In This issue #3 we highlight 4 artists and some significant works

APHEX TWIN

Selected Ambient Works 85‍–‍92 received acclaim and established an underground reputation. According to James, He began recording The Works when he was fourteen. He used homemade equipment constructed from Synthesisers and drum machines. Music journalists have credited it with expanding the scope of ambient music and introducing techno to fans of indie music. The website AllMusic described it as “a masterpiece of ambient techno”. Peter Manning wrote that James “managed finally to elevate electronic music’s status to the mainstream consciousness of the general public” .

 

jan garbarek

 Afric Pepperbird represents the strongest, most aggressive period of Garbarek’s career. It is the first album the saxophonist released on ECM in 1971. it marked The beginning of a lifelong association with the label for him and his fellow musicians. Highlighting the diversity of the artists’ expression of emotion. Albeit in an imaginative Way whether in the atonality of improvisation or in free outbursts on the tenor saxophone. Added to the mix we glean a Nordic sonic aesthetic.

                                                           

 

max richter

the Blue Notebooks, released in 2004, is Max Richter’s second solo album. The album features eleven melodic, ‘ambient’ tracks, firmly rooted in the minor-key, whilst exploring a contemporary and minimalist approach. Named by The Guardian as one of the best classical works of the century. ‘The actress Tilda Swinton reads from Kafka’s The Blue Octavo Notebooks and the work of Czesław Miłosz. Richter has said that The Blue Notebooks is a protest album about the Iraq War. It also serves as a meditation on his own troubled childhood.

 

the jam

Sound Affects is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Jam. The album was released on 28 November 1980 by Polydor Records. The album features the group’s second UK number one single, “Start!” which has a similar bass-line to the Beatles’ “Taxman” (Revolver) and includes a homage to its guitar solo.  From beginning to end, the songs are pure, clever, infectious pop — probably their catchiest. stand-out tracks: “That’s Entertainment” and “Man in the Corner Shop” . On this album you get to hear the Jam at their absolute peak.

 

 

Classical Album

max richter

The Blue Notebooks
On The Nature Of Daylight
Horizon Variations
Shadow Journal
Iconography
Vladimir’s Blues
Arboretum
Old Song
Organum
The Trees
Written on Sky

Jazz Album

jan garbarek

Skarabée
Mah-Jong
Beast of Kommodo
Blow Away Zone
MYB
Concentus
Afric Pepperbird
Blupp

 

woman with bright neon make up and her eyes closed under blue light holding headset

electronic Album

aphex twin

Xtal
Tha
Pulsewidth
Ageispolis
i
Green Calx
Heliosphan
We are the music makers
Schottkey 7th Path
Ptolemy
Hedphelym
Delphium
Actium

 

Rock Album

the jam

Pretty Green
Monday
But I’m Different Now
Set The House Ablaze
Start!
That’s Entertainment
Dream Time
Man In The Corner Shop
Music For The Last Couple
Boy About Town
Scrape Away

 

To The Forum
Return to Blog

in further issues we will continue to Bring you the music of Popular genres to listen, review and evaluate. issue #4(coming soon) features yo la Tengo, Brian Eno, Vijay Iyer and james MacMillan

NOTES

Sound quality is important and some streaming services will offer superior sound quality. We do encourage you to purchase albums from good online record stores. alternatively, stream the music of favoured artists from those better online streaming services.

Aphex twin – Selected Ambient Works 85‍–‍92 – Label‏ : ‎ Apollo Records

Jan Garbarek – Afric Pepperbird – Label : ECM

The Jam – Sound Affects – Label : Polydor Records

Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks – Label : 130701, an imprint of FatCat Records

 

It is helpful to research the artist, using sources like Wikipedia , Music Magazine Reviews (Pitchfork, Rolling stone, NME etc.,) Artist Websites, etc…

A synopsis of the life and music of this Issue’s featured artists appears below.

This Week’s Artists

jAN GARBAREK

Garbarek was born in 1947 in Mysen, Norway. the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, and a Norwegian woman, He grew up in Oslo.  Attracted to saxophone during his teens by jazz radio broadcasts. In Oslo while he studied law, He focused on the music and commitment of John Coltrane. He immediately bought a saxophone instruction book and learned fingering positions before he even had a horn. When he did get one, he was a natural . By 1962, he’d won a competition for amateur jazz players and formed his own band. 

 

 

In 1964, he played with Don Cherry, embracing world folk traditions in free jazz .The experience proved a significant influence .

By the late 60s Garbarek had met George Russell, an American jazz pianist and music theorist. Garbarek played with Russell on a number of major ventures before cutting his own first album.Garbarek was invited by ECM’s Manfred Eicher to join the fledgling label’s roster. his classic debut, Afric Pepperbird, was released in 1970.  The music was new and fresh. By the mid-70s he worked with many leading players. He became a member of Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet and Ralph Towner group Solstice.  

Garbarek maintains an interest in many different types of music.

by the late 80s he was playing with a wide range of musicians from all sorts of cultures. This eclecticism was apparent in the album, Officium, which was made with the Hilliard Ensemble in 1994. The album combined vocal treasures from Renaissance times with the prominent solo instrument line by Garbarek, either on tenor or soprano.

He is also a pioneer of ambient jazz composition. most notably on his 1976 album Dis a collaboration with guitarist Ralph Towner. that Album featured the distinctive sound of a wind harp on several tracks.

Garbarek has kept all his other musical options burning. He remains one of the most influential and creative jazz musicians of his generation.

APHEX TWIN

Richard David James known professionally as Aphex Twin. a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. James was born on 18 August 1971 in Limerick, Ireland to welsh parents. James grew up in Cornwall, where he lived in Lanner. He became interested in making sounds before writing music. as a child he played with the strings inside his family piano and disassembled tape equipment. he bought his first synthesizer at age 12 and after taking an interest in electronics would modify analogue synthesisers. he began DJing at free parties and clubs around the South West and included his own tracks in his sets.

James had no formal music training and is largely self-taught. His debut EP Analogue Bubblebath, was released in 1991 on Mighty Force Records,. The Music brought James an early fan base. he began to perform across the UK and continental Europe. James co-founded the independent label Rephlex Records with Grant Wilson-Claridge. the word “braindance” was coined to describe Aphex Twin’s music. The first full-length Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works 85–92, comprised material dating back to James’s teen years. It was released in November 1992 by Apollo Records. John Bush of Allmusic would later describe the release as a watershed moment in ambient music.

James’s fourth studio album as Aphex Twin, was released on Warp in 1996. It features software synthesisers and unconventional rhythms. Universally acclaimed it features fast breakbeats and intricate drum programming which draw from jungle and drum and bass.In 2001 Aphex Twin released Drukqs. This was seen As an experimental double album featuring abrasive, meticulous programming and computer-controlled piano. The music showed the influences of Erik Satie and John Cage. It features the piano composition “Avril 14th”, which remains one of James’ best-known work. The album polarised reviewers. 

For a while it appeared as if it would be James’ swan song. A series of limited vinyl-only 12″s followed in 2005. then the Aphex brand would go dark for more than a decade. James retreated from the public eye, moved to Scotland, got married, had children and simply left the myths to simmer. It wasn’t until 2014 that he re-emerged with Syro, his sixth album under the Aphex Twin moniker.

In the years since, James has comfortably resumed his position as an active institutional hero of experimental electronic music.

 

MAX RICHTER

Max Richter is a German-born British composer and pianist. Richter was born in Hamelin, Lower Saxony, West Germany. He grew up in Bedford, England. Richter is classically trained, graduating in composition and Piano from the University of Edinburgh. Further Study followed at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and with Luciano Berio in Italy. He works within post-minimalist and contemporary classical styles.

From synthesizers and computers to a full symphony orchestra, Richter’s innovative work encompasses solo albums, ballets, concert hall performances, film and television series, video art installations and theatre works

After finishing his studies, Richter co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus. He stayed with the group for ten years, commissioning and performing works by minimalist musicians.

Richter’s solo debut, ‘Memoryhouse’, Reviewed by Andy Gill as “a landmark work of contemporary classical music” . The music combines Voices and ambient sounds , BBC Music called the album “a masterpiece in neoclassical composition.” The Blue Notebooks’, in 2004 was Named by The Guardian as one of the best classical works of the century

The Album “Infra” comprises music written for piano, electronics, and string quintet. Pitchfork called the album “achingly gorgeous. In 2015, Richter released his most ambitious project to date. a collaboration with visual artist and creative partner Yulia Mahr titled ‘Sleep’. This is an 8.5-hour listening experience targeted to fit a full night’s rest. The music is calm, slow, and mellow. composed for piano, cello, two violas, two violins, organ, soprano vocals, synthesisers, and electronics.

Richter has called Sleep an eight-hour-long lullaby. It is reputed to be the most streamed classical album of all time. “recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons” received widespread acclaim in 2012. The piece is a re-composition and reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s violin concertos. “The New Four Seasons” was released in 2022 . re-recording the piece with period instruments

THE JAM

the roots of The Jam began to take shape in Woking, Surrey, England. The final band line-up comprised of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles (including four number one hits) in the United Kingdom.  

The Jam were a punk and mod revival band from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They emerged during the first wave of British punk. their early work had the raw energy and aggression of punk rock. The trio were known for their melodic pop songs, their distinctly English take on social commentary, and their mod image..

this is reflected in their sharp style and socially conscious lyrics. Weller wrote and sang most of the Jam’s original compositions and played lead guitar. While their initial sound was punk-focused, the band’s music evolved over their career. 

Their debut album ‘In The City’ featured a mix of R&B covers and originals. The follow-up  ‘This Is The Modern World’, cemented the look and feel of the band . ‘All Mod Cons’, released late in 1978, was a turning point in The Jam’s career. .

Weller’s song writing was becoming more melodic and lyrically incisive. The album was a major success. ‘Setting Sons’, released at the end of 1979, was a huge follow-up. It remains one of The Jam’s most critically favoured albums. By the time ‘Sound Affects’ arrived in 1980 the band seemed unstoppable,. the album went to number 2 and the 3 ensuing singles all hit top 5. in 1982 ‘The Gift’, the band’s only number 1 album showcased The Jam’s continued evolution. Now a more polished and mature sound while still maintaining their signature energy and social commentary.

A standout track is the unforgettable “Town Called Malice.” This iconic song perfectly captures that blend of infectious melody with incisive lyrics. At the same time commenting on the struggles and aspirations of everyday life. It solidified their position as one of the most influential bands of the era. Nevertheless, with it came Weller’s frustration with the band’s musical direction and he made the decision to disband the group. The Jam announced their breakup in October of 1982 . Weller went on to form The Style Council after the dissolution of The Jam