What Are Five Of Your Favorite Albums?
Jon Hopkins – Opalescent
His first and IMO his best album. Many years ago, on Twitter, I asked him whether we’d ever get a similar album out of him since he had since switched to this weird repetitive microhouse stuff which apparently everyone EXCEPT me likes, and he replied saying that he would never, EVER make another album like it – which disappointed the hell out of me.
Ulrich Schnauss – Far Away Trains Passing By
After first hearing what turned out to be one of my favourite tracks of all time, “Between Us and Them” a looong time ago, I bought this album and have listened to it regularly since then. Many catchy tracks on it, all instrumental/synth. Similarly the album he released after it, A Strangely Isolated Place.
Yanni – Dare to Dream
Have been a fan of Yanni since the late 80’s. This is one of my favourites from the 90’s and it was a refreshing change from the compilations that he’s made over the years of tracks that showed up on earlier albums.
Vangelis – Blade Runner OST
The absolute greatest soundtrack of all time from one of the greatest composers of all time IMO. One of my friends once told me that he used to fall asleep every night to this album, and I listened to it a few times after hearing that. Now I see why. Very emotional and peaceful – if you have someone that means a lot to you, especially someone who is no longer around – and you listen to this album, it might reduce you to tears occasionally. I know it did with me.
Christopher Franke – Pacific Coast Highway
Just great driving music. Others’ opinions may differ on what constitutes “great” music for driving, but I usually don’t have music playing at all in the car because it’s too distracting – same when studying. I get too easily caught up in the beat and lose sight of what I’m actually trying to do which is never good when you’re in a car! This music goes straight into the background but is still enjoyable and that’s actually a pretty difficult thing to achieve for me.
What Are Five Of Your Favorite Songs?
Oh boy. There are a LOT of favourites. This was hard to distil down. Maybe I might post a second blog with a longer list.
Ulrich Schnauss – Between Us And Them
I never thought that the Tangerine Dream song I list below (loved since I first heard it in the late 80’s) would ever be knocked off of the #1 spot of my favourite tracks of all time until I heard this in the early 2000’s. I was on a music forum and someone said that this was the greatest track ever. I listened to it and.. have to agree. This track provides everything. Emotions. Workout track. Just get some idle energy out and robot dance by myself in the kitchen to it. Driving music (on long stretches where I can afford to be distracted). I absolutely love it. Listening to it as I write this, and I might just have it on repeat for the rest of the day.
Tangerine Dream: Song of the Whale Part II: To Dusk..
Many years ago I met one of my best friends, Julian, and it turned out that he and I shared similar tastes in music – over thirty years later, we still do. He lent me a whole heap of CDs back in the day, and when I first heard this track on TD’s “Underwater Sunlight” album I couldn’t stop listening to it, in the dark, on headphones. It transported me then, and it still does to this very day.
Matthew “4Mat” Simmonds”: My Beautiful Empty Heart
This is breakbeat chipmusic. It might sound wacky to some people, but I have listened to it over and over and it is completely unique and has an emotional vibe which you might not pick up on until after a few listens. It’s worth a few relistens. I hope it strangely grows on you like it did me.
FM-84: Running in the Night
Eighties synthwave. There is also a different, live version (done in support of a COVID-19 relief fund) which I think is even better than the one on the album. I’m not typically a fan of lyrics/vocals but this is one of the rare exceptions.
Jerry Goodman – Tears of Joy
Ever since I first listened to this track I have been in love with it. The confusing time signature of the piece just blew me away when I first heard it, especially since the song is played live and I couldn’t understand how the band was playing such a technically weird track. One of my favourites for many years, since I first heard it in the late 80’s.
Sorry, there’s a sixth.
Yanni – The End of August
I’m a piano fan – have always wanted to learn to play and I hope one day to achieve that dream. This is my favourite piano piece of all time.
Favorite Instrument(s)?
Piano and synthesizer.
What Song Or Album Are You Currently Listening To?
Ulrich Schnauss – Between Us and Them
I loaded it when finding links on YouTube to my favourite tracks in order to post in a paragraph above, and it’s still playing in the background. I don’t often listen to music these days as I have a lot of things to attend to lately, but while writing this blog post I don’t mind a little audio accompaniment.
Do You Listen To The Radio, And If So, How Often?
Never. There is literally nothing I have ever found on any radio station I have ever liked, since I was 16 and discovered instrumental synth music.
How Often Do You Listen To Music?
Not very often these days, unfortunately.
How Often Do You Discover Music And How Do You Discover It?
I don’t really go looking for it lately. I have many, many albums on my PC. Actually I still have a giant number of physical CDs from when I was in Australia – I took them out of their jewel cases, stored the inserts and then brought them to the US when I migrated here in 2002, and they are still sleeping quietly on tall spindles with the inserts nearby, waiting for the day (which will probably never come) when I reconstitute them into new jewel boxes and arrange them back on a display shelf.
What’s A Song Or Album You Enjoy That You Wish Had More Recognition?
I literally don’t wish anything I listen to had more recognition. I’m not one of these people who go constantly telling everyone what my favourite album or song is unless I’m asked. I’ll quietly enjoy something or ignore it no matter where I am. This blog challenge is one of very few times that I’ve ever ventured forth prosaically to announce my likes. Although a few years ago I remember someone on a social media site asking what the absolute favourite track of all time was for their friends, I chimed in there and that’s where I learned about this amazing guitar piece called Ocean by John Butler. The man is immensely talented and while I’m generally not an acoustic guitar fan, listening to this literally made my jaw drop and my eyes glaze over. I suppose I wouldn’t mind if other people took a listen to it to see if it inspires them too.
What’s Your Favorite Song Of All Time?
Already answered – the top response in the first paragraph of this blog post. Schnauss.
Has Your Taste Of Music Evolved Over The Years?
Absolutely it has. When I was about 16 I had a revelation when doing some homework study. Back then I listened to the radio (“Rock of the Eighties” 2SM in Sydney, Australia) and also had a few cassette tapes of classic 80’s music of the time like Cyndi Lauper, Icehouse etc. One day I thought to myself, if the lyrics of a song were to be removed, much of the music of the day sounded very similar. Base drum, snare drum, electric guitar and.. you know, not very creative. I didn’t know what I was looking for, though, until one day in music class at school, a friend brought Jean Michel Jarre’s “Rendezvous” in and the class listened to Rendezvous IV. I knew then that that was my jam. That track propelled me into a decades-long enjoyment of instrumental music. Originally synth, because of the hiss/pop/crackle-free perfection of digital audio, but from there I went to new age (Yanni, Windham Hill, Narada and other similar labels), and then a little smooth jazz, and my most recent taste swings toward eighties synthwave like FM84 and Morgan Willis.
Recent Comments