Saturday 17 October 2015

Classical Music - September 2015

Dvorak - The Wild Dove
Haydn - Symphony No.91
Holmboe - Lagerkvist Songs (partial)
Holmboe - Contrasti
Nordentoft - Doruntine
Rachmaninov - Six Songs, op.38
Schumann - Piano Sonata No.2
Vivaldi - Longe mala, umbrae, terrores (Away with woes, shadows, terrors), RV 629

Well, pop music didn't dominate in September quite as much as it did in August, although I think I listened to most of these works late in the month.

The highlight of the month would have to be the Rachmaninov songs. The last collection that the composer wrote, they differ from previous sets in being all for the one voice (soprano) and so they have a certain unity - although I wouldn't think they represent a "song cycle".

They are also very good, with a real sensitivity to the words being set. That's true of most of Rachmaninov's songs - at least, that's the impression I get from the recording I've been working through, with 7 different singers and Iain Burnside as the pianist. It's been a real discovery of new repertoire, a different side of Rachmaninov that I didn't know, and it's been clear that a lot of work went into the recording project precisely because they wanted people to get to know this music. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is curious.

Saturday 10 October 2015

Popular Music - September 2015

Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
David Bowie - Scary Monsters
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
Delirious? - World Service
george - Unity
David Gray - White Ladder
Nik Kershaw
  • 15 Minutes
  • To Be Frank
  • You've Got To Laugh
  • Ei8ht
Wendy Matthews - Cafe Naturale
Joni Mitchell - For the Roses
Katie Noonan and the Captains - Emperor's Box
Pearl Jam - Vs
Something for Kate - Leave Your Soul to Science
Talk Talk - It's My Life
Tears for Fears - Raoul and the Kings of Spain
Thrice - Beggars

I'm actually slightly surprised the list for September is this long. My main memory of the month is undertaking "phase 2" of the Nik Kershaw discography, complete with 2 albums I bought in August to complete the set.

Speaking of a second phase makes sense because there was a gap of about a decade between Nik's last 1980s album and the arrival of 15 Minutes. In the intervening period he focused on work as a songwriter for others. Whatever he was doing, in my opinion it resulted in probably the best album of Kershaw's career.

For one thing, I'm impressed by the ambition and grandeur of the songs. There are several 6-minute efforts, and while length isn't everything, it's a sign that Kershaw is prepared to let the material breathe. It's also the album where he succeeds at having a more rock-oriented sound. On other albums, I typically feel the tracks where he attempts to move from pop to rock are among the weakest, but here they are a real strength.

And then there are the lyrics. Nik's concerns have changed just a little since the 1980s, with some more positive, domestic thoughts, but that strain of disillusionment with the world still crops up and on 15 Minutes it generates some sharply witty numbers.

Released a couple of years later, To Be Frank initially felt like a bit of a disappointment to me, with only a few songs standing out. I think this month is when I finally paid attention to it properly, and I've realised that it's intentionally a more relaxed, less ambitious album than its predecessor. Having a bit of a smile is actually the point in some tracks. It's lighter pop, but still fairly good pop.

Much the same can be said for You've Got To Laugh, although this time around there are a couple of genuine clunkers. I was initially put off by the album because the first song is one of them (whereas on every other one of Nik's albums, the first song is one of the best). Later on, "Loud, Confident and Wrong" is a badly judged attack on George W. Bush - not badly judged in terms of politics, but executed in an unsubtle way that ends up sounding like a schoolyard taunt. In both cases it feels like Kershaw's sense of humour has misfired. Elsewhere, though, there are some pretty strong pop songs, and "She Could Be The One" is genuinely warm-hearted.

The most recent album (and other new purchase) is Ei8ht, with a bunch of comments about the number 8 in the booklet... unfortunately the one that has a musical aspect is completely wrong, which is rather embarrassing.  In terms of the music, there is pretty well a direct correlation between track number and quality. The opening "These Tears" is as good a pop song as Kershaw's ever done. "The Sky's The Limit" was the single, and while it does have a distinctly sentimental tone he makes it work. The next couple of tracks aren't classics but are enjoyable, and then things start to fall away a bit. By the time we get to "Stuff" and "Rock of Ages" the lyrics are embarrassingly uninspired.

If that last review sounds oddly familiar, it's because it's very similar to my thoughts on Kershaw's last 1980s album, The Works. There are some definite parallels between the two phases of his career, with 4 albums each at this stage. Although the gaps between albums are longer in the second phase, they do have quite a bit of stylistic similarity and form a group distinct from the 1980s albums. Most of Kershaw's stylistic development (such as it is) seems to have occurred in the 1990s.

And in each group, it feels to me like there's a falling off in quality towards the end. Which is a shame, as I'd prefer a sense that a musician I like is developing rather than running out of ways to do much the same thing. But there are still some rewards even on the weaker albums, and every one of them would definitely contribute something to my Nik Kershaw mixtape.

Okay, iTunes playlist. But I'm going to plan it just like a mixtape.

Sunday 4 October 2015

Classical Music - August 2015

Brahms - String Quintet No.2
Snider - Penelope

Was that really it?

Yes. That was really it.