Now Playing ( NON film / game / tv scores ) - Part ~~~~~

Oh, difficult to list.

I like some old-school classics like Calloway, Ellington, Davis, Reinhardt. I like some 'crooner' stuff. I like the cocktail-type loungey stuff a la Mancini. Jazz with some funk elements, like Schifrin's MANNIX. Or other, more contemporary artists like Chico Hamilton (yeah, I know he's been around for a long time), Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter. Dreamy stuff like Terje Rypdal. Maybe some fusion/acid jazz-type things like Weather Report, The Yellowjackets, Mezzoforte. I DEFINITELY like Stan Kenton's stuff -- merging big band jazz with contemporary classical music.

And so on and so forth. It's probably easier to list things I'm not that keen on -- like modern Polish jazz (I like some of Komeda's film music, but his other music can be quite demanding).

In general -- and I think you have gathered this by now -- I tend to prefer "smoother" sounds, whatever music I listen to. Less grit.

Yeah, I like what I've heard of Metheny. He's done a pretty cool score for PASSAGIO PER IL PARADISO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyPgfRdtZUk

Definitely falls in the 'smooth' category.

And of course, Garbarek is familiar to most Norwegians (I like the music of his daughter too....at least some of it!).

NP: Secret Wish (1985) - Propaganda

German project with English reinforcement. Superb synth-pop from the heydays of the 80s.

Volker

Volker!!!! I just clicked this thread to write that I'm currently listening to the glorious BEATLES!

I have in fact hardly listened to vocal music for about 15 years, but I got in a 60s and 70s mood a month ago and have been listening to this stuff ever since. My journey started with the awesome House of the rising sun. Btw, I love the look of the main singer; who must be the coolest looking dude in the Universe. He looks like he's been up all night drinking, and only had a couple of hours of sleep.

I also dig this song. And then I discovered this gem by this little black kid, a talented singer who died young. And this one is fantastic as well. Same melody as a popular Christian hymn, but it's especially that piano thing that makes the song so great. Oh, and this cute Japanese song which became a huge hit in the western world in '63, I find very lovely. In fact, it made me think that I don't think I've ever heard a song that contains whistling that I didn't like. Oh, and Bobby Vinton's rendition of Blue moon, that's perfectly featured in 'An American werewolf in London' (Perhaps the greatest horror movie of all time).

Oh, and speaking of greatest of all time, here's the greatest love song of all time. I've familiarised myself with several Elvis songs these days. This one and that one must surely be in the top3 of greatest love songs ever. Later I delved into the unique Sam Cooke, the guy with the the softest voice in history. Cupid and Wonderful world are my two favourites, but he has plenty of other gems, many of which he wrote himself.

Now, I'm into The Beatles. There is a plethora of Beatles gems. How a single band could come up with so many gems continues to amaze me. My favourite Beatles song of all time is probably Here comes the sun, which for some reason was never released as a single despite consisting of pure, undiluted awesomeness. Let it be must be my second favourite. Strawberry fields forever, Something, Help!, Yesterday and When I'm sixty-four are not far behind though. Luckily with about 300 songs, they continue to surprise. I've just fallen madly in love with McCartney's The fool on the hill. Since I discovered it earlier today I vaguely remember hearing it as a kid, but had somehow forgotten all about it, so it was a surprising rediscovery. And about an hour ago I fell for Harrison's I me mine. Perhaps not as accomplished as the other tunes, but I love that chorus and the orchestral backing.

Anyway, Harrison should have written more songs. If I take the average of how highly I've rated Beatles songs in itunes, Harrison actually has the highest average score. McCartney second and Lennon third.

Peter

Hmmm? Thanks Tom I'll look into it, I've not heard of this composer before.

I haven't really fallen for the walrus song yet I must admit. It's decent, but to me it's an average Beatles song. Same with A day in the life; another song that's considered one of their masterpieces, and where I just don't seem to get it.









Cool, hadn't heard that one before. Even though it's performed by another group, it clearly has that early Beatles sound. It almost sounds like Lennon and McCartney doing the singing.






Peter < Burp!

The Gibb's brothers were writing songs for other artists throughout their careers.

Just like The Beatles example above you can hear their stamp on any song they've written for others, just listen to Diana Ross's Chain Reaction for example, you can easily replace her with Barry & Robin etc.

NP : SYMPHONY # 7 - Angel Illaramendi



I like what I hear so far. Very accessable.

It's a good piece Tom, if you have Spotify you can hear it there ( that's where I listened to it ). He's also an exceptionally fine film composer ( a rare breed these days ) worth checking out.

Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep (2013) - Spock's Beard

Man, this one is fantastic! All right, this one is less proggy then yesteryear's releases, less experimental, but it's still highly virtuoso rock music. The Hammond Organ is there, the Melotron is there, beautiful harmonious singing, some vocoder, very hymnic, great artwork... The Last track "Waiting for me" is one big bow to Pink Floyd.
My proggy heart is leaping with joy!

Volker

A bloody excellent album Captain.

Sais Mike Oldfield: "Crises"
Answers Supertramp: "Crisis? What Crisis?"

Ha, ha, what wit!!

...not if I put on Miles Davis album You're Under Arrest.

They're okay. ( and some of they're stuff I love )

It's just occurred to me that you and Volker are the only people I know whether in "real life" or on film music forums who are fans.