General Music thread 2

[Craig @craig Emperor]

The previous music thread can be found here:

http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/forums/topic/general-music-thread/

To start the next general music thread off, I will post what I believe is the best pop tune ever written by anybody ever. And I mean ever. It really can’t be topped in my opinion. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Sir Stevie of Total Wonder!

[Whisht @whisht]

Well I think @craig has now closed this thread, as what other choon could we now post?

certainly I can’t think of any tonight.

though, Tomorrow never knows*….

*and its least likely cover.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@faegrl   I had heard that Johnny Cash cover, but I had never seen the video. What an amazing piece of film-making! I was in tears by the end of it. Johnny Cash was a rare example of someone who really transcended his genre and generation. In his later years, he was fully engaged with the younger generation of musicians, and they in turn really admired him. Another great example of that is Tony Bennett. He takes such a positive view of contemporary pop musicians, and they in turn can’t say enough nice things about him. I wanted to include a track, and ended up with three,
one with Lady Gaga, one with Michael Bublé, and one with kd lang.

[Anonymous @]

 

We were talking about covers of songs?  Last night to you -or early this morning (depending)? I was never a fan of Kansas, or of this song but then I found this cover: it’s probably worse than the original!   I swear it’s “Dust in the Wind” sung/said over and over and over and over….

Kindest, puro

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion
Wow, interesting connection with The Draughtsman’s Contract. You’re right about the musical structure being similar in a way, but sets a completely different tone. But that’s exactly what makes music so wonderful, and the “snotty music people” who have an issue with choice of harmonic structure are completely missing the point. I love ground bass compositions exactly because they are so endlessly interesting despite the really basic structure. Nyman was obviously channelling 17th century England for that piece. Listen to this track, starting from about 7:35.

I’m reminded of the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice, and Carl Davis’s wonderful Beethovenesque soundtrack. He must have had great fun composing in that elegant, evocative 19th-century style.

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus  totally agree with you about both Bennett and Cash. I know so many young bands in Brisbane made up entirely of 18 to 25 year olds who love both of those great singers. Never mind that their material (the bands) tends to be naïve and …over done but at least they have R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Happy egg hunting  and choc indulging to all. Kindest, puro

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@everyone, you’ve been coming up with so many great covers. Really fun, and fascinating to see how different performers can channel the essence of a song in very different ways, or re-imagine a song into a completely different genre. Something like Senior Coconut’s “Beat It” should just be silly, but it isn’t, because it’s so tightly performed that you have to take it seriously.

@craig, I like the cover of the Gloria Estefan song, actually prefer it to the original as I have always found her to be pretty bland. @whisht is right that it is almost a new composition based on the old one, more than simply a cover.

@thekrynoidman    Brilliant. I love it when a group like this takes on a song that is entirely unlike what you might expect to hear. The ukuleles are great. There is a wonderful youth group in my part of the world, the Langley Ukulele Ensemble, that have been performing at home and abroad for a generation now. Here is a sample:

[Anonymous @]

This is a cover of Tubeway Army’s Are ‘Friends’ Electric? performed by Moloko. Such a shame it’s only 1.5 mins long as the full version is truly bonkers (it’s not on YT though).

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@faegrl   That is certainly a transformed “Dust in the Wind”. That song takes me right back to high school. I like the cover version, it’s another great example of the way people can make a song their own, as opposed to the band in @purofilion’s example, who clearly want to be a Kansas tribute band! It can take some imagination to do this, as I was telling my son the other day. He has worked on different favourite songs in his voice lessons, and struggled with the fact that they never “sound like the recordings”. I told him that no matter how much he might love a recording, he should never try to sound like one.

@whisht    I would actually not have made a connection between Devo and the Stones, and yet now, I have no idea why not. That’s awesome. But I always had a fondness for Devo. And the Mercury Rev is also both really great and extremely hilarious (it is possible to be both!).

@craig, I probably shouldn’t be laughing at that track, but it’s pretty funny in a squirmy gross sort of way. And regarding “Superstition”, I have occasionally thought that Stevie Wonder had a lot to answer for after “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. But there was so much brilliance in other places that more than makes up for it.

[FaeGrl @faegrl]

@<span style=”color: #000000;”>Arbutus  – I agree! I will admit that I’m not a fan of country music… except for Mr. Cash, him and him only. I can’t help but to respect the man and his emotions within his songs is something relatable to the younger crowd today, I believe. And yes, it’s never good for a musician to simply copy or try their best to imitate a good song, they should make it their own… that is, if they want it to be any good. That was great advice that you gave your son for sure. :-)</span>

Hey… did we break the other music thread with too much music??? I’m giggling like a mad woman now.

[FaeGrl @faegrl]

@craig – Love the Stevie Wonder one, by the way. He’s my second go-to for all things funk, especially “Superstition” 🙂

@arbutus – Aw… I love that one, “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. It was my first Stevie Wonder song as a kid and still brings back fun memories. And now I’m swaying to the song, had to look it up on YT. lol.  Well, each to his or her own, I always say! 🙂

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

OK, there is choral music and…there is choral music. This is probably known to everyone, but it is still brilliant:

 

[Anonymous @]

most certainly @arbutus I think it was  both 17th and 18th century England and Europe that he “channelled”.  Quite the dramatic use of French flavoured elaboration, turns and ‘lacquered’ cadenzas. Nyman certainly made the previously impossible to approach classical music a lot easier to understand and listen to. It led to a whole lot of other composers trying their hand at ground bass compositions and unusual time signatures without turning the majority of listeners away. Still, there’s a tendency amongst the traditionalists (who vow that Schonberg and Penderecki are the ‘greatest’)  to heap scorn on the ‘new’ minimalists all whilst wearing large collared browny-grey shirts, orange cords, narrow pink ties and delicate comb-overs!

The above music made my Easter Sunday: as I didn’t go to church, watching a concert performed in one was a terrific substitute. Thank you . Are you performing in your choir this Easter?

Kindest,  puro

[Anonymous @]

Boyo  I did not know about this stuff. @arbutus the ukulele choir?! Amazing. @fatmaninabox Mokoko!  Amazing! and then @blenkinsopthebrave  Helsinki’s choir?  No! I’d never heard it. Imagine America’s complaint’s list? A “dentist queue for 6 months?” Hah!

Keeping bringing this stuff on…it’s all new to me. 🙂

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@faegrl   Yes, I think we overloaded its circuits! Not the volume but the sheer variety probably did it!  🙂

I should say regarding “I Just Called…” that I have nothing against the song, more its overuse in the years following, on sentimental TV ads.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@blenkinsopthebrave     My favourite bit was “Why is the cord of the vacuum cleaner too short… just like summer.” Now that is existential angst at it’s best!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion   “wearing large collared browny-grey shirts, orange cords, narrow pink ties and delicate comb-overs”

Now that is an image for the ages!  Hee hee hee!

No singing for us this Easter (except in the kitchen). We will spend the morning watching the teenager’s baseball game (between April and June, baseball stops for nothing!) and then home to start an exciting listening project. My husband extravagantly purchased a complete box set of Bach cantatas, beautifully ordered according to the liturgical year, and starting tomorrow, we are going to spend a year of Sundays listening to every single one. (I know that no one on here will find anything strange in that!).

Happy Easter to everyone, I hope that the chocolate is only of the highest quality, and that spring uplifts us all!

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus I wish I could join you in this wonderful pursuit -the Cantatas, not the baseball!  As Winter starts here soon, and because the average temp is about 22 degrees Celsius, I and the gardener who helps me, planted lettuces, tomatoes and every colourful annual from petunias to violas to snap dragons. It’s looking great so a fish about for coloured paper and painted real eggs was part of the beginning of our ‘spring’ -not to say it doesn’t get cold -it does, but only late at night and early in the morning. So, with that in mind I bought a beautiful duck egg blue coat (for the 6 weeks of cold) and it’s sitting ready for use in the shoe cupboard!

Good luck with the Cantatas- I know you’ll do it: what a gorgeous Sunday idea. I might pull out my Glen Gould collection of Bach’s piano pieces -but I don’t have them all; maybe 6 CDs worth? In fact, I was just patting myself; smugly amused that I hadn’t bought any CDs for five (FIVE!) years!!

As to @faegrl and ‘I just called to say….’ I love that song! Even my  boy does, but yes, every ad, every sentimental film, every school dubbing project, I hear it and arbutus, I hear what you’re saying!  Kindest, puro.

 

[Anonymous @]

 

I was watching this-well, I don’t know why but then I read a comment which roughly said: “interesting, very hip. Not heard this before. Very up-beat’.

Not heard of Wham!?  I. am. old.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

Just more on the genius that is Stevie Wonder, and for non-UK residents who may not have had a chance to see it, a great series of programmes. Howard Goodall on “How Music Works”. Well worth watching the whole thing, but if you want to get to Stevie it begins at around 41:30

The whole series is brilliant. Links are below:

Part 1 – Melody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw9eef99aSI
Part 2 – Rhythm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZJPnAer7EM
Part 3 – Harmony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwRHu8T1lCs
Part 4 – Bass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWEGYDG-Ig

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@whisht Yet another sort-of cover of Tomorrow Never Knows. The Chemical Brothers with Noel Gallagher. The working title was “Tomorrow Never Noels”.

[Whisht @whisht]

wow – loads to get through since the First Wonder of the Thread, but just wanted to say a massive thanks to @faegrl for the tip on AdBlocker!

Downloaded it for Chrome and it seems I don’t even need to close Chrome down or reboot – already the ads seem to be gone!
In the past I’ve needed to see ads (I work in ‘digital’ which kinda includes marketing), so adblockers were always something I didn’t do (ie I wanted to see sites as most people see them).

However its such a transformation and ads in YT are so annoying that screw my professional needs!

;¬)

thanks again!

[Whisht @whisht]

ah – thanks for the Setting Sun @craig. I’d heard the track before but hadn’t heard Noel or the Tomorrow Never Knows rhythm.

I must admit, I’m shocked and surprised to hear Noel Gallagher using the influence of the Beatles.

😉

btw the Howard Goodall programme was excellent imo. And its still my fault that I don’t get fifths and quarters and octaves etc as I’m sure he made a great effort on this!

[Whisht @whisht]

@arbutus – that Langley Ukelele Orchestra is amazing! That’s a fantastic arrangement!

Is this the same Langley as the Langley School Music Project from years ago?
I remember hearing it and reading about the fantastic teacher that they had – incredible to have a teacher like that when you’re a kid!

here’s another Beach Boys one from it:

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

Here’s a beautiful cover of Yesterday by Ennio Morrocone from the soundtrack to Once Upon a time in America

The song doesn’t start till about 1:38

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

Lalo Schifrin is another one of my favourite film composers. His work on Dirty Harry is fantastic especially this track.

[FaeGrl @faegrl]

@arbutus – Oh yes! I so agree with you, that song is WAY overused everywhere! lol. I see what you mean about it, completely. If I didn’t like the song so much, I’d be sick of it too. 😉

@purofilion – Coolies! I don’t know why I like the song so much, it is rather simple, but I do.  I wouldn’t mind it played at my wedding, if I ever get married someday.

@whisht – No problem! I didn’t know of AdBlocker myself, until my very IT sister told me of it early last year. I find the ads of YT way too much and too many. I remember the site before they had ads, but when they merged with Google, it exploded with as many ads as Hulu. Ir’s too annoying! lol. I don’t only go for YT for music, but for social v-bloggers, news clips, gaming videos, and sometimes old movies that isn’t found on either Netflix or Amazon. So, I cheat and skip the ads!

And Happy Easter to everyone, if you celebrate it. I’m spending mine in lazy video games, no egg dyeing for me!

 

[FaeGrl @faegrl]

And since this is a music forum, I should add a song. I kind of ran out of good covers though, except this one that’s just okay:

PS – Off topic rant… for some reason, when I try to @ people, I get this color html code within it. Not sure why it’s doing that, but I have to edit my post so people can receive my shouts. What am I doing wrong? :O

[Anonymous @]

@faegrl can’t go wrong with Buckley. I actually like the album it appeared on: was it Grace? Just how many covers of Hallelujah are there? Anyone? 1000?  I was surprised to hear Jon Bon Jovi singing it via Ytube the other day. It was splendid, actually; and why shouldn’t it be? 🙂

@thekrynoidman I agree, Schifrin is wonderful: the atmosphere it created for Harry was palpable enough that you could cut it with a knife  -or a Beretta, a Glock 9mm, I guess.

From Schifrin to Bon Jovi to Bach and then last night…to Boy George. Again, I was intrigued by the comments page. One said: “I think that’s a lady singing?” Cripes. Old. Old. But wiser. Definitely.

[FaeGrl @faegrl]

@purofilion – If I’m dramatic, I’d say there are as many covers of Hallelujah, as there are stars in the cosmos. However, I want to point out that I am not a religious person whatsoever, I’m more “scientific” than anything else, but this song is very beautiful regardless. No matter which cover it is in! I must check out the Bon Jovi one next. 🙂

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

Here’s another great cover. Well technically the Big-O was the first person to record the song, but his version wasn’t released until after Cyndi Lauper released hers.

[Whisht @whisht]

@faegrl – Cash’s Hurt and Buckley’s Halleluah – well, that’s two of the best “interpretations that were better than the originals” from the last few years!

@thekrynoidman – absolutely brilliant film music!

Lalo Schirin – Hadn’t heard this (outside watching the film) before – the other-worldly singing and eerie screeching emoting the madness of Scorpio.
Another theme that tackled a disturbed mind, seeming to conjure the insomniac tiredness, Romantic sensibility, yet beneath it all an unstable violent threat. Gotta love Bernard Hermann.

On a lighter note, in a more classic “Romantic” vein, this music is great in its own right, but as a score to these visuals its awesome.
I just love the interplay between the majestic, beautiful operatic music with a beautiful rose of a woman and a gritty, broken, dirty town*.

* I read that the music had been recorded prior to filming and was played aloud as Claudia Cardinale walked across the set, so that actors and crew could match the sweep of the music to the camera.

sigh, Once Upon a Time in America and Once Upon a Time in The West are just so good. In fact I may just watch …in The West again later today.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@whisht Being a big Hitchcock fan I love Herrman too.

I wasn’t really that impressed with …in America (aside from the music that is), but I adore …in the West.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Wow!

This thread’s fairly buzzing! Been a brilliant couple of hours catching up. So wide and varied. Thanks @everyone for populating it with such diversity 🙂

@craig – hard to argue with Stevie Wonder (tho I may, with a bit more time!!). Lovin the Amber Grooves thang as well – best of luck with it.

@faegrl @whisht “there are as many covers of Hallelujah, as there are stars in the cosmos” that may be an understatement!  Hard to beat Cohen’s gruff original tho. There may also be as many possible combinations of the various verses he wrote at different times! My fave was a version by K D Lang on Jools Holland a few years back, but it’s been taken down now 🙁 And Jeff Buckley’s is pretty damn fine!)

And on the subject of unwanted ads – there’s a sneaky little programme called media player (NB – not windows media player) that took me weeks to track down and kill that does a wonderful job of splattering ads and dodgy links over the entire screen). AdBlocker ignores it.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

OK, covers – this singer makes it an artform, often outdoing the originals. Live, she’s unmissable!

Camille’s version of Nick Cave’s Ship Song:

 

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@faegrl  @purofilion @scaryb

I’m pretty sure there are at least a thousand Hallelujah’s, as a couple of years ago they must have played them all on the CBC. I actually got fairly tired of the song after about a week of it. But like @scaryb, my favourite version is kd lang’s, and my favourite version of her version is the one she did at the Vancouver Olympics. Breathtaking!

 

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@whisht  Yes, it is the same Langley. When the LSMP was done, it was a small town surrounded by agriculture, about an hour from Vancouver. Now, of course, it is part of the suburban area the fills the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. It’s still fairly rural once you get off the highway.

Isn’t it amazing? There is something about the sound of children’s voices singing that regularly reduces me to tears.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion   Oh dear. Yes, I know that feeling. I was talking to a younger person once a number of years ago, and I mentioned “The Band”. I got a blank look and “What band?”

By the way, isn’t YouTube just a massive timesucker? Like reading Wikipedia. It’s amazing how you can get from here to there to … somewhere completely different. And then an hour has gone by. 🙂

[Whisht @whisht]

wow @arbutus – the same Langley! Could it be the same music teacher (Hans Fenger)?? He’d be in his mid sixties I’d guess…

If not whoever arranged the clip you posted has a similar knack of getting a great sound from a group of variably gifted kids.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@arbutus
That K D video should come with a health warning! (hadn’t heard that version before (tho I’m not sure about the commentator’s comment about it being a “song of peace”!)) Great choice. She brings a whole bittersweetness to it (as opposed to Cohen’s worldweary cynicism (which I also love)).

<goes off to replay and melt into a puddle again>

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Okay. Since we have talking about covers. I was just out for an Easter Monday coffee and doughnut, and in the cafe, they were playing this, that somehow, I had never heard before (naturally, many of you will be better informed than I was). So of course, as soon as I got back, I had to find it and post it here!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@thekrynoidman    That arrangement of “Yesterday” is beautiful all on its own, but used as it is in that scene is particularly evocative. It relies on the assumption that the viewer will know the song, and our minds will fill in the missing lyrics. I think that it gets us into the mind of the character much more effectively that way!

@whisht    What is it about a western? I suppose that it’s something about the amazing sweep of western North America, and the metaphor it contains for so many elements of the human spirit– indomitability, loneliness, aspiration, and despair all seem to be so well expressed by the geology of the American West. And its history provides the seeds for stories that go perfectly in hand with these themes, and just seem to inspire composers to amazing heights.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@whisht, @thekrynoidman

“Once Upon a Time in the West”. Ahh, what guilty pleasure that movie (no…experience) is! The music of Ennio Morricone and the visuals of Sergio Leone…does it get any better?

I totally agree with credits at the end of this clip.

 

 

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@blenkinsopthebrave Guilty pleasure? It’s one of the greatest films of all time.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@thekrynoidman

Ha! Well, guilty pleasure, like beauty, is perhaps in the eye of the beholder.

Now, THIS is clearly one of the greatest films of all time. (Oh, all right, one of the greatest opening credit sequences of all time) With fabulous music, and, another Blenkinsop guilty pleasure.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@blenkinsopthebrave I do love a bit of Clint.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

[Anonymous @]

@thekrynoidman  what an inspiration to wake up to one of my fav rocker/dance songs: Ballroom Blitz. I know the whole thing in Czech -as the Czechs, when they heard this song first, loved it, and so it helped me to learn the language.

The gorgeous KD Lang from @arbutus and from @scaryb is beautiful. You know, I hadn’t heard it before!  As for Where Eagles Dare? (from The Man)  I must watch this movie twice every year on some anniversary I think. Brilliant. Now @whisht I find that some people think Cohen’s Hallelujah is not as good as various covers?  Personally, I think his is the best: the crotchety  cynic with the world weary view?  Buckley, though, with his ability to hold over 8 bars on one technically difficult tenor note is quite incredible and a very clean interpretation. What do I mean by clean?? Not sure….no where to hide with a song like that which is deceptively easy. I’ve heard it on Karaoke about 3000 times. Always a magic success of course, when drunk! 🙂  Whilst on Karaoke, thank you @wolfweed for the Nirvana . ‘Bout time 🙂

@blenkinsopthebrave I came to Ennio only thru The Mission -was this his first score?  I remember it being my first CD ever!  Possibly, other than a few tracks, not the best choice. IMHO of course.

Kindest,

puro.

 

 

[Whisht @whisht]

@arbutus – Camille’s version of The Ship Song – I really like what she did with other songs, but gotta say I prefer Nick Cave’s own version.

Possibly this is because I heard him sing far ‘harder’/ nastier songs first (eg Black Betty or this Beefheart/punk ditty).
So Ship Song and other tender love songs he does (like the wonderful Into My Arms) are such a beautiful contrast.

So, always good to hear another version and maybe my view is tainted by how I hear him sing it, but I always get the sound of someone who’s tired of being ‘tough’ and just needs to sing about his love.
Anyway – thanks, I for one hadn’t listened to any Cave for a while now!

And kd lang singing at the olympics. YEp, she sings this like she’s had experience of saying “Hallelujah” at erm… intimate moments, whereas Buckley’s beautiful version is more the choirboy(!)

And never heard that Rod Stewart version! Makes me realise how good a version Elton did!
Well, bit unfair as Rod can certainly roar out, but the orchestration’s odd timing doesn’t help him! But what a great incentive to re-listen to Elton’s version and realise its a lot funkier than the Who’s ‘normal’ version!
So some great prods to waste some time on YT!!
🙂

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