Debussy - Estampes [Ogawa] 

Last month i listened to Ogawa's Images [10th December 2010], and this month it's the turn of the Estampes from the same disc, i'm glad i bought this disc, as she's a good Debussian, and of all the volumes that Ogawa has made of Debussy, this one has the best works on it.

Noriko Ogawa is Japanese, now 48 years old, she recorded this disc in 2000, the booklet cover photo is by Ian Tilton, a nice shot, the introduction of hands, and the denim jacket make a big difference in the success of the shot.

Even though i think all three of these pieces are so wonderful and refreshing, inspirational, i keep coming back to the first piece in the set, 'Pagodes', an Oriental tone poem, like a watercolour awash with sounds, the recording is quite warm, and maybe certain aspects are lost because of this, the opening right hand tune is so sublime [0:09-0:35], just that right amount of Eastern-ism on a Western instrument, i like where the bass line adds to the texture in a counter melody [0:24+], this same opening returns in full later in the piece [2:40-3:06, and the counter melody 2:54+], Debussy also evokes the tolling of bells in the left hand [1:30-1:49], and again at [2:11-2:28], this second time i love the way the left hand shifts into bell-ringing gear [2:11], the left hand takes over the melody and the right hand treble now goes into a lovely background trill [2:28-2:39], the ending is atmospheric, again the bassline controls the tune, while the right hand treble has runs up and down the keyboard [3:59+], and the left hand goes deeper in the bass in a wonderful way [4:14+], using the lovely counter melody near the beginning [0:24+], and the treble right has these lovely washes of colour, the whole thing gradually slows down to a close, a remarkable invention from Debussy.

Here's Pagodes being played on YouTube.

Van Der Graaf Generator [Still Life] 

This phenomenal album just sits outside my all time top 20 discs at 21, this along with its VDGG companion 'World Record' [played almost one year ago today 2nd January 2010], shaped my love of Album Orientated Rock [AOR], back in the early eighties, i would travel into London each month, and sift through the racks of vinyl, and pick out roughly a dozen records to buy, and then slowly one by one put each one back until i had three left [because of financial restraints], and then i would buy them, most of the time i wouldn't have a clue as to what the music sounded like, i would pull out albums based on their cover, and their track titles / lengths, and on Bands / Artists back catalogue, in my time i bought some real duds!, but then i bought sublime albums like this, which i wouldn't have discovered in any other way.

Van Der Graaf Generator were originally formed in 1967, and then broke up and reformed, and broke up and reformed... it's this middle period which was their purple patch for me, it spawned three albums, and they got better and better, this is the middle album in that trilogy, recorded in 1976, they weren't a singles band, they never planned on cracking the top 20, therefore most of their songs had no time limits on them, and tracks could clock in at over 20 minutes [Meurglys III], but most tracks hit the roughly 7 or 8 minute mark, this album represents their classic line up,

Peter Hammill - Vocals / Guitar

David Jackson - Saxophones / Flute

Hugh Banton - Organ / Keyboards

Guy Evans - Drums / Percussion

a strange set up of a band, the inclusion of a Saxophonist as a leading member at the front is rare in a Rock band, this isn't Jazz, and it isn't for a solo intro on 'Baker Street', now David Jackson has departed the band, and they continue as a trio.

All of the tracks were a revelation to me as i listened to them all again, but if i were to pick out an especial highlight, it would be the closer 'Childlike Faith In Childhood's End', a 12 minute plus track, its words are about reincarnation and the cosmos!, a real complex piece, full of different tunes and time signatures, but all the different parts are welded into one organic whole, i notice more than ever through this piece, how David Jackson uses different saxophones for different colourings, and the flute too, five minutes in it goes quiet, Peter Hammill sings quietly with only Hugh Banton's organ gently playing [5:08-6:33], but the music slowly rises to a crescendo, and then comes the very best part, Hammill sings,

though the towers of the city

are denied to we men of clay

still we know we shall scale the heights some day [6:37-6:53]

a truly powerful moment, powerful in singing as well as in the sheer power of the words, like an unconquerable mountain, that you know one day you will be able to defeat, the last 3 minutes are a recap of the music that has gone before, but this time coming back with a powerful conclusion [9:37-12:24], and it's the last minute that has a certain 'coda' to it, Hammill again sings quiet with just organ accompaniment [11:32+], 'and though dark is the highway...', Prog Rock is certainly operatic here [especially Hammill's voice], but VDGG go so far beyond Pop music into another realm, this song is a work of art, and i never tire of listening to it.

Here's Van Der Graaf Generator playing 'Childlike Faith In Childhood's End' on YouTube.

Mark Turner [Mark Turner] 

Even though this album has no name [an 'Eponymous' album?], it's not his first but his third album, i was initially attracted to this disc because of its booklet cover [photography by Guy Aroch], and of course this is how i buy a lot of my discs, it's a visual love affair before an aural one, and it's certainly an aural one now, this just scrapes into my top 100 discs at 94.

Mark Turner is an American Saxophonist, now 45 years old, he recorded this album in 1995, the front cover booklet photo is so incredible, a seemingly straightforward shot, but filled with autumnal colours, Turner cradles his saxophone, which really shines with highlights, the lettering is minimal but wonderful, also the photography throughout the booklet is of a high standard too.

I played this disc on the walk to and from Church, and even though it's the winter, this disc warmed my heart, there's a certain something about Jazz, an unplanned-ness, of course it's improvisation, as if the music is being composed while it's being recorded!, of which it is in a way, this is the essence of Jazz, even while i'm listening to Jazz, it takes surprising turns that i can't remember from last time.

The tracks that really hit me were 4 & 7-8, with track 7 'Magnolia Triangle' the very best, the saxophone tune is really funky, played twice at the beginning [0:11+ & 0:32+], nice and complex, both sax [0:58-3:41] and piano [3:41-5:18] have substantial solos, and just before the return of the theme, the piano plays some high treble notes [5:11-5:18], they're marvellous, and lead perfectly into the theme reprise by the sax [5:18+ & 5:39], a lovely moment of remembrance, and in the background the piano has a nice jive going on at the beginning [5:21-5:30], a really great tune that seems too short, the clip below comes from early on in Turners solo [1:13+ on disc].

Amazon gives half minute samples to feast your ears upon.

Beethoven - Egmont Overture [Davis-Staatskapelle Dresden] 

It's nice to have a couple of Overtures on this 6 disc box set of the complete Symphonies by Beethoven, and they're very good ones, and today i was so impressed with the Egmont Overture, i played this box set a few days ago with the Third Symphony [28th Dec 2010], Beethoven was the master of the Overture along with Rossini, and it's a shame he didn't write even more than he did, Beethoven's overtures have that profound universal-ness about them.   

Colin Davis is English and now 73, i wrote about him a few days ago [see above], the Staatskapelle Dresden have been in existence for over 400 years, and Colin Davis remains a Conductor Laureate.

The Overture is composed in the key of F Minor, it has dark and angry overtones throughout, it's story is of heroism in the face of death, wow there's lots to enjoy in this piece, there's lots of building up and up towards a forte, and then a marvelous explosion of sound [2:46-3:05+ & 5:17-5:35+], roughly in the middle the woodwinds all take turns playing a little bit of a tune [4:12-4:43] over chugging strings, punctuated by brass outbursts, it's amazing how inventive Beethoven can be, and yet it's all simple devices really, about a minute later, an abrupt change of direction, and Beethoven creates a lovely knot of tension [5:51+], which he soon has a sublime release for [6:03+], he creates his own problems, which he then goes on to solve, the ending is superb, with loud brass fanfares [8:35+], and a nice sting in the tail, with five shrill piccolo blasts as a closer [8:52-9:05], Beethoven surely knows how to get the best out of his instruments, a piece full of military intrigue.   

Here's Claudio Abbado conducting the Egmont Overture on YouTube. 

Various Artists [Elec-Trax, 16 Synth Pop Classix] 

Here's one of my very best Electric / New Wave / Synth Pop albums i own, each time i play this i realize how very much this music is incredible, the only weakness of this disc is the fact it's not a double disc set, it mixes well known hits with less well known songs that should have done better, and in retrospective it's good to have them on a compilation like this, many people consider Synth Pop to be KraftWerk or Tubeway Army, but it's much deeper than that, and much broader too, it bleeds into many other genres, most notably the New Wave and New Romantics movement, the late Seventies were a brewing cauldron of many different genres coming to fruitition [Punk / Disco / Synth etc], and this gave way to a great Eighties filled with new fresh ideas.

The cover booklet for this album is brilliant, it shows what you can really do if you go beyond the ordinary and use your imagination, a picture of a bald but beautiful girl, almost in a trance, very modern, with thin white vertical lines, and and electricity going through her ears, nice modern lettering for 'Elec-Trax', altogether a great package, and this album has appeared in my 'disc of the month' four times so far, it's a pity the booklet / back insert doesn't credit the Photographer / Art Director for their work.

Well in listening to this fantastic album again, i was so impressed with tracks 1-2, 4-6, 8, 11, 13 & 16, well i guess that's most of them!, i must admit that the very best track is track 2 'We Are Glass' by Gary Numan, i thought i would just briefly explain what i found fantastic about each track,

1 Tears For Fears [Mad World] the tick tock of the wooden block synths throughout the whole piece. 

2 Gary Numan [We Are Glass] the mechanical chugging throughout the whole piece, the soaring synths during the chorus.
4 Japan [Quiet Life] the singer slowly moaning 'the quiet life' [3:07-3:34].
5 Classix Nouveaux [Is It A Dream] the fanfare synths [0:19+, 1:22+, 2:40+ & 3:08+], and the intense higher chorus singers [1:50-2:11].
6 Spandau Ballet [To Cut a Long Story Short] the drum and bass middle section [1:38-1:51], and when the singer sings 'questions questions, give me no answers' [2:15+].
8 Korgis [Everybody's Got To learn Sometimes] it's those synths right at the end, that sound like a heavenly chorus [3:14+ & 3:40+]. 
11 The Assembly [Never Never] and again the tick tock of the wooden block synths throughout the whole piece. 
13 Mobiles [Drowning In Berlin] the opening recorder synth, with the lazy guitar strum intro [0:00+ & 1:02+], and the fairground wurlitzer with the German vocals [2:05-2:54].
16 A Flock Of Seagulls [Wishing, If I Had A Photograph Of You] the very ending note as the piece crashes out its finish! [5:27].

Here's Gary Numan singing 'We Are Glass' on YouTube.

Darryl Brenzel [Pentasphere]

Here's a lovely Jazz disc, i bought this in 2010 on Ebay, attracted by the cover, a very thoughtful almost mono study of Brenzel [photo by Karin Sigman], with coloured filters at the shooting stage i take it, even the 'no admittance' sign could be used in a philosophical way to explain Jazz too!, i just finished listening to it for the second time today, and it's a real grower, for me great Jazz discs are hard to come by, there's probably more 'good' Jazz discs than in any other genre, but excellent or truly great are quite elusive, so it's a joy to find this disc.

Darryl Brenzel is virtually unknown, very little about him on the Internet, i can't even find Jen-Jazz Records, he is 49 years old, and i believe an American, this disc was recorded roughly 12 years ago, there are a couple of copies of this disc on Ebay as i write this, Darryl has worked as a musician in the military, and is now doing some big band project i believe, but he's an accomplished Saxophonist, and i wish he would record some more small combo Jazz discs.

The disc is mainly made up of a Quartet, [sax, guitar, bass, and drums], with an additional piano on three tracks, a mix of Brenzel originals, with some standards, it's Modern Bebop, very tonal, and for what seems an independent record label, very very well recorded indeed, nice sharp and clear, you can hear all the instruments, the drums are recorded in a realistic bass / treble perspective [how well the drums are recorded is always a sign of an excellent record], and just over an hour of music [62 minutes], it's so hard to get yourself heard over the many instrumentalists out there, and with Jazz not a very commercial proposition, there are many talented individuals that are worth hearing, but financially can't cut a record.

On this listening [only my second] i liked tracks 4-6 & 8, i guess it's track 4 'Intornette Access' that i liked the most, a Brenzel original, i like the repetitious bass [Jeff Lopez] vibe at the beginning [0:06-1:12], lasting more than a minute, a nice intro that the sax and guitar [Paul Piper] blow / pluck over, and with a lovely roll of the drums [1:08+ Todd Harrison] the instrumentalists play the short theme [1:12-1:27] which has a nice swing to it, the sax solo afterwards is the best thing about the track [1:27-3:14], lots of intense bebop here, it shows how good Brenzel is, and i must admit on the whole record he's the star of the show, if only his sidemen were of the very highest calibre!, afterwards the guitar has a solo [3:15-6:20], a bit lazy at first, but grows after a while, i find here that the drummer holds back, letting the guitarist show, it would have been better to really push the guitarist more, the bass / drum solo afterwards [6:17-7:22] is a bit tame, starts off with what is probably going to be a bass solo, but the bassist is so quiet, in the end the drummer steps in and does a sort of solo, but it's a bit of a dead bit of the track, i like the way the bassist then re-introduces the original vibe from the beginning [7:26+], and all the instruments return [7:34+], but it's only at the very end that the sax gets into solo bebop mood [7:34+7:44], it's a good finish, but miles too short.

Altogether a very nice record, that i seriously need to get to play some more, it's only after roughly ten times played that i really start to fall in love with a disc, i seriously need to listen to this some more.

New Found Glory [Hits]

Just a few words about the booklet / back insert, the booklet comes from New Found Glory's first album, but the back insert comes from their greatest hits album, i bought their eponymous album after seeing it newly advertised somewhere, i really liked the look of the cover, very ingenious, the music was excellent too, but after a dozen plays i felt that there was too much filler, with only two truly excellent tracks on the disc, then i came across their Hits album, going for a song on Ebay [i got it for £1.29 or something], and so that disc having a poor booklet cover, i amalgamated the two packages, now i've got the best of both worlds, i do this quite often.

New Found Glory are an American punk band, originally from Florida, they've been together for 13 years now, it's hard to classify their music, they've been tagged with the 'Emo' name ['Emotional Hardcore' is the formal name], but i just refer to them as the more generic Punk [very much like Green Day or Offspring], if New Found Glory have a weakness, it's that they have a certain formula, and they seem to stick to it, all their songs sound similar, and it's only when you get deeper into them, you start to see beyond the sameness that they churn out, they're loud, but melodic, and they have these chorus's, probably they're most famous signature, they're a five piece, but their lead singer doesn't play an instrument.

Like i said above, the booklet is wonderful, showing nine squares of 'growing up' i guess, though in retrospect to roller skates and Britney Spears, they might wish they had picked something different now!, but the front cover is full of colour and variety, it speaks for itself, and yes it does show a degree of innocence, the back insert has different sized titles for each track, but i think it works well, the numbers in black are transfers i rubbed on myself, as the track numbers on the original are not very clear, but these two amalgamated discs make a great package.

The tracks i enjoyed the most were 2-3, 5-6 & 10-12, but because i had their first album, and i played it quite a lot, therefore track 3 'Dressed To Kill' is easily more likable than the rest, there's a real nice riff on the lead guitar as an intro [0:01-0:13], and it's this riff which comes back again and again to power the second half of the chorus, the delivery is incredibly infectious and enthusiastic, New Found Glory certainly have a formula that works so well, the lyrics are fairly banal and repetitious, but bordering on a punky sort of music, sometimes 'the banal the better', it's good to have a 'best of / hits' of this group, as i don't believe their studio albums stand up on their own.

Here's New Found Glory singing 'Dressed To Kill' on YouTube.