Iris DeMent [My Life] 

This was a great disc to buy, one of those purchases where i was purposely trying to branch out into new genres, trying to get away from the usual stuff i always get, i would certainly classify this as Country first, but it also has elements of American Folk and Gospel, she has a real southern twang to her voice, she comes from Arkansas originally, and she was influenced by old time hymns in the Church she grew up in, so there's a lovely Gospel flavoured subject to things, maybe not necessarily religious in words, but in her observations and themes, for someone not exposed to DeMent, the first time listening to this album might give a strong indication of negative things, certainly death and sin, and regret and purposelessness, but i find it very positive and upbeat, that through the hard times there's fortitude to stand tall, in the title track DeMent laments, 'My life, it's tangled in wishes, and so many things that just never turned out right', it's a real theme of the album, it's certainly very realistic looking, instead of kidding ourselves that life's one happy go lucky round of good memories, this disc also appeared in my Blog in 2010 [25th May 2010].

Iris DeMent is American, she's now 51, she recorded this disc in 1994, the front cover photo [by Kelley McCall] is a bit naive, a photograph made to look like in a photo album, and a theme throughout the booklet, using old photo's of DeMent, like the one on the back.

It was tracks 4-6 that were superb, and i guess it's the middle one that hit me the most, called 'No Time To Cry', each of the three verses deals with a tragedy, whether it's her Father dying, an ambulance siren, or the bad news on the television, the 'solution' is to keep busy, life has a tendency to make you cynical, you're older and you just haven't got time to cry, a very acoustic song, her voice really shines out of the instrumentation, she plays acoustic guitar herself, the verses are great, dripping with sadness, and when the chorus comes in, there's an upbeat determination and fortitude to stubbornly endure, her voice rises into a major key, it's a great moment each time the chorus comes in, in the last verse the instrumentation quietens down, and it enhances her voice, and of course it heightens the power of the song when the instruments comes back in with force later in the verse, also i love the way DeMent treats the outro, she ad-libs 'no time to cry' three times, you can hear the way she accentuates things differently, a great way to finish a great song, one of her greatest compositions.

Here's Iris DeMent singing 'No Time To Cry' on YouTube.

Bellini - Soprano Opera Arias [Anderson/ Rescigno-Orchestre Philharmonique De Monte Carlo] 

Most Opera Singers make recital discs of a selection of Composers, except where such a Composer is prolific [Mozart / Rossini / Verdi / Wagner/ Puccini], but with Bellini you haven't got much to choose from, which is why discs like this are rare, however they're also very welcome, the only gripe i have about this disc is the length, at only 54 minutes long, at least the famous 'Casta Diva' from Norma could have been added?, Bellini had a tendency to write long arias which are spun out really well, and that's one reason that this only contains 5 tracks / arias, you wouldn't get this from Mozart, Bellini's arias are long drawn out, and extremely lyrical, plus he had a penchant to use solo woodwind instruments as almost soloists in a lot of his introductions, and he is a master at creating mood that way, i love the deft way he can at times push aside the Opera stars, and indulge in a nice bit of being an orchestral Composer, elevating an instrumentalist as a star for a short while [consider the Oboist in the middle movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto, almost stealing the show], i played this a couple of years ago, you can read my thoughts in my Blog here [28th September 2010]. 

June Anderson is an American Soprano, she is now 59, she made this disc in 1987, i like the front cover photograph [by Steve Bicknell], a soft focus portrait, there's a certain glow to the face, and the lettering is in red and black, nice swirly writing.

Of all the pieces on this disc, it was the music from La Sonnambula that i loved the most, the closing scene and final aria of Amina is fantastic, it seems to have the lot in its three sections, . 

Here's June Anderson singing the three sections of the finale of La Sonnambula on YouTube, [Oh! Se Una Volta Sola / Ah! Non Credea Mirarti / Ah! Non Giunge].

Various Composers - Violin Recital [Oistrakh /Zertsalova] 

I remember buying this disc in a second hand record shop in London, it was priced £4, and i was debating buying it or not, i eventually decided it was worth it, and i'm glad i did, it's been played fairly regularly since, plus it contains some music i don't have elsewhere, the Schumann Fantasy is a real treat, and the Waxman is a bit of a rarity, all told it's a well chosen programme, and since the demise of the Collins Classical label, it's now hard to find this disc. 

Igor Oistrakh is a Ukrainian Violinist, he is now 81, of course his Father is the famous David Oistrakh, and they certainly look similar, he made this recording in 1989, the front cover picture [by R Carpenter Turner] is an excellent shot of Oistrakh and his Wife Zertsalova, a nice dark background, and dark clothing, makes the duo really stand out, showing both the violin and the piano, the lettering is excellently laid out also, well composed visually.

I very much enjoyed this recital, i switched the disc onto random play, and it's good to get whatever comes next, like i said above, i thoroughly enjoyed the Schumann Fantasy, just the sort of thing that Schumann is renowned for, but it was the Paganini piece that just so melts, it truly is a phenomenal creation, lasting barely over 4 minutes, it really packs a punch, probably the best thing Paganini ever did, i don't care for his Violin Concertos, nor his 24 Caprices, but in one fell swoop this piece redeems him, and secures his reputation, the whole this is based on the most sweetest of violin melodies, the piano is merely there to keep a rhythmic flow, and wow what a melody! [0:00-0:55], it could easily be the vocal line for a great song, Schubert would have been proud of, it rises and falls, but there's a section where the music comes to a penultimate heartache [1:16-1:45], and it's the high treble it reaches that is so wonderful [1:40], and the corresponding section a little while later [2:16-2:36], surprisingly the coda comes in with more than a minute left [2:52+], and it's so heartbreakingly beautiful, you don't ever want it to end, there's even a short little cadenza [3:39-3:56], it's a perfect miniature, seems to have everything, some of the best creations are micro pieces. 

Here's Sarah Chang playing the Paganini Cantabile on YouTube.

Mozart - Piano Concerto 20 [Brendel/ Mackerras-Scottish Chamber Orchestra] 

This is a great and logical coupling, bringing together Mozart's late Minor key Concertos, number 20 is the darker of the two, written in the key of 'death' [D for D Minor!], the opening of the first movement has that tremendous drone, it really sets the scene for what follows, Brendel is a great Mozartian, and it's good to hear him in this Concerto again, i played this same work just over a year ago today [21st October 2011], it's my favourite Mozart Concerto, and a fantastic work i never tire of hearing again and again. 

Alfred Brendel is Austrian, he's now 81, retired from the concert platform, he's still active in other ways, he recorded this work in 1998, the front cover photograph [by Regina Schmecken] is a side profile head shot, nicely capturing detail in black & white, the lettering is contained in a mustard coloured band at the bottom, the Mozart name cleverly laid into the photo, a nice creative idea, with black and white lettering.

As i mentioned above, the opening movement is just tremendous, it's a true marvel of creation, Mozart's best concerto movement, however on this listen i was entranced by the middle movement Romance, it's a lovely delicate movement of music, serene and beautiful at first, it's away from the D Minor opening movement, and into a B Flat Major sweet key, but it's not all sweetness as there's a turbulent G Minor middle section, . 

Here's Mitsuko Uchida playing the central Romance second movement on YouTube.

Faure - 13 Nocturnes [Jalbert] 

It was only less than i week ago that i played Jean-Philippe Collard's version of these 13 Nocturnes [21st October 2012], and it's enlightening comparing the two, as well as having a double dose of these pieces in quick succession, there were certain lesser known numbers that are really starting to seep into my heart, especially 6 & 12, Faure's Nocturnes are nowhere known as much as Chopin's, it really does take constant listening over many years to really get to know them properly, and also a number of different versions to truly appreciate the different things you can do with these pieces, i played this disc a year ago, and wrote about the experience in my Blog [17th October 2011]. 

David Jalbert is Canadian, he recorded this disc in 2005, 

Smetana - Ma Vlast [Levine-Wiener Philharmoniker] 

Smetana's Ma Vlast is a mammoth work, lasting here over 76 minutes, you have to have a bit of time on your hands to indulge, a work so long can have a tendency to lose your attention if it's weak, but i never find this with Ma Vlast, though i do find that i can't listen to it all that often, in fact this is the very first time that Smetana appears in my Blog. 

James Levine is American, he's now 69, because of health problems he's been out of action for quite a while, he recorded this disc live in 1986, the front cover may look like a photo from afar, but really it's a painting by Rudolph Distler.

The second movement Vltava / Moldau is justly hailed as the cream of these six Symphonic Poems, it represents the main river running through the breadth of the Czech Republic, almost a biography of the river as it winds its way through the land, it lasts roughly 12 minutes, and of course has very different sections, a quicksilver flute opens things, with the odd pizzicato [0:00-0:57], Smetana seems to like intros like this, the strong string theme that follows is very nationalistic in flavour, and of course it has a lovely 'flow' to it, as you would realise a Symphonic Poem about a river would, when the brass come in, and the busy strings [2:48+] it makes a heady steam of almost a brass band, and Smetana can't resist a lively dance [3:44+], i just love the way Smetana uses a very gentle ethereal way with the music [5:24-7:36], high treble violins, though quiet, and flutes in the background, it's quite ghostly, and very soothing too, of course Smetana finished on a real forte, bringing in the main tune from the first movement, in resplendent glory [10:03+], the ending is nice, like waves going up and down, though growing quiet, the whole things is a lazy trip down the river, just letting the current take over. 

Here's Alexis Hauser conducting the second movement Vltava on YouTube.

John Mellencamp [Human Wheels] 

A killer of an album, i've tried a number of other Mellencamp albums, his American heartland albums like 'Scarecrow', and his more latest albums, but it's this album that is his masterpiece, there's a certain Hard Rock feel to it, especially on 'Human Wheels' and 'What If I Came Knocking', and i like the way Mellencamp can get angry, he uses female backing singers at certain points, that in certain instances don't stay in the background!, there's a bit of a Gospel feel to things at times, it's a nice brew of a number of things, that really all come together nicely, a lovely album,i played this back when my Blog was fairly new [7th March 2010]. 

John Mellencamp is American, and now 61, all the greats get old eventually, it's not a young guys game anymore, he recorded this album in 1993, the front cover is really poor, not the sort of thing i would have bought, but wow! i liked the music, so it's stuck.

Most of the album i thoroughly enjoyed, tracks 2-4, 8 & 10 were just superb, the real winners were tracks 2 & 10, so incredibly good, here's a synopsis of both, 

2 Junior - In a way the surprise of my listening experience today, the two tracks beside it are stunners, but this really caught my mood today, are hard nice jungle rhythm, Drummer Kenny Aronoff nicely plays bongos, and gives that certain jungle feel to it, he's really quite superb, the chorus brings in a keyboard synth i guess [1:15+], a nice change in attack, the start of each verse brings a nice memory rush, the words to the opening verse return [3:19+], with extra power, a great experience.
10 To The River - This is a Janis Ian song, she entitled it 'All Roads To The River', i remember listening to her version first, nothing really special about it, so i just cannot believe that Mellencamp has transformed this song into something so compelling, it's hard to believe it's the same song, and kudos to Mellencamp in seeing its new possibilities, again Kenny Aronoff comes to the fore, a nice kick of a drum attack at the start and throughout, gives the song that extra oomph, and it's also that instrument at the beginning, maybe an organ, lovely sound, and listen to the rumbling bass during the verses, it really gives it a great vibe, there's so many layers of instruments going on, it's a heady brew of wonderful things, and i just love the way the song quietens down to a stop [2:16], but with one hard hit of the drum off it goes again, Mellencamp's voice is in top form, he really sings so strong, one of the very best songs on the album.

Tangerine Dream [White Eagle] 

The only TD album i own, though i have bought a few others, but i never liked them, in fact i seem to have spent a small fortune on trying to find another TD album i like, and then coming away disappointed, now i'm extremely wary that there even exists another album that i would like, i've sort of given up, i don't want to waste my money or my time, i feel exactly the same way about Yes /Going For The One, when i first listened to this, i thought it was going to be exactly similar to Jarre / Oxygene, but this is more percussive, tracks seem to be more 'poppy', instead of sci-fi and mysterious, plus Jarre would slowly morph one idea into the next over an extended span, TD seem to change things much more rapidly, but i'm learning to love this album, this actually got in my Blog earlier in the year [6th January 2012], now in search of that elusive TD album... 

Tangerine Dream are a German Electronic Trio, though of course since this record came out [1982], they are no longer the Trio of Froese / Franke / Schmoelling, and every group eventually has to break up its core constituents, i think of this as 'classic' TD, the booklet front cover is what attracted me to this very first TD album, a blue planet earth with a triangle underneath, it's a nice visual, the small lettering at the top is great.

The very opening of the album is terrific, for nearly three minutes there's weird and wonderful sounds, a very original beginning indeed, 'Mojave Plan' is the best thing on the album, however the other tracks are great too, and on this listen it's track 3 'Convention Of The 24' that really impressed me the most, straight away it starts as a very bubbly electronic rhythm, with a nice organ sounding melody, it's this initial quite mechanical rhythm that drives everything, quite monotonous i feel, but this is its strength, after three minutes things change somewhat [3:08+], the rhythm stops, and there's nice treble flute type sounds, quite bubbly at times, it's a great change, the mechanical rhythm seems to creep back in, later a more percussive effect comes in [5:37+], and i can feel the music getting ready to wind down, the background rhythm slows down, and a somewhat ghostly chorus comes in at the end, it's a great track, very compelling and infectious. 

Here's the 'Convention Of The 24' on YouTube.