Dirk Star
Group: Members
Posts: 1331
Joined: Sep. 2007 |
 |
Posted: April 15 2008, 12:25 |
 |
A few more instrumental faves here...
The Magic Of The Chieftains....The Cheiftains...Despite the fact that I always loved all those Paddy Maloney moments from Mike`s work.Added to which I`ve always had a certain kind of fondness for folk music anyway it took me a very long time to actually get round to buying a Chieftains album.I`m not really sure why that was now,suffice to say I wish I`d done so a lot earlier really because some of their albums are truly superb.This album was actually the first one I bought by them and is in fact just a very unassuming budget compilation of some of their 80`s/early 90`s recordings.Highlights include the opening track O` Mahoney`s Frolics and their haunting rendition of The Strayaway Child.The Van Morrison composition "Boffyflow and Spike" is just a great fun track.While at the other end of the spectrum the 20 minute theme/story exploration of Celtic Wedding is quite breathtaking.Millenium Celtic Suite and Heulliaded Toniou..are great also and come pretty close to emulating Celtic Wedding in their scope of ambition and imagination.As a whole this album contains so much more than that usual thing of sticking a few similar sounding jigs or reels together.Which is a trap a lot of your folk instrumentalist types fall into all too easily at times imo.The Cheiftains being no exception to that sometimes as well.Although they often seem to do it with a lot more thought and regard than many of their contemporaries I feel.Other cracking albums I`d rate highly by them myself are Cheiftains 6,7 and 9,The partly orchestral Ballad Of The Irish Horse.And the Spanish/Galacian influenced Santiago.But there are many other fine examples,too numerous to mention in fact.
Harold Budd & Brian Eno....The Pearl...This was the 2nd Budd and Eno collaboration recorded in the early 80`s but I think this one just about shades it for me.Harold Budd is just one of those one off genius guys to me,who if he can use four/five well placed piano notes to convey a mood or atmosphere rather than a whole encyclopedia of phrases then that`s exactly what he`ll do.Unfortunatly that does`nt really begin to describe the man`s unique talent or indeed his emotive ability come to that.Maybe the titles of the pieces themselves say it best for me....Late October..Against The Sky...An Echo Of Night...Their Memories...Still Return...Foreshadowed...
James Taylor Quartet....Wait A Minute....As a kid I always loved all of that 60`s/70`s spy detective soundtrack music from the likes of John Barry/Alan Hawkshaw/Roy Budd etc.Coupled with an early fascination with all that swirling unique hammond organ sound that I`d heard from the likes of The Small Faces and Booker T.So when this hammond/60`s/70`s jazz tinged outfit first came to light in the mid 80`s it was like manna sent from heaven for me.This is still probablly their most famous and accessible album,and it kind of marked the dawn of the band branching out a little bit into more ambitous jazz/funked arrangements.The theme tune from Starsky and Hutch never sounded as downright strut your stuff fantastic as it does here.But that`s barely scratching at the surface of the funfilled riff fest in store contained herein.JTQ`s back catalogue has been a real mixed bag of affairs since unfortunatly.Although they have come up with the odd gem here and there no question about it.This was kind of the starting point of my interest in people like Jimmy Smith,Charles Earland,Eumir Deodato,Jimmy McGriff etc.So in that respect it`s an album that I feel eternally indebted to somehow.Still really enjoy listening to it as well though,fantastic stuff.
John Barry....The Beyondness Of Things....There`s been a few great soundtrack composers mentioned in this thread already with the likes of Morricone,Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore etc.Along with Lalo Schifrin though John Barry is probablly my own personal favourite,for me.In the case of Mr Barry I`ve even been known to sit through rubbish like The Specialist or The Black Hole just to listen to the guy`s music.This album in particular was a little bit of a labour of love for him really and is probablly best described as the soundtrack to a film that does`nt exist.Bit of an old chestnut that I know.Except the only thing here is despite it`s lack of a film to go along with the music it still managed to get to number one in the soundtrack chart??To anyone who is a big fan of Mike`s orchestral pieces like Animus/Silhoutte/Aurora on MOTS.Then imho they could certainly do a lot worse than check this album out.
Jaz Coleman......Kashmir(the orchestral music of Led Zeppelin)..Oh no it`s classic rock all over again you`ve got to be kidding right????,,,So ok it sounds pretty naff on the surface,and I dare say for some people it probablly is.Well ya boo to those guys that`s what I say because this album is simply jaw dropping awesome fantastic imo.Jaz Coleman is best known as the frontman of Killing Joke,but is also a classically trained musician of some note.And he`s also spent a lot of time studying orchestral and operatic composition as well as a lot of world/folk music into the bargain.What more can I say the guy can turn his hand to anything imo.Partly of Eastern heritage(some of which is brought to bear on this album) his album with Anne Dudley from The Art Of Noise(Victorious City)was a groundbreaking exploration of Egyptian themes and culture quite unsurpassed imo.This album simply has to be heard to be believed though even if you`re not especially fond of The Zep in fact.The ten minute arrangement of The Battle Of Evermore for instance replete with crying/soaring Uillalean Pipes sounds like it actually was recorded at The Battle Of Evermore.Simply spine tingling stuff.The only let down to the album is the rather lame/limp wristed drum sound of When The Levee Breaks...Which just goes to prove(if proof be needed) that sometimes "Orchestral" does`nt neccessarily instantly mean grander or bigger.Coleman has also done similar albums with both the music of Pink Floyd and The Doors but this one just about shades it for me.Classic rock man...Far out dude!!!
|
, but my point was that there was no need to make such a fuss over a virtual duet, because virtual duets are very common nowadays; they're just done for commerciality's sake (at least Metheny is right about that...) and most of them are not intended as tributes or homages or anything like that. They're just show. 
I think maybe this link here below looks a bit more like the real deal to me .They`ve got his name right for a start anyway..