To Dz, BL and SF:
If you’re ever stuck with almost no Catholic friends in a community entirely devoid of music, you will understand what a kindness it would be to get just one recording from the old days. That’s all.
The most noticeable effect of having only one radio station is that the whole town has a soundtrack. Let’s say you leave work humming whatever was on. You pick it up again in the car without missing a beat. You park at the restaurant, walk past a chromed-out over-suspended pickup woofing out the same thing, find a table, absent-mindedly tap your foot while you scan the paper for people you know…
If anyone is wondering what the big deal is with classical music, and whether maybe everyone is just pretending to like it, while in fact it’s just boring, I have a cure. Classical music is like beer: Some people think they don’t like it, but it’s just that they’ve only tasted Coors. So here are two stout draughts that have very much increased my own thirst for classical music: Pablo Casals’ recording of Bach’s Cello Suites, especially the first prelude (featured in Master and Commander). I think EMI sells it. Casals practised these pieces for 12 years before he played one publically. And Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerti Grossi, Op. 6. Master and Commander plays the adagio from the eighth concerto. While we’re at it, if there’s anyone who can’t see the virtues of the English language, (and I think there are more of these than either of the first two), go out and buy Master and Commander, and read it. The only way you can despise the language of your birth is if you haven’t learned to speak it. This book will begin to teach you.
Internet radio with more channels than you can imagine. There are four Baroque channels! And it’s free!
OK, whatever you can say about the rest of Eminem’s songs, “When I’m Gone” is really pretty good. There, I said it.
Thanks to Dz, this is now my favourite CD.
I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to it, but I hear something new every time. Even adjusting the equalizing reveals new layers of meaning. Most of the album hangs together almost like one song, and subtly quotes itself throughout. The best parts are firmly anchored in a well defined, driving bass line that still manages to sound searching. Hints: #1 Make sure you’re playing it on something with pretty good bass. This is music you hear with your kidneys almost as much as your ears. #2 Think of a train while you’re listening.