Random Five: What took you so long?

I’m enjoying the latest iTunes, even though it’s a memory hog and its DRM is still evil. Two reasons: it goes out and finds album artwork for you, which would normally be a tedious chore, and it displays your covers as seen in the screen grab. It’s like taking all your booklets out and cleverly arranging them on an extremely shiny black surface.

Altar Natives by Bill Nelson’s Orchestra Arcana Album:Iconography
Sometimes I think my collection is bland and full of commercially prepared pap branded as ‘alternative’ even though anyone in the world could get it at Target. Then I feel like an elitist for thinking that’s a bad thing. But I do sometimes wish I had some weird or different things in there. Then I find some Bill Nelson, the most interesting artist to labour in obscurity since Stephen Duffy. If I have Bill, how mainstream could I be? Only marginally, that’s to what extent. Every Bill Nelson fan thinks they’re the only Bill Nelson fan. Maybe they’re right.

Anyhow, this one comes from a time when Bill Nelson recorded as ‘Orchestra Arcana’ to avoid some messy contract legalities. His deviousness is our gain. On this track he uses one of his favourite song templates: a long flowing chord, overlaid with rhythmic loops of speech, found speeches on esoteric Christian mysticism, and guitar improvisations.

The Forest (from the film ‘The Snow Queen’) by Jukka Linkola, conductor Album:Northern Lights Vol. 2
The fame of Good Reason‘s earliest and most stalwart blog patron snowqueen has been celebrated in song and celluloid. A soothing and magical orchestral piece that chronicles her ‘blue period’ and all those concerts.

Last Dance by Sarah McLachlan Album:Surfacing
Do you like Sarah MacLachlan? Me neither. I sure do have a lot of her songs though. Maybe I have a subliminal ‘liking SML’ thing.

On the other hand, how many songs do I have that feature old piano, cello, and saw? I’m serious; someone’s playing a saw with a violin bow, like in the movie Delicatessen. All right, Sarah; you’re not Kate, but you’re okay. You might even be Tori. Or that one woman from the Dresden Dolls. On second thought, be sort of glad you’re not.

Let the Right One Slip In by Morrissey Album:Tomorrow (Single)
Okay, single entendre title aside, I think this song must have been written to be used in the title sequence for an 80’s teen movie. The hero wakes up, grabs his skateboard, sails down a hill (long distance shot with opening credits), and runs to the double glass doors of the high school where other students are entering. There’s a ‘getting to class’ montage with a hallway of lockers. You can picture it, can’t you?

Tour de France Etape 1 – Chrono – Tour de France Etape 2 by Kraftwerk Album:Minimum-Maximum
More live Kraftwerk this week. Good.

I always thought this piece was ambitious on the studio album. They haven’t put out new material in close to 20 years, so already they’re deciding to risk their god-like status by putting out a new album. And the first song is this 15-minute epic cycling soundtrack, like Autobahn on two wheels. And yet it works. Their fine sense of melody combines with absorbing rhythm and effects. This 10-minute live version is just right.