A Steve Reich composition. Originally composed in 2003, "Cello Counterpoint" has been described by Steve Reich as "one of the most difficult pieces I have ever written, calling for extremely tight, fast-moving rhythmic relationships not commonly found in the cello literature."
"Acoustic piano serves as a central voice, its full tonality preserved in
some tracks, while in others, notes stretch and resonate into open
space. This careful interplay is layered with field recordings and
modular synthesis, evoking textures that shift between moments of
clarity and abstraction."
Off to listen to some live music for a change later on, but waking up on a sunny Saturday morning with this forgotten gem from one of the hard drives. Vol 2 from the 60s and 70s may well be next.
This album recorded in 1969 has just been released for the first time by Guerssen and is available on Bandcamp. It is an excellent album which, in my opinion, doesn't have a weak track. It features members who went on to play for bands like the Allman Brothers, Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond.
Haven't listened to this one in a long time. Doesn't appear to be in my music library and my CDs are in disarray. A trio set with violist Eyvind Kang and drummer Rudy Royston.
A deeply involving and most unusual album that is well worth a listen.
All Music says "Dead Can Dance combine elements of European folk music -- particularly music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -- with ambient pop and worldbeat flourishes, touching on everything from Gaelic folk and Gregorian chant to avant-garde pop and darkwave."
The album cover is taken from the central "Earth" panel of the famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, completed circa 1500.
Random musing: here's something that I've been curious about for a while on bandcamp: what the reality is behind the "charts".
At about #25 in the charts (no filters, artists from anywhere, all genres) is this album of gathered soundcloud files grouped to help the artist buy gear - which for all I know may be great and worthy music, I am not pointing it out to critique it or begrudge it its spot in any way at all; it just catches my eye that it's in the same chart with e.g. godspeed or Mastodon. What is curious to me is that if the little icons accurately represent purchases, it has been bought 51 times since July 12.
This gives me a concrete reference point for what I have wondered about. Apparently 51 purchases gets you in the top 25 or so on the global charts if they are in the same week.
Bandcamp's home page says that 62,578 records were bought YESTERDAY. If the day before was in that ballpark, there have been well over 100k purchases since the linked album came out.
I understand that the bandcamp model is a small number of purchases per album spread across a large number of releases. But this kind of puts it in perspective. It also chimes in my mind with something I saw an ambient artist say recently - that getting $1 for a bandcamp album is more important income than spotify. It also helps me understand why some albums seem to sit permanently in the charts.
I know I follow relatively obscure artists with small niches, but I think I still tend to imagine the reality as a bit bigger than it is.
Comments
This album recorded in 1969 has just been released for the first time by Guerssen and is available on Bandcamp. It is an excellent album which, in my opinion, doesn't have a weak track. It features members who went on to play for bands like the Allman Brothers, Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond.
https://the2ndcoming.bandcamp.com/album/evaluations
A real mix of styles from Progressive Rock to Post Rock and quiet Metal. A great listen.
Ranked no. 4 for 2002 by ProgArchives whilst All Music says "one of 2002's most accomplished and surprising metal-related albums".
https://paatos.bandcamp.com/album/timeloss
A deeply involving and most unusual album that is well worth a listen.
All Music says "Dead Can Dance combine elements of European folk music -- particularly music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -- with ambient pop and worldbeat flourishes, touching on everything from Gaelic folk and Gregorian chant to avant-garde pop and darkwave."
The album cover is taken from the central "Earth" panel of the famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, completed circa 1500.
BBC showed this from the Proms last night from a couple of years ago, on Freegal so a free download of most of the album
Thanks, I missed it. It, together with last year's Prom performance of the Orchestral version of Chapters is available for another 20 days on iPlayer.
A Don Cherry afternoon....