Stegzy's Music Project

Compact Jazz: Charlie Parker Plays the Blues [#294]

by stegzy

Someone once told me that I should like Jazz. Another person once told me that I should like The Blues. When asked why, it was explained to me in condescending terms that Blues and Jazz are the base forms of modern popular music.

By following that example, I should like two rocks being rhythmically beaten together or the sound of hollow twigs being blown tunelessly as they are the basis of all music.

Let me tell you, I don’t like jazz that much. I am not fond of the blues. I’d sooner listen to hollow twigs and rocks. But that isn’t me being dismissive. I appreciate Jazz and Blues for their place in music history, but it doesn’t mean that I “should” like them.

This album is in my collection because a hipster friend of mine suggested that I should listen to it so that I could gain a better understanding of how music works and how modern styles owe a great deal to the likes of Charlie Parker and his ilk; a better understanding than that given to me through the means of an A Level in Music History and Appreciation.

Charlie Parker

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The Commitments: Original Soundtrack [#293]

by stegzy

I inherited this album from Jamie.

I’ve never seen the film, nor does it interest me in ever seeing it. I’m sure it’s a good film but it’s not one that appeals to me.

The soundtrack is a compilation of soul classics, none of which appeal to me.

Why I still have it in my collection is beyond me.

1991 Soundtracks Various Artists

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Coming of Age – Camel [#292]

by stegzy

A live compilation of songs by prog maestros Camel showcasing work from Snowgoose, Moonmadness and later albums.

Sadly, during transfer from computer to computer over the years, my only copy of this album has now become corrupted; the majority of the songs now shortened by up to half of their original length.

Of course I’m too tight to buy it.

The tantalising audible glimpses of Camel’s genius make this album an excellent introduction to the band for those unfamiliar with their work but the lack of production, with it being a live album, doesn’t show the band in its best light.

1998 best of Camel compilations Live

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Comalies – Lacuna Coil [#291]

by stegzy

Following the download of a really good compilation of European gothic rock I decided to seek out the artists that appeared on the compilation and download their stuff too. Longer term readers will recall that this is, in hindsight, not always a good idea.

The problem with this kind of strategy is that you often end up with albums that are complete tosh bar one or two songs. Indeed, such is the case with Comalies. Which, while enchanted by the gorgeous lead singer Cristina Scabbia and the song Swamped, I sourced obtained and listened to with excitement. An excitement that faded fast when presented by unsophisticated dirge.

It’s a shame when that happens.

Lacuna Coil

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Coma Divine – Porcupine Tree [#290]

by stegzy

A confession: middle age and life commitments give me little time to explore and enjoy new music these days. So in an effort to write this entry I actually had to listen to the album itself.

Back when I was a student for the second time, late noughties, my television production tutor Andy Fox, my audiences lecturer and I would frequently discuss the pros and cons of Prog. Foxy suggested that I try out Porcupine Tree, a neu-prog band that was rising in popularity through the advent of the intarwebz. So I did.

I did what I usually did in those situations, download as much as I could for later listening to. Of course, life then got in the way and aside from a number of songs from various albums, I never really spent much time with an entire album. Until this weekend.

The newer reader might be fooled into thinking that I write entries for the music project on a daily basis. I don’t. I try to get as many items written up over the weekend at a when most people are curled up on the couch with a bacon sandwich and a copy of the Guardian.

So on a cold, damp bacon smogged Saturday in March I sit in Gnomepants cottage listening to Coma Divine in its entirety for the first time ever. I even caught myself doing some air guitar and moshing. Coma Divine is a best of/live compilation recorded live in Rome in the late 1990s and, as if to prove a point, it showcases Porcupine Tree’s earlier music, a period often over looked by people coming new to a band. I found it highly enjoyable on a first listen. I haven’t found any songs I’ll add to my “Got to listen to this now” list but they are inoffensive and I’m sure over the next few months I’ll listen to them again.

best of Live Porcupine Tree Progressive Rock

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The Collection 1977-1982 – The Stranglers [#289]

by stegzy

Hamish Grice. I always wonder what happened to that guy. In the nineties we shared flats in a flatblock of student accommodation and often shared and compared music. This is an album which he shared with me.

At the time I had only heard of The Stranglers through their hit Golden Brown; a song that seemed so hypnotic and full of Eastern promise in a way that Turkish Delight could never fulfil. But the more I listened to this compilation the more I was aware that I already knew.

Peaches for example: The open riff was used by Keith Floyd’s cookery programme. No More Heroes features on the gritty eighties compilation from the nineties Sound of the Suburbs. Strange Little Girl had been haunting my ear for many years till this point without any recognisable source other than imagination. And Always the Sun had been my anthem for misplaced optimism since my teenage years.

I was so enamoured with the compilation, Hamish did me a tape of it using his nifty tape-to-tape tape deck. A tape I still have. Somewhere.

Like long Salad Fingeresque fingers strangling you, the Strangler’s music invades your ears and mind, causing flashbacks and strange stirrings of rebellion as well as an overwhelming desire for toast.

Stranglers (The)

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The Collection – Ultravox [#288]

by stegzy

Midge Ure et al, dance with tears in their eyes to all their greatest hits and there are quite a few. This “Best of” compilation is in my top ten of “Favourite best of compilations” especially as it has lots of songs I’m familiar with as well as a few that, until I heard it, were unfamiliar with.

Ultravox synthed their way through the music scene of the 1980s with epic songs people still remember today. Songs such as the evocative Vienna, the eye pricking Dancing with Tears in My Eyes and the rousing Love’s Great Adventure feature heavily on the 1980s soundscape and they also feature on this compilation.

If you want to recapture the 1980s with a single band and Duran Duran are not available, then Ultravox will happily fill that gap for you.

best of compilations Ultravox

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Collected – Massive Attack [#287]

by stegzy

We now enter a section of the music project where we encounter another number of compilations comprising of “best of”s. Much like “Best of”, “Collection” albums tend to feature a showcase of the artist’s most popular works. They’re often a good starting point for finding out whether the band is compatible with your tastes and tends to have tunes you’re more likely have heard.

Massive Attack were part of the 90’s soundscape and very much akin to Portishead, Tricky and Morcheeba in that regard. Whenever they make a “period” drama set in the 1990s, it’s those bands that become part of the soundtrack.

Now the controversy: I like only a handful of Massive Attack songs. I tried. I got this album to try and like them more but it’s still only the same handful of Massive Attack songs that I like. Like all bands of a similar nature, after a while nothing new or inventive happens. We tend to get the same systematic rhythms, the same mix of women singing and men…Shatnering and the same repetition of themes over and over.

All that is great if you’re after a nice quick fix but it’s like that favourite table cloth you have. It’s the right colour and the right texture but it just isn’t the right shape for the table. That, dear reader, is what Massive Attack are like for me.

Massive Attack

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Cold – Lycia [#286]

by stegzy

Cold – Lycia

Galas, VanFlower and VanPortfleet reunite once more for another album to follow the successful Burning Circle and Then Dust.

Again, very haunting sounds. I really wish I had this album in the period 1993-1997, I can imagine enjoying this with my old Goth friends over some idle chat about esoteric nonsense.

Dark darkness prevails. Haunting melodies, ethereal female vocals and distinctive Galas sounds blend together to make an excellent album, sadly often over looked by many.

Galas left the band briefly following this album. It’s clear that the Lycia sound was evolving at this stage but I’m glad he did leave because Galas then went off to do some excellent solo work and enrich his own distinctive style. News recently on Galas’ Facebook revealed that he has reunited with Lycia once more and is working on a new album with them.

David Galas Lycia

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Codex Lascivus – Schelmish [#285]

by stegzy

Codex Lascivus – Schelmish

Weird mix of Latin and Germanic lyrics in a weird almost Dead Can Dance style.

Schelmish are a genre known as Medieval Metal. If you’re looking to turn your house into a 12th Century drinking hall with banquets, animal hide clothing and the odd bagpipe, then this is the music you want.

Fortunately, for Zoe at least, I don’t. But it’s a nice showcase for the diversity that is music.

Schelmish

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Cocktail from Lebanon – Various Artists [#284]

by stegzy

Cocktail from Lebanon – Various Artists

Now I’m not entirely sure that this is the name of this album. Nor am I entirely sure that the artists named are actually the artists. See, the thing is, I downloaded this album when I was looking for some Azar Habib and all the files were tagged in Arabic letters.

Back in the early noughties I discovered Flash Animutation. This was a phenomena that took the underground of the web by storm. It was long before the appearance of Facebook and Twitter and when the internet was a fun place to be rather than a chore. Animutation is where clip art was mashed and animated by artists using Macromedia Flash, often to music and nearly always to foreign music.

One such animutation film, often touted as one of the first, was Hatten ar Din. The song, originally performed by Azar Habib, had been retranslated from Lebanese to Swedish to English and animated accordingly. The results are amusing.

At the time I was going through a Middle Eastern phase. I saw the possibility of the West embracing and absorbing Middle Eastern culture peacefully into its own. Of course, that never happened but I enjoyed eating kebabs, listening to Middle Eastern music and visiting Lebanese restaurants. This is why I have a Lebanese album in my collection.

Lebanese music is different to Western music on many levels. While some sects of Islam forbid music especially instrumental music (which is seen as Haram) there exists a rich tapestry of musical tradition from the regions where Islamic tradition is not as strict. Persian, Jewish, Lebanese and Arabic music is quite relaxing while also exciting and captivating. This album provides a good snapshot of traditional music from the region.

Various Artists

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Club for Heroes – Various Artists [#283]

by stegzy

Club for Heroes – Various Artists

Back in the early nineties, CD’s started to rise to prominence and with them came an increase in compilations. This is possibly the first compilation I bought rather than made myself using recordings from vinyl or cassette.

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1992 compilations Duran Duran Spandau Ballet Ultravox Various Artists

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Clouds Taste Metallic – Flaming Lips [#282]

by stegzy

Clouds Taste Metallic – Flaming Lips

This is another example of a band that people tell me I should like. So I go out, get their entire catalogue and…like two or three songs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Flaming Lips

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Close to the Edge – Yes [#281]

by stegzy

Close to the Edge – Yes

The first time I heard this album I was blown away. I had it on cassette so I was able to play it wherever I wanted on my Walkman or on my portable hi-fi. One place I played it was on top of a windy rainy mountain in Wales, miles from anywhere significant. It is there where I am transported when I hear this album.

Stuck up a mountain. In the wind and rain. Rain pattering onto my hood. Snug and warm in my coat. Listening to this album overlooking fields of sheep watching the rain clouds drift in from the Irish Sea. Getting back to nature.

Years later I discovered that the album was recorded in a studio where the band had requested a more “rural” feel. Cue plastic cows, sheep pens and straw being strewn across the floor; Steve Howe stood on his carpet, Rick Wakeman with his cup of tea and Jon Anderson with his tambourine. Prog madness. Prog. No music like it.

Close to the Edge comes in with 3 tracks. Not many to the uninitiated, but with track one coming in at just under 20 minutes long and tracks two and three together the same, it’s easy to see why prog is such a good showcase for talent. Think of recent popular music. The likes of Gaga and her ilk with wishy-washy 3 minute jobbies. Trash. It’s like Twitter versus the blogosphere.

Close to the Edge is Yes’ fifth studio album and last with Bill Bruford (until Union at least). A rich tapestry of musical talent surpassed only by their next studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans.

1972 Jon Anderson Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman Yes

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Close Encounters and Other Galactic Themes – Geoff Love [#280]

by stegzy

Close Encounters and Other Galactic Themes – Geoff Love

King of easy listening, Geoff Love returns this time with discoised versions of theme tunes from popular sci-fi television and film shows.

I guess it was the late seventies when this was released. It seems that in the late seventies producers from both TV and film were in love with the sci-fi genre to such an extent that all there seemed to be in the public domain was space themed shows.

I guess man had relatively recently landed on the moon, or in a disused hanger in Utah depending on what you want to believe, so there was some kind of “space rush” on. In fact I’ve noticed that the gaming industry seems to be going through a similar “space rush” following the release of Braben’s reimagined Elite: Dangerous.

Love and what’s left of his “orchestra” ~~jazz~~ disco-up ten tunes including the themes to Blake’s Seven, Logan’s Run and Space Patrol. Love even gives the disco treatment to William’s Star Wars. This is the kind of stuff people subjected their children to in the nineteen seventies. Much in the same way as parents today subject their children to the Frozen soundtrack. It will end in tears. I promise. There will come a time when they’re grown up and they’re asking you, in a menacing voice, if you want to build a fucking snowman.

Geoff Love & his Orchestra remixes

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Clear – Bomb the Bass [#279]

by stegzy

Clear – Bomb the Bass

This album was gathered on a quest for the song Bug Powder Dust which features on this album but is not the version that was being sought.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bomb the Bass

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Classical Chillout – Various Artists [#278]

by stegzy

Classical Chillout – Various Artists

And so I am now near the end of the week of compilations. Sometimes you get a week with a nice mix of artists, other times you get a week of crap. Sorry. That’s just the way it goes.

Today we have Classical Chillout. It seems that in the late nineties/early noughties there was a massive demand for Chillout. No idea why. It wasn’t exactly a stressful time. I guess it was just people liked to chillout. Possibly with drugs. Maybe with a bath. Whatever floats your boat.

Baths usually.

Anyway, today is Classical Chillout. A nice mix of classical music and modern chillout, which, if anything, I approve of, purely for the inclusion of Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and Fauré’s In Paradisum and Cantique de Jean Racine. Which is why it is in my collection; I was looking for songs I used to sing when I was in Bishop Eton church choir.

– Barber*	Adagio For Strings	9:31
–Satie*	Gymnopédie No. 1	3:12
–Jenkins*	Adiemus	3:57
–Sakamoto*	Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence	4:46
–Puccini*	O Mio Babbino Caro	2:03
–Albinoni*	Adagio	5:48
–Beethoven*	Figlio Perduto	4:37
–Pärt*	Spiegel Im Spiegel	4:00
–Delibes*	Flower Duet (Lakmé)	3:26
–Nyman*	The Heart Asks Pleasure First / The Promise	3:11
–Fauré*	Cantique De Jean Racine	5:44
–Ungar* & Mason*	The Ashokan Farewell	5:06
–Debussy*	Clair De Lune	4:54
–Allegri*	Misere Mei, Deus (vv 1-4, 17-20)	5:44
–Horner*	My Heart Will Go On	4:19
–Jeffes*	Perpetuum Mobile	4:28
–J. S. Bach*	Concerto For Violin & Oboe In D Minor (BWV 1060 – II: Adagio)	5:52
–Górecki*	Symphony No. 3 ‘Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs’ (II: Lento E Largo – Tanquillissimo) (extract)	4:27
–Vaughan Williams*	The Lark Ascending (Opening)	6:21
–Satie*	Gnossienne No. 1	3:23
–Reich*	Nagoya Marimbas	4:51
–Bruch*	Violin Concerto No. 1 In G Minor (Op. 26 II: Adagio) (Opening)	4:21
–Tavener*	Song For Athene	6:08
–Morricone*	Gabriel’s Oboe	2:11
–Armstrong* / Del Naja* / Vowles* / Marshall*	Weather Storm	6:02
–Morricone*	Chi Mai	5:04
–Fauré*	In Paradisum	3:25
–Catalani*	Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana (La Wally)	4:49
–Vivaldi*	Winter (The Four Seasons – II: Largo)	2:29
–J. S. Bach*	Piano Concerto No. 5 In F Minor (BWV 1056 – II: Largo)	3:24
–Mozart*	Ave Verum Corpus	3:22

Chill out Classical compilations Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists

The last in the Time Life trilogy. 1986, that year renown for hair, rock, drugs, more hair, more stadia and yet more hair. With a bit of rock.

But lo! See the track list. Yet again our compiler has been at the stig bin in the bargain section of Woolworths once more and has managed to surpass the previous compilations with another atrocious selection.

1-1	–Georgia Satellites, The	Battleship Chains
1-2	–Meat Loaf And John Parr	Rock ‘N’ Roll Mercenaries
1-3	–ZZ Top	Velcro Fly
1-4	–Big Country	Look Away
1-5	–Europe (2)	Rock The Night
1-6	–Cinderella (3)	Night Songs
1-7	–Billy Idol	To Be A Lover
1-8	–Pretenders, The	Don’t Get Me Wrong
1-9	–Robert Palmer	I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On
1-10	–Ultravox	All Fall Down
1-11	–Kate Bush	Hounds Of Love
1-12	–Mr. Mister	Broken Wings
1-13	–Talking Heads	And She Was
1-14	–Steve Winwood	Higher Love
1-15	–Eurythmics	When Tomorrow Comes
2-1	–Daryl Hall	Dreamtime
2-2	–Psychedelic Furs, The	Pretty In Pink (Film Version)
2-3	–Tina Turner	Typical Male
2-4	–Peter Cetera	Glory Of Love
2-5	–David Lee Roth	Yankee Rose
2-6	–Fabulous Thunderbirds, The	Tuff Enuff
2-7	–Robert Cray Band, The	Smoking Gun
2-8	–Stevie Ray Vaughan	Superstition – Live
2-9	–Alice Cooper (2)	He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
2-10	–Great White	Shot In The Dark
2-11	–Poison (3)	Talk Dirty To Me
2-12	–W.A.S.P.	Wild Child
2-13	–Y&T*	All American Boy
2-14	–Status Quo	In The Army Now
2-15	–Julian Cope	World Shut Your Mouth

1986 compilations Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists

Oh dear. It seems yesterday’s album featured some memorable songs. Today’s contains a similar selection of non-hits by bands you’ve heard of occasionally. Again, during the period 1985-1989 there were some really good songs and yet, once again, the compiler has managed to forage completely dull, non-entity tracks from their record collection. It kind of makes me think that the compiler worked in an all night garage.

_{With Talk Radio on.}

CD1

01. Georgia Satellites – Open All Night
02. Gregg Allman – I’m No Angel
03. David Lee Roth – Tobacco Road
04. Jethro Tull – Farm On The Freeway
05. Robert Cray – Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark
06. Status Quo – Burning Bridges
07. Bad Company – No Smoke Without Fire
08. Little Feat – Hate To Lose Your Lovin’
09. George Thorogood – You Talk Too Much
10. Doobie Brothers – Need A Little Taste Of Love
11. Hooters – Johnny B.
12. Steve Winwood – Split Decision
13. Fabulous Thunderbirds – Wrap It Up
14. ZZ Top – Sleeping Bag
15. Great White – Rock Me

CD2

01. Poison – Nothing But A Good Time
02. Billy Idol – Don’t Need A Gun
03. Pat Benatar – Sex As A Weapon
04. Foreigner – Say You Will
05. White Lion – When The Children Cry
06. Marillion – Incommunicado
07. Electric Light Orchestra – Calling America
08. The Stranglers – Always The Sun
09. Big Country – The Teacher
10. Europe – Superstitious
11. Pretenders – My Baby12. Lou Gramm – Just Between You And Me
13. Huey Lewis & The News – Hip To Be Square
14. Deacon Blue – Fergus Sings The Blues
15. Cinderella – Don’t Know What You’ve Got (’til It’s Gone)

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 compilations ELO Jethro Tull Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists [#277]

by stegzy

Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists

The next three entries follow a similar pattern. That’s because the next three entries are very similar compilations. I could spare you the time but I’m cruel like that and I put the effort in to listen to these albums so it’s only fair.

The first in our trilogy of Classic Rock:198x – Time Life compilations is for the range 1984-1985, a glorious period in music, rich in a variety of hair, guitars and stadia. So it’s curious as to why the compiler chose the songs they did. I suspect that the compiler for Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock, which is also a Time Life compilation, worked on the same project.

Seriously that guy needs to broaden his music tastes.

1-1	–Billy Idol	Rebel Yell
1-2	–ZZ Top	Legs
1-3	–David Lee Roth	California Girls
1-4	–Huey Lewis & The News	The Power Of Love
1-5	–Pat Benatar	Love Is A Battlefield
1-6	–Eurythmics	Here Comes The Rain Again
1-7	–Waterboys	Whole Of The Moon
1-8	–Kate Bush	Running Up The Hill
1-9	–Jon & Vangelis	State Of Independence
1-10	–Marillion	Kayleigh
1-11	–John Waite	Missing You
1-12	–Rick Springfield	Jessie’s Girl
1-13	–Glenn Frey	The Heat Is On
1-14	–Starship	We Built This City
1-15	–Tears For Fears	Shout
2-1	–Meat Loaf	Modern Girl
2-2	–Bonnie Tyler	Holding Out For A Hero
2-3	–Talking Heads	Road To Nowhere
2-4	–Talk Talk	It’s My Life
2-5	–Dio (2)	Rock ‘N’ Roll Children
2-6	–Deep Purple	Perfect Strangers
2-7	–George Thorogood & The Destroyers	Willie & The Hand Jive
2-8	–Los Lobos	Don’t Worry Baby
2-9	–Bette Midler	Beast Of Burden
2-10	–Nils Lofgren	Secrets In The Street
2-11	–Cars*	Drive
2-12	–Foreigner	I Want To Know What Love Is
2-13	–REO Speedwagon	Can’t Fight This Feeling
2-14	–Chris Rea	Stainsby Girls
2-15	–Far Corporation	Stairway To Heaven

1984 1985 compilations Various Artists

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Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists [#276]

by stegzy

Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists

This is another compilation where the core idea works but the choices of tracks don’t.

Curiously, it appears that 70% of the artists featured on the album have previously featured on this project, so if you’ve missed those entries you’ll find that the links take you to those articles.

Anyway, Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock has a relatively good mix of tunes really but not ones I’d have chosen to highlight how rock can be symphonic. It’s a little too…. “twee”…for my liking. There are far better bands that could have featured on this compilation. There’s no Queensryche. No Meatloaf. The Yes option is pretty much mundane and the inclusion of Clannad, of all bands, confuses me no end. Clannad are not what I’d call rock for a start.

Tracklist

1-01	–Vangelis	Pulsar
1-02	–Sky	Toccata
1-03	–Hawkwind	Urban Guerilla
1-04	–Focus	P’s March
1-05	–Electra	Scheidungstag
1-06	–Gentle Giant	The Advent Of Panurge
1-07	–Triumvirat	A Day In The Life
1-08	–Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	Brother Of Mine
1-09	–Roger Waters	The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
1-10	–Procol Harum	A Salty Dog
1-11	–Mike Batt	Losing Your Way In The Rain
1-12	–Clannad	Sirius
1-13	–Jon Lord	Aria
1-14	–Barclay James Harvest	Child Of The Universe
1-15	–Jon & Vangelis	So Long Ago, So Clear
2-01	–Mike Oldfield	Sentinel
2-02	–Moody Blues*	The Story In Your Eyes
2-03	–Rick Wakeman	Catherine Howard
2-04	–Electric Light Orchestra	Standin’ In The Rain
2-05	–Alan Parsons Project, The	Damned If I Do
2-06	–Herd	From The Underworld
2-07	–Jethro Tull	Aqualung
2-08	–Gong	Ard Na Greine
2-09	–Vanilla Fudge	You Keep Me Hanging On
2-10	–Ekseption	5th Of Beethoven
2-11	–Aphrodite’s Child	It’s Five O’Clock
2-12	–Strawbs	Autumn
2-13	–Camel	Tell Me
2-14	–Genesis	The Silent Sun
2-15	–Yes	Heart Of The Sunrise

2001 Aphrodite's Child Barclay James Harvest Camel compilations ELO Focus Gong Hawkwind Jethro Tull Mike Oldfield Moody Blues Progressive Rock Rick Wakeman Roger Waters Triumvirat Vangelis Vanilla Fudge Various Artists Yes

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Classic Blue – Justin Hayward (#275)

by stegzy

Classic Blue – Justin Hayward

Mike “Womble” Batt again this time producing Justin Hayward. Sort of an ideal blend really. Silky smooth tones of Moody Blues front man Hayward gently stirred by the musical talent of Mr Womble himself.

Read the rest of this entry »

Justin Hayward

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Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists (#274)

by stegzy

Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists

Compilations like this give compilations like this a bad name.

Think of a barrel. Imagine the bottom of the barrel. Scrape the barrel. Mentally dig right through the wood at the bottom of the barrel with your bare hands. Imagine the sound of your nails splintering through the wood. Read the rest of this entry »

compilations Various Artists

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Chronophagie – Lasry-Baschett (#273)

by stegzy

Chronophagie – Lasry-Baschet

British people over the age of 35 might recall a daytime television programme of their youth known as Picture Box.

The theme is Maneche by Jacques Lasry. Jacques Lasry was the composer for an instrument known as the Cristal Baschet, a peculiar instrument resembling a sculpture designed and invented by the Baschet Brothers, François and Bernard.

This is a Cristal Baschet

A Cristal Baschet

There, don’t say this project isn’t educational.

So, the Baschet brothers and Jacques Lasry and his missis Yvonne, used to tour the world with instruments like this playing at concerts and on TV. They became an avant-garde act and released a number of album soundscapes.

This isn’t the sort of music you might find yourself dancing around your boudoir to, nor is it the sort of music you might have playing while entertaining dinner guests. This is the kind of music you might put on while wearing a beret, a pipe and some slippers together with a corduroy beard and a nice pair of sensible trousers. The kind of music you might listen to while leaning on the mantle piece of your home thoughtfully stroke your beard trying your best to look like a) you enjoy the music and b) you’re some sort of academic on the subject.

Classical Lasry-Baschet

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Chronometree – Glass Hammer [#272]

by stegzy

Chronometree – Glass Hammer

Prog. More prog.

Some claim that punk killed prog with a nasty kick in the chuff back in the late 1970s. However it didn’t die, it crawled towards the back of people’s music collections and lay there. Regenerating. Read the rest of this entry »

2000 Ayreon Glass Hammer

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A commentary on Stegzy's album collection

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Cold – Lycia

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Codex Lascivus – Schelmish

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Club for Heroes – Various Artists

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Clouds Taste Metallic – Flaming Lips

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Close to the Edge – Yes

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Close Encounters and Other Galactic Themes – Geoff Love

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Clear – Bomb the Bass

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Classical Chillout – Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1986 – Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1985 – 1989 – Various Artists

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Classic rock: 1984-1985 – Various Artists

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Classic Rock: Symphonic Rock – Various Artists

Tracklist

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Classic Blue – Justin Hayward

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Cigarettes and Alcohol: Volume 2 – Various Artists

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Chronometree – Glass Hammer

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Other Artists Featured

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