Spring is here !

Antonio Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' is one of the most well known works in Baroque music, and certain passages from "Spring" are instantly familiar. But have you heard this version ?

The background story is: 
German-born British composer Max Richter has disassembled them and fashioned a new composition from the deconstructed pieces. Richter has created an album that speaks to a generation familiar with remixes, sampling, and sound collages, though his method transcends the manipulation of prerecorded music. Richter has actually rescored the Four Seasons and given the movements of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter thorough makeovers that vary substantially from the originals. The new material is suggestive of a dream state, where drifting phrases and recombined textures blur into walls of sound, only to re-emerge with stark clarity and poignant immediacy. Violinist Daniel Hope is the brilliant soloist in these freshly elaborated pieces, and the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin is conducted with control and assurance by André de Ridder.

And this is how it sounds: "Spring 1" - recomposed by Max Richter

If you want more seasons > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oYWfJuMGMA

We have just spent five days surrounded by deep snow, minus temperatures, frozen rivers and reindeer in Lapland. Passing back and forth between Sweden and Finland our minibus driver insisted on playing music so far removed from this white sparse unpopulated landscape it soon became an inseparable part of a memorable trip.
Rio De Janerio at over 11,000 kilometres away and we were driving (and dancing) around to the rhythms of Samba music - and then on our last night he gave Margaret the CD as a memento.
This therefore is 'Samba De Janerio' by German pop group Bellini. Let's Carnival in the snow !

For those interested this track was a European wide hit in 1997 - the main theme is sampled from the Airto Moreira song 'Tombo in 7/4'.

Following on from last week's excursion into seventies British Prog Rock with Yes, I unearthed this flyer from 1972.
Advertising Thursday nights at the 'Toby Jug' pub in Tolworth. 
Given the size of the venue compared to the size of the bands playing: David Bowie, Manfred Mann and Status Quo it was probably packed out most weeks.
If you'd been there last night, in 1972, you'd have seen Atomic Rooster and no doubt they'd have played this week's STAR TRACK.
They had followed up the earlier hit single "Tomorrow Night"* in the summer of 1971 with "Devil's Answer". It reached No.4 on the UK charts and here they are performing it on 'Top of the Pops'.
Vincent Crane (keyboards) was the one constant member in an ever changing Atomtic Rooster line-up and as a result I can't tell you who supplies the excellent guitar work on this track. 
Hit it !

* Wild keyboards from Vince Crane and seventies style TOTP dancing in another video > right here.

Pie & Mash Shop - London SW11 5TQ

MUSICASSETTES or Compact Tape Cassette >
Invented in the 1960s Cassettes will be fondly remembered, down memory lane, for the number of compilation tapes that were created during their lifetime.

In the 1970s, my Dad, in between telling me to turn the volume down on the music I was playing, sometimes surprised me by announcing he quite liked a particular track that I was listening to. Eventually he asked me to make him a tape of HIS favourites. As you can see from the picture below that cassette contained music by Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", Vangelis, Focus, Santana and Yes - it was an impressive selection.

The track by Yes was 'Soon', a beautiful calm song at the end of the 22 minute 'The Gates of Delirium' - the entire side one of the 'Relayer' LP released in 1974. This song of peace and hope was issued as a single a year later.

Down the years there have been various recordings, none better than a symphonic version of this piece from a live show by Yes in 2001.

The sun will lead us

Our reason to be here

If you thought YES a draft sixties hippy name for a Prog Rock band, then check out what they originally called themselves > here

When I first heard this track I thought the title was unusual for an instrumental. "I Think It's Going To Work Out Fine" is off Ry Cooder's 1979 album 'Bop Till You Drop', an album made up almost entirely of covers of earlier rhythm 'n' blues and rock 'n' roll classics.
This song was originally a single sung by Ike & Tina Turner and released in 1961.
Sing along if you know the words….  and ease into the weekend.

Here are the words, if you don't: click

Romance of the Cup ?

Or devaluing it ?

Another F.A. Cup round of underdogs proving the romance of the competition is still intact. But the reduced importance of the oldest cup competition in Football is also plain to see.
Non-league Lincoln City are the first club in 103 years to get into the Quarter Finals. Congratulations but how has this happened ? Teams above them picking to many reserve players and seeing a Cup run as a distraction rather than an attraction.
Premiership Burnley and Leicester went out on Saturday, while Man City have a replay against Huddersfield. Something they won't have to endure in the next round because I've just discovered these ties will be decided on the day as there are no replays in this season's Quarter Finals!
This further reduces the great tradition of the F.A. Cup.
Even the TV coverage at the weekend saw the BBC's lower leagues presenter Manish Bhasin get a full game by introducing MOTD with the weekend's pundits also having a distinct reserve team appearance about them. Maybe the BBC's assigned F.A. Cup team, but still not their best players.

FA Cup quarter-final draw

• Chelsea v Manchester United
• Middlesbrough v Huddersfield or Man City
• Tottenham v Millwall
• Sutton or Arsenal v Lincoln City

With the ties to be played on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and Monday 13th of March. This rather spreads the action out and who plays when will still be dictated by the European involvement of Man City, Man United and possibly Spurs, the week before and after.

I've been swithering this week !
Nothing to do with Saints and weather forecasts or even a dance move of stylish agility. No I've been unable to make up my mind on what track to pick this week.
Then yesterday I was up in London and browsing away an hour to two in one of the few remaining record shops, namely Fopp in Shaftesbury Avenue. Between being amazed at the sheer selection and the prices of vinyl records now on offer, I was on the lookout for a bargain - which presented itself in the shape of Mumford & Sons 2015 CD 'Wilder Mind'. A more rocky release than their previous albums I might have picked any of the tracks but have gone for this one 'Believe', which seemed very appropriate when I found the official video.
Go on a whirlwind, kaleidoscope trip through London town. [  ] Full Screen is a must.

At only £3 (I thought it was a mistake) this CD was considerably cheaper than the two vinyl records purchased by the customer ahead of me in the queue, who didn't see any change from £42. Rock On !

A few weeks back we had a bit of a numbers things going on… 3,000 guests became 25,000 listeners leading on to 9,000,000 views ! (reminder here)
Those 9 million YouTube views got me asking, in this age of popularism, 'what are the most viewed videos on YouTube?' Amazingly the numbers get mind boggling: the most popular is Psy with 'Gangnam Style' > currently at (wait for it) 2,758,820,436 views > yes 2 billion and heading towards 3 billion - full list of the top 100 here.
Many on the list you'd not be surprised to see and it took me to the No.18 spot before I found something I fancied putting on today's music spot.
At nearly, but only, one and half billion views (1,486,847,323 and counting) this is Ed Sheeran singing 'Thinking Out Loud'. 

Romance ahead of Valentine's Day > coincidentally.

I had something else lined up for this week until I heard about the death of singer and bass guitarist John Wetton earlier this week. 
Immediately my mind went to the song he wrote in 1982 with Geoff Downes and released by Asia on their debut album and as a single - 'Heat of the Moment'.
I use to have this track on a playlist I called "This'll make ya smile". It still works for me.
Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and especially John Wetton - thanks for this !