Electricity

Amazon.com
Jimmy Murphy defies categorization, his music claimed equally by fans of traditional country, bluegrass, honky-tonk, and even, to some extent, rockabilly. This is a reissue of his 1978 album, a buried treasure even then, with four new tracks added; his only other sides stem from 1951-56 Nashville sessions that don't touch this in ingenuity, energy, agility, and conviction. Murphy's acoustic fusion is so progressive and contemporary, yet so true to its roots, that he stands in a class by himself. There's no doubting the heartfelt metaphors of the title (gospel) song, but he's equally spellbinding on the rippling blues "Louise," the harsh country credo "Mother Where Is Your Daughter Tonight," or the honky-tonk torment of "I Get a Longing to Hear Hank Sing the Blues." Murphy's clear, versatile voice embraces the sorrows of mountain life and city life alike, with his religious songs offering transcendence. Don't miss him. --John Morthland

Electricity,Jimmy Murphy,Sugarhill [Country],Country,Country & Western,Pop,Rock & Roll,Rockabilly,Traditional Bluegrass

Average customer rating: So glad I bought this...a new artist to add to my favorites Heart on her sleeve Great Wherefore art thou, fame? Who is this woman?

Angels & Electricity Eddi Reader Manufacturer: Compass Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Singer Songwriters | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Eddi Reader Simple Soul Mirmama Candyfloss and Medicine Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns ASIN: B00000I9N8 Release Date: 1999-03-23

Tracks:

1. Kiteflyer's Hill
2. Prayer Wheel
3. Postcard
4. Wings On My Heels
5. On A Whim
6. Hummingbird
7. Barcelona Window
8. Bell, Book And Candle
9. California
10. Follow My Tears
11. Psychic Reader
12. Please Don't Ask Me To Dance
13. Clear

Amazon.com

Encompassing everything from understated acoustic ballads to jangly, guitar-driven pop, Eddi Reader's folk-rock hybrid rarely plays it straight. Picking up where she left off with 1997's Candyfloss and Medicine, Reader remains true to her own unique and enjoyable muse. Of course, it doesn't hurt that her always-amazing voice is in top form. "Prayer Wheel," with its exuberant chorus, masks a story of lost love behind a veneer of unadulterated pop. As usual, Reader draws on a number of songwriters to compile a topnotch collection of songs (including one, "On a Whim," written for her by Ron Sexsmith). But the best songs here are the ones written by or with longtime musical partner Boo Hewerdine: "Bell, Book and Candle" is a gorgeous, haunting tale of lost love, while "California" has a truly greasy groove to go with Reader's equally sexy vocals. Besides, it's always endearing to hear a Glasgow gal work her way around the word "California." --Percy Keegan

Customer Reviews:

So glad I bought this...a new artist to add to my favorites.......2001-11-08

I bought this CD to get Bell Book and Candle after hearing it on the televison show Charmed. Boy, was I surprised at what a good CD it truly is. I had never heard of Eddi Reader until I heard the song- I did not know what I was missing. Her voice is beautiful and the lyrics to the songs on this CD are so emotional they will tug at your heart. In addition to Bell Book and Candle other favorites of mine are Kiteflyer's Hill, Prayer Wheel and Postcard. To be honest, I don't think there is a bad song on the album. I would recommend everyone to give this artist a try. I will certainly be buying more of her music.

Heart on her sleeve.......2000-11-24

I've been a fan of Eddi since I first heard Mirmana playing in a music store in Cambridge in England in the early 90's. Since then I've bought all her releases almost on the day they were released and seen her in concert 3 times. The last time at a small pub in Cambridge where she played with long time songwriting partner Boo Hewerdine. What a great evening that was! Mirmana was her rather naive first outing after the Fairground Attraction days. The 2nd self-titled album was her attempt to capture an audience and was a commercial success in the UK. Candyfloss and Medicine to me seemed an attempt by her record company to reinvent Eddi as some new glossy pop star but despite that it contained great music. It failed commercially and she was dropped by her label. Angel & Electricity took a long time to find a home.

Despite everything she has been through the music still contains her wonderful voice singing songs about life, love, desperation, relationships, sorrow, joy and contentment. If you are new to her music I would humbly suggest buying the second album, Eddi Reeder, and go on from there. The more of you who do it the more chance I'll have of getting to buy her 5th album...

Great.......2000-09-14

Smashing and majestic first song urges you to open the French windows and let in the summer. Attention wanders during the quieter moments of this album but a great selection of ethereal tunes finely sung and consumately performed. One of my favourites.

Wherefore art thou, fame?.......2000-04-22

Eddi is one of those great, talented artists who will thankfully never make it big. All the better for those of us who know her, who can cherish her for who she is, not who her label wants to sell her as.

With much debate, I nominate this as my favorite Reader album, although the Maxi-Single is darn close...

I think what I enjoy most about her is her subtlety, which she uses without moderation =) Her writing and her vocal prowess are such that you might miss them, if you aren't looking for them. Like a great film technician, her best stuff is the stuff that you take for granted, and only afterward realize was beautiful and tasteful.

While all the album as a whole is a nice collection, it lacks the kind of cohesion that would make it a 5-star job. Still, the first and especially fourth tracks are hauntingly beautiful, and certainly keep me wanting to keep this disc in circulation in my player, so that her voice will stay in my ears like aural fudge. Sweetness!

If you find yourself taken by her, then just take a look at some of the people she's worked with, and hopefully, you'll discover some more new faces that will inspire you--her circle is a very talented one.

Who is this woman?.......1999-11-21

I went to a CD shop and saw this CD featured as a listener's choice. I put the headphones on and "Kiteflyer's Hill" came blasting out. I bought it that second. I've never heard of her before but this is a great CD to start with. "Postcard" is a favorite. Reader has a nice mix of power and quiet energy. Love Angels and Electricity.

Average customer rating:

Leningrad. Mat bez elektrichestva / Leningrad. Foul without electricity Leningrad ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Balkan Beat Box ASIN: B000PHEIU6

Product Description

1. Francuzskaja pomada 2. JA - tvoj kovboj 3. Zvezda rok-n-rolla 4. Batareja 5. Dikij muzhchina 6. Alkogolik 7. Malen'kij mal'chik 8. Tol'ko s toboj 9. SHou-biznes 10. Budem veselit'sja 11. Du ju lav mi (Daj ljubvi) 12. Stradaju 13. Davaj dzhazu 14. Moj motocikl (live) (bonus trek)

Average customer rating: Psychocandy Revisited

Trust Electricity The Upsidedown Manufacturer: Reverb (Redeye) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Rock | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: To Where You Are Passover Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space ASIN: B0002KQNX6 Release Date: 2006-03-11

Tracks:

1. The Way In
2. Wake Up Drive Thru
3. Blackeye Liner
4. Saint Theresa of the Roses
5. I Wish I Could See You Right Now
6. Bumpersticker
7. Walk On Fire
8. Elizabeth
9. Pepperspray
10. Drag Race
11. Dutches of York
12. Airplane Eyes
13. Sacred Call
14. Radio Broadcast
15. Spirit in the Sky

Product Description

The Portland Oregon music scene is alive and well. Very alive, very well! The Shins, Sleater Kinney, Helio Sequence, Decemberists, Sleater Kinney, The Dandy Warhols, The High Violets, The Thermals and Steven Malkumus. And now joining them is THE UPSIDEDOWN who just released their debut album TRUST ELECTRICITY on Reverb Records. The band had help in the studio from Dandy Warhol and Elliott Smith collaborator Tony Lash (ex-Heatmiser member) and it sounds absolutely brilliant. The band formed out of the ashes of seminal Portland shoegazer band The Bella Low and have been winning fans and influencing people ever since. They just finished up a full-on national tour and radio & press were faithful: The Willamette Week described The Upsidedown as: "dirty, glammed-up, drugged-down guitar rock with a dark heart. Their brand of ambient rock carries forth in a grand tradition: carefully constructed Dandies drone, pop hooks and devil-may-care-decadence." The Willamette Week know how to call it. KPSU described the band as "The best band that will come out of Portland in 2004!" With thumping, psychedelic, sexy and danceable beat driven songs like "Wake Up Drive Thru," "Blackeye Liner" and the Portland/George W. Bush riots inspired track "Pepper Spray," The Upsidedown are on a mission to bring some big bad dirty fun back into the world of independent music. They also successfully navigate territory formerly travelled by Love and Rockets and Echo & the Bunnymen, but with their own style, sound and attitude. And their cover version of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" is like no other. The band close off the album with their version, which is dripping in fuzz, swagger and sex. Prepare yourself to embrace The Upsidedown sound, which just recently hit shelves in North America.

Customer Reviews:

Psychocandy Revisited.......2005-04-08

If you've spent a lot of time with Galaxie 500, Jesus & the Mary Chain, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, etc.-- you have very good taste. And so do the Upsidedown. I feel like I should control my enthusiasm for this record because it's not taking me anywhere new. But visiting familiar musical landscapes with people who can finesse the experience can be quite satisfying. This is a very nicely produced and executed psycho-pop garage trip. It's like a love letter to heroin art rock. Most fans of the genre will fall prey. Lush, trippy, catchy and pretty cool.

Average customer rating: Soothing, intricate electronica Simple, childlike, relaxing Recently featured on NPR's all songs considered

The Electricity in Your House Wants to Sing I Am Robot and Proud Manufacturer: Darla ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music IDM | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music | Goth | Industrial Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Grace Days Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous Body Riddle Before the Dawn Heals Us Finally We Are No One ASIN: B000CCD0BW Release Date: 2007-07-16

Tracks:

1. Electricity in Your House Wants to Sing
2. When I Get My Ears
3. Work
4. Save Your Neck, Save Your Brother
5. Scholars and the Travellers
6. Neil Lake
7. Me vs. Heidi
8. Good Sleep
9. Man That Runs Too Fast
10. Places We're Trying to Find
11. Center Cities

Customer Reviews:

Soothing, intricate electronica.......2007-04-10

On "The Electricity In Your House Wants To Sing", Shawn Han-Liem crafts cerebral, melodic music in a similar vein as his previous album, "Grace Days". All of his signatures are here: contrapuntal interplay between various synthesized melodies, immaculately tight drums, and a smattering of sampled pianos, brass and other instruments. While Liem doesn't break much new ground, he is in top form, creating some of his most lovely and memorable work to date. The album opens with a brief piano solo, sampled elements of which resurface throughout the first track, an uptempo piece filled with swirling beeps that rise, fall, and bend. The highlight of the album is "The Work", which weaves together intricate melodic lines and textures into a wonderfully conherent whole. The album closer "center cities" is another high point, recalling the themes of the title track opener. There is an organic quality to this music that belies its mechanical precision.

Simple, childlike, relaxing.......2007-03-12

This is a great CD to relax to. Simple, childlike songs, clear, uncluttered production, good piano, good subtle beats. Reminds me of the music of ISAN (of whom I am a big fan) crossed with Ryuchi Sakamoto's piano works. The kind of IDM that tickles your brain a bit, makes your feet move without making you jump out of your seat. Enjoy.

Recently featured on NPR's all songs considered.......2006-06-03

From NPR's review: "I Am Robot and Proud is otherwise known as Shawn-han Liem, an instrumental electronic musician from Toronto. His intricate electro-pop is gentle, melodic and warmly organic."

Average customer rating: Absolutely brilliant!

Electricity Bob Brookmeyer Manufacturer: Act Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Cool Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Modern Post Bop | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Waltzing With Zoe Get Well Soon Group Therapy Nice Work Madly Loving You ASIN: B000001YKC Release Date: 1996-09-24

Tracks:

1. Farewell, New York
2. Ugly Music
3. White Blues
4. Say Ah
5. No Song
6. The Crystal Palace

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely brilliant!.......1999-02-04

Bob Brookmeyer is simply the finest composer working in jazz today. His understanding of form, orchestration, harmony, and improvisation is unmatched. This is essential listening!

Average customer rating: Good live album. If you haven't seen them live....

Spirit Electricity Bad Brains Manufacturer: Sst Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Hardcore & Punk | Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Live Black Dots God of Love I & I Survived Omega Sessions ASIN: B000000M56 Release Date: 1991-12-17

Tracks:

1. Return To Heaven
2. Let Me Help
3. Day Tripper/She's A Rainbow
4. Banned In D.C.
5. Attitude
6. Youth Are Getting Restless

Customer Reviews:

Good live album........2004-04-26

"Spirit Electricity" is almost worth getting just for this version of "Return To Heaven", and the whole thing is actually very good. But if you're looking for their best live album, that's "The Youth Are Getting Restless". It's a near perfect performance, and 11 tracks longer than this disc is. This one will still shock you though.

If you haven't seen them live...........2000-06-23

While Spirit Electricity is not the length of The Youth Are Getting Restless, the live intensity of Bad Brains is there. Any dub by H.R. is worth hearing, and while the studio recordings are great, they are nowhere near the sheer power contained in a live Bad Brains show. Who knows? This may be the only way to hear them live...

Average customer rating: Interesting, compelling and a little strange Hypnagogic Hallucinations Syntax for Romantics John Foxx - still a cut above the rest Nostalgia for the Future

The Pleasures of Electricity John Foxx , and Louis Gordon Manufacturer: Metamatic UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Crash and Burn From Trash The Garden Metamatic The Golden Section ASIN: B00005UT8L Release Date: 2005-02-23

Tracks:

1. A Funny Thing
2. Night Life
3. Camera
4. Invisible Women
5. Cities Of Light 5
6. Uptown/Downtown
7. When It Rains
8. Automobile
9. The Falling Room
10. Travel
11. Quiet City

Product Description

1. A Funny Thing
2. Nightlife
3. Camera
4. Invisible Women
5. Cities Of Light
6. Uptown/Downtown
7. When It Rains
8. Automobile
9. The Falling Room
10. Travel
11. Quiet City

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, compelling and a little strange.......2006-08-22

Whilst 'Crash & Burn' was hard-edged and dark, this is much more introverted and vulnerable. The Pleasures of Electricity is a strange album in many ways and very unusual. It is unlike anything else by John Foxx and just about unlike anything else I've heard.
The music "grooves" along in a quiet and beguiling way - sort of like a "Pastoral Kraftwerk". The music is very well crafted, melodic and it has a very infectious feel to it. "Invisible Women" has a quote from "Underpass" - the string synthesizer 'ritornello' from that song.

Many of the songs have a languid and unhurried feel to them. It is as if John Foxx has decided to spend some time with his ideas and music on this album and is happy to let the songs be as long as they need to be. The sound is less "hard-edged" than Metamatic or Crash & Burn, but much more organic and sophisticated than The Garden or In Mysterious Ways. It is a little like a calmer and more thoughtful version of The Golden Section, without the occasional and generally unnecessary intrusion of electric guitars.

The Pleasures of Electricity is a superb album in my opinion. It was rewarding for me the first time I listened to it and it continues to be a source of pleasure and mental stimulation for me. Great "armchair" listening, but, I dare say, it would sound awesome in a nightclub through a big sound system.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations.......2005-06-21

I have always been fascinated by John Foxx's surreal lyrics, and this collection of songs is nothing short of brilliant. A hypnagogic hallucination is a vivid, dreamlike hallucination that occurs as you are falling asleep. Some people see visions or hear people talking in that moment between waking and sleeping. John Foxx perfectly captures that moment on this album, and translates it to music. The lyrics often make you wonder if he is dreaming or awake; or living a moment in time or daydreaming about a moment in time. The music itself is minimal, clear, clean, and surreal without being disruptive. The dance beats of each song are very hypnotic and help to drive the dream like nature of the lyrics. John's voice is as beautiful and as clear as a bell ringing through fog. Relaxing yet exciting, beautiful yet surprising; thought provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.

Syntax for Romantics.......2004-06-19

With this album John Foxx ventures into the thinking part of his brain, much akin to when he was reading the Futurists in his early teens. Step back for a second and encompass what I am actually saying.
This entire album goes above the dance/sex/detached signature that John Foxx and all his work with ULTRAVOX! accomplished. While still using the minimalist beat/melody style, John takes the lyrics to new heights not visited for 200+ years. Don't be afraid or cynical, I am speaking of the English Romantics such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Blake, etc, etc..
Let us look at "Quiet City". Herein lies Wordworth's poem "London". It is what happens in the city, guided by its structure, that is important, not the city in as much; in Foxx's time the quiet in the early morning hours with the paper floating in the sewer wash, with Wordworth in the barges floating down the Thames.
"Invisible Women" smacks with the romantic vision of women always being beyond the humourless treatment/status given them in this male dominated world in much the same situation today as when Frankenstien was first being created in an after dinner conversation 200 some years ago.
"Camera" speaks of the idea that a mechanical/digital device has the possibility of capturing or mimicing thoughts and familiar mental recountings of one's history in photographic form, from which may be syntesised Wordworth's recalling in "Lines written a few Miles above Tintern Abbey" that poetry (in this case music) is best written after the compulsive expression exploding from the mind after much thought.
"Funny Thing" explores the invisible line between men and women that the romantics often adressed but never full identified; in how men and women in essence are involved in sameness but that how social definitions change the individuals mind to somehow socially place and confine both the roles of men and women.
I could go on to explain how "Travel" dances with the romantics traveling to view classical civilisations in their origins, or how "Cities of Light" explores the changing of cities and their histories and universities from being a drawing factor for intellectuals into a drawing force for insects and long lonely early morning walks what with the different technological mediums being used for physical rather than mental illumination, or even how "Automobile" changes metal boxes into seductive women but then I would leave out the important case of John Foxx's and Louis Gordon's much maligned music.
John and Louis have given music much the same beauty, style, and grace, through minimilising while taking away the fluff and unnecessary fury of overthinking and oversimplifying that music is doing today, much as the romantics did for human thought in the late/early 18th/19th centuries. If nothing else, I thank these two New Pioneers for the return to humanity by debugging the music industry with simplicity in this much to often overly digital age.

John Foxx - still a cut above the rest.......2003-07-09

On The Pleasures Of Electricity, John Foxx, along with Louis Gordon, returns to his early 80s Metamatic era sound, which was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk. In fact the song Camera reminds me a lot of Kraftwerk's Europe Endless and Neon Lights combined only Camera is much more dancable. Still Foxx manages to show a bit more emotion into his music on this album than Kraftwerk and he even he himself did on Metamatic
The song Invisible Women is basically a reworking of an earlier John Foxx song Underpass which is available on Metamatic. The same keyboard notes are also played in the song The Garden from the 1981 album of the same name. He's repeating himself but he does it so well. I love the soaring synth solo.
City Of Light is a great song to dance to and it features another soaring synth solo which is one thing John Foxx' is known for.
The Falling Room is probably my favorite song on the cd. Most of the vocals on The Pleasures Of Electricity are electronically altered but on The Falling Room you get John's real voice(for the most of the song) which I really enjoy. That's a bit ironic perhaps because the music is probably at it's strangest on this song.

Some other standouts for me are -
Automobile
Travel
Quiet City

This is some great music from one of the founding fathers of electronica.

Nostalgia for the Future.......2002-05-13

Hmm, very Kraftwerk. In going back to a sound even older than that of his own first foray into Electronic music, 1980's 'Metamatic', John has produced an excellent record of timeless quality. And for lovers of 'Metamatic', the tracks here 'Invisible Women' and 'Quiet City' are clever reworkings of that past glory.

Equally at home on the CD players of oldies reminiscing on the golden age of synth rock, of DJs burning the uptodatest dancefloor tracks and of those looking for some serious chillout musik.

Average customer rating: Buckle up . . .

Ghost of Electricity Junk Genius Manufacturer: Songlines ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Junk Genius ASIN: B00001X575 Release Date: 1999-10-12

Tracks:

1. Gone Away
2. Hollersdale
3. Angle
4. Long Way
5. Aberdeen
6. Strung
7. When
8. Indication
9. Itta Bena
10. Forty Years

Customer Reviews:

Buckle up . . ........2005-02-02

. . . something huge is going on here. Something at once readily apparent yet somehow obscured, hiding in plain view, as it were, something quite approachable but edgy and out there, something radically new and creakily old. I've always been strangely drawn to this disc, but only recently have I hit upon the proper hermeneutic to encounter and retrieve its weirdly veiled accessibility, what I call Downtown Americana.

The key to this music is obviously John Schott, that Bay Area guitar madman, sometime Zorn collaborator, and former T. J. Kirk member. If you go to his website and read about him, you'll find his roots go deep into the kind of ur-American vibe so magically conjured and brilliantly on display here. In fact, there's an interesting story about how this music came about. It seems these guys got together for weeks at a time and endlessly played old timey American song forms, from both black and white sources, until they found a way to present them in a new context, all the while retaining (if sometimes radically reconfiguring) not only their spirit but also their rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic content. That is, they messed around with them until they knew them inside out, totally absorbing their sensibility, but also allowing them to take on a new shape and character, not exactly the same as the originals (indeed, sometimes pretty radically different), but definitely organically connected to them. This approach produces an interesting effect on the listener--the feeling that one has heard this music before. And not only heard it, but felt it all one's life. A weird and somewhat unsettling kind of déjà vu thing.

Seldom has a group gotten so far inside musical forms as to authentically represent them while at the same time nearly completely transforming them. But that's what's going on here. While listening to this disc, I often get the strange feeling that I'm encountering the absolute heart of the American spirit, somehow captured and rendered musically but in a new way never heard before. Kinda like what Jim Pepper did with American Indian music. Other discs, especially Free Country by Joel Harrison (with whom Schott recorded on the Nine Winds label), Drift by Michael Blake, Redemption by Slow Poke (on which drummer Kenny Wollesen appears, and bassist Tony Scherr channels Haden/Dunn), and about half of Bill Frisell's output, cover similar ground, but none with such consummate authority, sensibility, and distinction. Downtown Americana (lovingly, non-ironically) filtered through Saint Francis (patron saint of San Francisco, whence Goldberg and Schott hail)--that's what we've got here.

The lodestar for this disc is Bob Dylan, another artist who had the capability of reworking old folk musics into something hauntingly familiar yet genuinely new. And I must say, if there is one single analog, one disc that most closely resembles the approach taken here, it's Michael Moore's instrumental Dylan tribute, Jewels and Binoculars (most highly recommended, by the way). It would be fascinating to hear Junk Genius do an album of Dylan songs. In the meantime, as soon as I have the funds I'm getting the entire John Schott oeuvre (including all his appearances with Ben Goldberg), which includes In These Great Times, Shuffle Play, What Comes Before, Almost Never, Xu Feng, and Joel Harrison's 3 + 3 = 7.

In short, this is music of the highest accomplishment, right up there with Catechism by Dennis Gonzalez, The Dark Tree vols. I and II by Horace Tapscott, Pictures of Soul and Mulatos by Omar Sosa, Lullablueby and Quickening by Frank Kimbrough, Alight by Safa, Entomological Reflections by Mephista, Songbird Suite and Folklorico by Susie Ibarra, I, Claudia by the Claudia Quintet, Nascer and The Invisible by Peter Epstein, South by David Binney, and Buzz by Ben Allison. If you know anything about my taste in music, you know grouping this disc with those is praise of the absolute highest order.

Absolutely not to be missed.

Average customer rating: Fabulous CD A heavenly marriage of acoustic and electronic elements

Electricity: Works for Cello and Electronics Manufacturer: Albany Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Computer | Electronic | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music Cello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Unsuk Chin: Akrostichon-Wortspiel Musik Fur Streichinstrumente ASIN: B0007MSUIK Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

1. The Song of Songs for cello and electronics
2. oddjob for cello and electronics
3. Yi Feng for amplified solo cello
4. Petals for solo cello with electronics
5. Synchronisms No. 3 for cello and electronic sounds
6. Industry

Album Description

Madeleine Shapiro is a recognized figure in the field of contemporary music as a cellist, producer of chamber music concerts, and as a teacher. She has appeared as a solo recitalist throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America. She has a strong commitment to performing works by living composers and has a repertoire of over 40 solo works by composers from the Americas, as well as Europe and Asia. The chamber ensemble ModernWorks, founded by Madeleine in 1997, presents an annual New York City concert series and has been heard yearly on the New York Consortium for New Music's prestigious Sonic Boom Festival and at other New York venues, including a series at the Museum of Arts and Design, as well as on NPR. She teaches at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she directs the Contemporary Music Ensemble and teaches classes in the performance practice of contemporary music. She writes: "My love for electro-acoustic works began as an undergraduate at The State University of New York at Stony Brook where it was suggested by the eminent violinist Paul Zukofsky that I learn Mario Davidovsky's Synchronisms No. 3, my first experience with a work by a living composer. My subsequent performance of this piece led to a life-long commitment to both works by living composers, and the electro-acoustic medium. The pieces on this CD were chosen for their wide range of musical expression, and for the variety of electronic technology they employ. Since 1964, when the Davidovsky was written, the developments in technology have been astounding. As a performer, I have found this revolution exhilarating, and embrace the expressive and coloristic possibilities that such technology has afforded us."

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous CD.......2005-03-29

With this CD Madeleine Shapiro has solidified her reputation as a leading proponent of cutting edge new classical writing for the cello. While most cellist dabble with electronics, here Ms. Shapiro embraces it. The pieces are facinating, evocative and original and Ms. Shapiro's execution is excellent. This CD should be required listening for composers writng for the cello. Thank god people are still making CDs like this.

A heavenly marriage of acoustic and electronic elements.......2005-03-25

In addition to having a lot of sensational music, this outstanding recording shows the huge range of expression from today's composers. I've been fortunate to hear Madeleine Shapiro in live performance a number of times in New York, and she definitely knows her electronics (and needless to say, her cello).

The opener, "The Song of Songs" by Karen Tanaka, would be easy for almost anyone to like, even those not normally inclined toward this type of repertoire. Over a mellifluous drone with what sound like shimmering bells, Shapiro's soulful cello line grows ever more intense before the work's quiet ending.

The works by Jukka Tiensuu, Ge Gan-ru and Kaija Saariaho are all notable for using the instrument in unusual ways -- knocking on the wood, bowing near the bridge, and other ear-opening techniques, and one can't help but be impressed by Shapiro's consistent accuracy and passion in these difficult scores. The classic Davidovsky "Synchronisms No. 3" might be the most "modernist" item on the menu, but even it sounds warmer in Shapiro's hands than it might in others.

And Shapiro saves a stunning example of Michael Gordon's work, "Industry", for the very last. Gordon's rugged use of repeated double-stops will either wear you out, or hypnotize you -- for me it was definitely the latter -- and Shapiro's prodigious technique will leave you exhilarated. Throughout the recording, Shapiro is as masterful a guide as anyone could want in this repertoire, in a well-conceived combination of litte-known works and modern classics.

The CD was beautifully recorded by Adrian Carr, with a nice balance between the cello timbre and the electronic sounds -- neither one overwhelms the other -- and Albany has preserved all of this with a beautifully designed package and cover art (the liner notes credit Christine Chagnon). Don't miss the clever photograph on the back, too, in which Shapiro's cello appears to be flying off into space.

Average customer rating:

Electricity The Avalanches ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Frontier Psychiatrist At Last Alone Since I Left You ASIN: B00005OME7

Tracks:

1. Electricity [Album Version]
2. Electricity [Dr. Rockit's Dirty Kiss Remix]
3. Different Feeling [Ernest St. Laurent Remix]
4. Electricity [Original Version]
5. Frontier Psychiatrist

Album Description

UK single off the Aussie dance act's 2000 album debut, Since I Left You. The title track is backed with 'Electricity' (Dr. Rockit's Dirty Kiss), 'A Different Feeling' (Ernest St. Laurent Mix), 'Electricity' (Original 7inch version) plus the video CD-ROM for 'Frontier Psychiatrist'. 2001.

Music Album:

1. Every Time Two Fools Collide: The Best of Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
2. Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm
3. Fargo Country
4. Feels Like the Third Time
5. Further Beyond Nashville
6. Heart of a Singer
7. Hearts on Fire
8. Hep
9. Hits Of The Judds (Karaoke)
10. Hold to a Dream [Original recording remastered]

Music Album