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Hey look at this. Another vinyl rip of a famous classical recording that I found in a dollar bin somewhere. Anyway, most people probably know "On The Trail" from this piece, but whatever. I'm posting this because I'm fresh back from visiting my lovely girlfriend in Arizona and we went to the Grand Canyon for first time and it was marvelous. Some fidelity issues due to me filtering out some scratches and other hiccups, but overall sounds pretty good with a decent set of speakers. More classical music for the spring/summer months. As with the others, I'll type of the liner notes here:
The music of Ferde Grofé is alive with vivid impressions of the American scene as he saw it - from the sidewalks of his native New York to the wide open spaces of the Far West. Always alert to the rhythms, melodies and harmonies of his country's life, Grofé turned to subjcets like Metropolis, Mississippi Suite, Three Shades Of Blue, Tabloid Suite. Most of all, and most memorably, he turned to a natural phenomenon called the Grand Canyon.
Here is Grofé's musical evocation of the Canyon - the elements, the sights and sounds, the wild life, the panoramic splendor.
The first of the five movements is SUNRISE. Dawn appears over the desert, heralded by a soft roll on the kettledrums, followed by a series of chords played by the woodwinds. The main theme - initiated by the English horn and taken up by the other instruments - depicts the full brilliance of the breaking day.
Next, vast and mysterious: PAINTED DESERT. The movement opens with a strange, evocative theme played by bass clarinet and viola. Woodwinds and piano emerge in weird harmony, then - as the bright rays of the sun flood across the sands - we hear a contrasting melody of lyric quality.
ON THE TRAIL - the most popular movement of the Suite - introduces a traveler and his burro. The bray of the burro is heard, then the graceful rhythmic melody of his hoofbeats. Against this background emerges the contrapuntal melody of the cowboy's song. The traveler sights a lone cabin (the celeste plays a suggestion of an old music box), stops there briefly, then travels on.
As evening overtakes the day, there is SUNSET. Now animal calls are heard from the distant rim of the canyon. The horns open the movement, introducing the main theme played on bells and violins. The theme is developed in turn by oboes and violins, by woodwinds and violins, by cellos and horns, by horns and flutes. Finally a fading repetition of the opening calls of the horns echoes into the now-fallen night.
CLOUDBURST is the final and most pictorial movement of the Suite, encompassing the whole range of a violent storm: the ominous approach, lightning, thunder, torrential rain - then a sudden calm and the emergence of the moon from behind the clouds. Grofé uses all the resources of the orchestra to portray the battle of the elements - then after the storm is over, builds a final, gradual crescendo that forms the climax of the entire suite.
The Grand Canyon Suite was first performed in 1931 by Paul Whiteman's orchestra. It received wide critical recognition as an outstanding achievement in American music, and it was enthusiastically greeted in Europe. Today it is an established favorite, performed by distinguished orchestras here and abroad. In this recording one of the most distinguished - The Oslo Philharmonic - gives a particularly rich and rewarding interpretation.
About the composer
Frede Grofé was born in New York in 1892. As a child he studied piano, violin, viola and harmony. At 17 he joined the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, and in 1920 he became pianist and arranger for Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Grofé first attracted attention with his orchestration of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, and he subsequently began to compose on his own. In the Grand Canyon Suite he produced one of the most popular and wide-recognized pieces of orchestral music ever written by an American composer.
About the orchestra
The Oslo Philharmonic, which made this recording stereophonically in June 1958, stands as one of Europe's important symphony orchestras. It was permanently established in 1919 after some fifty years of effort by Norwegian music lovers and musicians to found an independent orchestra. The original backer was none other than Edvard Grieg. Today an annual season includes about 120 concerts, many with the world's most prominent guest artists, and extensive tours. Øivin Fjeldstad, who conducts this performance of the Grand Canyon Suite, is chief conductor of the Norwegian State Broadcasting Service, and of the newly-established Norwegian State Opera.
- Notes By Karin Hartell (1959)Download Here
So in light of me being home on the coast, the first days of spring and the sun shining, I decided to upload The Trashmen's only full length album, "Surfin' Bird".
The album is named after their hit single that shares the name, which is one of the most raucous, over the top rock n roll anthems ever recorded. The album is just awesome surf rock through and through. Rev up your hot rod, put in your long board, hang out with the other hip cats and throw away your cares. Not all the songs on the album are as heavy as Surfin Bird, but it's a nice beach record and a lot of fun throughout. Enjoy.Download Here
Since I had fun (sick, huh?) ripping that Previn recording last night, this morning I decided to do the same with one of the oddest records in my collection. Found this for 50 cents at one of the Portland record shops, and it's something you wouldn't really find anywhere but in a dollar bin. It's put out by HiFirecordings that was some label on Sunset Blvd. in the 50s or 60s. I don't know the exact year this is put out, and I can't really find much information (save for two links that reference the record at the end of this post). But you really have no reason to download this unless you want to listen to carnival music, which, let's face it: would be weird. Scanned and assembled the LP cover in photoshop again as well. It's pretty funny record though, and if you ever find yourself throwing a carnival or something, well then here ya go. The liner notes are the best thing ever, so I will include them again this time:
Dutch Band Organ is different!
All Band Organs are a "gas," quaintly tootling and twittering away, but this Dutch variety is even more so. You have heard Band Organs in carnivals, circuses and fairs. The picture on the front cover will remind you. The straightforward melodies, crazy arrangements and frequent "clams" are nostalgic, taking you back to the fun days of your youth.
In Holland, a Band Organ is a thing of achievement. There are lots of them and the builders take much pride in outdoing each other. The particular instrument recorded here is the Pride Of Amsterdam, the best of them all!
The process of making the music is interesting. After selecting tunes for this album, the list was sent to a roll maker who cuts by hand the appropriate holes in paper rolls which actuate the notes of the instrument as the roll progresses over a tracker, something like an ordinary player piano. The roll cutter in this case, incidentally, is a prominent Amsterdam attorney who cuts rolls as a hobby (try that one!).
After cutting, the rolls were played on the Band Organ in a live room for the best sound. By the way, stereo recording equipment included Neumann microphones and the best of other European recording gear, all of which is PLENTY good.
The very original adaptations and arrangements of the tunes played is remindful of the difference between domestic and imported Dutch beer. Anyway, make yourself comfortable for listening, put this album on your player and you will soon get the idea and want to listen over and over again!
Haha. Awesome.
Here are two links that reference the record in Mechanical Music Digest:
Dutch Band Organ (1995)
Recordings Of Fairground, Band, And Dance Organs (2007)
AND OF COURSE:
DOWNLOAD HERE
Most the LPs I own are from the dollar bins wherever I find em. Lots of stuff is bad, lots of it is in bad condition, and lots of it is stuff that is easy to find in any dollar bin or record store. This is something different. I mean, it doesn't sound great, and I can't remember where I got it (one of the thrift shops in the Portland area most likely), but I can't find a whole lot of information on this specific recording online, and I couldn't find the cover at all. Because of that, I scanned the cover, which only got about 2/3 of it, then i turned it over, scanned the other side, and then in photoshop put it back together. But it is two legendary classical works (one being the soundtrack to the great Steinbeck story), and the music is directed under the great Andre Previn. I decided to take my second stab at ripping vinyl and I think I did pretty well. It is good, epic stuff. And I like old classical LPs like this, because the liner notes are always so much fun, so I'll type those out now:
"This disc presents a double debut. In offering the first recording of Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, it introduces to the repertoire of the phonograph an important early work of one of today's most acclaimed composers. Moreover, this release marks Andre Previn's first recording as a conductor of symphonic music.
Mr. Previn, still in his early thirties, is widely known as a composer and arranger of film scores, with two Academy Awards to his credit. Yet unlike many film composers whose musical horizons are wholly bounded by Hollywood, Andrew Previn has maintained his bonds with the greater traditions of classical music both as a concert pianist and as a composer. In recent years, he has also devoted increasing time to conducting and has appeared on the podium of virtually every major symphony orchestra in the United States. The present disc results from a guest engagement of Mr. Previn's in St. Louis, which drew such enthusiastic comment that Columbia Records decided to perpetuate the performance with this recording.
***
The two living composers represented on this record have one attribute in common. Each embodies the music essence of his country. To the ears of this generation, Copland signifies America's musical idiom while Britten's work is audibly rooted in the soil of Purcell, the Elizabethan madrigalists, and the English oratorio.
Both Britten and Copland, for philosophic reasons, might conceivably resent being labeled as "nationalist" composers. But today they are undeniably the musical representatives of their respective countries in much the same sense as Rimsky-Korksakoff and Borodin projected the musical character of Russia in the last century or Dvorak's and Smetana's music spoke explicitly of Bohemia. The flavor of the land is in there work.
***
The Red Pony is a suite drawn from the sound track Copland wrote in 1948 for a film version of John Steinbeck's story of the same name. The heroes of the tale are Jody, a ten-year old boy, and his colt, on a Western ranch. As in Copland's popular ballet scores, Rodeo and Billy The Kid, the music is a direct evocation of the rural West - a tone poem of prairie life. The suite is arranged in six movements:
1. Morning On The Ranch: A fanfare-like opening suggests daybreak in a land of vast, open horizons. The tempo quickens with the bustle of the morning chores. The fanfare theme returns as the sun stands high in the sky.
2. The Gift: A tender, dreamlike passage suggests Jody's hushed gratitude as his father tells him that the new pony is to be his own. For a while, Jody and the pony caper about jubilantly. Then the horse is quietly led back to its stable.
3. Dream March And Circus Music: Deep in daydreams, Jody imagines himself astride his steed, leading an army of knights. Yet in Jody's mind, the procession of the armored warriors sounds rather like a parade of cowboys. Next, Jody pictures himself as a circus-master, whip-cracking his pony around the ring. The circus band - like those Jody has heard in nearby towns - plays woefully off-tune.
4. Walk To The Bunkhouse: Billy Buck, an old cow-hand at the ranch, is Jody's special pal. They swap laconic comments as they amble over to the bunkhouse while the bassoon, bass fiddles and bass clarinet punctuates the lopsided rhythm of the cowboy's gait.
5. Grandfather's Story: Jody's grandfather reminisces about the old days when he led a wagon train "clear across the plains to the coast."
6. Happy Ending: The last movement of the suite is a sprightly reprise of the folk-like themes of the opening section. It logically serves as a musical finale but is unconnected with the plot of Steinbeck's story, in which Jody gains early maturity by learning to accept the death of his pony through illness.
The Red Pony typifies all the elements that are widely recognized as being distinctly American in Copland's style. Some of the thematic material derives from such homegrown forms of music as the hoedown and the hymns of various American sects. His rhythms sparkle with a syncopated vitality clearly influenced by jazz. There is a nostalgic, open-air feeling about Copland's harmonies, and even his lyric flights retain a cool sharpness through the glint of dissonance.
***
Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem has a strange history. In 1940, the composer received a rather mysterious inquiry from a high cultural official of the British government: Would he be willing to write a special symphony for a celebration in honor of a foreign ruler? Britten saw no objection as long as the work would not be expected to contain any jingoism or other forms of national blatancy. Eventually it turned out that the commission for this special music had come from Japan. The new symphony was to be part of the festivities marking the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of a present Japanese dynasty, which had been established in 660 B.C. by the emperor Jimmu Tenno.
In 1940, Japan was embroiled in a long and cruel war against China, and Britten, a lifelong pacifist, accepted the commission with the idea of finding some way of speaking his conscience through his music. In choosing three sections of the Requiem - the Mass for the Dead - as titles for the symphony's three movements, he hoped to evoke a sense of terror at the ghastliness of war. His outline, when first submitted to the Japanese authorities, was readily approved. But when the score was completed, it nearly resulted in an international incident. The Japanese sent a furious note to England through the Japanese embassy in London, protesting that the young English composer had insulted the Mikado by submitting a work based on Christian principles and liturgy.
With the help of his friend, the poet W.H. Auden, Britten drafted a suitable reply for dispatch to Japan. Yet there was no further word from the Japanese. Soon after, bombs fell on Pearl Harbor and all communications were severed. Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, as an individual artist's plea for peace, thus casts a sad and ironic sidelight on the dark history of our war-ridden era.
The opening movement of the work - Lacrymosa - is heavy with grief and ominous with foreboding. It is followed by an agitated, acerbic movement - Dies Irae - depicting the desperate turmoil and anguish that is the wrath of God. The symphony closes on a quiet lament - Requiem Aeternam - imploring eternal rest for the dead. The three movements are played without interruption.
-Herbert Reid
(original liner notes)
so i don't really know what i plan on doing with this blog. i'm thinking of making it more oriented towards mixes though, rather than just uploading full albums like past years because the feds are getting scary shutting blogs down. so i could post old mixes i've made that no one would care about or people who visit the site or just friends could suggest themes to get my wheels turning again and i could post the results on here. no one would really participate in this either, and i probably won't do it for more than a month, but it's a good thought.
hey this is a post huh
Made this for the summer months. For driving between Humboldt and Portland. For the pool I will be swimming in with my gf in Phoenix. Hollatchaboi.
disc 1
1. nas - made you look
2. de la soul - rock co. cane flow (ft. mf doom)
3. young jeezy - go crazy
4. rich boy - throw some d's (ft. polow da don)
5. styles p - good times (i get high)
6. rick ross - hustlin'
7. beanie sigel - the truth
8. kanye west - two words (ft. mos def & freeway)
9. erick sermon - just like music (ft. marvin gaye)
10. jim jones - summer wit miami (ft. trey songz)
11. t.i. - rubberband man
12. jay-z - u don't know
13. juelz santana - mic check
14. fat joe - make it rain remix (ft. lil wayne, rick ross, r. kelly, baby)
15. e-40 - automatic (ft. fabolous)
16. busta rhymes - light your ass on fire (ft. pharrell)
17. prodigy of mobb deep - keep it thoro
18. kurupt - behind the walls (ft. nate dogg)
19. snoop dogg - that's that (ft. r. kelly)
20. pharrell - frontin' (ft. jay-z)
disc 2
1. lil wayne - go dj
2. t.i. - front back (ft. ugk)
3. bun-b - get throwed (ft. pimp c, z-ro, young jeezy & jay-z)
4. three 6 mafia - stay fly (ft. young buck, eightball & mjg)
5. clipse - wamp wamp (what it do) (ft. slim thug)
6. big pun - it's so hard (ft. donnell jones)
7. common - the game
8. shyne - bad boyz (ft. barrington levy)
9. the game - it's okay (one blood)
10. guerilla black - compton (ft. beenie man)
11. killer mike - adidas (ft. big boi)
12. big gipp - steppin' out (ft. sleepy brown)
13. slum village - selfish (ft. kanye west & john legend)
14. little brother - lovin' it (ft. joe scudda)
15. eightball & mjg - forever (ft. lloyd)
16. scarface - guess who's back (ft. jay-z & beanie sigel)
17. dilated peoples - this way (ft. kanye west)
18. cam'ron - down & out (ft. kanye west & syleena johnson)
19. jadakiss - we gonna make it (ft. styles p)
20. t.i. - u don't know me
disc 3
1. ugk - intl players anthem (ft. outkast)
2. g dep - special delivery remix (ft. ghostface, keith murray & craig mack)
3. freeway - what we do (ft. jay-z & beanie sigel)
4. da backwudz - you're gonna love me (ft. milwaukie black)
5. kanye west - the good life (ft. t-pain)
6. the game - put you on the game
7. the cool kids - 88
8. dj khaled - we takin over (ft. akon, t.i., rick ross, lil wayne, etc.)
9. the pack - i'm shinin
10. young buck - get buck
11. t.i. - what you know
12. the diplomats - crunk muzik
13. slim thug - i ain't heard of that (remix) (ft. bun-b)
14. dr. dre - put it on me (ft. dj quik)
15. jadakiss - knock yourself out
16. jae millz - no no no
17. fabolous - breathe
18. snoop dogg - drop it like it's hot
19. clipse - grindin'
All 3 Discs
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TDOIAVRK
or
Disc 1
http://www.sendspace.com/file/y5pr50
Disc 2
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1nrm1v
Disc 3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zsh5ec
