Steve Howe - Mood For A Day

An example of pareidolia

Pareidolia is a term that refers to the psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus (an image or a sound) by perceiving a familiar pattern where none exists. Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, the man in the moon, the moon rabbit, hidden messages within recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing indistinct voices in random noise such as that produced by air conditioners or fans (or your printer in m case. Here is an example of something in my street that I have walked past hundreds of times and that reminds me of an image I would have seen as a child (Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and his Vox Phantom Mark III guitar.

Rev Gary Davis in fine form

Fascinating bit of footage featuring the Rev Gary Davis (and Pete Seeger on banjo).

10 Popular Songs that feature the 12 string guitar

1 A horse with no name (America)
2 Turn turn turn (Byrds)
3 Hotel California (Eagles)
4 Give a little bit (Supertramp)
5 Free fallin' (Tom Petty)
6 Stairway to heaven (Led Zeppelin)
7 Maggie May (Rod Stewart)
8 Space Oddity (Davi Bowie)
9 More than a feeling (Boston)
10 Pinball Wizard (The Who)

Retro Album "of the week" 45 - Les Deux Amis plays Focus Classics

In 1985 Les Deux Amis (German classical guitarists and teachers Ansgar Krause and Thomas Müller-Pering) released a collection of 15 tracks arranged by themselves taking Focus tracks (sometimes more than one track) and giving them an attractive classical treatment. This sort of approach always holds the danger of producing muzack but that does not really happen here with quite inventive arrangements and brilliant music to draw on. You can hear Sylvia here.

The LP cover includes these words:

We have ... long been excited by the ideas of the Dutch group FOCUS which has succeeded in creating a symbiosis of classical and rock music. Ansgar Krause's adaptations prove the vagueness of the borderline between so-called U and non-U music. This is partly due to the fact that Krause makes use of the opportunities offered by polyphony and harmony (imitation, canon, repetition of themes, augmentation, etc.) created some 500 years ago in the Low Countries and further developed in the so-called Franco-Flemish School.

FOCUS has always fallen back on the use of classical or Renaissance themes and forms for their compositions. This gave us the idea of re-adapting their works back into classical guitar music. This musical encounter of various eras and styles, reaches its high point in the "Variations on Happy Nightmare". This amusing title encouraged us to include in our arrangement the well known Bourréé in E-Flat of perhaps the greatest composer of all time: Johann Sebastian Bach. We did this during the recording session which happened to coincide with the 300th anniversary of Bach's birthday, 21 March 1985. So FOCUS REMEMBERED is also a tribute to the great composers and to their world of sound, and for whom every living composer feels gratitude.

It also includes a comment from Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer

"When we first heard our two friends playing FOCUS we were touched by this discovery. No superlatives are good enough to describe their virtuosity, their musicianship and their arrangements. It sounds so easy but we know what hard labor went into these microphones. We are extremely proud that they have chosen our songs which more than ten years ago were able to move millions of people around the world. This digital recording will get a place of honor in our homes."

Diguised guitarists quiz

These guitarists are in disguise. Can you recognise them (going from easy to hard)

 

1. James Hendericks

2. Pierre Olive

3. Henry Mervyn

4. James Apprentice Squire

5. Geoffrey Stream

6. Johann Agricola

7. Throw Fruit

8. Burn

9. The Boundary

10. Mighty Might

 

Answers - Jimi H/Peter G/Hank M/Jimmy P/Jeff B/Jan A/Chuck B/Slash/The Edge/Brian May - Brian means strong

Another present Christmas 1964

I've been thinking about the Christmas of 1964 and I think it must have been that Christmas that I also received an orange plastic Beatles guitar as above. The guitar survived for many years without strings serving as a prop for miming to records. I had forgotten it had only four strings. Not an issue at the time.

Old Technology 03

Two things came together rather well last week. I managed to track down a copy of a 1985 vinyl record by a German guitar duo called Les Deux Amis playing Focus classics recently and it arrived the day after I brought my son home from Cardiff Uni with his little record player. So last week there I was doing something I haven't done in a while - playing an LP.

It soon came back to me. Carefully remove the piece of plastic from its cardboard cover and paper sleeve, making sure not to touch the surface. Pop the record on the turntable, place the needle and out comes the music.

There's quite a bit of crackle and the listening experience is not as good as CD and mp3 I think. You have no pause button so interruptions are a pain. I do like that thought - when side one finishes I'll make a cuppa. You also feel reluctant to skip tracks for fear of causing damage.

The album itself is very satisfactory. All the early Focus classics are given the classical guitar treatment with a little bit of Bach thrown in for good measure at one point.

More Doc Watson

Just one more, okay.

Doc Watson

With the death of the blind singer and guitarist Doc Watson the other day (May 29)  I thought we should have something up here to mark his passing. he was 89.

Cassette 05 More guitar music

After you've listened to Rodrigo and enjoyed him you look round for similar stuff and at some point in the nineties I bought this cassette of guitar concertos by Villa-Lobos and Castelnuevo-Tedesco. Very nice indeed. (Naxos do a nice CD with these two on it plus the Rodrigo).

Cassette 01 Rodrigo

Things happen slowly here so I'm just getting round to sorting through my classical cassettes (yes, remember those?) and replacing them with mp3s. This first is John Williams doing the ubiquitous Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentil hombre. I first saw a Rodrigo album at my Auntie Mavis's in the late sixties. I must have bought this in the late eighties early nineties. Still worth a lesson.

Brian May on Akkerman etc

Though never quite a fan of Brian May one admired his sound and this interview on the night he was given the Eddy Christiani award in Holland earlier this summer s a serious, modest and interesting one.

Not so silent

This is the current Focus guitarist some years back with a seasonal piece. (He reminds me of Prince William a little).

O Kerstnacht

Still a bit early for Christmas but this is very pleasant (and slightly weird)

Le Clochard (Bread)

Here's another Focus track with images. Jan Akkerman is on guitar with accompaniment from Thijs Van Leer. Le Clochard (Bread) is the second track on the first side of the second album, known best as Moving Waves. The pictures were found here.

Giltrap Van Leer

You might like this. It was a spontaneous thing at a recent arts festival. It features Gordon Giltrap and Thijs Van Leer.

Guitar Link

I notice that Jan Akkerman is rightly one of ten guitarists listed as prog rock's best at Gibson's site here.

Imperfect world

My favourite guitarist Jan Akkerman has recently been working with a Balkan guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski and in a perfect world may be I could read Serbo-Croat. In a less than perfect world I can at least get this partly informative, partly humourous translation thanks to google. (My italics).

Therefore, neither the "Thunder from the Blue Sky" can not be considered as a big surprise, not even kuriozumom: a rock-soul must be, when then-gift blues, if at all aware of themselves, especially if, as Stefanovski, while still tirelessly and prebire by raznorodnim ethno-heritage.
Therefore you can say to a greater predstavlja miracle scenario in which Skopje master revealed the end of his career, and that it was not recorded significant piece of blues - than this, in which he plays an hour and twelve minutes, with triom in an entirely new set, nor pojačanoj even less than - Janom Akkermanom.
Focus cult guitarist and one of the largest gitarskih star of the sixties and seventies with the izrasao time in almost legendarnu figure as classic, and fusion; for Stefanovskoga even showed sudbinskim choice, considering that the two musicians met by chance on jazz-festival in Kumanovo.
Although the disc during a somewhat more difficult to conclude where the Akkerman, and begins Stefanovski, and vice versa, there is no doubt that cooperation from the jovial sky (whether hence the name of the album?) was in good measure affected - it shows, but also extremely intro "Amazing Grace" , in which recognizable, very subtle guitar Stefanovskog bezgrešno fall into the well cosmic Akkermanovog arrangements.This super-miniature eklektična represents, however, only eksces in 'pravovjernom' rest of the album, which he (re) aranžerski fully signed Stefanovski - but how will it sound, much more clearly suggests šestominutni "Stormy Monday Blues," Blues sporokotrljajući epitaph T-Bone Walker.All those who had hopes Guitar duel Akkerman-Stefanovski, can forever stop visiting Betting: both musicians during the 72 minute only cooperate on the same task, without a twinge of competition.The movements will even okorjelije fans surely not find the quality of English in which Stefanovski without pardon sing all the texts. Brave maneuver, which has no: although he surely knew that no way will not be able to reach the relaxation (and related žovijalnost) crnačkih old masters, decided to catch the ukoštac with blues-vocal and largely succeeded - places where you accents and pronunciation zastružu by ear, you can enumerate fingers on a hand (eg "Need Your Love So Bad"), and his vocals holds water, although the range with years became something flat - each honor.

Nollaig Shona Daoibh

My heading (NO-Lihg HO-nuh JEEV) means "You [pl] have a Happy Christmas." - a bit early I know but Enya has a new album And winter came. I'd no't known it was coming but I was in Tesco the other night and saw it and bought it as an early Christmas present for my dad to give me (!thanks dad!). The next night I heard the lady herself on Frontrow (listen again).#

There is nothing new here really (though we hear an electric guitar by Pat Farrell on one track, which must be a first or was there one on the Celts album?) but an Enya album is an Enya album and they are obviously all different to some extent. The association with Christmas and snow works well for me. I so liked Amid the snow on the last album. Indeed that whole album was headed in the direction where this one has ended up.

So we start with the title track - similar to other solo piano Enya pieces (Lothlorien, Memory of Trees, etc).* Then comes Journey of the angels, a pleasant modern carol. White is in the winter night (a single) is in the jaunty Enya genre and is a more secular celebration of Christmas with references to mistletoe, holly, skating, snow, children, candlelight, a choir singing glory, etc and the almost obligatory moon and stars.

The fourth track is a hymn often associated with Christmas O come, O come, Immanuel. I've always loved it. Inevitably she breaks into Latin. The whole thing is well done. She finishes with a new version of Silent night in Irish Oíche Chiún using the same choral style.

Track 5, Trains and winter rains (another single) is atmospheric and ends with a nod to the Christ child and the line "And in the sky, the star alone". Dreams are more precious is another modern carol. The secularising tendency is stronger here with its follow your dreams message. Perhaps the strongest track on the album Last time by moonlight is a nostalgic love song mentioning Enya staples - snow and moonlight. Magic! The later Stars and midnight blue is in the same vein but sadder and musically less successful.

One toy soldier is ostensibly a traditional secular Christmas piece, complete with bells (resisitance to their use elsewhere shows great self-restraint). May be there's more going on here as a broken heart manages to cope with the superficial joy of Christmas cheer. The spirit of Christmas past is a simpler call to cheer up as "Tomorrow will be Christmas Day". The penultimate CD track My! My! How time flies is another jaunty piece, perhaps the most interesting lyrically, though how Neil Armstrong and Isaac Newton end up being referenced with Tchaikovski, the Beatles, Elvis and B B King I don't know. I'd thought "a king who's still in the news" was a Christ reference rather than an Elvis one. Apparently it is a tribute to an Irish guitarist called Jimmy Faulkner.

The i-tunes and Japanese editions have a bonus track Miraculum in Latin which uses the One toy soldier melody and appears to reference her previous hit Sail away (Vela).~

So a bit sentimental and safe I guess but great fun.

#Wikipedia says it's been trialed since September! It was released November 7.

*Wikipedia says it's a reworking of Midnight Blue (B side of Wild Child 2001). Knew I'd heard it somewhere. Is Stars and Midnight Blue drawing on the same source?

~Wikipedia says it marks the 20th anniversary of the Watermark album