TheMann
Group: Members
Posts: 103
Joined: June 2004 |
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Posted: Dec. 27 2005, 13:44 |
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Dear Friends of long complex instrumentals, please pay close attention to the following:
there is a 20 minutes long instrumental true masterpiece which sounds as Mike himself, in his best
possible mood! Dark, bright, varied, amazing! Even the angry electric guitar from the 70s is there, and if this was a piece by Mike it would have been among his top 5 of all time!
The extremely talanted swedish musician Björn Johansson recorded his masterpiece
"Discus Ursi Rapsody" (from now abbreviated DUR) in 1997-98. ("Discus Ursi"=1st disk). Björn played a varity of instruments including zither, bass, different types of electric and acustic guitars, mandolin, bazouki, bassoon, flute, Hammond, glockenspiel, you name it, all of it played with great skill. There are lots of string instruments, much acustic sounds. His electic guitar playing is very close to Mike's 75-82 style, whereas his acustic playing is slightly more classical than Mike's. There is another musicians involved on this recording, Per Lind who plays most of the keyboards. (Check PLP by the way, Per Lind Project).
http://www.parlindh.com/merchandice/discusursi.htm
Mike is of course forever king of instrumentals, but what is remarkable with Björns "DUR" is that it sounds REAL, it's not a fake, it is not a fan desperately trying to sound as Mike; instead we are dealing with a truly gifted musician who happens to have significant material and who happens to sound quite similar to Mike. Björn simply agrees with Mike on how music should sound (my interpretation of it). It is however obvious that Björn must be greatly inspired by Mike.
Björn writes in the CD sleeve: "I've made this music for you who are fed up with the superficial mainstreamculture, who wants to listen music lasting longer than three minutes, has more than three chords. A music that definitely demands more listeners and performers with an IQ higher than three". Well, to me, it seems like he is talking to You, dear friend ... So pay attention to this work. Respond to it!
DUR sounds as a missing link between Amarok and Tubular Bells 2, 100% compatible with Mikes more exclusive output. There are lots of ideas, related to eachother, they are well developed; there are louder parts, there are subtile quieter parts like those in Taurus II or in Orabidoo, there is a magnificent oriental lead theme, which sounds a bit dark, and there are transitions as in the good old MO times ... There is a passage with overdubbed acustic guitars, playing something like a fuge (approx. 10 minutes into the song) which is as complex as anything in Amarok. After some great classical guitars at 16.00, there is a lovely closing section, gradually building up after the dark climax at 18.00, ... my only complaint is that the final is sligthly too short.
This composition is a weat dream for any true MO fan, trust me. Mike himself would probably like it (although his opinions and general comments seem very unpredictable to me).
I am not sure about what company it is released under; BIEM? It is very cryptical, as far as I am concern.
I am sorry that I can't just download the piece to this webpage; I hope you find it somehow. Here is another review by the way:
http://home.swipnet.se/tde/lb/bjorn_johansson/discus_ursi.html
If you think I am bullshiting you, check all my previous posts (first under TheMan, then under TheMann); I am taking all this quite serious as you will find.
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