Walkie's Gloomy Old Music Thread

[Walkie]

I named this thread for the assonance.

It's not really gloomy, honest! just suicidally angsty.

 At least the band I'm gonna start with is. where I go from here, i'm not sure. Depends what pops into my head.  You never know, I might just have to start a happy music thread or something. 

Anyways, I've had Joy Division stuck in my head since watching a documentary about them last night. So I figured I'd post up my favourite songs of theirs.  I once recorded 24-hours several times over, end to end  on both sides of a tape, so I could just listen to it repeatedly without  too much effort. Yes, I was going through a bit of a difficult time.   I find that angsty music helps, if it's done really, really well.

As you all probably know , Ian curtis (their singer/songwriter)  actually did commit suicide.  Following which , the rest of the band were  like "OMG, he really meant what he said in the lyrics" .

It's weird. It's like they are totally on his wavelength whilst playing with him. But soon as they stop playing,  they revert to being a bunch of shallow dorks. Weird.



an earlier song (from their first album)



Oh! although I was actually around at the right time (late seventies) to see Joy Division live, etc, I not only missed out, as usual, I caught onto them belatedly , as usual.  I had this mad fit of attempting  to be normal at around the same time . And by the time I was out of that phase and made some new  friends who were into Joy Division, Ian Curtis was dead already. 

[Walkie]

Hmm. Breaking my rule already.
This is neither gloomy, nor angsty. Just the most beautiful track i ever heard from  my favourite saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
One of the few things (really they are very  few) that i could listen to repeatedly for hours. Listening to it right now.

[Graelwyn]

[Walkie]

One of the best things  Genesis ever did. From way back when Peter Gabriel was with them, and only weirdos listened to them (Seriously. "Normal" people listened to Gary Glitter.)   
I was 12 when this first came out , and 14-15 when I first heard it. That immensely poweful instrumental section in the middle seemed to perfectly match my inner anguish.
The amazing thing is that whenever I stumble across it again, it still sounds fresh. I still love it.




The Musical Box   
Play me Old King Cole
That I may join with you,
All your hearts now seem so far from me
It hardly seems to matter now.

And the nurse will tell you lies
Of a kingdom beyond the skies.
But I am lost within this half-world,
It hardly seems to matter now.

Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.

Just a little bit,
Just a little bit more time,
Time left to live out my life.

Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.

She's a lady, she's got time.
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your face.
She's a lady, she's got time.
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your flesh.

I've been waiting here for so long
And all this time has past me by
It does'nt seem to matter now
You stand there with your fixed expression
Casting doubt on all I have to say
Why don't you touch me, touch me,
Why don't you touch me, touch me, touch me,
Touch me now, now, now, now, now,

.
THE MUSICAL BOX
.
While Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor ( was playing croquet
with Cynthia Jane De Blaise-William (9), sweet-smiling
Cynthia raised her mallet high and gracefully removed
Henry's head. Two weeks later, in Henry's nursery, she
discovered his treasured musical box. Eagerly she opened it
and as "Old King Cole" began to play a small spirit-figure
appeared. Henry had returned - But not for long, for as
he stood in the room his body began ageing rapidly,
leaving a child's mind inside. A lifetime's desires surged
through him. Unfortunatly the attempt to persuade
Cynthia Jane to fulfil his romantic desire, led his nurse
to the nursery to investigate the noise. Instinctively
Nanny hurled the musical box at the bearded child,
destroyed both.

[Pyraxis]

Hmm. Breaking my rule already.
This is neither gloomy, nor angsty. Just the most beautiful track i ever heard from  my favourite saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
One of the few things (really they are very  few) that i could listen to repeatedly for hours. Listening to it right now.

Normally I don't like directionless music, but this isn't so bad! I'm listening to it through the awful speakers on Wolf's laptop cause that's all I have right now, but I need to remember this thread.

[Walkie]

Woot! A bit of commentary . Thanks

I promised myself I wouldn't comment on graelwyn's contribution to this thread  'til somebody commented on mine.

Hmm. Is that petty?

I dunno. i was hesitating anyway, cos people keep trying to interest to interest me in Nighthawk, and their attempts always fall flat.  They're just far too operatic for my tastes...or something. And I don't like to be a wet blanket.

I'd say i was a total philistine as regards Opera and classical music...except, I actually do like Harrison Birtwistle's operas , Punch and Judy, and  the Minotaur.  That might be because  the amazing libretto bought out the best in him or...ohhhh! I dunno.  The fact is, I really am a philistine, like I said  . I just know what I like.  And as far as  opera (and my very limited experience of it) goes , I like Birtwistle.

[Walkie]

Oh Wow!

Somebody's put the Minotour up on You Tube.

(I'll bet it gets removed:( )

[Walkie]

Hang on! Daaaaaamn. Part 1 of the Minotaur  is so badly out of synch, it's unwatchable   but the rest don't suffer from that problem according to comments.

If you just want to sample it, try this one:



(you get to see the Minotar's amazing costume near the start of that. It's a simple but hugely effective idea. I have to say , this production is really interesting, visually as well   ))

[Pyraxis]

  I was just discovering that. It became a comedy. 

[Pyraxis]

I don't like the singing, but I like the story and drama. I like more modern musicals where I can understand the words and there's a stronger melody.

In that second part, virgin girl gets sacrificed to the minotaur, I get that much, but then her ...mother? Stands there and scolds the minotaur instead of grieving over her body, and the one who seems to be grieving is the leader of a flock of harpies?

Then the minotaur is lamenting his captivity, and you're right the costumes are pretty awesome... did you see how the head becomes see-through and you can see the face of the man behind it?

[Walkie]

I don't like the singing, but I like the story and drama. I like more modern musicals where I can understand the words and there's a stronger melody.

Unusually, I don't find it too  hard to make out the words in Birtwistle's operas. That's always a problem for me where music is concerned, never mind what sort of music, but, yeah,  opera espcially. It can take me a while to even figure out if they're singing in English or some other language sometimes  . But not with this one.

I think , anyway, you're more-or-less expected to "cheat" in opera. i.e know the basic plot in advance and have access to cast list, plus a few notes.

I noticed one useful little note that came attached to these vids: the minotaur is mute, except for in his dreams, and some of the scenes are dream sequences.  That saves struggling to make out what he's singing in the other scenes 

In that second part, virgin girl gets sacrificed to the minotaur, I get that much, but then her ...mother? Stands there and scolds the minotaur instead of grieving over her body, and the one who seems to be grieving is the leader of a flock of harpies?

The scolding woman is the Minotaur's half-sister,  Ariadne.  Remember, she's the one who leads Theseus into the maze. If you'd seen it in sequence, you woulda got that.

Then the minotaur is lamenting his captivity, and you're right the costumes are pretty awesome... did you see how the head becomes see-through and you can see the face of the man behind it?

Yes, i certainly did. It's very, very clear in some scenes. The head is a sort of wire cage. I love the layers and layers of symbolism in this production.  And now you see another dimension to your statement, about him lamenting his captivity.

Im still thinking about what sets Birtwistle apart from the rest, in my mind. I'm sure it's partly the subject matter: densely symbolic and deeply psychological. Edgy, uneasy, thought-provoking.  Then there's the fact that he 's working with an actual poet as librettist. And basically, the amazing creativity and synergy between everybody involved in this production   (Same can be said for the Punch and Judy production, by the same company).

I've listened to Britwistle's orchestral work and didn't like it.  It just left me cold.  Moving in to the rock world,  I find it's the same with Brian Eno's solo work. So now I'm thinking that Birtwistle is the Brian Eno of classical music: awesome in collaboration, but over-intellectual and emotionally bankrupt by himself.

Besides, I suppose I just like dissonance.    In the main,  i find it more  apt, more human and more convincing than overly-polished pretty tunes.

[sg1008]

Come as you are, as you were
As I want you to be
As a friend, as a friend
As an old enemy

Take your time, hurry up
The choice is yours, don't be late
Take a rest as a friend
As an old

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria

Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach
As I want you to be
As a trend, as a friend
As an old

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria

And I swear that I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun

Memoria, memoria
Memoria, memoria
(No I don't have a gun)

And I swear that I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun

Memoria, memoria

[sg1008]

dang....that song cuts into me....

[renaeden]

Turned out he did have a gun.

[Lord of the Ales]

I love Joy Division.

That is all