Thursday, August 30, 2012

iPods that should be sent to Russia for trial

ACDC? Really?

6 comments:

Singring said...

Well I never - there is actually something likeable about Ryan! Given his Randian devotion, I'm sure there's also plenty of RUSH on his iPod, so he and I are probably on a more similar musical wavelength that you and I, Martin.

Though even we don't seem to be too far off: I own every album by Steely Dan and the Doobie Bros. (exquisite bands both) and Tom Petty and Mark Knopfler have also recorded some excellent music over the years.

So at long last we've finally found one area of bipartisan agreement.

Martin Cothran said...

I never would have guessed it.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with ACDC? Now, Rage Against The Machine? Really? REALLY?

Lee said...

Wonders may never cease. I like Singring's list, except for Tom Petty -- I tend to prefer singers who can, you know, sing.

Steely Dan, Doobies, Knopfler are all wonderful musicians, and add to that Supertramp, King Crimson, Gerry Rafferty, Dave Edmunds, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, the Kinks... and of course the Beatles.

But symphonic music is my main thing. I tend to veer away from the intellectual Germans/Austrians, though, except Wagner, which I love but in small, specific doses. If I have to sit through the entire Ring, just... shoot... me... now. I forgot whether it was Rossini or Verdi, but one of them said, "Wagner has gorgeous moments but awful quarter-hours." I wouldn't go quite that far -- I say, gorgeous quarter-hours, but awful hours.

And (still on Germans/Austrians) Anton Bruckner, who may have been the greatest master of harmony and counterpoint of all time. Best voice-leading in the history of Western music.

I love Russian music (Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich) for its drama and emotional content, and English music (Elgar, Vaughan Williams) for its beautiful sonorities and stiff-upper-lip sensibilities. Elgar is very underrated.

Singring said...

'Supertramp, King Crimson, Gerry Rafferty, Dave Edmunds, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, the Kinks'

Now we're talking! Though most of those acts don't feature in my record collection at all, I tend much in the same direction. I'm a big fan of Progressive Rock of the Yes/Genesis/Gentle Giant/ELP flavour.

I do appreciate classical music, but really only gravitate toward pieces with strong motifs, like Holst's 'The Planet's or Orff's 'Carmina Burana' etc.

Lee said...

Along with Elgar, Vaughan Williams, William Walton, and Benjamin Britten, Holst is part of the English music tradition, despite of his Nordic name. Don't mean to lecture, you may already know this. If memory serves, he was the child of immigrants to England. It's really hard to find anyone who wrote music that was better crafted than Holst's, and it fits my definition of musical beauty as well.

Orff was kind of a one-off. I guess he was German, but his music is sort of a spinoff from certain Stravinsky pieces -- I'm thinking in particular of "Symphony of Psalms", though there may be better examples. As one-hit wonders go, "Carmina Burana" is pretty amazing. You'd probably appreciate the poetry it's based on as well, it's all bawdy and profane old Goliard songs from medieval times. The entire ending is based on a fellow who's trying to talk a virgin out of her virtue. She sings melodiously of true love, while all he can sing about is, how great to have another conquest.