Early in his musical career the recently departed Ronald James Padavona of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, dwelled in the shadows of the greasy R&B/ white vocal group sound. Before Dio, Elf, Rainbow and Black Sabbath ruled the pimpled Earth, there trod The Vegas Kings, Ronnie & The Rumblers, Ronnie & The Red Caps and finally Ronnie Dio & the Prophets. Dio's various ensembles recorded singles on a variety of labels along with a live LP recorded at a Domino's Restaurant in upstate New York (intriguingly titled "Dio At Domino's"). Dio's early material ranged from Schlub Dion (Swingin' Street) to the percolating Love Pains, where Dio digs down deep into his Inner Anka. On the plaintive and rockin' Everybody's Got A Dance To Do, Dio checks dance crazes like The Twist, The Fish and The Watusi along with shout-outs to fellow hipsters Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, The Isleys, Dee Dee (Sharp), James Brown and Little Eva. Dio's take on Great Balls of Fire is surprisingly tepid however Blue Days from the live pizza place LP ranks as some truly swingin' fare. Many of these early sides serve Dio's legacy well, long before the wagging of the malocchia/mano cornuto hands, before the poodle do, before the dubious and ultimately triumphant days of shemping for Sabbath.
Arvo Part - The Very Best Of Arvo Part 2010.rar
In November of 2019, the duo released their 12th full length album, "Silencia". Over the years, they have incorporated different artists and orchestras/choirs in several of their albums. Their music is considered post rock, but they actually center their style of music around the more ambient aspect of the sub-genre. That is also the case with this album, which also features the 20-piece Budapest Art Choir. "Silencia" makes up the final part of a trilogy of albums (consisting of "Mysterium", "Universalis" and this one "Silencia") that is made up of music inspired by the works of Arvo Part and Georgy Sviridov and the American poet Li Young Li. According to Byrd, "Mysterium was about a shattering. Universalis, the trilogy's second record, was an attempt to put things back together, and Silencia reflects a quiet resolution of knowing this is what life is. You have to live in the midst of both."Right from the beginning, the album begins with a slow, mostly orchestral build. The strings and muted horns work together on a long, slow crescendo which reaches it's peak about halfway through and then decrescendos back to the end. It's slow and pensive, never reaching a level of loudness or heaviness, just a swell of the music, peaceful and lovely. "Silencia" makes a soft, layered yet quiet beginning, with the very soft strains of an almost vocal quality deep in the background. A cello comes in and takes the lead over the textured background. The music is slow, serene and reflective, a feeling of resolution. By giving this music your attention, you will find yourself lost inside of its beauty. There are layers of soft strings that join in later. These textured orchestral parts of strings and horns were orchestrated by conductor and violinist Viktor Orri Amason in Hungary, where the instruments were tracked using 30 vintage microphones. "When it Hurts to Remember" continues this soft and flowing sound, letting the orchestra ebb and flow softly along with a light, airy drone that uses variable tones swirling around underneath. There is a slight crescendo as the track moves peacefully forward. Think of Sigur Ros without the vocals and with less harshness or sudden dynamic changes, the dynamics are slow and gradual, left to build more naturally."Afraid to Forget" is the first point in which the choir becomes evident as their soft harmonies move in slowly like the layered drones, sounding like an angelic choir singing far off in the distance. As they repeat a 8 note motif of sustained notes. Low string bass finally comes in and soon after, the strings echo the same motif along with the choir, and the music slowly builds. If you are listening closely, the music will penetrate your soul. After 5 minutes, the music backs away from the motif as it uses sustained notes to bridge to a viola solo, again playing slowly and pensively. It is difficult to describe adequately as some tracks and passages can defy description, the only way to understand them is to experience them. The entire album moves in this manner, beautiful orchestral swells and textural passages. Occasional melodies come out of the textured layers. The music is exactly what they purport it to be, the exploration of the ambient and quiet side of post rock music. It is all well developed and appropriate for relaxation, but it also has a lot of compositional value to it also, not just meandering sounds, but lovely orchestral arrangements with the quietness of subtle guitar, violin and piano motifs and textures. It's all quite ethereal, dreamy and lovely, probably the best ambient album I've heard all year. That's all you need to expect here, no loud noise or heavily layered climaxes, just lush and peaceful sound. social review comments Review PermalinkPosted Tuesday, November 19, 2019 Review this album Report (Review #2282644)
This almost two hour double album starts with easily the best track. "Cold Front" is a spinetingling gem, incorporating gorgeous pads and an incredible yet simple and haunting guitar melody. This is definitely a song I keep coming back to. As an aside, the film clip is also intriguing andbrilliantly presented.From here, Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson don't change the formula a great deal. There's some sparsevocals on various tracks and there are a few tempo changes here and there, but for the most part weget what we expect on a Hammock release.And that's also why I find it hard to criticise the album. As I said, it achieves what it sets outto do. This is the perfect kind of album for playing in the background while doing something else. It's not intrusive and it creates a great mood. But I don't feel it does anything to set itselfapart from numerous other albums out there designed to do the same thing.However, if you're after beautiful, atmospheric post-rock to lull your senses, you can't really gowrong here. social review comments Review PermalinkPosted Tuesday, May 28, 2013 Review this album Report (Review #965621) 2ff7e9595c
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