ultraorange.net » Music

Beethoven Violin Concerto Opus 61 with the great Leonid Kogan

orangeguru — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:41 +0000

An old, yet brilliant Beethoven performance send in by S.Quinn! Thank you so much – this is a great catch.

Leonid Kogan was completely unknown to me – until I saw this video. This is why I love YouTube: it helps us to preserve and share such treasures … one only has to find them ….

All hail the King – Happy 75th Birthday Elvis!

orangeguru — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:06:12 +0000

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on the January the 8th 1935 in Tupelo. He was a big part of the Invention of the Teenager, TV celebrities and the global Rock & Roll-Phenomenon.

Georges Boulanger – Gloomy Sunday

orangeguru — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:22:12 +0000

The so called "Suicide Song" – please don’t kill yourself I hardly have any readers anyway …

The funky Soundtracks of Barry Gray

orangeguru — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:55:18 +0000

I grew up watching a lot of SciFi series aimed at kids – it still was the space age and we all wanted to Astronauts (and not bloody rapper or skinny super models).

Barry Gray composed the soundtracks of many famous British TV shows.

I love his style: driven, funky and almost always cheerful. A bit militaristic sometimes – but most SciFi was based on military organizations: like SHADO in UFO or Captain Scarlet.

His music also reflected the positive attitude to the future – something we finally lost in the 1980’s (thank you so much Riddley Scott and Chernobyl).

Click player below to start the UFO – Opening Theme:

Click player below to start the Mysteron Theme from Captain Scarlet:

Click player below to start the Loch Ness Monster Suite:

Popol Vuh – Aguirre I (L’acrime di rei)

orangeguru — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:17:37 +0000

Just start the player, lean back, close your eyes and enjoy …

BBC Music Documentary Krautrock

orangeguru — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:45:50 +0000

Great documentary about the alternative German music scene. The Brits named these great experimental category “Krautrock“, which is basically a reason to start another war.

But the documentary is brilliant! Now you see what David Bowie got from being in Berlin and that Kraftwerk is hardly the oddest German music formation from that era …

Let’s invent Teenagers and create Music for them to consume

orangeguru — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:16:38 +0000

Rock’n'Roll also invented the teenager as a consumer and so called youth culture. Suddenly there was a different music and stars for youngsters.

After the dreadful WWII the new middle class could afford to give some money for teenagers, who were eager to spend their allowance. The teenager therefore is a product of modern rich society – a luxury item of you will …

While kids can be pleased with toys, teenagers are eager to define themselves with style and suitable products. So music became the a tool for identification (or better say product?). Depending on your teenage tribe (and personal "style") you listened to a specific kind of music. Subcultures proved to be goldmines. Anyone who could define a new "style" or own certain artists could literally print money …

The first King of Global Record sales and Teenage Manias.

Plus mass production allowed cheap records, radios, record players and TVs. Most of all the new medium television needed to be feed constantly with new acts, personalities and stories.

Stars and celebrities were nothing new at that time. Already the Roman Coliseum knew the celebrities and famous athletes. But it was in the roaring 1920’s when the true Star Cult was born – mostly thanks to Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford were the first global stars. But apart from movies in the theatres, cigarette and chocolate cards there was little to consume for the masses.

The real celebrity based merchandising frenzy and consumerism started with the 1950’s and the invention of the teenager …

Brett Domino you are totally Kraftwerk 2.0

orangeguru — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:12:05 +0000

Yes, Nerds can make music … all they needs is some gadgets to get rappin’. Brett Domino and his crew are brilliant. Make sure to visit his website or his YouTube channel.

Uh, all this nerdy excitement and brilliance makes me giggle like a little girl!

Tim Exile – the Master of Sampling

orangeguru — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:14:59 +0000

Most musicians use samplers to sample other people’s performances or bits of their songs. For them a sampler in combination with a sequencer is just a rigid "LEGO" music system. They are unable to adapt and really make free flowing music with this exciting technology …

Tim Exile is a Master of Music and Technology. He not only knows how to sample, but how to make music from his own samples. He is an instrument, performer and composer in a brilliant package.

iNudge for Friday – Happy Frog

orangeguru — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:03:27 +0000

This is fun …

iNudge Music for Friday

orangeguru — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:06:01 +0000

Michael Jackson is in Heaven now

orangeguru — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:27:35 +0000

They almost got it right in 1992.

Great Soundtrack – House of Flying Daggers by Shigeru Umebayashi

orangeguru — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:28:07 +0000

I am a huge soundtrack fan. A good score paints images and stories right into my mind – even when I haven’t seen the movie. Because soundtracks follow the great tradition started by Richard Wagner by using themes for moods, characters and places in the movie they have more of a "story structure" compared to normal classical music.

The score for "House of Flying Daggers" (which is a brilliant movie by the way) mixes symphonic elements with Chinese drums and flute. The mood ranges from total tranquillity and beauty to fierce battle scenes.

Highly recommended!

You can listen to excerpts on Amazon.com and obviously buy it there as well: Amazon.com: House of Flying Daggers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): MP3 Downloads

Talk Talk – Life’s what you make it

orangeguru — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:41:46 +0000

This so is so 1980’s – and so true …

The amazing Annie Lennox

orangeguru — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 10:37:15 +0000

Click image for a larger Annie.

Her style, her voice and her artistic expression are highly impressive and electrifying. Madame Lennox also was a great (new) role model since her huge impact with Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" video and album.

Although she made many pop songs, that range from silly to raunchy she was never a consumerist blow up doll like Madonna.

Music before it was overtaken by Machines

orangeguru — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:03:13 +0000

Before iPods, before Computers, before CDs, before TV, before Magnetic Tapes, before Radios, before Records, before Phonograph cylinders … Music couldn’t be "saved" or "transmitted" from one place to another.

So people who liked music had to either learn an instruments or simply visit a concert.

It was not very easy to listen to a famous Tenor or Opera, unless you lived in the same city or were lucky enough that that person or performance would play in town.

So many great performances were only done once and never recorded. Today nothing is forgotten and has lead to a new phenomenon: that we listen and cling onto performers long dead. Living musicians have to compete against dead ones. So called "classics" hog shelf space and sales, it makes it hard for young musicians to make a living and achieve fame and stardom. They will always compared mercilessly with recordings from superstars …

Sometimes forgetting and "dying" is a good thing. It makes space for the new and young. But thanks to recordings certain moods or markets become the de factor standard for our ears. For example Steve Wonders’ "Happy Birthday" seems to be the one and only song for that occasion. There seem to be more and more established theme songs that cover our "emotional range" in private and movie moments.

Will future generations still be pestered by the Best of Rolling Stones, Best of Celine Dion and Best of Elton John?!

Arturo Michelangeli plays Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau

orangeguru — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:46:08 +0000

Wonderful!

Raymond Scott – Lightworks

orangeguru — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:12:10 +0000

Raymond Scott was far far far ahead of his time. This song is from the 1950’s when he already experimented with electronic sounds. Add to this sound some heavy beats and it would perfectly electro pop modern.

King Bee – Back By Dope Demand

orangeguru — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:41:18 +0000

Kicking it old school.

Trans X – Living on a video

orangeguru — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:27:20 +0000

This is so 1980’s it hurts.