Washington
It was Mackaye’s infamous dogged dedication to D.I.Y. home-grown music that did it; over a number of albums he produced on his own label, Dischord—including early greats 13 Songs, Red Medicine, In On The Kill Taker Continue reading ‘Fugazi: Instrument (Video / CD / DVD)’
Okay, so if you want to get technical about it then ‘The Reptile House’ is not actually an album; it is a 6 track EP. However, it is not written as an EP; it has clearly been created as a mini-album.
So there.
The Sisters of Mercy have gone through several major line-up changes over the years and ‘The Reptile House’ was recorded during their first phase. It is minimalistic, cold and dark; a ‘Floodland’ stripped down to Continue reading ‘Classic Albums - The Reptile House.’
Sade’s newest album “Soldier of Love” is the artist’s first release in ten years since her acclaimed “Lover’s Rock” album of 2000. Released by Sony, Sade’s unique style has not changed over the years, and life-long fans of the artist will surely be pleased. Perhaps this was her goal, for this album will likely not create any new followings. Her sound remains the same, with few changes to her categorical sound.
The main fault in “Soldier of Love” is the Continue reading ‘Album Review: Sade- Soldier of Love’
In 1992, Henryk Gorecki’s Third Symphony was released in remembrance of those whose lives were lost in the holocaust. The sheer size of its success could never have been anticipated.
Gorecki had actually written the symphony fifteen years earlier, but it had gone largely unnoticed. In fact, most of his work had been overlooked by everyone except a few devout followers. But with his Third Symphony (entitled; ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’), he managed to connect with an enormous amount of Continue reading ‘Classic Albums - Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs.’
If I were going name a singer/songwriter from the last forty-odd years who had truly helped to change the face of modern music then David Bowie would have to be one of my first choices. He has done so many songs in so many styles; he has set trends and broken down boundaries. Rather than trying to think of what genres he has worked in it would be far easier to try and list the ones that he has not Continue reading ‘Classic Albums - Diamond Dogs.’
When you think about movie soundtracks, it is not going to be very long before you come up with the name of Ennio Morricone.
His prolific career has seen him compose the music for around two-hundred films and many television dramatisations. In the world of movie soundtracks there are not many people who have this amount of work in their portfolio…
Morricone is still best known for his first big break; the trilogy of spaghetti westerns by Sergio Leone. Just Continue reading ‘The Genius of Ennio Morricone.’
The late 1980s brought about the Dance music scene along with several sub-categories. Suddenly the dance beat could be heard everywhere you went and even artists in other genres were caught up in its commercial possibilities.
It seemed, for a while, that everyone was being affected/infected by its sound. Even bands like The Cure got caught up with it and caused them to release ‘remixes’ of old songs on a rather naff collection called; ‘Mixed Up’ If an artist had Continue reading ‘How Dance Music Grew Up.’
When Wishbone Ash released their third album in 1972 it soon became clear that it was something rather special. Their previous albums had done reasonably well in the UK chart, but ‘Argus’ peaked at number three.
Wishbone Ash had already gained quite a following by the early seventies but ‘Argus’ suddenly attracted an even larger fan base. It is one of the most successful Prog Rock records that have ever been recorded and it went on to influence many new Continue reading ‘Classic Albums - Argus.’
The Cure are an incredibly influential band. They have recorded thirteen studio albums to date and written songs in several different styles including; Pop, Punk, Goth and Alternative Rock. They are very transient in their song writing, constantly experimenting with new ideas. Even so, whatever type of song it is they record; it is blatantly obvious that Robert Smith is at the helm. But, personally speaking, I think that their Goth stuff will always be their greatest material.
They first Continue reading ‘The Darkest Years of ‘The Cure’.’
Music videos have now been around for a great many years. If you are in a band and you want your new single to have an accompanying video that is different and original then you will have your work cut out. The trouble is that so many things have been done before (and some things have been done again and again…).
Singers or bands that have a teenage target audience will often set out to shock. This is partly marketing Continue reading ‘The Role Of The Music Video.’
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