Extraordinary [Import]

Product Description
Australia exclusive 25-track collection for the beloved song & dance man dubbed 'The French Al Jolson'. Mastersong. 2004.

Extraordinary,Maurice Chevalier,Mastersong,Vocal,World Music

Average customer rating: I hate to say it but... Her Best. Amazing CD Beautiful Music Fabulous!

Extraordinary Machine Fiona Apple Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: When The Pawn... You Could Have It So Much Better Tidal Wildflower Confessions on a Dance Floor ASIN: B000B0WOEO Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

1. Extraordinary Machine
2. Get Him Back
3. O' Sailor
4. Better Version Of Me
5. Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song)
6. Parting Gift
7. Window
8. Oh Well
9. Please Please Please
10. Red Red Red
11. Not About Love
12. Waltz (Better Than Fine)

Amazon.com

Fiona Apple, brooding, brainy belter and capital-A artist of near forbidding depth, begins her much gossiped-over third CD on a lark. The title track, one of two songs produced by Jon Brion before the label dispute that prompted hip-hop producer Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) to step in, sounds like a Judy Garland number slathered with irony or something Rufus Wainwright might have had a hand in--strings soar, beats bump around skittishly, and notes require a ladder. But playful as it is, by the time the chorus kicks in it's clear why the world has missed Fiona Apple so much. Young female artists who have stepped into the spotlight since she fled it six years ago-- Nellie McKay and Joss Stone spring to mind for their cleverness and heat, respectively--seem slight in comparison. With every track ticked off, in fact, Extraordinary Machine moves listeners a little closer to what might be a correct assumption: that everything they've dipped into since 1999's When the Pawn ... was filler. Fans will feel it especially on "O'Sailor," a gimlet-eyed lament, and "Tymps," a tight piano track with a tip of the hat to hip-hop. It's "Window," though, with its lyric about "a filthy pane of glass" fogging up a clear view, that sums up the experience of this CD best. "I had to break the window," Apple sings, smoky-voiced as ever. "It just had to be." With Extraordinary Machine, she shatters already sky-high expectations. -Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews:

I hate to say it but..........2007-07-13

...this album kills me! After several heartfelt attempts to like it, I eventually had to retire it to the depths of my CD cabinet. The fact that I truely find it to be impossible to listen to is devasting because I have so enjoyed Fiona for many years. The songs on this album are terribly depressing and musically I just don't find this work to be pretty or inspiring. I'm sorry Fiona, and I will always love you, but this album just didn't cut it for me.

Her Best........2007-06-28

If you loved Apple's first two albums, you may have a hard time liking this one. This one is very different from the others. It exists not on Apple's raw and simple singer-songwriter style that made her famous, but more of a bigger, vaster, more complex music ochestration. There is a shift, on this album. The focus moves away from her minor piano chords to synthesizers and handclaps and chimes and mandolins. The songs loose their classic verse-chorus-verse structure for something more like verse-bridge-chorus-verse-another bridge with crazy schizophrenic tempo changes ("Not About Love")and "hip-hop" beats ("Tymps [Sick in the head song]"). So brace yourself, it is a very big change. One that people are quick to write off as "trivial" or "sugary-pop", but they are just amateurs at Apple's work; the reason she is so amazing is that she can make music that seems too refined, too upbeat and shallow to be anything important. But then you listen to her voice and her lyrics and her chords and you realize that what apple is really doing is poking fun at her self. Deconstructing that seemingly airbrushed-rosy-cheeked image until you see that sharp shadowy figure of depth that lurks beneath that surface. This is what she does here, presenting a cleverly crafted marketing package that--on first listen--will sell copies. But, if you look close enough, you'll see that itching anguish that almost goes over your head. The woman is full of riddles.
And don't be fooled, fiona is still amazing.
Her voice takes on a solid, more mature tone in this album. Deep and rich and at times eerie.
And the lyrics are better than ever. She is witty, clever and concise; a goddess at rhyme who's lyrics possess a powerful sting in and of its simplicity; the kind that you have to read twice, three, four times to get. She is the sing-song Dorothy Parker of the 21st century. Brillant.
Highlight Lyrics inlude:
1. From "Window"---"I had to break the window/It just had to be/Better that i break the window/Then him, or her, or me."
2. From "Red Red Red"--"I don't understand about diamonds and why men buy them/Whats so impressive about a diamond?/Except the mining?
3. From "Parting Gift"--"Oh you silly, stupid past time of mine/You were always good for the rhyme.
4. From "Get Him Back"--"Wait till i get him back/He wont have a back to scratch.
This album is also perfectly balanced. A perfect combination of upbeat power songs ("Get Him Back, Tymps, Not About Love), gut-wrenching ballads (Oh Well, Red Red Red, and Parting Gift) along with some light fluety, fun tunes (Please Please Please, Waltz, Extraordinary Machine.)
In short, youd have to be a perfect fool not to buy this album. It is Fiona Apple's best yet. She has raised the bar yet again; vocally, lyrically, and melodically. This album goes from the margin to the center in terms of emotion, too. Screaming and growling and belting out whatever raw feelings that have been buried underneath, seeming to surface like a great big crashing wave that will completely smother you in its prescence.

Amazing CD.......2007-05-21

Great album. The music is amazing and so are the lyrics. I would easily consider this a must have. One of the best of 2005

Beautiful Music.......2007-05-14

This is such a beautiful CD in every way shape and form.
It is great to have her back and in such a wonderful way.
Very few words are needed to express the beauty of this effort.

Fabulous!.......2007-05-13

This is now one of my favorite albums of all time. Fiona does a brilliant job of songwriting in a variety of styles. She comes up with the catchiest melodies and hooks. Her lyrics are deep, well-written works of poetry that stand on their own.

Average customer rating: poe is clearly tonic Poe is the genius, conjure one is filler. Conjure One's Re-invention by Rhys Fulber Disappointing POE'S RETURN TO CONJURE ONE IS EXTRAORDINARY

Extraordinary Ways Conjure One Manufacturer: Nettwerk ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Nuages du Monde Conjure One Reminiscence Conjure One Beneath the Surface ASIN: B000AHJ7W0 Release Date: 2005-08-30

Tracks:

1. Endless Dream
2. Face the Music
3. Pilgrimage
4. One Word
5. I Believe
6. Beyond Being
7. Extraordinary Way
8. Dying Light
9. Forever Lost
10. Into the Escape

Amazon.com

Serene singers and lush electronic textures and strings are often a prescription for smothering romanticism and overwrought pop-treacle. Rhys Fulber, the force behind Conjure One, succumbed to that with his other band, Delerium, on their last album, Chimera ." But Fulber's post-Delerium project, Conjure One, though using the same formula, has a darker, sometimes more foreboding edge. On their long awaited second CD, superstar singer Sinead O'Connor is gone in favor of a bevy of lesser known voices, but little else has changed. That's not bad although "Endless Dream" echoes "Center of the Sun" from the previous album perhaps a bit too closely with yearning lyrics rising to cathedral heights in a soul-haunted chorus. The vocal credit on the tune is Jane, but unless someone has perfected human cloning, it's actually the singer-songwriter Poe, a hold-over from the last CD. She has the kind of warm crystal clear alto that makes even the awkward lyrics of the title track sound like heavenly entreaties. Joanna Stevens eschews words all together when she powers through a Middle-Eastern derived wordless hymn on the ecstatic grooves of "Dying Light." Conjure One almost becomes a different project, --one that recalls the glistening electro-pop of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark-- when Rhys Fulber sings on "Beyond Being" and a cover of The Buzzcock's "I Believe". But singers Tiff Lacey and Chemda bring it back to the Conjure One sound. From the orchestral-electronica of "Pilgrimage" to the poignant intimacy of "One Word," Extraordinary Ways is an album that seduces easily. -- John Diliberto

Album Description

With Conjure One being Rhys Fulber's (Frontline Assembly & Delerium) solo debut, he expands upon the promise of Karma with a rapturous blend of lush textures, hauntingly beautiful melodies and softly curved electrobeats. Nettwerk. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

poe is clearly tonic.......2007-07-07

the album was not bad, I mean it was ok. I am not shell shocked or out of my mind with telling friends about it. Considering Poe's solo career went right down the tubes like Rosanne singing the National Anthem, its refreshing hearing her on this ablum.

Some good tracks, but nothing to speak of. Just another ambient album, that maybe could have stayed in production a bit longer before being jugulared to the masses

thanks

Poe is the genius, conjure one is filler........2007-03-18

The songs in which Poe participates are SO much better than the rest of the album that they are not even comparable. I feel bad for her that she has to team up with mediocre people just to get produced, but I am grateful that she gets the opportunity to put out some material and I am grateful to conjure one of that. Don't get me wrong, conjure one is not bad, but they just don't do anything of note by themselves.

Conjure One's Re-invention by Rhys Fulber.......2006-10-15

This is Conjure One's sophomore album which again features the direction of Rhys Fulber (of Delerium & FLA). The 1st album featured Euro, Tribal and ambient beats, this album does not. Like Delerium, this side project under Rhys Fulber has gone more pop but with a slightly darker edge in many of the songs. It still retains 'untamed new age' rhythms. I have been a fan of Fulber and Leeb from the very beginning and enjoy listening to Delerium, other side projects and FLA. So when I found out Rhys was going his own way on his own project I was tempted in hearing it and liked what I heard. So with this second album it comes to no surprise that even though the texture and sound of the music has changed to a more mainstream feel, the music is still intoxicating and makes you go on a voyage down a myriad of emotions and mindscapes.

Now the songs are beautiful. Some are better in fluency than others but for me the better part of the album were the last 4 songs. The album opens up with two very 'pop' feeling songs that are radio-ready to play 'Endless Dream' & 'Face The Music'. The song 'One Word' is a uplifting song about faith in decisions. But the best songs are at the end of the album. I do miss the voice of 'Sinead O'Conner' though but the vocals are beautifully done here.

'Forever Lost' and 'Into The Escape' round out the album with haunting serenades and catchy tunes that stay in your head. Conjure One reinvented itself, not forgetting its past but holding onto it and changing to include more mainstream features. Not a bad effort and well done Fulber for another great album.

Disappointing.......2006-06-16

This album was boring and bland. I bought it because I very much liked Conjure One's first album (I thought it sounded similar to Balligomingo's Beneath the Surface- somewhat pop, but very melodic and soothing too), but this album wasn't nearly as good. 'Endless Dream' is the only good song, and maybe 'Extraordinary Way'. The rest aren't bad, but aren't interesting, either. I reserve this album for background music.

POE'S RETURN TO CONJURE ONE IS EXTRAORDINARY.......2006-06-16

I'm not happy with the negative reports that people have been provided here. My inital exposure to the clever lyrical content of POE was initally through a Conjure One CD and I've since bought her other solo material in addition to these collaborative efforts. POE definately has a fan in Milwaukee. The songs and content of this CD are engaging and a light pop orientation in the vein of DJ Armin Van Burne, Balligomingo, and Enigma, and Delerium. I've been getting into another act in this genre called Collide and that band happens to be my favorite in the Genre. This album however, has been played daily on my ipod for the last two weeks. I can't get the song "Extra Ordinary Ways" out of my head. If you like these other bands then this line up is great. I'd love a chance to see how they collaborate and some behind the scenes stuff on how Rhyes (spelling) worked with these other artists and how his collaborative procesess work. I also secretly wonder if he's hip to other projects out there outside this genre like Dream Theater? Well, if you like Pretty or Vocal Trance music this is for you. It has a more poppy flavor than the Energizer Bunny Trance sounds and is definately more loungy. Enjoy it.

Average customer rating: The best crystal bowl cd ever? Yeah right... Very good for meditation Incredibly Healing and Soothing Sounds! Wow, Raising the Vibe!! Lighten Up, Chill Out and Recharge

Journey To Wholeness - Singing Crystal Bowls for Healing and Wholeness Elivia Melodey's Crystal Vibrations Manufacturer: Crystal Vibrations Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | New Age | Styles | Music General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Seven Metals Singing Bowls of Tibet SOUNDS OF LIGHT: The Pure Tones of Crystal Singing Bowls Chords of the Cosmos: Harmonies of the Zodiac with Crystal Bowls for Chakra Balancing, Meditation & The Healing Arts Celestial Memories - Tapestries of Light from the Singing Crystal Bowls CRYSTAL VOICES: The Harmonic Vibrations of Crystal Singing Bowls ASIN: B000066RG7 Release Date: 2002-04-26

Tracks:

1. Chakra Alignment
2. Colloquium
3. Gaia Guardians
4. Higher Joys
5. Journey to Wholeness

Album Description

New Age listeners will fall in love with this unique meditative music created for healing and wholeness, from the Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls. Starting with a 14 minute Chakra alignment, four more tracks follow of innovative and extraordinary, inspired songs. This music will entrance you and transport you to transcendent realms of peace, beauty and harmony. Worlds of experience will open up, as you float on crystalline waves to places of inner connection and balance. The rich bell-like and low soothing tones were all recorded live with over 20 singing crystal bowls, flutes, chimes and world percussion.. This entrancing collection of songs births an entirely new musical art form all it's own. The exquisitely rich songs are the epitome of Crystal Bowl sound healing. This music will align and balance the chakras - Simply by listening! A perfect compliment to massage and alternative healing therapies as well as being wonderful for stress relief. Play it as low acco! mpaniment, to create harmony in your environment or sit back and relax into deeper meditation and illumination as you are attuned to new higher vibrational frequencies. Total playing time: 69 minutes

Customer Reviews:

The best crystal bowl cd ever? Yeah right..........2007-02-17

That's what I said as I read the reviews here and clicked over to the author's website... so I reluctantly handed over my cash with little expectation, and well, I have to say... I agree!

Frankly, I was a little surprised, I love this kind of music and my last purchase of Stephen Halpern's Crystal Bowls was disappointing to say the least as it was filled with synthesizers and other cheesy New Age effects. This one is not and I wouldn't even lump it with a New Age tag (as the product description has). It' just truly beautiful music. The resonance is wonderful and the first chakra track is great for getting me, or my space back into alignment. Simply put it on in the background and clear your space. Wonderful! The other tracks on the CD have beautiful touches including shamanic instruments like the Buffalo drums, rattles, native flutes, rain sticks and other instruments. All appropriately added, expertly played and NO New Age cheese. What's interesting about it is that the CD recorded in one evening with no manipulations. I love reading books and listening to audio of people that have opened their heart - you can feel that in the work... in a similar way I think this is transmitted through music and it most definately is here.

I have since recommended and raved about this CD to all my friends. If you're a healer with a practice, you're going to want it for background music or just clearing your space. For everyone else, it's wonderful for relaxation and coming back into balance (put on your headphones for a real treat) or just some soothing music to play after a hard day or most definately for people who are not feeling well.

Other crystal bowl CDs I like include Benjamin Iobst Seven Metal Singing Bowls of Tibet and Crystal Voices by Deborah Van Dyke. Daniel Goleman's work is also fantastic - Chakra Dance, Chakra Chants and his Om CD (although all his work is good).

I highly recommend this beautiful CD. There are extra touches, with different instruments so if you're using it purely for meditation, that may distract you (as some other reviewers seem to have experienced). That is, I guess, a matter of personal preference - some people would be okay with the other instruments. It's the kind of CD where you that makes you go and buy everything the artist has ever produced. Of the hundreds of the healing type CDs I have, this is, and will remain, well and truly at the top of the heap. This might just be... the best crystal bowl CD ever!

Very good for meditation.......2007-01-11

I listened to this during my hospital stay on my iPod because I could not sleep. It helped me immensely.

Incredibly Healing and Soothing Sounds!.......2006-11-03

This CD, just like all Crystal Vibrations productions, is pure healing. I can always count on the first track (Chakra Alignment) to bring me back into balance and alignment. I also use this disc as a space clearing tool for my home... the high vibrations resonate throughout, leaving my space feeling warm and wonderful. A multi-purpose musical adventure... how can you resist?

Wow, Raising the Vibe!!.......2005-11-23

Pretty incredible music that makes everything I do while listening seem to happen effortlessly. It shifts and "tunes up" the energy in the room and in me! The Chakra alignment is like a warm up to the magic of all the other instruments that weave in and out of the singing bowls. So you can stay really focused and present or drift off into deeply meditative states. Listening to the soothing music on this CD is one of the best prescriptions you can give yourself! If you want to journey to the far reaches of the universe, treat your self to their CRYSTAL PORTAL CD and get Journey to Wholeness for taking care of everything else!!

Lighten Up, Chill Out and Recharge.......2005-10-17

This is my favorite of all the meditation and singing crystal bowl music I own and I have a huge collection. Initially, I used it for meditation in the morning before work and then again when I got home. It left me calm for the day and recharged at night. Then I thought to put it on while paying bills and doing stressful chores. The resonance of the crystal bowl tones had an immediate effect. I was able to focus and breathe with ease while I completed my tasks. The sound quality is superb and you get all the beautiful overtones that can only come on a live recording. And the effect is lasting. For a real vacation, listen to this CD with headphones.

Average customer rating: Fantastic, amused, Fiona... A sad sad decline a great follow-up to when the pawn... One of the best albums of all time A Highly Biased (but still arguably fair, right?) Review From an Avid Fan

Extraordinary Machine Fiona Apple Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Tidal When The Pawn... Somebody's Miracle Aerial You Could Have It So Much Better ASIN: B000B0WOF8 Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

1. Extraordinary Machine
2. Get Him Back
3. O' Sailor
4. Better Version Of Me
5. Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song)
6. Parting Gift
7. Window
8. Oh Well
9. Please Please Please
10. Red Red Red
11. Not About Love
12. Waltz (Better Than Fine)

Amazon.com

Fiona Apple, brooding, brainy belter and capital-A artist of near forbidding depth, begins her much gossiped-over third CD on a lark. The title track, one of two songs produced by Jon Brion before the label dispute that prompted hip-hop producer Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) to step in, sounds like a Judy Garland number slathered with irony or something Rufus Wainwright might have had a hand in--strings soar, beats bump around skittishly, and notes require a ladder. But playful as it is, by the time the chorus kicks in it's clear why the world has missed Fiona Apple so much. Young female artists who have stepped into the spotlight since she fled it six years ago-- Nellie McKay and Joss Stone spring to mind for their cleverness and heat, respectively--seem slight in comparison. With every track ticked off, in fact, Extraordinary Machine moves listeners a little closer to what might be a correct assumption: that everything they've dipped into since 1999's When the Pawn ... was filler. Fans will feel it especially on "O'Sailor," a gimlet-eyed lament, and "Tymps," a tight piano track with a tip of the hat to hip-hop. It's "Window," though, with its lyric about "a filthy pane of glass" fogging up a clear view, that sums up the experience of this CD best. "I had to break the window," Apple sings, smoky-voiced as ever. "It just had to be." With Extraordinary Machine, she shatters already sky-high expectations. -Tammy La Gorce

Album Description

CD AUDIO SIDE: Entire Album

DVD SIDE * Entire album in Enhanced LPCM Stereo * Brand-new videos for "Not About Love" and "Parting Gift" (live), never before released * Live performances of 5 songs filmed at the club Largo in Los Angeles, including "Fast As You Can" and "Paper Bag" * Behind-the-scenes footage

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic, amused, Fiona..........2007-03-20

Musically pretty. Fiona has been experimenting with her own music, creating new sensations and illusions; this is just a step further.

A sad sad decline.......2007-03-11

Well it was an obvious path to musical collapse, she should have stopped at Tidal. If I'd been dating her for the talent she showed on her first CD I would have broken up with her over this piece of haggis. The course of the last three CD's drew a trendline right from stardom into a melodic pit. The lyrics on Extraordinary Machine were not only not up to their namesake but worse than the melodies. The number of great reviews on this site only go to prove once again the masses prefer pablum in lieu of something complex and cognitive.

Her original Cd with it's collection of diminished and augmented chords set to deep overlays of texturing, blended with truly poetic lyrics has been replaced with a distilled musical joke. What on earth gave her the impetus to try to go 'artsy' by experimenting with music predating the second world war I'll never know. It's obvious her angst is no longer producing art, rather it is being replaced with contrived resolution and the equivalent of a musical epitaph.

Eat it up people, it's all about not having to think. It's the kind of tripe that happens when someone is trying to hard to think of how to outdo their first brush stroke of genius and is confronted with musical block. Judging by the news her father is ruining her life and creativity as so often is the case in todays less than feminine half of the culture.

a great follow-up to when the pawn... .......2007-01-20

excellent record...
just like a great wine goes well with great food, this is an excellent follow-up to when the pawn (to me her masterpiece) ... listen to her previous album before this one to get the whole picture... excellent, very weird record... fiona is getting even more radical.. and shows she really is one of the best artists of the decade...

One of the best albums of all time.......2007-01-19

Ms. Apple's talent for consistently brilliant songwriting is staggering. This is a must-have for anyone fascinated by the blurry line between intellectual exploration and raw emotional experience.

A Highly Biased (but still arguably fair, right?) Review From an Avid Fan.......2006-10-20

I was showing up at stores weeks before this album came out asking if it had come out yet. Yep. I was that annoying girl tapping you on the shoulder and asking, "Well, when should I come back do you think?"

I'm all about Fiona Apple.

And I'm all about this album.

This was also the first dual disc I bought. It was a serious act of restraint on my part to wait for the dual disc to be available to me. I was VERY curious about this new fangled technology and wanted all the Apple my sorry buck could buy.

I was amply rewarded for my patience. The DVD components are spectacular. This disc was in my DVD player for several months. I'd rotate it out when I was going to watch a movie, but as soon as the movie was up, Fiona would be back in her place. I keep the jewel case on top of my television whereas all the lowly mere *music* discs are relegated to the top of my stereo. Oh yes. It's good. REALLY good.

The music is brilliant and broody and as lyrically lovely as ever.

"And it doesn't seem fair
that your wicked words should work in
holding me down
No, it doesn't seem right
to take information;
Given at close range;
For the gag, and the bind, and
ammunition round"

She's haunting and vulnerable and strong and moving and sincere and how can you *not* love her for it?

On the DVD side she covers seven songs in a small ill-lit club including a kick-arse rendition of "Fast as You Can" featuring Chris Thile from Nickel Creek on mandolin. Beautiful. I found myself wanting those songs on the CD side as well because they were so well done.

To all Fiona fans: how can you NOT have this album? Buy it. Fast. As. You. Can.

Average customer rating: Looking Along the Road I've Traveled a bolt of lightining Turn down the music so I can hear Utah Is more amazing, more beautiful with each listen Beautiful Story Telling

Past Didn't Go Anywhere Utah Phillips & Ani DiFranco Manufacturer: Righteous Babe ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Urban Folk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Singer Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Contemporary Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Fellow Workers Not So Soft Like I Said: Songs 1990-91 Starlight on the Rails: A Songbook Good Though ASIN: B0000058MU Release Date: 1996-10-15

Tracks:

1. Bridges
2. Nevada City, California
3. Korea
4. Anarchy
5. Candidacy
6. Bum On The Rod
7. Enormously Wealthy
8. Mess With People
9. Natural Resources
10. Heroes
11. Half A Ghosst Town
12. Holding On

Customer Reviews:

Looking Along the Road I've Traveled.......2006-03-20

This review was originally written as a commentary on Utah Phillip's Songbook- Starlight on the Trial issued in 2005. Looking it over I believe that the comments can be applied to this CD as well, obviously noting the differences in format. Utah has been consistent throughout his career in both the kind of songs he writes and sings about. He has also maintained his same basic political philosophy so my comments about our political differences also apply. Nevertheless, treasure any CD of his you can get your hands on.

The political consciousness developed in my youth coincided with an expansion of my musical tastes under the influence of the great blues and folk revivals of the 1960's. Unfortunately my exposure to the blues greats was mainly on records as many of them had been forgotten, retired or were dead. Not so with the folk revival this was created mainly by those who were close contemporaries. Alas, they too are now mainly forgotten, retired or dead. It therefore is with special pleasure that I review Utah Phillips Songbook while he is very much alive.

Many of the folksingers of the 1960 have attempted to use their music to become troubadours for social change. The most famous example, the early Bob Dylan, can be fairly described as the voice of his generation at that time. However, he fairly quickly moved on to other concepts of himself and his music. Bob Dylan's work became more informed by the influences of Rimbaud and Verlaine and the French Symbolists of the late 1800's and thus moved away to a more urban, sophisticated vision. From the start and consistently throughout his long career Utah has acted as a medium giving voice to the troubles of ordinary people and the simpler ethos of a more rural, Western-oriented gone by day in the American experience. He evokes in song the spirit of the people Walt Whitman paid homage to in poetic form and John Dos Passos and John Steinbeck gave in prose. He sits conformably in that very fast company. Utah Phillips can justly claim the title of a people's troubadour.

A word about politics. Generally, one rates music without reference to politics. However, Utah has introduced the political element by the way he structured the Songbook. Each song is introduced by him as to its significance heavily weighted to his political experiences, observations and vision. Thus, political comment is fairly in play here. Utah is a long time anarchist and unrepentant supporter of the Wobblies (International Workers of the World, hereafter IWW). Every militant cherishes the memory of the class battles led by the IWW like the famous Lawrence strike of 1912 and honors the heroes of those battles like Big Bill Haywood and Vincent St. John and the militants they recruited to the cause of the working class in the first part of the 20th century. They paved the way for the later successful organization drives of the 1930's.

Nevertheless, while Utah and I would both most definitely agree that some old-fashioned class struggle by working people in today's one-sided class war would be a very good thing we as definitely differ on the way to insure a permanent victory for working people in order to create a decent society. In short, Utah's prescriptions of good moral character, increased self-knowledge and the creation of small intentional communities are not enough. Under modern conditions it is necessary to take and safeguard political power against those who would quite consciously deny that victory. History has been cruel in some of the bitter lessons working people have had to endure for not dealing with the question of taking state power to protect their interests. But, enough said. I am more than willing to forgive the old curmudgeon his anarchist sins if he'll sing `I Remember Loving You' the next time he tours the Boston area.

a bolt of lightining.......2003-11-21

that's how this c.d hit me. i was a fairly new listener of ani difranco's. i bought this c.d because it was used and well i already had "living in clip" and her first c.d. so i figured "hey, one more and at a discounted price? bonus" so i went home to do my daily cleaning and decided to put it in to listen to while i cleaned, which i consider the best thing in the world,cleaning and listening to music, i am sick i know. but i ended up doing some heavy cleaning all throughout the house so all i really heard was the music and someones low baritone voice ,which i fleetingly questioned, but i loved the music so i figured i would listen to it more intently later on. well i finished cleaning and went into my room where my stereo was and layed on my bed, exhausted, i pressed play to start the c.d over and i layed there and listened to what this guy was saying. it almost seemed like my ears were listening too slowly so i shot up in my bed and turned up the volume and listened to each and every beat and each and every word with complete concentration. after the c.d was over i had to lay back down and absorb what i just experienced. well from then on, i was hooked, i put that c.d in my car and it didn't leave it for months and months. i tried to force all of my fellow workers and friends to listen intently as i did and they would look at me with bored eyes and say "yea it's cool" (humoring me of course). they did not understand. it was thier tragic loss. i have yet to find someone that can feel the way i felt upon hearing this wonderful story-teller spin his stories of gold and this genius musician lay these musical jewels. which saddens me, but i guess not everyone is as wonderful as all of us tramps.

Turn down the music so I can hear Utah.......2003-05-21

At the risk of being reviled, Utah carries this CD. His humor, reflections, and ability to convey complex truths with his simple phrasealogy is phenomenal. QuarryWorX

Is more amazing, more beautiful with each listen.......2002-12-01

This album is creative genious, period. It's not a "folk" album, it's a beautiful blending of *very* interesting story telling with musical experimentation that fits more perfectly with each listen. If Utah had been born during Twain's time, he would have been considered a national treasure, but since "we" treasure the types of Limbaugh, Drudge, and other purveyors of uncivilized discourse, what Utah has to say and the way he says it is so foreign in this day and age.

The last cut is simply amazing: "I was in a nightclub in Chicago ....."

Beautiful Story Telling.......2002-05-15

Whe nI first got this album, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had been warned that it wasn't "normal" Ani music--and it isn't, at all. It IS, however, an album of beautiful, interesting stories about our past, present and future. I love to bring it with me on long car rides, especially when other people are with me. It keeps everyone's minds occupied and provides for good conversation afterward.

Average customer rating: Very sexy,romantic! A Hidden Gem! An acoustic delight wonderful acoustic guitar cd Exceptional Debut Album

First Dance Noel Lorica Manufacturer: NDC ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music General | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music International Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Christmas Jazz - On the Smooth & Wayward Path When the Levees Broke An Inconvenient Truth Blood Diamond [HD DVD] Lost In The Blues ASIN: B0009JVTRA Release Date: 2005-05-14

Tracks:

1. Back in 5
2. Samba in A
3. My Favorite Things
4. El Viento
5. First Dance
6. Midnight Dreams
7. Forgiveness
8. Sarong Bangi
9. Last Dance
10. Scent of Cinnamon
11. Warm Winds

Album Description

First Dance is the debut album of consummate acoustic guitarist, composer- Noel Lorica. Jazz Lovers will groove to the fresh compositions of Noel Lorica. He has mastered the style of Wayward Jazz. Wayward Jazz uses the acoustic guitar to wind its way through classic forms of jazz, from the provocative rhythms of Latin jazz while adding the precision of its Asian counterpart to the heartfelt melodies of Smooth Jazz. If you like Peter White or Marc Antoine it's a good bet you'll like Noel Lorica.

This collection of 11 instrumental works are truly songs without words. The guitar adds a voice filled with texture and emotion. Beginning with his award winning song " Back in Five", which introduces us to Noel Lorica's vibrant, harmonious compositions and superb musicianship. As the album continues, it picks up tempo with body swaying precision in "Samba in A." Then it takes on the familiar "My Favorite Things" with a most astonishing acoustic jazz interpretation. The journey further transports you to the cool Brazilian shores with the sultry melody of "El Viento". Only to be brought back to pure innocence with the solo guitar of title song "First Dance".

At this point, most albums lose passion but "First Dance" only begins to further captivate with skill and soul. Each song in this album has unique character and is worthy of its own accolade. Some diversifying with piano melodies and guitar highlights as in "Forgiveness" & " Scent of Cinnamon". Or "Sarong Bangi" which brings in the swing that standard lovers applaud. While Latin jazz fans will clamor for the strong percussions of "Midnight Dreams" & "Last Dance" Wayward style. Finally ending with the smooth flowing beat of "Warm Winds".

This has got to be one of the best new jazz albums of the year and Noel Lorica's remarkable introduction into the heart of the jazz community. You'll sure to enjoy this little Wayward excursion.

Customer Reviews:

Very sexy,romantic!.......2005-11-10

loved "el viento"very relaxing and sensous...back to 5 was very uplifting...all in all great job!

A Hidden Gem!.......2005-11-02

Lorica is a native of Manila, The Philippines and currently resides in South Florida. He's a Classical trained guitarist whose style resembles well established guitarists such as Peter White, Marc Antoine and Earl Klugh. His debut album has much promise. The recording has a variety of jazz rhythms which ventures from Asian to Flamenco to Brazil. His production is high quality and his original compositions are lovely. I personally enjoyed "Samba in 5" as well as "Midnight Dreams". He also holds his own on American standards such as Rogers & Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things". I see very good things for Lorica happening with this CD release. This is a hidden gem. It's a musical journey you'll enjoy.

An acoustic delight.......2005-07-28

great album...superior guitar playing in the same category as marc antoine,peter white,ken navarro,earl klugh.....seeing Mr.Lorica perform live is very entertaining and impressive...his passion for his instrument is very evident on live performances and is captured well into this cd

wonderful acoustic guitar cd.......2005-07-28

His style is a cross between Marc Antoine and Peter White with a slight more edge to it....I was very impressed with "Back to 5,Midnight dreams, and Last Dance" but the rest of the album is definitely a pure delight to your musical senses. For all those Antoine and White Fans this is an album worth your time...

Exceptional Debut Album.......2005-06-19

After seeing Noel perform live in Orlando and South Florida, I was excited to see his first CD hit the market. I was not disappointed!

The CD is a blend of mostly original samba/latin and smooth jazz . The samba and latin oriented songs were the highlights of the CD. If you like Bossa Nova (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bossa_nova), this CD most definitely has tracks that you will love.

While I liked the CD as a whole, here are the tracks that are my favorites:
Track 1 -- Back in 5
Track 2 -- Samba in A
Track 4 -- El Viento
Track 5 -- First Dance
Track 6 -- Midnight Dreams
Track 8 -- Sarong Bangi
Track 9 -- Last Dance
Track 11 -- Warm Winds

If you are looking to discover a new instrumentalist/song writer I recommend you try this CD.

Average customer rating:

Women of Faith: Extraordinary Faith - 10 Years Various Artists Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music Christian Contemporary Music | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music Similar Items: Women of Faith: Joy, Grace, Love and Peace Women of Faith: Boundless Love Women of Faith: The Artist Collection Women of Faith: Extravagant Grace Outrageous Joy (Re-release) ASIN: B0007X9U2E Release Date: 2005-04-05

Tracks:

1. Sing For Joy
2. Let The Praises Ring
3. All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
4. Friend Of God
5. Boundless Love
6. Medley: Step By Step (O God You Are My God)/ Forever We Will Sing
7. Let's Think About Our God
8. My Heart, Your Home
9. At The Foot Of The Cross (Ashes To Beauty)
10. You Are My All In All
11. The Wonderful Cross
12. You Shine
13. Worship You Forever

Tracks:

1. You Are Good
2. Crown You With Praise
3. God Is Great
4. Wonderful Marciful Savior
5. We All Bow Down
6. Worthy Is The Lamb
7. Draw Me Close
8. I Will Sing
9. God Of Wonders
10. Medley: Women Of Faith/We Will Glorify
11. Agnus Dei
12. Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)

Average customer rating: Perfection! Worthy of Gods

Pianist Extraordinary/Piano Arrangements of Famous Spirituals Don Shirley Manufacturer: Collectables ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Water Boy: The Gospel According to Golden Classics Don Shirley Plays Love Songs/Don Shirley Trio Solos/Don Shirley With 2 Basses Don Shirley Plays Birdland Lullabies/Don Shirley Plays Show Tunes ASIN: B00002SWQX Release Date: 1999-11-30

Tracks:

1. How Deep Is The Ocean (How Deep Is The Sky)
2. I Understand
3. My Ship
4. Time After Time
5. Love Walked In
6. It's The Talk Of The Town
7. Lady Be Good
8. I Cried For You
9. Russian Folk Song
10. Mack The Knife
11. Trust In Me
12. In Other Words

Tracks:

1. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
2. Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
3. Heaven
4. Were You There
5. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
6. My Lord It's So High
7. Take My Hand Precious Lord
8. In-A My Soul
9. Go Down Moses
10. Even Me
11. Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho
12. When The Saints Go Marching In
13. God Be With You
14. It's Me Standing In The Need Of Prayer
15. Let Us Break Bread Together
16. Every Time I Feel The Spirit

Customer Reviews:

Perfection!.......2000-08-26

Shirley plays with such passion, sometimes ebullient and sometimes restrained, and he touches your heart with every note and every pause. The first CD has many old melodies on it, but they are completely fresh with his interpretations. Whether you are of a religious bent or not, the second CD will touch your spirit (I only wish it included "Amazing Grace" and would love to hear what the master could do with that!). You will never regret buying any Don Shirley CD, and this one in particular.

Worthy of Gods.......2000-01-26

Stravinsky said Don Shirley's playing is worthy of Gods. I say he is God at the keyboard. Every note of every piece melts your heart. Get it.. you'll love it absolutely.

Average customer rating: Chill out deluxe. Some interesting tonalities, but . . . Stellar ! His best work... Ambient music done right Best album I've ever heard

Opalescent Manufacturer: Just ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Contact Note The Art of Chill 2 The Art of Chill Sound Echo Location The Campfire Headphase ASIN: B00005N8JG Release Date: 2003-07-29

Customer Reviews:

Chill out deluxe........2006-09-23

BUY this CD. I've had it for several years now and it I still listen to it. I've just pulled it out and it sounds fresh as ever. I won't go into detail, you can read the other reviews for that, but I think this album will go down as one of the finest chill out/mood albums of our time.

Some interesting tonalities, but . . . .......2006-09-09

Every track but one has a simple, thumping percussion line, an artifact of modern music which I increasingly find tedious. No doubt it is easier to appeal to the brain stem rather than the prefrontal lobes. Unobjectionable as background music, but not actually worth listening to. Perhaps best described as music which one may hopefully, in time, grow out of.

Stellar ! His best work..........2006-04-04

I think this album is timeless... the moods, melodies, harmony and textures are second to none. A great mixture of ambient to dance. Up there with the likes of Ulrich Schnauss and Manual. Contact Note is a good album, but Opalescent blows it away. A great buy.

Funny how after buying this album I realised much of it is played in Sex and the City, as well as a few other movies... Still great music none the less. :)

Ambient music done right.......2005-09-16

Good collection of ambient tunes that you can enjoying listening to over and over.

Best album I've ever heard.......2003-10-23

One of the tracks from Opalescent was included on a new age sampler CD attached to the front of Nature and Health magazine, which is where I first heard it. The more I listened to the track, the more I wanted the album, but trying to locate Opalescent in Australia was quite difficult. Luckily I managed to find it - finally! - and it has proved to be the best purchase I've ever made, music-wise. This guy is phenomenal, especially considering his age (21). My music collection includes a huge amount of Vangelis, Jarre, Tangerine Dream and most of the heavies of chillout, electronic and ambient music, but I think I wound up listening to tracks from Opalescent at least once or twice a day for literally months - more than anything I've ever owned. Hopkins' music is utterly mesmerizing. It creates an ambient atmosphere unlike anything I've ever heard before. Everything flows together. This will sound cliched, but if you only ever buy one chillout album, let this one be it. I cannot recommend it highly enough, it is one of those one-in-a-million perennially listenable albums that I'm sure I will never tire of.

Average customer rating: unlistenable OMG - is this for real? So fresh and so clean. Enchanting Grooves marvelous and utterly original

Calling Out of Context Arthur Russell Manufacturer: Audika Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: World of Echo Another Thought The World of Arthur Russell FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT Springfield ASIN: B0001L3LX6 Release Date: 2004-02-17

Tracks:

1. The Deer In The Forest Part 1
2. The Platform On The Ocean
3. You And Me Both
4. Calling Out Of Context
5. Arm Around You
6. That's Us/Wild Combination
7. Make 1,2
8. Hop On Down
9. Get Around To It
10. I Like You!
11. You Can Make Me Feel Bad
12. Calling All Kids

Album Description

"Criminally overlooked for far too long, Russell is finally getting his due with this compilation of his work ... cementing the fact that Russell was a genius - never to be recognized in his own time, but to be enjoyed by generations to come." - STYLUS

Twelve extraordinary unreleased tracks from the timeless visionary genius of the New York Underground.

Customer Reviews:

unlistenable.......2005-12-13

Baffled by the great reviews here - there were only two tracks I could stand to play all the way through! Pedestrian themes, elementary melodies, extremely tiresome electronic "drums" and other instrumentation, and no hint of this great cellist I was led to expect. Someone should have told this guy he can't sing. Sorry to be so down on what others seem to love, but it has gone straight into the Goodwill bag after one play. Not for lovers of melodic pop or of classical. Not sure who it's for, frankly. Seemed like the music of someone who doesn't get out nearly enough and listens only to what's in his own head.

OMG - is this for real?.......2005-05-21

Seriously, this is incredible stuff. Took me a listen or two, but then all of a sudden I tumbled into Arthur Russell's world, and am stupefied that music could be so personal, so ecstatic, so romantic, and at the same time curiously driving...it has a symphonic radiance to it with a depth and lustre that is almost matchless. Not since Van Morrison's Astral Weeks has an album affected me so deeply. Makes me happy to be alive.

So fresh and so clean........2005-03-20

This is music to listen to to clean all the detritus of too many bad songs out of your head. If you are feeling really sick of pop-indy reinvention of the wheel, this is something fresh and different, at times beautiful. These are old recordings but the songs are still just so much more innovative and interesting than most of what is being made today. Discover Arthur Russell!

Enchanting Grooves.......2004-07-06

I came across the name Arthur Russell while doing a random search on the internet for what I like to call "hypnotic, uplifting music." After hearing some of the short samples, I decided to take the plunge and purchase 'Calling Out of Context.' It proved to be one of the best music purchases I had made in a long time.

Arthur Russell was a very talented innovator and performer, and this album is a testament to his talents. This is perfect music to lose yourself in, for those times when you want to be transported to a very positive and sensual place. His soothing voice will guide you into a state of bliss that mere words can't describe.

Long live the music and memory of Arthur Russell.

marvelous and utterly original.......2004-05-05

forget the inelegant and lazy analogy ("nick drake meets new order"...can that mean anything?) this is breath-taking, life affirming stuff. warm and contemplative...and probably nothing like you've ever heard before.

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