Though not a friend of mine, the Devil ain’t no fool.
Tag Archives: Ludwig van Beethoven
Concert Hall Society
Felt today was a good day to take a much needed step back… way back, and enjoy some of the floral decencies of Mr. Ludwig Van. Though its release date is unknown, this mid-century (assumed) Concert Hall Society series is really rather upstanding, and delivers the Beethoven fix with minimum conflict.
Herb’s Ninth
Latin jazz greats, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass tackle Cole Porter (My Heart Belongs to Daddy) and The Beatles (With a Little Help from My Friends), among others on their 9th studio album, 1967’s Herb Alpert’s Ninth. Lost on me (until a bit of internet digging) is the pop culture joke on the cover. Apparently it was popular in the late 60s to wear shirts with Ludwig van Beethoven’s head on them. Makes sense, really, so jokester Mr. Alpert put his head on a shirt worn by none other than Mr. Beethoven. That goofy horn genius! The music is classic, modern day pop Latin jazz instrumental, and with every other offering by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert’s Ninth comes highly recommended.Classic Saturday
Tonight’s endeavor consists of the Greatest Hits of Chopin – Beethoven – Bach – Mozart. Classics for a classic Saturday evening. We’re watching Soap… a classic in and of its own, but when you get a sec, Chopin, Beethoven, Bach, and / or Mozart it up!
Some Gilded Treasures Should Remain Buried
Contained below is lost debris found amongst the sea of filth that is my PG work folder. I have no idea as to its context, nor what groovy slab inspired such nonsensical ramblings, but when you’re in a hurry, anything seems plausible. (If you need a music suggestion for today, check out Rocket from the Crypt’s Hot Charity, or Tool’s Ænima. I’ve been stuck under an angry cloud as of late, and it seems my trusty umbrella has abandoned my side.)
There is something to be said about someone who can go from Beethoven’s 8th Symphony, to Thunderheist’s Jerk It 12”, to Harry Nilsson’s Pandemonium Shadow Show, to Rudimentary Peni’s Cacophony without the shimmering blink of an eye. What that something is, may be lost on the likes of me, but sometimes the logic breaks down in an extremely logical way. Get what I’m throwing down? No? Neither do I. If that’s the case, then you and I should be friends, or at least pen pals (suggested by someone who has never owned a pen).
Dig what you dig, and don’t listen to anyone who thinks they know what they’re talking about because, realistically, nobody really does. Take me for example. I enjoy annoying my neighbors, so much so that I create “neighbor annoy” playlists for my mid-day weekend adventures. Are they annoyed as I feel they SHOULD be, probably not. But does it make me happy none-the-less? You bet your ass!
1975: Pictures at an Exhibition
Capitalizing on the early 70’s popularity of reinvented “Electronic” adaptations of Classical classics, Isao Tomita focuses on the 1874 suite by Russian composer, Modest Mussorgsky, titled, Pictures at an Exhibition. Isao Tamita creates a very dark and dreary wall of impending, electronic-doom-music… AND IT’S AWESOME!
70’s Electro was made famous in large part by Walter/Wendy Carlos’ invigorating take on the works of Ludwig van Beethoven in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Although the back sleeve accurately indicates that (up to that time) electronic instruments had only been around for nearly 50 years (with the ethereal launch of Leon Theremin’s well, Theremin in 1927), there were only a small handful of “Electronic” albums obtainable by the social conscious. Four that I can think of are 1) the groundbreaking Soundtrack to Forbidden Planet in 1956, 2) George Harrison’s first studio album (yes, THAT George Harrison), 1969’s Electronic Sound, 3) Walter Carlos’ 1968 debut, Switched-On Bach, and 4) the 1966 release of The In Sound from Way Out! by Perrey and Kingsley.
Creating electrified modernizations of decades-old classics must have been difficult for some to digest in the mid 1970’s… boy were those narrow-minded purists in for a treat when Disco hit just a few short years later.
The late 60’s/early 70’s electronic movement is definitely something to explore. To say it is little more than a Classical suite or symphony with an electronic filter would completely sell this infant-like genre depressingly short. The guitar, invented in the 13th Century, didn’t get electrified until the 1930’s. Electronic music has yet to hit its centennial mark… imagine its overwhelming future. Isao Tomita did, and it’s evident by his work on Pictures at an Exhibition.
