Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto [Josefowicz/ Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal] 

This was a fairly recent purchase, and this was the first time i got to listen to this disc today, it takes its place alongside the other 12 versions i have of this Concerto!, and i love to hear different versions of the same thing!, some people might question the point of buying the same work a dozen times over, but each is subtly [and not so subtly] different, each brings a fresh perspective on looking at the precious diadem from another angle of light, and the resulting perspectives multiply in the understanding of the work, another layer of the onion was peeled away today.


Liela Josefowicz is Canadian by birth, but now lives in America, she is now 33, and she made this recording in 1999, the booklet front cover photo [by Gerald Forster] is a close up black & white shot of Josefowicz, nice black background, and sharp focus on those eyes, a lovely splash of red in the lettering.

Various Composers - 'Liebesleid' Violin Encores [Okumura/ Eguchi] 

I bought this disc on a Japanese website, it was one of the many phases in my life where i checked out the Classical talent that resided in other countries, and Asian countries have all this hidden talent that has not hit western shores, not every Uchida and Midori is known over here, and some of these Artists have some truly excellent discs, you can pick up the odd disc on Ebay, but most are unavailable, or worse just completely unknown here in the west, we're still far from a global economy.

Ai Okumura is a Japanese Violinist, the booklet is mostly in Japanese, so i can't really glean any information from it, and the Internet is sparse on information, this recording was made in 2005, i was first attracted to this disc because of of the booklet cover, a very simple idea [photography by Shuji Tonoki], a really stunning upper body shot of Ai Okumura with her violin, shot on a light background, i really like her fringe!, lovely skin tones and hair colour.

This was another disc i listened to on the way to Church, and i actually listened to it without a track listing in mind, so i had to guess what the compositions were, and who the Composer was, this was actually a nice exercise, for many of these tunes i know well, but i just couldn't put my finger on a name for the piece, it's surprising how well we know music, but unlike in a Pop song where the words give the name away, a piece of Classical music can be on 'the tip of our tongue', the music was so beautiful, i just wanted to bask in the sounds, and not worry about who composed it, or why, or what it was even called.

Of all these pieces i played, i was touched by all of the tracks in some way or another, i think the recital is well chosen, with the intention of stirring up feelings of love, longing, and loss, for me the best two tracks were 2 & 7, with track 7 Apres Un Reve [After A Dream] by Faure, as the one that really plucked a heartstring, it's a sad song, in the original the story is of a person, who during sleep sees their dead lover, and there's a desire to follow them beyond the grave, but in the morning they awake, and wish they could go back to eternal sleep again, it's only a short track of 2:47, but it's packed full of such a good tune, i like the way the piano starts off with a gently tolling bell figure [0:00], and the violin comes in with such a melancholy sadness [0:04], the piano has a short little 'outburst' of tension in its bell ringing inbetween the two verses [0:50], and the violin starts up the second verse with a higher tessitura pleading [0:54], the intensity is well caught by Okumura, and some really nice sad crying out by the violin [1:37], like a person has to mourn someones passing all over again in the morning, the intensity is heightened by Eguchi's consistency of bell ringing, it gets on your nerves, but in a lovely way, and at the end the bell ringing dies in the bass, very heartwrenching.

Here's Janine Jansen playing 'Apres Un Reve' by Faure on YouTube.

The Living End [Roll On] 

Well this now makes 4 non Classical discs in my Blog in a row!, this must be a first, i have 'complained' that my musical listening is too Classical heavy [and therefore my Blog is too Classical heavy], my collection of discs is roughly 1600 now, and three quartets of them [75%] are Classical discs, i hope to redress the balance in the next 10 years, 50 / 50 would be an ideal mix of genres.

I first heard The Living End on a freebie disc that comes with a Rock magazine, they played track 7 'Dirty Man' on there, so i just had to check out this album, and i wasn't disappointed, the booklet is truly excellent, and not just the front cover, but throughout the whole booklet, nicely shot photos in squares with lines and texts / lyrics, well thought out and visually appealing [photos by Danny Clinch].

The Living End are an Australian Heavy Rock band, formed in 1994, they sound somewhat like the Clash, or maybe the Jam, or a Punky version of Rush, these three guys don't sound Australian at all, there's almost a London Cockney accent to them, their main sound is one of loud drum beats, with riffy guitars, nicely recorded sharp and clear, best listened to loud, there's also a certain Punk sneer to them, they also cite Rockabilly as an influence. 

It took a little time to get into this disc today, The Living End can sound like 'simpletons' at times, it's just good solid Rock music, the lyrics aren't anything clever, their three piece sound means it's a basic Rock unit, there's no fourth member on keys or rhythm guitar, and there's no real melodic surprises, their forte isn't in the 'tunes', but in the delivery, the enthusiasm and gear changes, the cleverness of the beat. 

On this listen i liked tracks 1, 3, 7-9 & 11-13, with no real stand out track, so here's a short synopsis of these favourite tracks,

1 Roll On - 1 2 3 4!, screams one of the band members to get things underway, the spirit of what these guys are all about. 
3 Riot On Broadway - after a short intro, the guitars come in with a chugging riff [0:14], a really thrilling moment.
7 Dirty Man - the opening riff reminds me of a faster version of the Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant riff.
8 Blood On Your Hands - has a really nice stuttering beginning, like it's trying to make its mind up about how to get going, some very nice atmospheric drumming by Travis Demsey, a very reggae-ish beat in the verses.
9 Revolution Regained - again after an intro, a nice fast bubbling riff on the guitar [0:12].
11 Read About It - the chorus has a nice sweep to it, a heightening of lyricism.
12 Killing The Right - a nice lovely riff at the beginning on the guitar, dot dot dot dash dash, dot dot dot dash dash etc, Morse Code for the numeral 3, are they introducing themselves as a trio?.
13 Astoria Paranoia - a lovely fast bit of rhythm guitar riffing kicks in after the intro [0:36], and the lead guitar soars nicely above it.

Here's The Living End playing Dirty Man live on YouTube.

Stereo MC's [Double Bubble] 

Well here's something different from the usual Classical music, i saw this on auction on Ebay, i was drawn to the stark colourful circles on the front cover, they seem to spin, it's a lovely simple idea, circles of red, green, blue, and yellow mix, with a yellow / mustard square box for the band name and album title, i got this brand new on Ebay for cheap, still in its cellophane, turns out to be an inspired purchase.

The Stereo MC's are an English Indie / Electronic Dance / Hip Hop band formed in 1985, it's somewhat hard to pigeonhole them, maybe they're more like the Stone Roses / The Shamen towards their Indie side, and the Fun Lovin Criminals / The Beastie Boys in their Hip Hop / Rap side, whatever, they're great.

However good the artwork is, it's the music i was gobsmacked by, i have never really listened to them before, so i wasn't sure what to expect, they are afforded a tremendous recorded sound, every blip and thud, zing and buzz can be heard caressing / abusing your lug-holes, at certain moments they're an Electronic band, others times they get into Rap, but most of the time they straddle genres, i played this loud, and it has a great effect, if this album can get me this excited on one listen, then what will i be getting into 5 years down the road?, plus i feel that these discs have opened a portal to another world of music, now i've got my eye on a number of similar bands, i guess it's the Stereo MC's change of direction during songs that is so appealing, i tried to second guess where they were going with each song, most of the time i was wrong, but they sound so right, some delicious G-forces abound the musical spectrum here.

The tracks i liked the most were 1, 4 & 11 on disc one, the organ like squealing synthesizer keyboard on track 1 'Get It On' is so inspired, and the zany bumbling double beat on track 4 'City Lights' is mesmerizing, but deep down it's track 11 'Human' that blew me away, starts off with a nice gentle chugging beat, with some nice electronic noises, but quickly explodes into a strong tuneful chorus [0:27], and what sounds like an electronic harp, but more likely of course a keyboard sound, but i love this harp sound, it really makes the song, and the boom boom boom, boom boom boom drums to accompany it are perfect, some of the chorus lyrics go,

All our brassic, in my pocket

is turning into vapours

all their skint-ness is just thin air i guess, however, right at the end as everything closes down, it's this 'harp' that has the closing word, as it twangs / strums away [3:25+], slowing down into a little solo tune [3:49-3:58], a stroke of genius!, a nice way to end the album, except there's a secret track!.

Here's the Stereo MC's playing 'Human' on YouTube.

The Black Crowes [The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion] 

It's been over two years since i last played this album, many people would think that means that i don't really like this album anymore, nothing could be further from the truth, this resides at No50 in my all time favourite list, it's just that it's evaded my CD player somehow, but i always catch the good ones in the end!.

The Black Crowes are an American Rock band formed in 1989, they have had different line ups over the years, but their mainstays are two brothers, Chris and Rich Robinson, they play some nice southern bluesy Rock, a bit like the Allman Brothers or The Rolling Stones, in my mind this is their best album, drenched in swampy but loud Blues / Rock, the booklet is really nice, the front cover is by Mark Seliger, showing what i believe is a car junkyard, the booklet within has the full lyrics written in a nice scrolling type.

Well in giving this disc another spin today, and i really liked all of the tracks, except the last one, which i feel is really quite poor, but it was track 6 'Hotel Illness' which got me marvelling at the lyrical prowess of these guys, the words conjure up some nice images in my head, consider this line,

I got a head full of sermons

and a mouth full of spiders

i don't know why, but this vision just excites me, what does it mean?, a clear head full of perfect sermons, but when it comes time to preach, a whole load of horrible spiders come out instead, i suppose a block between brain and tongue, the music is incredibly contagious, the harmonica and drums really kick in at [0:08], and it's this harmonica that plays inbetween the vocal lines, the chorus comes in at [0:57], at the intensity of the vocal delivery goes up a notch, on the second verse the national guitar comes in [1:24], giving a lovely atmospheric twang to the mix, the lead electric guitar takes up a solo [2:24], and straight after this is cleverly supported by the rhythm guitar, there's a degree of jamming in the outro, and there's a nice touch right at the end as the electric guitar slowly 'dies' [3:49] but not a fade out, other tracks are similarly loaded, a great 'road album'.

Here's the Black Crowes singing Hotel Illness on YouTube.