Shione Yukawa - Uta no Katachi

Some relaxing folk music for the listeners pleasure.

Shione Yukawa is a folk singer from Japan and I believe I posted a few of her albums before but I think it's time for another one. Actually I don't think she really has any bad albums, pretty much everything is great except when she does covers or sings in English. For some reason I don't really like that. Her first album from 2002 was like that; all English. The second one, released in 2003, which I'm posting right now is all in Japanese. She's now in the field of expertise that suits her best and through this music she shines the most.

The overall tone of this album is melancholic (that's how I like my folk best) with mid paced melodies and compositions. It's one of those albums that sound sad but are uplifting in a strange way. The emphasis is on her voice and acoustic guitar but every now and then some other instrument pops in to keep things fresh and mellow. Reminds me of autumn.

Get it.

Let's play with Steam!

Hey, I just met you and this is crazy but here's my Steam, so call me maybe?

Now with summer rolling along and everything I'll have a tad bit more free time so why the hell not strangers/friends? I don't have a lot of games but we can always do a round of Worms or plow through Serious Sam or exchange friendly fire in TF2.

Thanks to everyone who added me. Hopefully we'll play something some day! ^^

Cecil Taylor - Conquistador!

To many of us free jazz is something we usually avoid in long circles. Why people hate it or like is a debate of its own and I won't get into it. All I can say is that such music demands a lot from the listener. It demands attention and concentration but it rewards you with some of the most intense musical experiences in return. There's always something interesting to hear and notice each time you experience it but sometimes you just can't digest it at all if you're not in the mood for it.

Such is the case with this album as well. It was released in 1967 when this music was starting to get its momentum and a lot of people hated it or loved it or both at the same time. To me this record is perhaps one of the best free jazz records that I've heard so far. Cecil Taylor is the most intense piano player that I can think of and he absolutely destroys everything here. The energy exchanging between players is just as well intense and energetic but there are light moments here as well that serve as breathers and moments of more gentle sides that this music provides. Excellent stuff.

Download.

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams

This album can be roughly cut into three parts.

The first part would be "just" (it's 18 minutes long) a song called Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim that's driven by a saxophone (played by Marion Brown, he was on Ascension), a second part consisting of two tracks that has a harp/vocalist duo and the third part (last song) that's piano driven (played by Harold Budd).

In a way I think this is a little ironic due to the fact that this album is credited to Harold Budd but it's the harpist and the saxophonist that steal the show here and not to mention that Brian Eno was the producer of this album. But such things are trivial now anyway since this was yet only the second album Budd did and it was released way back in 1978.

The album overall is quite relaxed by nature since it's a minimalistic piece of work. There are all sorts of "cling-clang" instruments that try to evoke this ethereal atmosphere of peace throughout the whole thing and it works, for the most part, very well. I guess my favorite part would be the first one where Marion Brown showcases his soothing saxophone skills, it actually reminds me a lot of Blade Runner. The harp sounds a lot like the keyboards that Vangelis later on used. Huh, weird. The second part is probably the most evocative in its sound due to the compelling sound of the vocalist(s). Accompanied by a harp it really creates this really intense melancholic mood that I love so much. I can't really explain it. The weakest moment for me is probably the last song which is also the third part of the album. I haven't really checked out the history of these songs so I don't know if there's any connection but it reminds me a lot of music by Pharoah Sanders only toned down a lot. Or something, it sounds okay I guess but I think the first two parts of the album are the best.


In any case, I'm no expert on ambient music but I warmly recommend this one if you haven't heard it yet.

Download.

Spawn Of Possession - Cabinet

To break away from the recent trend of jazz music here's something completely different. Every now and then I get this urge to listen some death metal and when it comes to this genre I'm very laid back. Laid back in a sense that I do not really demand a lot from this type of music. As long as it's well composed and has a good sound I'll give it a listen.

Spawn of Possession come from Sweden and that tells us that they were exposed to a lot of great death metal bands in their life. The influences here can be heard but luckily it's not a rip off of some more major players. Lately they've been getting a decent amount of attention with their new album "Incurso" which you should check out if you like this sort of thing. I won't be posting it but I'll share their first album that I'm enjoying a lot (maybe even more than their recent one). It's pretty much everything I'm looking for in a death metal record. They have that "death metal production" sound on this album, it's not medicinal clean plastic stuff - thank fuck. It's rough, mushy and bathed in glorious chugga chugga riffs backed by solid drumming and decent vocals. Vocals are perhaps my biggest dislike in this band. I dunno, they don't click that well with me, I think they're too clean for this sort of thing. Yeah he growls but it's more of a growl-scream kind of thing. Everything else is good and fun to listen very loud.

Download.

Ubiytsy

Director(s): Andrei Tarkovsky, Marika Beiku and Alexander Gordon
Made in: 1956
Language/subtitles: Russian/English hardcoded
Runtime: 17min and 28sec
Format: .avi

Please take note that the sound on the rip I have of this movie is a little bit messed up in a way that it tends to cut off the last words in a sentence. This could be because of the noise filters or something (or my drivers are messed up?). Since the movie itself is only 17 minutes long it does not get annoying (for me at least).

This was the first semi-official film in which Tarkovsky participated in. It was a student film that he and two of his friends directed back in film school. For the time when this was released it was pretty weird since the cold war was full on so students making something American wasn't exactly common. The only reason they managed to pull this off is because some of Hemingway's works were published in the Soviet Union for the first time.

The movie itself is a remake of sort of the story/movie The Killers albeit only first two scenes which are the bar and the apartment. The movie itself is more of an artifact for fans than a good movie. The acting is okay I guess, Tarkovsky plays a costumer here where he whistles a song (lullaby of birdland, a tune that was then known as a song of freedom, subtle anti-communist remarks by Andrei?) and orders some sandwiches. The hired killers weren't very convincing nor menacing (that's what you get for being a film student) but overall it's an enjoyable ride if you're interested in it.

I'd say if you're in filmschool or a fan of Tarkovsky you should give this a watch. Otherwise I'm not sure you'd enjoy it in the fullest but on the other hand you can then brag that you watched soviet student films to your friends and score some mad pussy. Or something.

Download.