2013-01-15 - 11:40 a.m.
A new video from Didier using a GI-IC piece Neneh Cherry's Sushi album has arrived - I bought a 2nd hand copy and it plays perfectly well. It sounds very modern as well - not at all as if the music is nearly 25 years old. It has already started to influence my approach to rhythm in synth parts. Her current music with the Thing is different and more in the tradition of her step-father. She seems to have made quite a bit of money from her 3 album career - I think she had global hits. Last night on Radio 3 there was an Essay about John Dee and how he is now seen as a much more significant figure. I wanted to listen to the A Braxton band who were on after the essay but shamefully I fell asleep. I have booked tickets for the Viennese song concert on the Southbank on 24 Jan. The 20 Jan Said pno concert was sold out but that means I can hear Pierrot Lunaire. Cathy was on R3 yesterday afternoon with the BBC Singers - doing VW's Mass in Gm from the early 20s. Reading around this work it emerged that the Catholic Cathedral in Victoria led to a revaluation of the English polyphonic choral tradition. The VW Mass was written to support this and in fact its first liturgical performance was in the Catholic Cathedral. The emergence of this tradition, which apparently 19C Anglicanism frowned on, had an impact on the next generation of UK composers. On BBC4 there was an excellent programme about the Holden London Underground HQ at 55 Broadway - it also touched on some of the listed stations on the underground.
Liquid Durban, Nursing, Mandala and Dynamic Prolific are all new and need some listeners. We think they are good - see if you agree.