The heavens are telling

I realized a few weeks ago I was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I was quite depressed and then it was as the dark cloud lifted. I love this movement from Haydn's Creation. I sung this too many years ago.



The Heavens are telling the glory of God,
The wonder of his work displays the firmament.
Today that is coming speaks it the day,
The night that is gone to following night.
The Heavens are telling the glory of God,
The wonder of his work displays the firmament.
In all the lands resounds the word,
Never unperceived, ever understood.
The Heavens are telling the glory of God,
The wonder of his work displays the firmament.

Van Gogh

Van Gogh is a favorite artist of mine, and over the years I've come to appreciate the spiritual content intrinsic in many of his pictures. Like music,art requires understanding and background. This song by Don McLean I first heard live at a free concert in Hyde Park in the centre of London.

if you had a vineyard

Oh that my eyes were a fountain of tears That I might weep for my poor people

I suppose this year's unfortunately blandness the emotions of Sinead's songs from her album Theology still touches me. One of my International students said recently Music is universal (it doesn't require language.)

Kosheen - Catch

Out of my way, I'm running. I'm going to catch you if I can...



Well I'm pretty eclectic in my taste and Kosheen do their thing well. The Cellist I only found by accident and he's not a permanent member of the group.

After The Fire

Greenbelt was a Christian rock arts festival which I went almost every summer for 10 years. I saw U2 there and many great bands. After The Fire was one of those great 1980's bands. This clip (click here) is classic ATF and perhaps a demonstration of the great use of the instrumental break.

Don't talk to me about love

I, as a younger guy, was an Altered Images fan for a while mainly because of Claire Grogan. She appeared in Gregory's Girl, an low budget obscure movie made in Scotland, with young locals some without acting experience. The director Bill Forsyth went on to make Local Hero. Claire went on to become lead singer with Altered Images a 1980's New Wave band that fused many different influences including Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. This is real nostalgia for me.

Early U2 memories

In 1981, I was standing in a field with 20,000 other Christians. Close to sunset, at the end of the harvest, the fields around us were burning as the farmers cleared the old straw away. Suddenly this band I had never heard of played Fire!! That incredible apocalyptic experience is burned into the ears and eyes of my memory. We were listening to U2 perform on borrowed equipment.

nothing stays the same

Rushad Eggleston was the cellist with Crooked Still and an exceptional alternative cellist able to play the chop and groove style of playing. He's since moved on but with talent like that he'll be active.

Sweet side of protest

Ralph McTell's Streets of London is a poignant cutting and gentle protest about the darker side of cities. It's a song that I learned to play back in the 1970's. Actually McTell was a good ragtime guitarist and it shows.

Mozart Sonata in D major K488

As a teenager my mother introduced me to two piano pieces and all her students eventually played two piano pieces in competition. (My mom was shrewd as my teacher and all my partners were girls!) Watching the Japanese drama Nodame Cantabile has reminded me so much of the fun and pleasure now deep in my past. This is the first duo that Chiaki and Nodame played together in the series. Later they play a Rachmaninov piano concerto together.

Iceland

Iceland is known for Bjork. I came across another musical export Sigur Ros about 4 years ago and this "Untitled #1"and the video won the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Video. The music is eerie and the images disturbing.

similar accent

Janice is a Hong Kong singer, whose accent in Cantonese has similar strange tones to mine. I was taken by a couple of songs which were streaming on a J-pop internet site. There is also an English version of the song but I think she sings better in Cantonese even with her slightly odd pronunciation.

acoustic groove

As a kid there was a tv show called "Take Three Girls" and the title music was by this group Pentangle. They were quite phenomenal musicians Jacqui McShee, vocals; John Renbourn, guitar; Bert Jansch, guitar; Danny Thompson, double bass. Thompson and both guitarists became successful solo or group artists. Check out their solo instrumentals in these two songs.They show you don't need a lot of equipment or technology to make a great groove and song.

Fire and rain

James Taylor was someone I got like very early on. A friend lent me her copy of Sweet Baby James. At the same time I had my first big crush on a girl and I didn't know what to do with those emotions. This song is probably the first song I memorized on guitar.

The theatrical

I've sung my share of classical choral works including Verdi's Requiem. It ranks in my top ten especially because of this movement Dies Irae. There is nothing quite like it for me because of the range of dynamics. Karajan does an incredibly great job of letting that passion out in a controlled manner. Note the choir sing without music and are giving all their attention.

Because I'm a girl

The Korean girl group Kiss and another well known asian video. The story line just feeds my melancholic nature. The video is a little bit weird as the words and story don't exactly match. Still it reflects a bit of my sadness of this last week and is one of those typically successful Asian music videos with a storyline.

The leaf

I am a terrible melancholic romantic so this is currently on my favourites list. It's sung by Selina of the Taiwanese group S.H.E. Her vocal seems just perfect - however somehow it's better than the normal S.H.E. repertoire