From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V14 #149 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Thursday, October 21 2010 Volume 14 : Number 149 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Olympia [chandla911@aol.com] [AVALON] The other Brian... [mark@olivetreepl.plus.com] Re: [AVALON] Olympia [kwil632057@aol.com] RE: [AVALON] BF Competition [Andrew Shearer ] Re: [AVALON] BF Competition [Han Snijders ] [AVALON] Ferry keeps quiet... [kwil632057@aol.com] [AVALON] olympia review [Han Snijders ] [AVALON] people too rich to know how to dance [Han Snijders Subject: RE: [AVALON] BF Competition Thought some of you might be interested in this: http://www.andrewshearer.com/blog/blog201010.htm Andrew ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:12:19 +0200 From: Han Snijders Subject: Re: [AVALON] BF Competition Fantastic story Andrew! Han 2010/10/20 Andrew Shearer > Thought some of you might be interested in this: > > http://www.andrewshearer.com/blog/blog201010.htm > > Andrew > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:25:17 -0400 From: kwil632057@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Ferry keeps quiet... And possibly scores number 1 hit... http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/10/17/remembrance-day-record-featuri ng-two-minutes-of-silence-tipped-for-the-charts-115875-22640985/ J ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:07:41 +0200 From: Han Snijders Subject: [AVALON] olympia review *Bryan Ferry* Olympia [Astralwerks] 3 and a half stars Like the album covers that adorn the efforts of Roxy Music and his own solo albums, Bryan Ferrys music is sleek, sophisticated and incredibly sexy on the surface. Its whats beneath that surface that makes Ferrys records such an intriguing delight, however. The scars of a heartbroken romantic lurk beneath shimmering, danceable arrangements bolstered by minimalist melodic motifs and a sparse, subtle polyphony. Ferry knows exactly what hes doing, and hes hoping youll invest the time necessary to hear the passionate complexity in his stirring songs. Olympia,with a radiant, bejeweled and impossibly glamorous Kate Moss beaming from its cover, is not unlike every album Ferry has commandeered since Roxy Musics deep-blue 1982 masterpiece Avalon. Its a layered affair where spare motifs are brilliantly interpolated and juxtaposed toward the attainment of a symphonic simplicity suggesting high pop-art. Its classic Ferry, then. Like all the mans finest work, from Roxy and elsewhere, Olympiathreadstogethersparelyricalcoupletswhittleddownto their essence by Ferry, whose many talents clearly include the gift of prescient editingin service of a vague but incisive narrative. Its a dimly lit world, of course, where femme fatales move through elegantly wasted landscapes that invariably include a dance floor and a bar, while our hero views them askance from the corner of the room, forever a part and yet apart. You Can Dance and Alphaville open theproceedingsbyplacingusinasmokynightclub, wherecouplesattempt to dance away their pain. Our narrator is having none of it, though. He has, apparently, been down this road a time or two too many, and hes doomed now to merely observe and report. A few songs in, and weve already heard ornate mixes featuring resplendent contributions from the likes of Flea, David Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay, the Groove Armada and Radioheads Johnny Greenwood. Part of Ferrys genius is his ability to create a setting that allows these distinct musicians to contribute something of their own, while maintaining a luxuriant sense of musical space that simply screams Bryan Ferry. An interpretation of Tim Buckleys epic Song to the Siren is a useful example of this ability, as the music moves in waves, reflecting the hapless plight of the doomed narrator, helpless to the female singing that lures him toward the rocks. As ever, Ferry makes wise choices when it comes to cover songs, favoring here, in addition to Buckley, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldis No Face No Name No Number, as well as pieces by John Lennon and Elvis, included as bonus tracks. The strongest songs here emerged from his own pen and imagination, though, particularly the ending pair Reason or Rhyme and Tender Is the Night, the latter of which manages to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald to the accompaniment of jazz virtuoso Marcus Millers bass. Olympia offers us a guided tour through one night in the lush life. Its as irresistible as the sirens song. Jeff Miers ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:13:34 +0200 From: Han Snijders Subject: [AVALON] people too rich to know how to dance A return *from* form as Mr Ferry delivers another album of hermetically sealed perfection Bryan Ferry lives the dream. For a certain kind pretentious (but not *too* pretentious) Europhile he has been the poster boy for glamorous disaffection for four decades; a Geordie Alain Delon, forever leaving the casino chipless and with an heiress on his arm. He's married into the aristocracy, been cuckolded by Mick Jagger and hung out with the original Pop Artists. It's quite the C.V. And of course he does, even if it seems increasingly discreetly, deliver albums of jewelled perfection every three or four years. It's hard to know what Bryan is trying to achieve now; there are no real progressions here from 2007's "Dylanesque" or 2002's "Frantic", but then Bryan's not really about progression. He's about distillation. He know what it should sound like and he has the clout and good taste to bring in whoever he wants to play bits on his records. The roll-call of players on this record is extraordinary: Nile Rodgers, Dave Gilmour, Flea(!), Mani, Jonny Greenwood and that baldy guy from that band he used to be in. If anything this album is too tasteful; there are too many slapped basses and untreated blues licks for my liking but there's not doubting Bry's intent: this is the album he wanted to make, the album in his head. Pretty much like all of the rest of them. It starts well. "You can dance" is a chilly floor filler with the dead-eyed repetition of the title at first a command, then a mantra. "Alphaville" is remarkable chiefly for the fact that he has never used the title before. "Heartache by Numbers" is a *very* brave title for Bryan to use and is his collaboration with the Scissor Scissors. It has a bit more wah-wah on it than usual but sits very neatly with the rest of the collection. Bryan's voice is quite extraordinary these days, hollowed out and smoky; it's a parched whisper, infinitely subtle. It allows him to sing anything and imbue it with a sense of meaning and dignity. It's by far the most interesting thing on "Me Oh My" which has far too many sensible guitar parts. His voice is almost subversive, it's watery gurgle almost detathed from humanity as it slops around on these songs. "Shameless" is expensive sounding disco - you can imagine it filling the floors in a St. Moritz nite-club with people too rich to know how to dance. We'll gloss over the covers, except to say that if you ever want to hear Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" produced to sound like "Sweets" by World of Twist, this is the place to start, because the real meat of the album is in its last two songs. "Reason or Rhyme" with its none-more-Bryan reference to "A Dance to the Music of Time" is seven minutes of sumptuous euro- cosmopolitanism; Bryan's alternately husky and trilled vocal shadowed by a simple piano figure, over a backdrop of whispering female vocals and a juddering, echoing bass. "Tender is the Night", another archly self-referential title, starts with a selection of parping space-ship noises, and you can practically smell the Eno, although this is the nearest thing to a piano ballad on the record. The lyrics are a list of older songs, half remembered, a pop-cultural shopping list, but Bryan's languorous delivery makes them sing like poetry on the page. It is beautiful. This is another Bryan Ferry album made by and for Bryan Ferry. You may like it but you'll never love it like Bryan does. John Patrick Higgins ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:27:49 +0000 From: intereireann@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] olympia review This review surely has to be sent off to " Pseuds Corner " post haste... R - -----Original Message----- From: Han Snijders Sender: owner-avalon@smoe.org Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:07:41 To: avalon Subject: [AVALON] olympia review *Bryan Ferry* Olympia [Astralwerks] 3 and a half stars Like the album covers that adorn the efforts of Roxy Music and his own solo albums, Bryan Ferrys music is sleek, sophisticated and incredibly sexy on the surface. Its whats beneath that surface that makes Ferrys records such an intriguing delight, however. The scars of a heartbroken romantic lurk beneath shimmering, danceable arrangements bolstered by minimalist melodic motifs and a sparse, subtle polyphony. Ferry knows exactly what hes doing, and hes hoping youll invest the time necessary to hear the passionate complexity in his stirring songs. Olympia,with a radiant, bejeweled and impossibly glamorous Kate Moss beaming from its cover, is not unlike every album Ferry has commandeered since Roxy Musics deep-blue 1982 masterpiece Avalon. Its a layered affair where spare motifs are brilliantly interpolated and juxtaposed toward the attainment of a symphonic simplicity suggesting high pop-art. Its classic Ferry, then. Like all the mans finest work, from Roxy and elsewhere, Olympiathreadstogethersparelyricalcoupletswhittleddownto their essence by Ferry, whose many talents clearly include the gift of prescient editingin service of a vague but incisive narrative. Its a dimly lit world, of course, where femme fatales move through elegantly wasted landscapes that invariably include a dance floor and a bar, while our hero views them askance from the corner of the room, forever a part and yet apart. You Can Dance and Alphaville open theproceedingsbyplacingusinasmokynightclub, wherecouplesattempt to dance away their pain. Our narrator is having none of it, though. He has, apparently, been down this road a time or two too many, and hes doomed now to merely observe and report. A few songs in, and weve already heard ornate mixes featuring resplendent contributions from the likes of Flea, David Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Brian Eno, Andy Mackay, the Groove Armada and Radioheads Johnny Greenwood. Part of Ferrys genius is his ability to create a setting that allows these distinct musicians to contribute something of their own, while maintaining a luxuriant sense of musical space that simply screams Bryan Ferry. An interpretation of Tim Buckleys epic Song to the Siren is a useful example of this ability, as the music moves in waves, reflecting the hapless plight of the doomed narrator, helpless to the female singing that lures him toward the rocks. As ever, Ferry makes wise choices when it comes to cover songs, favoring here, in addition to Buckley, Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldis No Face No Name No Number, as well as pieces by John Lennon and Elvis, included as bonus tracks. The strongest songs here emerged from his own pen and imagination, though, particularly the ending pair Reason or Rhyme and Tender Is the Night, the latter of which manages to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald to the accompaniment of jazz virtuoso Marcus Millers bass. Olympia offers us a guided tour through one night in the lush life. Its as irresistible as the sirens song. Jeff Miers ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V14 #149 ***************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest