Listening Post /Brief reviews of select releases
Rock
Blur, “Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur” (Capitol). If you’ve ever been curious about the Brit-Pop movement of the ’90s—the one that every record store clerk and most music critics in the world insist was as important an event to rock history as was the Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” —this collection of Blur’s work might clue you in. This group more ably represents the “movement”—which was essentially a simple return to Britsh Invasion-era musical values— than any other. (Sorry, Oasis, but Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Co. were more eclectic, creative and invigorating than you lot ever managed to be.) “Midlife” includes the hit singles (“She’s So High,” “Chemical World,” “Song 2”), but more importantly, it packs in album tracks that successfully flesh out the story, pulling them from the now-classic records “Leisure,” “Parklife” and “Blur.” A useful Blur primer, then, but wholly superfluous for longtime fans, who most likely already own most of this stuff. ★★★( Jeff Miers)
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ
Spyro Gyra, “Down the Wire” (Heads Up). The growling bass, the blasts of synthesizer— Spyro Gyra never changes. There is something cheering about its timeless 1980s adult contemporary groove, and the guys are aging well, dapper in their jeans, sweaters and untucked shirts. They really should do something about that old-style bass, though. That little growl that begins most numbers sounds a bit musty now. But the graceful piano that sets off their ballad “Unspoken”— or Jay Beckenstein’s trademark smooth sax in “Island Pond”— it’s impressive to see a group of guys so devoted to their signature sound, and also reassuring to know that you can go home again. ★★★( Mary Kunz Goldman)
Pop
Paul Potts, “Passione” (Columbia). This CD was buried on my desk for a while, but I don’t think Paul Potts would mind, because now we have waited out the Susan Boyle brouhaha. Potts was last year’s Susan Boyle—the humble, unprepossessing singer, decidedly not good looking, who captivated fans of “Britain’s Got Talent” with music alone. This release is your average crossover pop— an orchestrated, Italian-language take on “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a pop take on Chopin’s E Major Etude. But Potts, a Welsh cell phone salesman, has a big voice (well, he’s Welsh, what do you expect?) full of a smooth sweetness. Only when he gets into Puccini’s “E Lucevan le Stelle” does it begin to sound a little thin. Could the Boyles and Pottses of the world be upping the ante as far as pop singing goes? That would be cause for rejoicing. The only thing I can’t forgive is the putting of words to the Chopin etude. Lucky they’re in Italian, so they won’t stick in my head. ★★ 1/2 (M. K. G.)
•••
Escala, “Escala” (Columbia). Is classical music supposed to be sexy? Of course, the greatest composers have always invoked the carnal, most effectively when they posited it in contrast to the lofty and sublime, suggesting the entire mess of the human condition with nary a lyric to make the narrative explicit. But sexy in the short skirt, high heels, “model with a cello” manner? Appealing to the base instincts of an audience—particularly one comprised of men—is about as challenging as shooting fish in a barrel. Escala—the English string quartet known to fans of the Simon Cowell empire as the smash surprise of that country’s “Britain’s Got Talent” program —is comprised of four musicians who are both easy on the eyes and clearly talented. The band’s debut is likely to be a huge hit on both sides of the pond, which is hardly akin to suggesting it’s worth the plastic it’s been burned onto. The idea seems to be a blatant dumbing down of classical themes, with the addition of the more bombastic elements of modern rock and pop, and the added bonus of abundant sex appeal to attract men who would only otherwise attend a classical music concert if their spouses dragged them to it and tied them to a chair. The true classical bits— Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings, Op. II,” Handel’s “Sarabande,” and, if we stretch it a bit, Ennio Morricone’s “Chi Mai”—are undercooked and overproduced (by former Yes singer and producer Trevor Horn, who should know better). The rock songs—Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”—are simply awful, failing (vigorously) as both rock and classical music. The latter features guitar work from Slash, who can’t do a blessed thing to cut through the cheese and generate excitement. (I hope it was a fat check, dude.) Buy this dreck if you must, but be careful. Prolonged catatonia might result from repeated listening. ★( J. M.)
Soundtrack
Vaughan Williams, The Film Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams performed by the BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba (Chandos/Movies, three discs). It’s too bad there’s no way to quantify who were the classical composers most ripped off by composers of film soundtrack music. If there were, the top three would undoubtedly be Gustave Holst (especially “The Planets”), his dear friend Ralph Vaughan Williams and Aaron Copland. The latter two were, in fact, occasionally busy writing film scores themselves, at least twice to masterful effect. Copland’s “The Red Pony” is one of his finest non-ballet scores and Vaughan Williams’ magnificent “Sinfonia Antarctica” was put together from his music for the film “Scott of the Antarctic.” Among the more irreplaceable features of this amazing three-disc set is how much “Scott” music hadn’t made it into the “Sinfonia.” And you find echoes of so many of Vaughan Williams’ greatest works, too—“Flos Campi,” “The Lark Ascending”—in some of his gorgeous film music. Along with Prokofiev, then, and Copland and Bernstein, he was one of the greatest classical composers ever to write for the medium. ★★★★( Jeff Simon)
•••
Philip Glass, “Koyaanisqaatsi” conducted by Michael Riesman (Orange Mountain Music) Arguably the most popular film score by Philip Glass, if not the best, Glass’ music for Godfrey Reggio’s “Koyaanisqaatsi— A Life Out of Balance” was, more than any other music, responsible for propelling Glass into the fame the composer has enjoyed since the film’s 1983 release. Here is the original 46-minute version of the soundtrack, which left off a couple portions of it that were restored in Glass’ 73-minute version in 1998. Should you ever be in the market for a counter- cultural elegy for Western Civilization, this will do quite nicely. Though I prefer the majesty of Glass’ later performance, this is haunting music, still. ★★★ 1/2 ( J. S.)
Classical
And If The Song Be Worth A Smile, Songs by American Composers, Lisa Delan, soprano, with Susanne Mentzer, Matt Haimovitz and Kristin Pankonin (Pentatone Classics). William Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs are holding up well: “Amor” is witty and arch. The blowsy “Oh Close the Curtain,” the ultimate hangover song, complete with the “F” bomb. And “Toothbrush Time,” with its nod to Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.” Jake Heggie, who wrote “Dead Man Walking,” contributes a haunting arrangement of “Barbara Allen;” his “He’s Gone Away” is also lovely. Two hilarious musical in-jokes by John Corigliano, with words by John Adamo, are a blast. “Dodecaphonia” is about 12- tone music. And “Marvelous Invention,” about an iPod, is something most music listeners will love. Those rhymes: “Die Schoene Muellerin” and “Gunther Schuller in,” and another line strings together Malfitano, Corigliano, Robert Spano and Montepulciano. Not everything on this disc is as exciting, but it’s all at least moderately entertaining. Soprano Lisa Delan carries these off with total conviction and a good sense of fun. ★★★ 1/2 ( M. K. G.)
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments