Artist: Wolff Henry and Henning Nancy
Genre(s):
Ambient
Discography:
Tibetan Bells II
Year: 1978
Tracks: 11
Friday 27 June 2008
Wolff Henry and Henning Nancy
Artist: Wolff Henry and Henning Nancy
Genre(s):
Ambient
Discography:
Tibetan Bells II
Year: 1978
Tracks: 11
Monday 23 June 2008
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters Hawkins Nervous About Wilson Track
FOO FIGHTERS drummer TAYLOR HAWKINS was terrified about lending his vocals to a reworking of a song by late BEACH BOYS star DENNIS WILSON.
The percussionist was drafted in to sing on the new version of Wilson's solo track Holy Man for a reissue of the star's classic album Pacific Ocean Blue.
And Hawkins admits that although he was scared about ruining such a beloved track, he was honoured to be considered.
He tells Gigwise.com, "I was a little nervous. I was like, 'Who the f**k am I to do it?' This stuff is pretty sacred. I didn't want to piss on his Picasso.
"He's a drummer. He grew up on the beach and Gregg always said that we had somewhat similar voices, kinda rough, not exactly Pavarotti, a bit scratchy."
And Hawkins admits that his Foo Fighters bandmate Dave Grohl has given his blessing to the collaboration.
He adds, "He loved it, thought it was totally beautiful, but I don't think he's ever heard Pacific Ocean Blue. It's hard to sit him down to actually listen to something.
"He's as busy as f**k, always got something going on with his family and all that stuff."
Wilson, a drummer like Hawkins, drowned in 1983 and has long been regarded as an under appreciated member of the influential band.
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Monday 16 June 2008
Review: NZSO at Auckland Town Hall
Anticipation ran high at the first of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's concerts when the audience walked in on an almost sculptural installation of percussion instruments set up on the edge of the stage.This ungainly cluster of metal sprang to vibrant life when Bruce McKinnon launched Peter Scholes' Bonk with a ripple of glockenspiel.The expert McKinnon coolly dealt out an array of intriguing colours in this mini-concerto. Bonk proved the ideal overture for the evening, recalling its composer's proven ingenuity in the evocative world of theatre music.This was also a toccata to be shared, with conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky and his musicians deftly darting in and around McKinnon's sorties.On Friday, Baiba Skride balanced passion with magisterial sweep in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto; its surging climaxes highlighted the Latvian's 1725 Wilhemj Stradivarius, with its tone that she had described to me as having a touch of Guanerius darkness. The Concerto's elegiac Canzonetta was almost unbearably poignant.
The following evening, Britten's Violin Concerto came with its own mini-overture - an account of Arvo Part's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten in which time itself seemed to stand still - but not still enough for a few audience members to refrain from sullying Part's final reverberations with applause.The Concerto is as unsettling as it is underrated. Written in 1939, it seems to move between the worlds of Korngold and Shostakovich; wiry Spanish rhythms vie with luxuriant melodies floating on volatile harmonies.The great Heifetz may have pronounced it unplayable, but Skride, in collegial partnership with conductor and orchestra, easily proved him wrong, firing off Prokofiev-like motor rhythms and giving shape to Britten's bewitching melodic lines.Both of these demanding concertos were followed by unaccompanied Bach as encores, delivered with a rare sense of intimacy.On the symphonic side, Sitkovetsky's take on the Brahms First was an unexpected one.Initially, the weight and authority given to Brahms' opening pages was persuasive, such was the vigour of its delivery. As the work progressed, however, the Russian seemed to be straining this German music through a Tchaikovskian filter.Even so, there were welcome touches - the Un poco allegretto could well have been written for such a treatment. Less happy, alas, were the sobbing strings in the slow movement, or the angst-laden Adagio and revved-up tempos in the Finale.On Saturday, within minutes of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony setting off, one asked how such a mighty piece could register with such complacency, burdened by melodramatic dynamics and some ill-balanced textures. Only in the funeral march of the second movement did Sitkovetsky's approach make the revelations intended, reminding one of a Mahler yet to appear on the musical horizon.
The following evening, Britten's Violin Concerto came with its own mini-overture - an account of Arvo Part's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten in which time itself seemed to stand still - but not still enough for a few audience members to refrain from sullying Part's final reverberations with applause.The Concerto is as unsettling as it is underrated. Written in 1939, it seems to move between the worlds of Korngold and Shostakovich; wiry Spanish rhythms vie with luxuriant melodies floating on volatile harmonies.The great Heifetz may have pronounced it unplayable, but Skride, in collegial partnership with conductor and orchestra, easily proved him wrong, firing off Prokofiev-like motor rhythms and giving shape to Britten's bewitching melodic lines.Both of these demanding concertos were followed by unaccompanied Bach as encores, delivered with a rare sense of intimacy.On the symphonic side, Sitkovetsky's take on the Brahms First was an unexpected one.Initially, the weight and authority given to Brahms' opening pages was persuasive, such was the vigour of its delivery. As the work progressed, however, the Russian seemed to be straining this German music through a Tchaikovskian filter.Even so, there were welcome touches - the Un poco allegretto could well have been written for such a treatment. Less happy, alas, were the sobbing strings in the slow movement, or the angst-laden Adagio and revved-up tempos in the Finale.On Saturday, within minutes of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony setting off, one asked how such a mighty piece could register with such complacency, burdened by melodramatic dynamics and some ill-balanced textures. Only in the funeral march of the second movement did Sitkovetsky's approach make the revelations intended, reminding one of a Mahler yet to appear on the musical horizon.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Dr. Evil Has a Heart?
Dr. Will Kirby -- you know, the devilish doctor from "Big Brother" and "Dr. 90210" -- may finally be using his evil reality show powers for good.
In between Botox injections and breast implants, the good doc is hard at work trying to find a home for a six-week old Yorkie puppy born without eyes. Kirby, who is still playing fetch with "For Love or Money" star Erin Brodie, apparently has a soft spot in his cold, cold heart for cute canines.
As for the the blind pup -- who was abandoned at a vet's office -- Kirby says he'll pony up for the pricy adoption fees and the initial vet visit for the new parents.
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In between Botox injections and breast implants, the good doc is hard at work trying to find a home for a six-week old Yorkie puppy born without eyes. Kirby, who is still playing fetch with "For Love or Money" star Erin Brodie, apparently has a soft spot in his cold, cold heart for cute canines.
As for the the blind pup -- who was abandoned at a vet's office -- Kirby says he'll pony up for the pricy adoption fees and the initial vet visit for the new parents.
See Also
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