "Bat Out of Hell", "Paradise By the Dashboard Light", or "I Would Do Anything For Love" by Meatloaf; at least half of the greatest hits of Kansas; "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Under Pressure" by Queen (lots others by them too). Maybe a couple things by Rush. I think it's really mostly a 70s anti-disco rock sound that does it, but I'm not sure. Anyone have anything good along those veins to recommend?
(1) A good recording of "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult - I have never broken down and purchased a BOC CD, because the best I can tell Reaper is the only BOC song I care for. Instead, I've downloaded Reaper about a dozen times... and until now, every copy has stunk. It's something with the cymbals in the set - they have a tinny, wavy quality that is really distracting to the overall song. Anyway, I was actually successful in this one this weekend finally, as I found an extended version of Reaper from a live BOC album on iTunes. It's got the extra live performance blemishes in the performance you'd expect, but overall, I call it a "win".
(2) Classical Rock - No, NOT "classic rock", and that's the problem. What I particularly like, and have been looking for for years, are instrumental rock versions of classical music. It DOESN'T COUNT if someone sings anywhere in the song, so pop songs that rip off parts of classical melodies don't count. A few optimum examples: "A Fifth of Beethoven" (the '70s dance version of Beethoven's 5th symphony), or "Sprach Zachustra" a la the rock funk version from the soundtrack to the Peter Sellers movie "Being There". I love that stuff, and I KNOW there is a lot more of it out there, but can't for the life of me find it. I came across two imperfect solutions in my short continuation of the quest this weekend. First, there is a version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" that I noticed in the end of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" this weekend, according to the credits performed by a group that seems very promising from the 70s, but which iTunes does not carry at all, and which appears only to be available on CD as a purchase of an expensive import. Second, a much less close fit, but interesting nonetheless, is a British group of four female violists who perform dance rock arrangements of classical pieces. I listened to some samples on iTunes and they sound a bit TOO dancey for me (plus all the literature and album art turns me off because of the over-sexing of the performers, I guess on the mistaken assumption that they need to sell these women as sex objects rather than as musicians because so much of the pathetic, shallow pop industry already has that screwed up value), but I think I'll end up giving them a try too.
(3) Gregorian Chants, modernized - Sort of related to #2, I guess. I specifically remember sometime in the '90s a CD coming out and being popular featuring Gregorian chants, set to rock beats and with light bass and synth accompaniment. Now, all my searches either turn up straightforward and genuine Gregorian chants, or (believe it or not) Gregorian chant versions of pop songs (the exact photo negative of what I'm looking for).
(4) The Foremen - Folk Political group that my friend Mark introduced me to, but whom broke up years ago, and now I can't find their albums, nor are they available on iTunes. Very funny stuff, and sorely needed in the current political climate.
(5) Rhapsodic, creatively instrumental music - Not solely instrumental here, but were talking a certain type of rock that I really enjoy, that has creative melody and musicality, non-adherence to the dull and overused conventions of common, static time signatures and melody patterns, and that feel more like a journey through several different melodies, rather than just a verse and a chorus over and over again. Some good examples: "Bat Out of Hell", "Paradise By the Dashboard Light", or "I Would Do Anything For Love" by Meatloaf; at least half of the greatest hits of Kansas; "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Under Pressure" by Queen (lots others by them too). Maybe a couple things by Rush. I think it's really mostly a 70s anti-disco rock sound that does it, but I'm not sure. Anyone have anything good along those veins to recommend?
posted by Greg J. Hipius | 11:56 AM
1 Comments:
Re: The Gregorian chant album.
You are quite correct in your recollections. The band was called Enigma and in 1990 they released their first album approriately titled "MCMXC a.D." The first single off the album (Sadness,Part 1) was a Top five hit and the album itself went platinum. They've put out at least four more albums since then (inculding a Greatest Hits LP) but the first one has been the most popular. The Monks that were used on the album got quite a lot of press because of their inculsion on the album; they even recorded an album of them chanting solo which surprisingly sold well. All proceed went to various charities, naturally.
All in all, Enigma is a fun band to listen to. Lots of instrumental pieces but there were more lyrical compostions as time passed. The Gregorian chanting was dropped after the first album; the intent being I think to have different styles of music mixed with the dance beats.
If you're interested in a preview I have the first three albums(on Cassette, natch). ;)
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