Wagner's Saxophone

Koffi Olomide: Gros Bebe

2008-02-06T15:42:00.000+00:00

I'm not sure which Koffi's most interested in: his boots, or the girls' rump. But it's a close call.

Wagner: Siegfried's Tod und Trauermarsch

2008-01-28T21:07:00.000+00:00

Klaus Tennstedt's peerless interpretation.

Taraf de haidouks: Cantec de dragoste ca la Roata

2008-01-23T12:31:00.000+00:00

Taraful din Clejani - Cantec de dragoste ca la Roata
Uploaded by ploaie_calda

This is fantastic.

Dead Kennedys: Rawhide

2008-01-22T18:25:00.000+00:00

There's always one blog that gets neglected when I get busy. Sorry about that: I've been pontificating about music over here.

Anyway, Tuesday is nostalgia day; so here's the Dead Kennedys and a bunch of midgets doing Rawhide. A firm favourite of yesteryear (well, sometime in the 80s anyway).

George Formby: With my Little Stick of Blackpool Rock

2008-01-11T19:30:00.000+00:00

"It's nice to have a nibble at it now and again..."

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra: Love Theme from the Godfather

2008-01-09T23:57:00.001+00:00

Astonishing. Perservere until the applause is over and the music starts.

Camper van Beethoven: Take the Skinheads Bowling

2008-01-08T13:35:00.000+00:00

"Had a dream - I wanted to lick your knees."

Ah, fine memories. They could release this today and it'd be more popular than it was then.

Scriabin: Etude Op. 8 No. 2/ Deux Poèmes

2008-01-07T19:26:00.000+00:00

I've not posted for a couple of days, so instead of talking rubbish about things you don't care about, why not let this Scriabin melt on your ears? It's played with the caress of Ivo Pogorelić.

Hindemith: "Minimax" I

2008-01-04T14:14:00.000+00:00

I'm not feeling light-hearted today. Still, this will raise a smile in those who find this sort of thing amusing...

Miles Davis & John Coltrane: So What

2008-01-03T10:49:00.000+00:00

The battery in my laptop is about to run out and I need to get dressed. So here's a work of genius that needs no introduction.

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Stepan Pasicznyk (Ludwig): Ridna Maty Moya

2008-01-02T10:48:00.000+00:00

Stepan was the accordionist with The Ukrainians, a band I particular admire for their take on various Smiths songs (see EP below). As you'll see and hear, he's a guitarist too.

Ridna Maty Moya is a glorious song though, and beautifully played. As Stepan says in his notes:

Imagine a lonely mother in a remote Ukrainian village listening to this song on a crackly old bit of vinyl on her old Soviet era gramophone player as the last child to leave home sings along to it in a far away land.

It's amazingly easy to do, even if (in this particular video clip) Stepan bears a slightly unnerving resemblance to the Godfather's Luca Brasi.

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Fields of the Nephilim: Last Exit for the Lost

2008-01-01T10:30:00.000+00:00

Fields of the Nephilim. The goth band from Stevenage. Beloved of adolescents in small market towns across the land. I used to mope about in Lincolnshire and listen to them in my black-painted room. I even went to see them twice, once in Peterborough and once in Cambridge. I was so cool.

These days I wouldn't listen to the Nephs for fun. Though, if it's any consolation to them, I once named a cat after the drummer, Nod, and I still have a sneaking affection for the song above.

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Chopin Etudes: Op 25, nos 6 & 7

2007-12-31T15:50:00.000+00:00

It's New Year's Eve, I've run out of drink and I feel jaded. Nothing can refresh my palate better than Valentina Lisitsa playing Chopin. Rehydration for the soul.

Gloomy Sunday: Suzanne, Leonard Cohen

2007-12-30T11:40:00.000+00:00

Well, we had to have Laughing Len sooner or later. Here's one of his best songs. Listen and weep.

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Movie Soundtrack of the Week: Blue Velvet

2007-12-29T11:32:00.000+00:00

A film that haunts with music that sends shivers down your spine.

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Lancashire Hotpots: Chippy Tea

2007-12-28T10:40:00.000+00:00

Today's my ninth wedding anniversary, so what could be more appropriate than the Lancashire Hotpots singing Chippy Tea?

It's Friday night
I'm within me rights
I want a chippy tea

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Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

2007-12-27T09:58:00.000+00:00

One of the most haunting songs. I never imagined I'd see footage of it. An astonishing performance.

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Liu Fang: Traditional Pipa Music

2007-12-26T10:23:00.000+00:00

Liu Fang plays traditional Chinese Pipa music. A refreshing and elegant start after a wet and dismal Christmas Day.

You can buy a limited amount of Liu Fang's music from Amazon

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An interlude...

2007-12-25T10:22:00.000+00:00

...Happy Christmas

Bach: Christmas Oratorio

2007-12-24T16:08:00.000+00:00

Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium. John Eliot Gardiner conducting (good man) and the wonderful Bernarda Fink singing.

It's not the most heart-tearing performance, but it's good and it suits the seasonal mood perfectly.

Merry Christmas all.

Gloomy Sunday 3: Jesse, Scott Walker

2007-12-23T11:56:00.000+00:00

Just listen. It is astonishing.

Movie Soundtrack of the Week: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

2007-12-22T13:14:00.000+00:00

A bit of a cheat this week because I've chosen a film about a band - The Sex Pistols. Unsurprisingly, most of the songs on the soundtrack are by, erm, the Sex Pistols. God Save The Queen. Anarchy in the UK. Sid Vicious's version of My Way. That sort of thing.

One gem, though, which you may not recall is the French version of Anarchy in the UK, with Jerzimy (whoever he is or was). Press the YouTube thingymajig above and you'll hear it in its full chic glory.

Moi, je suis l'antéchrist
Moi, je suis l'anarchiste
Je ne sais pas ce que je veux mais je l'aurai
Je sème la terreur dans la rue

Car moi, je veux l'anarchie

All the teenage punks at my school had this album, ooh, a good seven or eight years after it came out. They were, of course, so cool.

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Bonzo Dog Band: Jollity Farm

2007-12-21T10:31:00.000+00:00

It's Friday. I'm ill. I need fine and familiar amusements.

A must-have album. You've probably got it.

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Ramsey Lewis: The In Crowd

2007-12-19T22:24:00.000+00:00

I'm tired, my family is alternately ill or demanding: what better way to cheer up than to listen to Ramsey Lewis?

I'm sure you can all work out where to buy Ramsey Lewis's stuff. If not, bad luck: I'm off to bed.

Inouratomoe: Uchukazoku

2007-12-19T10:01:00.000+00:00

Let's face it, there aren't many all-female Japanese klezmer bands that play space-age songs. That's why it's always a pleasure to find a new one. Here's Inouratomoe playing Uchukazoku ("Space Family").

You won't find Inouratomoe on Amazon, so try their website.