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A Lark Ascending

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Everything posted by A Lark Ascending

  1. As an unreconstructed prog-rocker in '73 Bowie just sounded like commercial record company product draped in tinsel to my prejudiced ears*. Intrigued how the performance of Jean Genie was presented on the BBC News last night as an example of a time when pop bands knew how to play live in the studio and knew their craft, something young bands today need to aspire to. We love our Golden Ages in the past. (*Yes, I know I was wrong!)
  2. Given that Boulez once made tearing down opera houses an imperative I'd have thought bleaching Rembrandts and vandalising recordings through de-hissing would be mandatory for all good modernists.
  3. Wrong sax but almost in the right position.
  4. It's very much a 'live' issue in the area of book sales over here at the moment. Until the 80s books had to be sold at a set price, allowing small shops to compete with the big guys. When that was removed a lot of shops went to the wall but more survived than we perhaps expected. But calls of alarm are going up now as many smaller shops say they cannot compete with Amazon. If Kindle etc really takes off they are going to find it very hard to survive. At present Amazon/iTunes have bucked the trend and made comprehensiveness a virtue. It remains to be seen if this will continue to be the case once the competition has gone. Maybe the fact that titles can be distributed at a much lower cost than in the past will lead them to continue to see the ideal of having everything always available as a virtue (whether that is a virtue is, of course, another discussion).
  5. Thanks for that, kinuta. I'm always on the lookout for an engaging series I can lose myself in. It's not appeared here yet but I'll keep an eye out.
  6. All 3 Spirals were superb. Hope there are more! Last two episodes! Marvellous ending with lots of unresolved threads. And there will be a third series (though at one point towards the end of episode 10 it looked like this was not going to happen).
  7. One of the arguments used since the 70s over here to justify deregulation is that it offers the customer 'choice'. That seems to happen for a while - and then the big guys eat up the small guys and proceed to stock limited choice stacked high.
  8. If you are immoral enough to accept that 'the internet is your friend' (c. JSngry) then there are files of this now available. Taken from LPs with audible surface noise in places (especially the start of sides) and a couple of sharp end of tracks (probably on the original). Fascinating listen - 2 LPs worth from 1979 (puts it contemporary with 'Frames'). What you'd expect from solo Tippett - long free-form improvisations mainly; but with more of the lyricism that drew me to Tippett in the early 70s on his sideman appearances. Parts could be from Jarrett's 'Bremen/Lausanne'! Actually an easier listen than things like Blueprint or the first couple of Ovary Lodge albums. Deserves a proper release. ************ Some time in early 1973 there was an interview with Tippett in the NME (those were the days!) where I recall him talking about how he wanted to make music that the ordinary person could relax to at the end of the day (probably didn't use those words but that was the jist). I never quite got that, given how free most of his music is. Maybe he just meant it by contrast with the full on raging collective improvisation that was very common at the time.
  9. I have a feeling record companies do something like this anyway when it comes to the more cynical commercial recordings. The mythical 'formulaic pop'.
  10. I think this week's choice track for me was the Bill Evans. I don't have that version of "Comrade Conrad" in my collection. Yes, enjoyed that too.
  11. Moi Aussi. That Django 'Undecided' is an all-time favourite. The vocal line sounds like it's slipping around on top of the main music. Very nice bossa 'Love For Sale' from Dexter Gordon just played.
  12. It's tucked away on this:
  13. Can it explain how crap such as the 'Birdie Song' gets to No. 1 though? Read the second half. They claim to be able to measure the components in a song most likely to render it attractive to a mass audience; but not to be able to calculate the impact of outside factors like marketing, appearance on X-Factor or whatever. 60% success rate claimed. Nothing very remarkable but interesting.
  14. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16218284
  15. Indeed. I've come to Brookmeyer in recent years, initially via his later recordings, then going back to those of the 50s/60s for which he has most acclaim. The richness of his writing in latter day discs really touches me - he hits an almost Mahlerian level of sadness and longing. Saw him the once a few years back at Cheltenham playing for a few tunes in a UK band alongside Kenny Wheeler. R.I.P.
  16. Great chord. Always assumed it was one guitar. Might explain why it always sounds faintly out of tune.
  17. The first and third are astonishingly literal. The second is totally beyond me. A call to industrial action?
  18. How that takes me back! They were great live. Particularly remember the wittily-titled "Bring Back the Burch", corporal punishment being still an issue in British politics at the time. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6801162/a/Roarin'.htm Given the Arts Council's preference for suites when commissioning jazz, I'm surprised we didn't get a 'Colonel Blimp Suite.' Other movements could include 'Bring Back the Grammar Schools', 'Bring Back National Service' and, as the culmination, 'Bring Back the Rope.'
  19. selling and saving souls I always wonder if it stands on a crossroads.
  20. I was always amused by a Catholic school in the West Midlands called the Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College. I expect it's called the Milton Friedman Academy now.
  21. £5??!!? Damn! I only got $5! "You got five dollars You're in good conditions and you've got ambition that belongs to you..... etc"
  22. Things seemed to have settled down now - there was a comprehensive 'thank you for your patience' note on Friday and a promise for some free credits. They gave me £5 worth. I'm happy.
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