Ahira's Hangar

Had some Marilyn Manson pumped out loud. (Well, my idea of "loud" would be meek by any metal headbanger's standard.) Manson's brand of "f--- you!" musical fury is sometimes just the therapy I need.

Simple Minds' new CD, Graffiti Soul. It's been lean times of late for ardent fans of Simple Minds like me, what with the band outputting a studio effort only every few years now. Their 80's heydays may be long gone, but they're still capable of making good music, and Graffiti Soul is proof of that. I think it's easily their best album since 1998's excellent Neapolis.

Been listening a lot to Metallica's Death Magnetic. It's their strongest set of songs I've heard in a long time. Really ferocious, inspired music-making.

I've been slowly picking up the remastered Beatles albums one by one. In the past I have picked up Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Today while grocery shopping I picked up The White Album.

So this afternoon I will listen to The White Album along with my other new aquisition, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Night Castle.

Cool, those are pretty much my top favorite Beatles albums. I used to think of Sgt. Pepper as one of their weaker efforts, but I've come to appreciate it much better over time. Still, it doesn't blow me away like Revolver does, nor does it affect me emotionally the way The White Album does. I'm still listening to the remasters myself. I haven't as yet bought Yellow Submarine or Beatles For Sale...these albums just didn't do much for me the first time around.

Don't think I've heard anything by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Been listening to Rob Thomas and his new album "Cradlesong" , he is touring U.S.A at present but hopefully he will be in europe next year , my self and the missus loves his music.

The Melody of Rhythm Triple Concerto and Music for Trio by Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer along with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.

Also some original compositions by Ann Arbor composer Michael Daugherty which have been recorded by Naxos on a CD called Fire and Blood. The three pieces were all commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Fire and Blood is a piece for full orchestra and violin, and was inspired by the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Motor City Triptych has three parts - one inspired by Motown music, one by cruising on the main avenues of the city in muscle cars, and one by the Civil Rights movement, particularly by long time Detroit resident Rosa Parks. Raise the Roof is a rhythym piece written for the reopening of Orchestra Hall after a long and expensive renovation, and the title is also a sly wink to the Red Wings, who popularized the phrase "Raise the Roof" here in the Metro area when they won their first Stanley Cup in the Yzerman Era - raising the roof is to raise the Stanley Cup above your head. The CD was recorded by the DSO under the baton of our retired maistro, Neeme Jarvi.

Some jazz from Harry Connick Jr.

Been listening to the Beethoven Symphonies played by the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. This was one of the earliest - if not the first - period instrument recordings of the symphonies. I first heard these performances years ago, but didn't think much of them at the time. Back then I was still in the grips of the "traditional" modern orchestral sound as applied to Beethoven (read: Herbert von Karajan) cuz that was the way I was introduced to his music. Now I'm rediscovering Hogwood in a roundabout way, after having listened to other "authentic" period Beethoven sets from Roger Norrington, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and most recently John Eliot Gardiner. Hogwood's set remains, in a way, the most uncompromising period performance of them all - not surprising then that it turned me off the first time around. But now I'm totally thrilled by it.

No question in my experience, I have to be "ready" for certain classical pieces, or interpretations thereof. (In some cases, I do not know if I will ever be ready, as with some Stravinski. ) Perhaps you were not quite ready for the period Beethoven first time around.

Yes, I think one has to be "acclimatized" to period instrument Beethoven. But once you get used to the leaner, cleaner orchestral sound from Beethoven's time, it's hard to go back to a full-bodied, modern sound. At least for the Beethoven symphonies, but maybe they're a special case, because I'm so emotionally invested in that particular music.

Anyway, don't remind me about Stravinsky - I still haven't gotten the hang of the Rite of Spring. That's got to be one of the most brutal pieces of classical music ever written. I know Highdrake likes it. Maybe it's possible to like it the way you like a good horror movie. It's jarring even today, amid all the strange contemporary classical stuff I've heard. No surprise then that back in the more "innocent" days of 1914(?), the Rite of Spring caused a riot in its premiere performance.

Nope, I have no clue what the original choreography was like. (I'm envious you got to see it!)
But it makes sense that it would be the explicit moves on stage that got people's attention, not the music.
Thanks for straightening that out!