the carousel - abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

1994; 8 tracks

the carousel was a dreampop band formed by Elizabeth Price, the vocalist / guitarist of the British indie pop group Talulah Gosh, and Gregory Webster, of the band Razorcuts. The duo released two full-length albums, the second of which being abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz. Lying beneath Price's voice, which is at times ethereal and others shadowy, enchanting acoustic guitars strum away like a heavenly chorus. There are no drums or bass parts, but there is an organ accompaniment on the track "Henry Please Don't Chop Off My Head," which is fitting as the melody is reminiscent of an old English folk tune. the carousel create graceful, celestial sounds of pure inventiveness.

Download.

East Village - Drop Out

1993; 10 tracks



This is an incredibly lovely album, the melodies mild and flowing. Highlights: "Shipwrecked," "Black Autumn," and "Everybody Knows."



"Formed in the mid '80s by two brothers, Martin & Paul Kelly, East Village (originally Episode 4) were the sound of the Byrds relocated to surburban Southern England. Martin and Paul were unique amongst their peers in that they were influenced heavily by The Byrds, Dylan and The Beatles at a time when most people were obsessing over acid house, pills and the width of their trousers. After a couple of years as Episode 4, the Kelly Brothers relocated to East Village, where they were joined by Johnny Wood (guitar/vocals) and Spencer Smith (drums)."



While the band was only Martin & Paul, a rare EP entitled Strike Up Matches was recorded for £78 in one day. After Drop Out was released in 1993, a compilation album, Hotrod Hotel, that contained all of their singles and some unreleased songs, was released in 1994. Try this, you will like it!



I'll get away from the shadows

The Sun and the Moon - The Great Escape

1999; 15 tracks

The Sun and the Moon was started by Mark Burgess, the frontman of The Chameleons. The Great Escape is a marvelous conglomeration of new and old - of Script of the Bridge-era Chameleons, and of music completely new to the world. Mark's amazing voice lingers above music that sounds of post-punk at times, but also a burgeoning jazzy style that I literally can't find the words to describe. The lyrics to "Death of the Imagination" bring me to a certain Doctor Who episode, one that I really love:

I bathe in the glare
Of a thousand explosions
With child-like fascination
And time the impact
That ends my existence
With the rhythm of my heartbeat
I taste the sweetness
Of mystical moments
Re-living and savouring
Every sensation
As gravity grips me
In giddy rotation
In my concrete overcoat
A prisoner of reason am I

Music like this deserves to be heard by every citizen of earth, then reflected upon for centuries to come. I am just glad I didn't go my whole life not hearing this...

the great escape

John Tavener - Piano Music + others

Piano Music

2008
Ralph van Raat, piano

The Eastern mysticism that Tavener has made his own - he has been a member of the Russian Orthodox church and imbibed its colours into his music - is present in most of these works. He does a good job of using the instrument's more limited resources to achieve similar effects to those in his larger orchestral and choral works. Yet the earlier works tread the line between consonance and dissonance in a way I find quite irritating. Ypakoë, for example, has a simple, profoundly spiritual melody which is allowed to sing out towards the middle and end of the piece. To get there, however, we have to put up with all manner of meanderings that seemed quite purposeless to me. Palin, his first piano work, features many instances when one key is sounded frequently and continuously for about 10 seconds at a time. It's meant to evoke approaching thunder, but it just sounds tedious.

The lighter works on this disc, tracks 4 and 6, are dedicated to the memory of Tavener's cats, and they see a return to traditional, triadic harmonies. These portraits are affectionate and warm: we even have glissandi to represent the pets running over the keys. Mandoodles contains jazz rhythms and reference to a Chopin Prelude, and In Memory of Two Cats is simple, bell-like and appealing. As with Ypakoë, an austerely beautiful melody is allowed space to sound. It is at moments like these that the disc is at its best and these get their fullest flowering in Pratirūpa, the longest and most recent work here.

All this suggests a sense of development in Tavener's style, from overt modernism through to a more sophisticated use of harmonies in his later works. The disc - the only one of this music? - is a welcome step in plugging this gap and any of the composer's fans who want to experience his broader range shouldn't hesitate. Performances are highly committed and the sound is up to the usual Naxos high standard.

Download.


The Protecting Veil

1992
Steven Isserlis, Cello; Gennady Rozhdestevensky / London Symphony Orchestra


The Protecting Veil is a musical composition for cello and strings by British composer John Tavener. Completed in 1988, the work was at first a suggestion from cellist Steven Isserlis and subsequently commissioned by the BBC for the 1989 Proms season. The inspiration of the piece comes from the Orthodox feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, which commemorates the the apparition of Mary the Theotokos in the early 10th century at the Blachernae Palace church at Vlacherni, Constantinople.

This CD also contains Tavener's Thrinos suite for string, and Benjamin Britten's Third Suite for Cello.

Download.


The Best of John Tavener

2004; 11 tracks

Here is a collection of Tavener's most beautiful music. This album solidifies my admiration for Tavener - he really is one of the most amazing contemporary classical composers I've ever heard. His idea of "holy minimalism" in music is fascinating as well.

Download.