Music

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

i copy and paste the vid url into the reply box. preview/test post. post vid. test again once posted. 

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

Silver Swans - Secrets

[Flaxen Hegemony]

i copy and paste the vid url into the reply box. preview/test post. post vid. test again once posted. 

Ah, ok. That is what I did, and they previewed and played fine on this end. 

[Avi]

The Silver Swan, a madrigal composed by Orlando Gibbons, performed by Swingle:


The Silver Swan - Orlando Gibbons

[Avi]

Back in the days when I was a young music student, we went on a tour of what was then the Soviet Union (this was before Andropov's fatal cold). Our little choral ensemble performed and then we were blown the fuck away by a Russian choir. It was like speaking to the Creator (and I love the Russian Orthodox liturgical music, with its Beatle-esque chords):


Russian Choir with Basso Profondo


Male Choir of St. Petersburg: The Lord's Prayer

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

Bat For Lashes - 10 - Travelling Woman (Two Suns)

[Avi]

In days of yore in Scotland, religious fervor would sometimes overtake the populace, ending with great bonfires fueled by fiddles, bagpipes and any other devilish musical instruments. As a consequence, mouth music was born, both to preserve tunes and to provide music for dancing:


Puirt a beul, Scottish Mouth Music, Quadriga Consort, Elisabeth Kaplan, Laurenz Schiffermüller

Thats how the cabbage was spoiled,
The flour lay at the bottom of the pot,
Thats how the cabbage was spoiled
By the old Lowland men.

Thats how the cabbage was ruined,
This is how the cabbage was ruined,
Thats how the cabbage was ruined
By the French Emperor.

---
The laird of Dunmore is frolicking with Marion
The laird of Dunmore and Marion are frolicking
The laird of Dunmore is frolicking with Marion
But who will frolic with Mary?

---
If I had a shabby old man,
I'd steep him in the stream.
If I had a shabby old man,
I'd steep him in the stream.
If I had a shabby old man,
I'd steep him in the stream,
And if he weren't clean when I took him out,
I'd steep him again.

Id steep him and heave him out,
And steep him in the stream.
I'd steep him and heave him out,
And steep him in the stream.
I'd steep him and heave him out,
And steep him in the stream.
And if he weren't clean when I took him out,
I'd steep him again.

Of course, the Scots Gaelic repertoire is not limited only to waulking songs (songs sung while working tweed - a nasty business) and mouth music. Here's a sort of tongue-in-cheek love song:



Julie Fowlis - 'Ille Dhuinn, 's Toigh Leam Thu

Brown-haired lad, I'm fond of you,
I'm really fond of you, boy;
If you're fond of me, I'm fond of you-
Ive loved you since I was young.

I set off as usual
to look for the sheep
but scant attention gave I to them,
knowing my beloved was in the strait.

When I climbed Criongrabhal,
my spirits were low
the ship, with well-trimmed sails,
was out near Saighdeanais.

My parents say that
my foolishness is a source of shame to them
that I could attract a better man than you,
an owner of ships and galleys.

Though I could have a better man than you,
an owner of ships and galleys,
I would much prefer the brown-haired lad
though he hadn't a penny in the world.

Though I promised you Id follow you
and part company from my people,
nothing in the world
could induce me to go to Harris.
I wouldnt survive long if married to you,
while pining for MacDonald.

[BobGrau]

More traditional Scottish music, from the days of my youth.


Kandy Pop - Bis

[BobGrau]

Belle & Sebastian :: Electronic Renaissance

[BobGrau]

thanks avi, now I'm having a scottish-themed nineties nostalgia day...


Arab Strap The First Big Weekend

I should go out and do something useful, but it's FUCKING RAINING again...

[Avi]

thanks avi, now I'm having a scottish-themed nineties nostalgia day..
I should go out and do something useful, but it's FUCKING RAINING again...

Ha! I love all that crazy Scottish crap. Actually, there is a damn lot to be said for melody itself. The Celtic peoples just can't leave it entirely behind, even when they try to go punk or industrial or house or whatever.

It's raining where you are? If you're tired of it, we could certainly use some in south Texas, if you'd send it our way. Of course, see what you can do about the temperature, too. We've had 4 straight months of temperatures over 38 with the rest of the week predicted to be 42.

Ah, Donnie Munro - you've gotta be dead if this doesn't spear ye right through the heart.


Runrig - Thairis Air An Ghleann

I looked behind me
Without rancour without pity
To where my footprints were scattered
On their journey through the dust
From the beginning to an end of time
And to the bright everlasting days
Beyond the valley

We will praise
The love and the grace
That gave us our existence
So lowly beneath a sun
As it poured out its light
On alien stars

You came down
To a barren wilderness
And you raised the shadow from the valley
Gratitude and shame
The measure in each hand
We will proclaim your name in voice
On Gods way

Trashcan Sinatras - Wild Mountainside


Kevin Bridges - Scottish Accent

[BobGrau]

I'm genuinely not sure where rhythm ends and melody begins. Try this.


Belle & Sebastian - Is It Wicked Not To Care?

[BobGrau]

just in case my last few posts made me look a bit of a wuss.


LEGO BAND - VENETIAN SNARES

[Avi]

I'm genuinely not sure where rhythm ends and melody begins. Try this.

It sounds like a glam commercial jingle.

[Avi]

just in case my last few posts made me look a bit of a wuss.

Well, ya know I didn't want to say anything, but the wuss factor is a big concern. I think you might need the moss-covered, three-handled, wuss gradunza to straighten out your wuss levels. You may even have to resort to speaking in anapestic tetrameter to throw off any supercilious wuss-sniffers. Increased percussion and devils in bathtubs may be mistaken for the showy plumage of a closeted wuss, for no one else believes in Lego hell. Personally, I don't believe in wusses, either.

[onan]

Well, ya know I didn't want to say anything, but the wuss factor is a big concern. I think you might need the moss-covered, three-handled, wuss gradunza to straighten out your wuss levels. You may even have to resort to speaking in anapestic tetrameter to throw off any supercilious wuss-sniffers. Increased percussion and devils in bathtubs may be mistaken for the showy plumage of a closeted wuss, for no one else believes in Lego hell. Personally, I don't believe in wusses, either.

The problem with wuss is everyone thinks it needs to be added at the beginning of the preparation. But really it should be the last thing added near the end of the process. Hmm maybe that is garlic. Oh well.

[BobGrau]

moving south to wales...


Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Gewn Ni Gorffen

[Avi]

moving south to wales...

David Bowie on Quaaludes + a soupcon of King Crimson, but I liked it. I'll take your Wales and raise you a Breizh. When I was a child, I saw this musician in concert and the dye was cast (he is also one of the few responsible for the revival of traditional Celtic music, certainly of Breton music, and that harp is freakin' out of this world!):


Alan Stivell - Tri Martolod (festival des Vieilles Charrues)


Alan Stivell Dan Ar Braz - Pop Plinn

[BobGrau]

aaah, brittany... (the place, that is) I spent several summer holidays there as a moody teenager, smoking furtive gauloise cigarettes amongst the mysterious stones of Carnac.
Didn't hear much music, mind.



The mysterious Carnac Stones, found in the megalithic sites near Carnac, Brittany, France

I liked the second of your vids in particular - Jethro Tull on quaaludes? - but it's difficult for me to separate music like that from all the cultural baggage that inevitably goes along with it. I was brought up being dragged along to stuff like that to get some culture down me. It works better when you're old enough to drink.

You might find these guys interesting - (if you don't already)


Secret Chiefs 3 : The 3 (Afghan Song) @ Glaz'art, Paris (July 7th, 2011)

try a few songs, they're an unusually diverse band

[BobGrau]

as for me, it's friday night - and I'm a slave to the rhythm.


10 Minutes in the Chamber of Understanding

[Eddie Coyle]

   Because my musical tastes are Anglophilic and archaic...

    Today I've listened to:

    Be Bop Deluxe  "Futurama"
    Fairport Convention "What We Did On Our Holidays"
    The Move   "Looking On"
    Pete Townshend "Who Came First"
    David Bowie  "Pin Ups"
    The Kinks "School Boys in Disgrace"
     Joy Division  "Substance"
   

[Avi]

as for me, it's friday night - and I'm a slave to the rhythm.

Rhythm you say?


Gilfema - Tin Min

[Avi]

aaah, brittany... (the place, that is) I spent several summer holidays there as a moody teenager, smoking furtive gauloise cigarettes amongst the mysterious stones of Carnac.
Didn't hear much music, mind.

I liked the second of your vids in particular - Jethro Tull on quaaludes? [yes, I believe that Jethro Tull did Quaaludes] - but it's difficult for me to separate music like that from all the cultural baggage that inevitably goes along with it. I was brought up being dragged along to stuff like that to get some culture down me. It works better when you're old enough to drink.

Well, being an outsider in Irish society, I was free to appreciate the traditional music while the natives dismissed it with, "That auld rot!" Although Ireland produces some divine alcoholic elixirs (Oh, Guinness, my deep, dark, coffee-chocolate darling), the natives were down the pub drinking Miller Lite. The Tiger (now the Hamster) and Riverdance - of all things - changed this do-down-all-things-Irish culture a bit, thankfully, but in my youth, most of the natives felt dragged along to get some culture down 'em, too. But all I could think when I heard stuff like this was, "Brilliant!"


donal lunny - the ballymun regatta

Listen to the pipes wail in this, and you understand what scared the shit out of the Romans:


Kila - Rusty Nails - FULL VERSION!

You'd never know this song is about the boastfulness of a young man's prowess, it's so beautifully rendered:


Clannad - Buachaill Ã"n Éirne

And this song will put chills on you. It's about a man lured in and imprisoned by the pookah after he partook of food and drink:


Noirin Ni Riain - Port Na bPucai - Song of the Pooka

[Eddie Coyle]

Well, being an outsider in Irish society, I was free to appreciate the traditional music while the natives dismissed it with, "That auld rot!" Although Ireland produces some divine alcoholic elixirs (Oh, Guinness, my deep, dark, coffee-chocolate darling), the natives were down the pub drinking Miller Lite. The Tiger (now the Hamster) and Riverdance - of all things - changed this do-down-all-things-Irish culture a bit, thankfully, but in my youth, most of the natives felt dragged along to get some culture down 'em, too. But all I could think when I heard stuff like this was, "Brilliant!"

     As a frequent visitor there in the 1990's it was extraordinarily depressing to hear their radio stations polluted with Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi and other things that make me wish the colonies were never founded.

[Avi]

     As a frequent visitor there in the 1990's it was extraordinarily depressing to hear their radio stations polluted with Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi and other things that make me wish the colonies were never founded.

Ha! I'll admit that I went to the Michael Jackson concert (hangs head in shame) where people were heard to remark, "Man, I haven't had to piss in a field like this since the Pope came!"

[Eddie Coyle]

Ha! I'll admit that I went to the Michael Jackson concert (hangs head in shame) where people were heard to remark, "Man, I haven't had to piss in a field like this since the Pope came!"

   I had this debate with my cousins over there. "I understand filling up Slane Castle to see Springsteen...but Bryan Adams!" I know Japan seems to embrace American kitsch, but c'mon guys, I expect a little more from you.

     Then I went to McDonalds...

     Michael Jackson and the Pope...hmmm, I'll keep a civil tongue, for once.

[BobGrau]

     As a frequent visitor there in the 1990's it was extraordinarily depressing to hear their radio stations polluted with Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi and other things that make me wish the colonies were never founded.

weeknights in the nineties were saved by one man alone -


John Peel 05-12-2000 one of nine

[Avi]

weeknights in the nineties were saved by one man alone -

Yeah, you're probably right. Of course, radio like this is nowhere to be found now, especially in the USA. Someone, I think it was Pew, did a study of Clear Channel popular music stations and found that 58% of the content was repetition of the same artists. I'd written on another thread about the increased consolidation of media conglomerates, and radio plays a huge part in this. Many times, the only place to find music that is out of the mainstream is on public radio and telly (Peel was on BBC in the 90's, yes?) - maybe on shows like Thistle & Shamrock or Afro-Pop Worldwide in the USA.

http://www.youtube.com/user/afropopworldwide?blend=8&ob=5#p/u/0/DrH6GON07DE

Although Coast listeners are very aware of Crystal Gayle's Midnight in the Desert, few know that she won a Nammy (Native American Music Award). Native American music is almost completely unknown to Americans:


Wayquay "Navigate" Native American woman dancing a motivational song

This program featuring Robert Mirabal, multi-instrumentalist, singer, dancer, Nammy-winner and flute-maker (shop is in Taos), was aired on PBS - Music from a Painted Cave :


Robert Mirabal - The Dance

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

Trespassers William - Untitled

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

Freddie Mercury - The Official 65th Birthday Video