18 May 2005
Musical baton
It's the craze that's sweeping the planet. Today I've been passed the musical baton by fellow TextDriver Justin French, and by Alnisa Allgood so here goes:
Total volume of music files on my computer?
PowerBook: 5.5 GB, 1168 songs, 3.4 days of playing time, but that's just for my elderly iPod. The real stuff is on the iMac (15.9 GB).
The last CD I bought was?
I bought a batch of three last time (whadda ya mean, that's cheating?): Disraeli Gears by Cream, Talkin' Honky Blues by Buck 65 and Guero by Beck.
Song playing right now?
'Tabula Rasa' by the composer Arvo Pärt from the album Tabula Rasa
Five songs I listen to a lot/mean a lot to me?
Five? You're kidding, right? Well, I'll do my best to restrict it to five, but I'm not promising anything. In no particular order,
- 'Intoxicated' from the album Night Song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook. Nusrat had such an incredible voice, and on this album he and Michael Brook bridge the hemispheres. This is velvet and sweet and bitter, and his voice soars away ecstatically. I listen to this a lot.
- 'Wild Nights' from the album Harmonium by the composer John Adams. The words come from an Emily Dickinson poem of the same name, and this is a wild ride. It starts very softly, with the chorus making almost wordless sounds that appear from nothingness, peaks with a huge, dramatic and orgasmic crescendo, and then slides back down to serenity and peace again. If this doesn't make your heart thump, you're officially dead.
- 'Plastic Factory' from the album Safe As Milk by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. This has a stomping, hob-nailed beat with The Captain growling out "Factory's no place for me/Boss Man leave me be" in his lupine howl. Even if you don't work in a factory (or for that matter, have a 'Boss Man'), play this on the way home from work and your mood will improve exponentially.
- 'Song of Solomon' from the album The Red Shoes by Kate Bush. Kate Bush has produced so much high quality music over the years that I find it almost impossible to pick just one song. She may not be fashionable, young or 'street', but I keep coming back to her music time and time again. That must mean something — possibly that I'm not fashionable, young or street. I love the mixture of words from the Book of Solomon and the astounding backing by the Trio Bulgarka. There's a slight pause around the middle of the track before both Kate and the Trio come soaring in, and it's then that every single hair on my body stands on end. Every time.
- 'Revelator' from the album Time (The Revelator) by Gillian Welch. I haven't had this very long, but I already know that it will stand the test of time. Beautiful acoustic guitar playing accompanied by lovely harmonies. It's beautifully melancholic.
I'm passing on the baton to...
Let's see... How about David from fuddland, Pliable from On An Overgrown Path, Sarah from not you, the other one, Lyle from D4D and Mr. D. from Aprosexic.
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I actually did this meme back in January but I'll do it again, as the "last bought" etc. has changed, as has the amount of MP3s I've got. It'll be written tonight - promise! By the way, total tangent, but in the comments screen it's published the entire page twice, post, comments log-on, etc., the lot. All very confusing!----- Lyle: I must have missed that somehow, but I look forward to reading the new one. I love Dead Can Dance by the way... As for the other confusion, I have no idea what was going on there. I had a draft of the same name in Wordpress, and it seemed to publish that version along with the comments. When I deleted the draft, it also deleted your comment. Aargg. So I manually entered your comment again, and I think that all is now well.3
This link might not work, bsag, but I've already been tagged! So apart from today's "Listening to" (a brilliant, if short album - 32mins!) and Today's Lyric, it's all "as is".4
excellent - a challenge5
Song playing right now: Bachâs Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 Total volume of music files on my computer: Zero. CDâs are the medium of convenience for me. But LPâs are still the medium of choice. Played through a Thorens TD125/Audio Technica deck, Arcam amplifer, and B&W Nautilus 803 speakers. Five songs I listen to a lot/mean a lot to me: Iâm probably cheating on this one, but Iâm interpreting the question as five pieces of music rather than vocal tracks. 1.My Desert Island âone workâ choice would be Wagnerâs opera The Mastersingers in the version with Karajan conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle. Thatâs another cheat because it is actually 4 CDâs. But for me it is the musical work above all others, all life is there. 2.Bachâs Goldberg Variations played by Murray Periah (I like Glenn Gouldâs two interpretations a lot, but they are just a tad too quirky for me). 3.Bill Evans' A Waltz for Debby. The classic jazz piano trio album for me, and still sounding great after all those years. 4.Vaughan Williamâs Fifth Symphony. A wonderful, wonderful work. For me the greatest twentieth century symphony. And it uses material from his opera Pilgrimâs Progress, which is an obtuse link to my blog On An Overgrown Path which I write under the web name Pliable (who of course is a character inâ¦.) 5.Nick Drakeâs Pink Moon. I find the music of Nick Drake really resonates with me. He is a kind of latter day Rupert Brooke, romantic Cambridge poet who died young but achieved much.6
Pliable: Nice choices! I'm not a Wagner fan, but respect the stamina of those who are! And the Goldberg Variations are wonderful. I've also [written about Nick Drake](http://www.rousette.org.uk/blog/archives/2004/05/25/nick-drake-documentary/) here before, and I never tire of hearing his music. He narrowly missed my top 5, but only because a top 5 is ridiculously limiting.7
Eh, I'm useless. I thought I'd checked your sites to make sure you hadn't already done it, but it seems the baton has been going around longer than I thought! Sorry! allgood2: I think that---overall---The Sensual World is a better album, but The Red Shoes does have some fantastic tracks. Apart from The Song of Solomon, I love Moments of Pleasure, Big Stripey Lie, Rubberband Girl, and And So Is Love. As for Night Song, I highly recommend it, but try to have a listen to it first. Mr. D.: See above. I'm so unobservant sometimes... sarah: Love your choices! Johnny Cash is pretty under-rated (if macho, at least in the early days), and I love Ben Harper.8
Yes, finally redone it and it's here.9
Lyle: Nice list! I promise I won't ask you again when it comes around again in another couple of months
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[...] So there you have it. Last time I tried to pass a meme like this on to other people, I managed to make a right hash of it. So this time, Iâll just throw the comments open to the first five people who fancy tackling it themselves. It will also give those who donât have their own blogs a chance to join in. Iâm curious to know how the last 10 years has treated all of you. [...] -----by but sheâs a girl⦠» A walk down memor @ 30/06/2005 6:06 pm • Permalink
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Now that just made me realize that I haven't converted most of my Kate Bush to digital yet, because after reading your description, I really needed to hear "Song of Solomon," and the album "the Red Shoes". Which I admit to giving it short shift. I purchased at or around the same time I purchased the "Sensual World". I listened to the Sensual World first, and fell in love with it, especially with "Heads Were Dancing" and "This Woman's Work". I believe I scanned through "The Red Shoes" but never gave it an all out listen to. I also see that iTunes has Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Intoxicated", though it's an album only purchase. I'll have to give that a try.by allgood2 @ 19/05/2005 10:06 am • Permalink