A while ago I posted a video of Alabaster DePlume performing Vladimir Vystotsky's "Koni Priviredliviye". 


Here's a performance by the man himself.

Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis", as performed by the Sinfonia of London conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. My favourite performance of this magnificent piece.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Saturday Links

Chopin's Prelude In E Minor (Op. 28 No. 4) as played by Aldona Dvarionaite.

"Exit Music (For A Film)" by Radiohead.

 

Friday Firsts

"Driva' Man" by Max Roach, from We Insist! - Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite.

"Hurricane" by Kyuss, from ...And The Circus Leaves Town.

Thursday

"The National Anthem" by Radiohead.

 

Wednesday

"Pushit" by Tool.

 

"Fruit Tree" by Nick Drake.

"Washer" by Slint.

Monday

"Do You Remember The First Time?" by Pulp.

 

Links

"Warrior's Dance" by The Prodigy.

"Let The Warriors Dance" by Addis Posse.

"Take Me Away" by The Final Cut with True Faith.

 

"Luno" by Bloc Party. Love that drumming.

 

Friday Firsts

"Search And Destroy" by The Stooges, from Raw Power.

"Beyond Belief" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, from Imperial Bedroom.

"Regular John" by Queens Of The Stone Age, from their self-titled debut album.

"Secret Meeting" by The National, from Alligator.

 

Thursday

Aretha Franklin's version of "People Get Ready".

 

Wednesday

"La Dispute" by Yann Tiersen.

 

Tuesday

I've had a disc of Clara Haskil playing Scarlatti and Schubert for several months now, but have only recently started listening to it. It's starting to take over my life...absolutely sublime piano playing, with hints of her compatriot Lipatti's purity of sound. Here's the Sonata in G Minor, K35:

100th post!

Five recent favourites:


"I'm Doing Fine" by Day One.

"Tracy's Flaw" by Skunk Anansie.

Steven Isserlis plays "El Cant Dels Ocells" ("Song Of The Birds"), a traditional Catalan song arranged for cello by the great Pau Casals.

"Cosmic Dancer" by T. Rex.

"Madame George" by Van Morrison.

"Heads Will Roll" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

 

Saturday Links

"Hell Is Round The Corner" by Tricky.

"Glory Box" by Portishead.

"Ike's Rap II" by Issac Hayes.

Friday Firsts

The Egmont Overture which opens the above, incredible recording. I didn't really 'get' Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 until I heard this album, and it remains my favourite performance of the work. Fricsay and the Berlin Philharmonic play it straight - presenting the work in all its staggering glory - not their own, with no obvious mannerisms (David Hurwitz of Classics Today puts it better than I ever could). The secure, propulsive rhythm of the Egmont and the opening movement of the symphony mean you more or less know what's coming later on, but that doesn't make the climax of the first movement or the first minute of the last any less brilliant. Here's the overture:

"How Do I Let A Good Man Down?" by Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, from Naturally. Like the rest of the album, gloriously faithful to the classic soul and funk sounds of decades past, yet toe-tappingly great in its own right.

"Lateralus" by Tool.

"Matty Groves" by Fairport Convention.

The last two movements of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, played by the Kodály Quartet. One of the pinnacles of chamber music. One of the pinnacles of music, really.

"The Killing Moon" by Echo & The Bunnymen.

 

"Go With The Flow" by Queens Of The Stone Age.

 

"Jane Doe" by Converge.

An amazing live version of Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay".

 

"Climbatize" by The Prodigy.

"Dream Brother" by Jeff Buckley.

"Morning Will Come" by Spirit.

"The Last Time I Saw Richard" by Joni Mitchell.

Friday

"Exile Vilify" by the National.

"Love Has Fallen On Me" by Rotary Connection.

 
  
"Minerva" by Deftones.

 

Thursday

"A Modern Way Of Letting Go" by Idlewild.

 

Marvin Gaye's version of the Temptations' classic, "Cloud Nine".

"Love Her Madly" by The Doors.

Played the drums for the first time in about six months today. Blew off the cobwebs with an old favourite:
"When The Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin.

 

"12/12" by Kronos Quartet, a piece I first heard in Sally Potter's film Yes. This is a live performance broadcast on BBC Four in 2008.

"93 'Til Infinity" by Souls of Mischief.

"How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?" by Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings.

"Also Ran Song" by Masters Of Reality.

 

Dinu Lipatti's Birthday.

He was born on March 19 1917, but Romania used a different calendar to many other countries at the time...so it would be April 1 under today's system.

Here's his amazing recording of Ravel's "Alborada Del Gracioso".

A supremely beautiful reading of Busoni's piano transcription of Bach's "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ":

The first movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto. Herbert von Karajan conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra with Lipatti as soloist. Lipatti's is my favourite performance of the cadenza.