Category: Music
-
Serendipity Redux
No, not a very poor film in John Cusack’s ouevre. noun the occurance and development of events by chance in a happy and beneficial way I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is something that sadly the internet is not able to deal with effectively in certain areas. I’m going to talk…
-
John Barry
It’ll be for others to write proper obituaries, but I wanted to acknowledge the wonderful John Barry, who’s death was announced this morning at 77. From James Bond to The Persuaders, Born Free to Dances With Wolves, and The Ipcress File to the Midnight Cowboy, Barry’s music was exceptional, and reached hundreds of millions. He’ll…
-
Musicality
I must admit that I enjoyed taking the new BBC Radio 3 Musicality Test. In a series of questions both written and based around audio, your musical knowledge is tested. Not in the sense of who composed what, or who was in which band, but whether you can determine melodies or tempo, as well as…
-
Classical Music Downloads
Let’s revisit an issue from a few years ago. In 2005, BBC Radio 3 presented the first in their now regular “Experiences” when they broadcast the Beethoven Experience. They broadcast, non-stop Beethoven for six days including pretty much everything he composed. As part of the Experience, they made available as downloads, a new recording from…
-
Amiina
My favourite Icelandic band were in town tonight, and I was in XOYO in London to see them. I last saw Amiina at Latitude in the summer where some members of the group performed a live musical accompaniament to the animated films of Lotte Reiniger. Prior to that, I’d seen them in the Queen Elizabeth…
-
2001: A Space Odyssey – Live at the Royal Festival Hall and the See Further Festival
2010 is the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. We’ve had a special series of In Our Time earlier in the year, the president of the Society, Martin Rees has given the Reith Lectures, and there’ve been numerous talks and lectures. Over the weekend, the Royal Society’s annual summer exhibition moved to the Southbank Centre…
-
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra
I’m beginning to lose count of the number of times I’ve seen Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra playing their big band jazz, but it doesn’t really matter, as it’s a joy to see them every single time they’re in the country. This time around it’s an especially good treat as…
-
Not Completely My Own Composition
Over the weekend I read a really good piece in the new issue of Word magazine written by Eamonn Forde that detailed some of the more famed musical “squabbles” when it’s discovered that an artist has “ripped off” another artist, usually by sampling them without permission. The most recent example mentioned in the piece was…
-
Jonny Greenwood – Doghouse
(This photo has nothing to do with the concert, but I took it down the road from the BBC’s Maida Vale studios). I’d never been to the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. But this evening I was off to them to see the BBC Concert Orchestra playing the world premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s new piece as…
-
Amy MacDonald
Amy MacDonald played a set in London’s Hard Rock Café for Absolute Radio earlier this evening. The set, promoting a new album, was great and should be going out on-air next Monday. In the meantime, even though I wasn’t right at the front, I’m pretty happy with some of the photos I took. As well…
-
Transatlantic Sessions
Transatlantic Sessions is one of those TV programmes which you may have seen if you spend any time watching BBC Four, BBC Alba, or (I guess) BBC Scotland. Jerry Douglas hosts a variety of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, the US and elsewhere as they record – well, sessions – which are then broadcast in a…
-
The Beatles Reissued
Today marks the day that The Beatles complete catalogue is re-issed on CD (and quite possibly digitally – but we’ll find out later). The original CDs were – seemingly – fairly rushed affairs and during the intervening years, technology has marched on, and many less famous classic albums have had the remastering process applied. For…