What are you listening to? December 2022

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Sandy Denny & Johnny Silvo - Sandy & Johnny (1967)

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Vinyl Rip Of The Day

Saga Records released this odd album to capitalize on the sudden success of Sandy Denny. It consists of 5 alternate takes of songs on Sandy's debut album and 6 songs by the forgettable Johnny Silvo who was sort of a faux Leadbelly. To fill out the dozen sides, they simply repeated one track from Sandy's album. :vic:
 
Michael Nesmith - Rays (2005)

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AMG sez:

Rays, with its electronic touches and synthetic sounds, is rigid and lifeless. Bogged down in technology and synthetic instruments, it may be an attempt at sounding futuristic or cutting edge, but the short-sighted sound is as instantly outdated as '80s fashion. Much of the record was most likely obsolete before it even hit record store shelves. The scarcity of vocals on the album adds to its cold, uninviting feel. There is likely a sect of die-hard Nez fans who will declare that this is the greatest record ever. But to casual listeners, it offers little reward.

Cinematic and atmospheric, the album has the feel of a blockbuster movie that's all CGI and no heart. Then again, Nesmith's a smart guy. Having pioneered alt-country a few decades ago, it could be that Nesmith has his sights set on the next untapped frontier. Maybe 20 years from now, listeners will look back at Rays and realize it was the wave of the future, a masterpiece ahead of its time. Only time will tell. For now, it'll just have to sit on the shelf and wait to be rediscovered.


Well, then. :scared:

I love Nez but can't argue with this review.

:2.0: on the Sam-O-Meter.
 
Academy of St. Martin In The Fields Chamber Ensemble - Grainger Edition Vol. 13: Works For Chamber Ensemble (1999)

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I'm not very familiar with the works of Percy Grainger so this album is a revelation. Apparently he didn't compose much chamber music as such, so many of the pieces here were either retooled piano-cello duets or his arrangements of folk songs. It all makes for fine listening that breaks free of the stylistic conventions that can easily suffocate this genre. It's not too surprising that Grainer avoided the usual reliance on violin leads since he was quoted as saying "I have always loathed the fiddle, a canary-like twitterer, not a man-high voice...."


:boohoo::boohoo::boohoo::boohoo::boohoo:

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I have recollections of my mother, when I was young, going down to the finished part of the basement, and playing one particular song on the upright piano: "Country Gardens," by Percy Grainger.


This was one of the few ways that I knew she was happy.
And I have very clear memories of my grandmother, working away on her Singer sewing machine while listening to this obscure Hank Snow tune on the radio. As with you and your mom, I knew she was truly happy.

 
Sergio Fiorentino - Edition Vol. 3 - Rachmaninoff (rec. 1962-63-94-95, rel. 2013)

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Concert recordings by the elusive Neapolitan pianist that show a deep empathy for Rachmaninoff's solo repertoire. Wiki shares his eccentric performing history:

Sergio Fiorentino (22 December 1927 – 22 August 1998) was a 20th-century Italian classical pianist whose sporadic performing career spanned five decades. Fiorentino was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples under Luigi Finizio and Paolo Denza, earned his diploma in 1946 and attended a master class of Carlo Zecchi in Salzburg in 1948.

His debut was at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York in 1953. The following year, while on tour in Argentina and Uruguay, he was in a near-fatal plane accident, forcing him to cut back on concert performances. This led to him becoming a teacher at Naples Conservatory, where he had once been a student.

In the late 1950s he made a new start in concert performances, both in his native country and in England. Many of his recordings were made during those years (1958–1965). But again, he withdrew from the concert stage, limiting his rare public appearances to his native country, and again started to regularly teach master classes.

He left Naples Conservatory in 1993 and began again to play more in public outside his native Italy, performing in Germany, France, Taiwan and the United States. Negotiated and contracted engagements in Russia and Canada as well as a scheduled recording session could not be fulfilled due to his sudden death in his home in Naples on August 22, 1998.

:4.5: on the Sam-O-Meter

Note to collectors: Some of Fiorentino's recordings made during the late fifties and early sixties were issued after his original label's failure under pseudonyms. The most frequently used pseudonym was "Paul Procopolis". :oops:

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