Vangelis Appreciation |
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Starshiper
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Posted: October 13 2024 at 08:24 |
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moshkito
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Hi, This is tough ... because SOUNDTRACKS are not exactly about "songs" and things for us to like or not like ... they are about pieces of music that decorate the picture even better, and I do not think this specific track used was meant to be a "song" for our enjoyment ... it is a part of the romantic notions and expressions that were used in this film, many of which are very different to our ears ... but to determine a soundtrack by its songs? I'm not sure it is the right thing at all ... And, in the end, Vangelis' talent ended up with an OSCAR and he will be remembered for a long time for his incredible musical legacy, soundtracks or not. This is specially important in regards to the very open and lively discussions that Vangelis offered many times in regards to "commercial music" ... and his work was very important in this area ... just hard to believe that all we can think of is a "song" ... and not even how it was used in the film, which was done beautifully and with a lot of care and appreciation for Vangelis' touch on the keys. Very few ... VERY FEW ... film directors have a love and respect for the music, to make sure it is VISIBLE in the whole thing and an important part of the film ... Maurice Jarre, Ryuichi Sakamoto and a couple of others, come to mind ... and all three have OSCARS in their closets! And they got those for a good reason.
Edited by moshkito - October 13 2024 at 06:51 |
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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Starshiper
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Psychedelic Paul
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Vangelis - Theme from Cosmos - in memory of Carl Sagan, who's now up there somewhere amongst the billions and billions of heavenly bodies.
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verslibre
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 17484 |
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Hi, I think (do I think at all???) ... he had the best with a few directors and what Hollywood had to offer was not a director that knew music, and worse ... could use it. Hollywood, is not exactly "known" for music ... more likely what radio calls "jingles" in their films to help decorate the bathroom ... so to speak. I get really tired of that piece of music during the kissing scene ... goodness, how that seems ugly these days ... and so not sexy! I keep thinking that Prince Charles, drunk and kissing a lamp post would be more fun and the music more interesting ... but Hollywood? I would almost state that Hollywood is better known for MUSICALS, than the music, and both you and I can hum a few tunes off those .... easily enough! But in the specials about Vangelis, both on video and LP (promos from the record company in the old days of FM) what he is against is what he calls "commercial music" ... and he wants his freedom, and both directors for "Chariot of Fire" and "Blade Runner" allowed him the freedom to look at the dailies and such. And it makes a difference, although I am not sure that Hollywood will allow that with any composer, as that is one person that is not in the "top tier" for a movie ... the producers first, the stars second, the coke dealers third, the caterers fourth, the extra girls fifth, the script handlers and page turning duty girls sixth ... and somewhere AFTER the film is made, comes the composer of the music, hopefully create something memorable ... I doubt that any of these movies will allow a composer a name anywhere near the Cruise! Other than a girl, of course!
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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richardh
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 27932 |
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I would refer to his album Themes. Love that as a compilation album as it includes previously unreleased Vangelis music from the Bounty as well as a few other films. There are other 'songs' such as Alpha, To The Unknown Man, Multi Track Suggestion plus everything off his lovely 90's album Voices which I personally adore. |
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richardh
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^ Memories Of Green from See You Later was actually later used on then Blade Runner soundtrack. For a long time the Blade Runner soundtrack was unavailable and only an orchestral version was released which was distinctly odd. I would have liked the soundtrack of The Bounty to be released, I loved that for the music even more than Blade Runner which I loved mainly for the film itself. I like the See You Later album and the modern (for the time) electro beats of Multi Track Suggestion especially. Clever clever artist. He was able to be a lot more eclectic than most music composers but Hollywoood wanted that Chariots Of Fire thing after that movie became a massive hit and that somwhat bedeviled him for years and seemed to create a source of resentment from then great man which was a shame.
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Starshiper
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moshkito
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Hi, In one of the Vangelis Documentaries there is a scene that is the perfect explanation of a lot of his talent and ability ... and it is a shot of him playing/composing the music for Blade Runner, and it goes on for a good minute or two ... and all you can see is the film looking at the building and the camera moving upwards (think of whatshisname's mobile moving up to the sky) and the music follows ... and stays with it bit by bit ... and it fits beautifully ... and it shows/explains something about composing that is not everyone's thought or idea ... he's all visual, and he is literally following the visual in front of him ... and this is also very clear in Chariots of Fire ... when you can see his keys match the pace and the movement. I suppose that you can suggest that the film director is the one that can see that and use it, but Maurice Jarre, also did that with his soundtracks and they fit beautifully in many places. Ryuichi Sakamoto might not have done the same but he had a magic touch for several moments and always came up with the far out bit, again, some of it might be the director of the film, but that is unlikely, since Ryuichi, like Vangelis and Maurice, had done this "touch" before and it was a matter of the director being smart enough not to waste some great music. This is not "commercial" music, as Vangelis has suggested in many a special, and this is the hard part of explaining a lot of this ... we are way too attached to a lot of "commercial" works and materials, in order to be able to find/discern materials that are not onto the "commercial" sounding thing, and you can see this in a lot of Hollywood films with generic music at the start and at the end ... or worse ... during a romantic scene ... and sometimes some well known songs to make you think this is far out! The group Mogwai has also done a couple of things really well, also suggesting a touch of the appreciation of the visual side of things. It's all about the touch ... and some have it and some don't ... the REAL composers always have it. The rest, for me, are merely doing notes and (sometimes) the worse ... the director is horrible at using the music ... Babylon 5 had this problem, and never used Christopher Frank's music to make the show better ... I don't think any of those directors ever knew what music was for other than sweeping the floors!
Edited by moshkito - October 10 2024 at 06:14 |
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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Starshiper
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For me, Vangelis' Albedo 0.39 remains the benchmark of space-orientated yet organic electronic music from the 1970s because of its masterful blending of cosmic soundscapes, innovative synthesiser methods, and profound thematic study of space and humanity's role within it. All of these elements evoke a transcendent auditory experience that still sounds fresh to these ears.
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Jared
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agreed... I feel very similar about Soil Festivities; very delicate, subtle and beautiful...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Saperlipopette!
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Dellinger
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Besides Pulstar and the Blade Runner end titles, which other electronic songs would be up there?
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moshkito
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HI, It's quite large since he had been at it since the mid 60's ... which places things at the very least 50 years ... but his solo albums are the best thing, and it is clear how he "saw" a lot of music ... it was very "visual" and "film like" which really helped it get illustrated by several film directors, and eventually got him an OSCAR. Listening to it all from the start is a treat ... from "Earth" to the last release, how he dealt with the new equipment, and then new music ... you have to say it was special, though there aren't enough specials on him that show/tell a whole lot about him, which would suggest not exactly a simple person at all, but one that lives according to his musical moods, which, of course, we know were far out and excellent. I find that I can not select a single album as best or to make a suggestion at all ... in his later days, you could say he was more "classical" as a musician, but that was something that was in him, anyway, although I kinda thought that how "Heaven and Hell" came off was likely to be a sort of ... something ... about commercial music and the record companies. This is implied and suggested in the promo that was sent to many FM stations which Guy Guden played on his show in its entirety which explains a lot of his music and where it came from, up to and including such things as t-spoons that folks here don't believe in at all, but it shows a human side that we have a tendency to not believe at all ... he's "normal", just like we are, and sensitive to a lot of bits around us ... and he uses them ... we just ignore those things! And a rock musician, goodness me, he/she would never consider anything but a chord or note! Creativity at the DAW, as I call it ... not in the music living inside your head and heart! I would think that not making a suggestion would be better ... so you can get surprised ... but I think that's more my own vision of "discovering" something new, instead of some more MOS stuff out there that is so commercial you want to go .....and formatted even worse ....
Edited by moshkito - September 12 2024 at 06:20 |
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com |
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verslibre
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Autobuy!
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Saperlipopette!
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^Nice. This reminded me of a 16 minute previously unreleased track (until 2002). I got it
of a collection titled Babylon the Great. I think it's basically
Vangelis improvising and it sounds a little like Sex Power and
Hypothesis combined (but easier on the ear than the latter album). Not
everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. It says that it's recorded in 1969
during the 666-sessions, so to me it's strange that it's never been
featured as bonus material for that album. Not this time either. Maybe
Vangelis himself hated it, like he seemingly did with the mentioned Hypothesis (and
the fantastic The Dragon): Edited by Saperlipopette! - September 05 2024 at 23:07 |
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richardh
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 18 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 27932 |
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Invisible Connections is one of those albums where it's better to have the CD. Back in the day I purchased the cassette and couldn't understand what I was listening to. About 10 years I got the CD and had a listen and liked it. It is Berlin school (like Beauborg) where sonic landscape is the thing, no rhythm or melody apparent. It's hard to imagine anyone else doing this.
Heard some exciting news yesterday. Been waiting for years for this. Aphrodite’s Child666 - The Apocalypse Of John (CD/Blu-Ray / Vinyl pre-order)Aphrodite's Child’s astonishing concept album 666 - from 1972 - is a masterpiece of Progressive and textural experimentation helmed by band members Vangelis and Costas Ferris. This limited box set edition contains remastered versions of the original album mix and the rare 1974 Greek LP version (which featured considerably different mixes to the original LP release), along with a Blu-Ray disc featuring 96 kHz / 24-bit Atmos, 5.1 up mixes, a stereo mix, and a 28-minute episode of the French television show Discorama from June 1972 featuring Vangelis talking about the album. The boxed set includes a book featuring a new essay and original interviews with the band plus many previously unseen photographs that Vangelis sourced from his various archives around Europe. Pre-order for November 11 release. Edited by richardh - September 05 2024 at 22:14 |
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Jared
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Oh, Beaubourg is very accessible by way of comparison....
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Meltdowner
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