Posts tagged ‘Album’

February 5, 2021

Mozart 252

Michael Nyman

Mozart 252 is a 2008 album by composer Michael Nyman (his 58th release) with the Michael Nyman Band. Contralto vocalist Hilary Summers is Wolfgang and bass vocalist Andrew Slater is Leopold Mozart. The album celebrates the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth.

Although ‘Revisiting the Don,’ one of only two newly written works on the album, was commissioned and performed in 2006, the album’s title is a joke on its lateness as an album, released 252 years after Mozart’s birth.

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August 18, 2020

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Midnight City

“Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” is the sixth studio album by French electronic music band M83, released in 2011. It is M83’s last album with keyboardist Morgan Kibby and the band’s first full double album.

Prior to recording Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Anthony Gonzalez had moved from his native France to Los Angeles. Describing the move in an interview, Gonzalez said: ‘Having spent 29 years of my life in France, I moved to California a year and a half before the making of this album and I was excited and inspired by so many different things: by the landscape, by the way of life, by live shows, by movies, by the road trips I took alone… I was feeling alive again and this is, I feel, something that you can hear on the album.’

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February 18, 2015

All Is Full of Love

bjork

All Is Full of Love‘ is a 1997 song by Icelandic musician Björk and is from her fourth studio album, ‘Homogenic.’ The lyrics are inspired by the presence of love in the advent of spring and Norse mythology’s Ragnarök (the universe ending clash of the gods). The more popular version of the track, the original mix solely produced by Björk, was used in the music video but did not appear in the album. The album version is a remix by Glaswegian producer Howie B and has a minimalist approach and places emphasis on the singer’s vocals. The video version of “All Is Full of Love” is a midtempo trip hop ballad with soul influences. In opposition to the sonically minimalist mix included in the album.

The music video was directed by British video artist Chris Cunningham and depicts the assembling of a robot with Björk’s features and her passionately kissing another robot against an ethereal and sterile backdrop. The song’s video garnered acclaim from critics and is commonly regarded as one of the best music videos of all time and a milestone in computer animation. The subject of much analysis and scrutiny, it was on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and has been included in various art exhibitions.

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December 3, 2013

Electric

Electric

Electric is the twelfth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in 2013. Stuart Price produced the album. He stated that his goal was for every track to have a ‘euphoric, fresh feel to it.’ The more dance-influenced nature of ‘Electric’ was a response to the ‘reflective mood’ of their previous album, ‘Elysium.’

In support of the album, the duo embarked on the ‘Electric’ tour in March 2013 at the Cumbre Tajín festival in Veracruz, Mexico, where they debuted two songs from the album: ‘Axis’ and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 2007 song ‘The Last to Die.’ The tour’s first official date took place at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile two months later.

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November 20, 2013

Gundam Rock

Gundam Rock

Gundam Rock‘ is a cover album by Andrew W.K., released in 2009 only in Japan. The album consists of covered music from the ‘Gundam’ series to celebrate its 30th Anniversary (the franchize is is a space opera anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant wearable robots called ‘Mobile Suits’; usually the protagonist’s suit will carry the name ‘Gundam’).

The front cover artwork features an original illustration by respected Gundam and Capcom artist, Akira Yasuda (also known as ‘Akiman’). The image depicts Andrew W.K. floating in space next to the Mobile Suit Gundam in similar fashion to frequent ‘Gundam’ protaganst Amuro Ray in the poster of the ‘Char’s Counterattack’ movie, the first theatrical ‘Gundam’ release in 1988.

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September 24, 2013

Thought for Food

thought for food

Thought for Food‘ is The Books’ first album. It contains all the characteristic elements of their sound: rich and varied sampling from a variety of mundane and instrumental sources combined into songs. In 2000, The Books started work on what would become their début album.

Guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong moved locations constantly during this time, recording in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and finally in the basement of a hostel in North Carolina where Zammuto worked for a while after hiking the Appalachian Trail. The album was released in 2002 and was praised by critics for its distinctive sound: extensive sampling from obscure sources coupled with acoustic instrumentation.

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September 24, 2013

Music for a French Elevator

The Way Out

Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by The Books‘ is a 2006 release by NY electronic duo The Books. It is a compendium on mini CD of four pieces created for the ‘1%’ art and sound installation in the Ministry of Culture in Paris, France in 2004.

The pieces were created to be played in the elevator of the Ministry, giving the release its title. Following the initial four tracks (those designed for the elevator) are ‘several ‘classic’ spoken word tracks’ taken from The Books’ sample libraries.

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April 20, 2013

Random Access Memories

daft punk

Random Access Memories is the fourth studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, which features collaborations with artists including Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams, Giorgio Moroder, Pharrell Williams, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon, Chilly Gonzales, Panda Bear, and Julian Casablancas.

Daft Punk began experimenting with material for a fourth studio album in 2008, whilst working on the ‘Tron: Legacy score.’

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November 28, 2012

How to Speak Hip

Del Close

How to Speak Hip is a spoken-word comedy album by improv pioneer Del Close and John Brent, released by Mercury Records in 1959. The album is designed as a satire of language-learning records, where the secret language of the ‘hipster’ is treated as a foreign language.

Part of the joke, however, is that it actually does a good job of describing the Beat Generation/Beatnik sub-culture: Basic concepts such as ‘cool’ and ‘uncool’ are taught, as well as vocabulary building (‘dig,’ ‘dig it,’ ‘dig yourself, baby,’ ‘dig the chick,’ ‘dig the cat,’ ‘What a drag!’).

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November 7, 2012

Remain in Light

talking heads

Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released in 1980. It was recorded at locations in the Bahamas and the United States and was produced by the quartet’s long-time collaborator Brian Eno. Two singles were released from the album: ‘Once in a Lifetime’ and ‘Houses in Motion’ as well as promotional single ‘Crosseyed and Painless.’

The members of Talking Heads wanted to make an album that dispelled notions of frontman and chief lyricist David Byrne leading a back-up band. They decided to experiment with African polyrhythms and, with Eno, recorded the instrumental tracks as a series of samples and loops, a novel idea at the time.

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September 12, 2012

Sun

Cat Power

Sun is the ninth studio album by American musician Cat Power, released in 2012. Her first album of all-original material since 2006’s ‘The Greatest.’

Work on the album initially began soon after the release of ‘The Greatest,’ with Marshall announcing the album’s title as far back as 2006 in an interview with ‘The New York Times,’ where she also claimed that the entire album had already been written.

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September 12, 2012

America

 

Dan Deacon

America is a 2012 studio album by American electronic musician Dan Deacon. The album cover is a photo of Lake Placid. America was recorded using both electronic sounds and live recordings.

An anechoic (echo-free) chamber was built in Baltimore to record the orchestral track ‘Rail.’ Deacon felt that electronic beats were limited by a lack of flaws; he said that he wanted the ‘slight imperfection in timing’ human musicians have.

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