Ornaments

Ornaments

Track Listings

1. Moving Between Lines

2. Hypnomarchin'

3. Fundament

4. Making It Detroit

5. Ornaments

6. Tangoamt

7. Ornamented Licks

8. Walkout (1st Cut)

9. Fields of Tokyo

10. Kick and Kiss

Tracks:

Against Time Of Desire
I Once Dreamed
Moist With Sweat
NChiCa
Gentle Showers
How Sweet This Incense!
It Is A Ghost!
Your Solemn Vow
Can It Be True
This Is My Fear
To Come
At Peony Pavilion
Stir My Belt Ornaments
Secrecy Departing

Amazon.com

When he was a youth in his native China, Tan Dun spent a period as a fiddle player for a Beijing opera troupe. His intimate familiarity with the great Chinese epic opera The Peony Pavilion from the 16th century (produced during the 1999 Lincoln Center Festival) is evident in his own work of the same name, for which Peter Sellars collaborated as stage director. Bitter Love is a self-contained fusion of music and poetry that draws from Tan's larger opera score. The traditional love story of The Peony Pavilion--which bears some striking similarities to the Orpheus myth--comes through in floating, dreamlike fragments that reflect Chinese poet Tang Xianzu's lucid imagery like a smoky moon against water. As in his earlier and fascinatingly experimental opera Marco Polo, the New York-based Tan creates an eclectic collage of styles that mix East and West, old and new, as well as classical purity and pop energy, all with audacious imagination. This is, after all, a composer who has written music for water and stones, and he exhibits an almost childlike delight in the sensuous appeal of sounds here, in the overlay of traditional Chinese instruments such as pipa with synth beats, cross rhythms, and a panoply of percussion. Soprano Ying Huang gives Tan's fluttering threads of melody a silver sheen. However tempting it might be to label Tan's project as "crossover," it displays a depth and artistic integrity not usually associated with the term. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

A Composition that Missed the Mark.......2007-06-15

'East meets West' appears to be the hallmark for this work of avante garde Chinese composer Tan Dun.
Well, I love Chinese music, been listening to large volumes of Chinese operatic recordings and performances for more than 40 years - from the southern Cantonese to the north-western Qin and Yu operas, and even more the Eastern Kun operas and Huang Mei lyrics.
What is being achieved in this album? I would hesitate to call it East meeting West.
Fine, it is original. Fine again, that Miss Huang Ying is a lyrical soprano with a good voice and sound technique.
But please do not mistook the work as having any lineage with the Chinese operatic tradition: it has virtually none of such.
The choice of singer alone reveals that there is no regard to the authentic Chinese operatic tradition: a Western lyrical soprano is UNABLE to bring out the style and sonics in Chinese traditional-styled melodies. For such performer, go for the celebrated Chinese soprano Miss Wu Bixia instead, the pioneer of fusion of Chinese and Western vocal styles.
Very much unlike the more recent work of Tan "The First Emperor", this album endeavours to present music that is off the beaten track. However, the result is that it is off track. The stuff here, I dare say, accounts for more than half of the adverse criticism of that opera, a much more valid work in all respects but for these 'grey area' elements.
Chinese operatic arias are much more than wailing and whining. Musical lines are more melodious, harmonics much clearer.
The blurred effects here are not authentic Chinese style.
I envy those who are able to enjoy this album.

I generally admire Tan Dun, but this project was a misstep.......2006-03-28

BITTER LOVE is a selection of songs from Chinese contemporary composer Tan Dun's 1998 version of the classic Chinese opera "Peony Pavilion". Soprano Ying Huang has the spotlight, with the New York Virtuoso Singers and the NChiCa-Orchestra performing and the composer himself conducting. The staging of the opera, produced by Peter Sellars, was toured around the world, but no video recording was made. These fourteen songs are all we have, but make a conveniently concise single-disc presentation.

Tan Dun's updating is drastic, maintaining the text (in English translation by Cyril Birch) but with totally new music. The traditional music of "Peony Pavilion", of which "Hang the Curtain Down" might be the most well-known, is nowhere to be heard here even in brief quotation. Instrumentation consists of pipa (a Chinese flute), percussion, several midi instruments, electronic sampler, and water gong. The rhythms, the scat singing, and the electronics make this work quite outside both the Western and Chinse traditions, and lovers of chillout projects such as Thievery Corporation may find this CD to their liking. Ying Huang's singing, however, displays the mannerisms of Beijing opera, so the work is a real fusion of styles.

Were this the only work by Dun, it might seem fresh and admirable, but it compares poorly to some of his recent works like THE MAP and the WATER PASSION. Some novel ideas, such as the mix of Chinese and Western instrumentation and the use of water for sound are present, but all in all the musical material here is very limited and repetitive. Perhaps it would be another matter entirely if I were watching a live performance where the orchestra is meant to accompany action onstage, but on its own the music isn't rich enough. Furthermore, Sony's packing of the material, with very unhelpful liner notes, makes it look as if Tan Dun's talent is being used to advance some mission of world music crossover gimmickry. I regrettably cannot recommend this like I can other works by Tan Dun, who is generally one of the most interesting living composers.

Dark depths and bright voices, a shock, a whimsy.......2004-05-24

This piece of music either creeps up on you out of nowhere - like a tarantula imitating a meteor streaking out of outerspace - or it "conveys" itself to you like a waiter extending to you a glass of dark wine - or a film that seeks to shock you with an unexpected silence and a pagan cry. You must be the judge. But if you are faint hearted - quick to flee sexuality in all of its forms - you should go nowhere near this piece. And and if you are bold and brazen and hot for simplistic outrages you should probably bury your head in the sand. This work is for mature listeners only. By "mature" I mean a listener who is willing to cast to the side - as if she or he is flinging to the wind cherry blossoms in autumn - all grotesque fundamentalisms of ANY KIND. The music begins with a luminous voice slowly moving out of darkness. The voice wanders around in the dark over a deep abyss but I do not sense that the abyss is strong enough to terrify that wondrous voice. And the full piece, as it develops, may be best called "The Complicated Tales Of Incandescent Bliss". This piece of music is hideously subversive. I say that with a tongue in my cheek and a fart in my belly. The mere "subversive" is hideously dull. For a century now we have lived with a million, billion artists who wished - desperately wishing to canonize their egos - to "subvert" things. "Bitter Love" is horribly subversive. It is horribly subversive because it does not aim to be "subversive". Its power comes from a source that is not easily described. I am not a witch, but I would like to pretend that I am a witch gazing with my dark-gold eyes into a blasphemously kitsch crystal ball. I would say, gazing into profound fires, that I see a century of struggling, sick, twisted artists striving to catch up to "Bitter Love". It is dark without that pretentious quality that defines the run-of-the-mill Goth. It is bright without protestatiing itself before the blasphemously sentimetality of movies like "The Sound of Music". It plays havoc with our senses without toadying up to the most stupid features of the avant-guard. "Bitter Love" will shock you even while it consoles you.

A Music Collage.......2003-12-01

A soprano; a tenor; a monk; a baritone chorus; an infant; unconventional Chinese orchestration mixed with bits and pieces of Peking Opera; folk tunes; lots of percussions, these are the sounds with which the story of Peony Pavilion is musically revealed. Rather than an opera, it is a musical dream or a conception. Chinese traditional culture is always a rich resource for musicians (especially Chinese musicians) to tap into, and Tan Dun is one of those who know exactly where to get his inspirations. The work is a collage of various individual and seemingly disparate elements of West and East, ritual and sensual, ancient and modern, only that Tan displays them with a sense of assimilation at times, and antithesis at others. As always, Tan's unique music perspectives, distinctively modern though they are, are fulfilled by returning to the original purity and simplicity of the basics and down-to-earth folk music elements.

Ying Huang's pure soprano displays the poetry of the music beautifully. With sensuous approach, her singing is well attuned to the music's aura of longing and exotic beauty. The fabulous baritone chorus from The New York Virtuoso Singers gives a touch of the western opera and provides an indispensable layer to the otherwise rather thin orchestration.

But the music is not for everyone, nor for everyday. Despite its depth and range, it could be a strange land for the ears not tuned to its novelties and diversities, and as for that matter, one may wonder how much of the profound emotions Tan meant to deliver has actually reached the audience at general level.

Mind Opening.......2002-04-24

If you're unfamiliar with Chinese Opera this album may be shocking. But, once you take the time to listen this is a beautiful experience. Tan Dun's blend of eastern and western musical traditions is brilliant. Ying Haung's voice is clear with tones "razor sharp."

Tracks:

Dark Lady - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Old Man - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Station Song - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Politician - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Rainy Taxi Girl - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Morning Call - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Sandcastle - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Traveling Blues (Or the New Used Jew's Dues Blues) - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments

Tracks:

Sunshades - The Battered Ornaments
Late into the Night - The Battered Ornaments
Then I Must Go - The Battered Ornaments
Crosswords and the Safety Pins - The Battered Ornaments
Staggered - The Battered Ornaments
Twisted Track - The Battered Ornaments
Smoke Rings - The Battered Ornaments
Take Me Now - The Battered Ornaments
My Love's Gone Far Away - The Battered Ornaments
Week Looked Good on Paper [*] - The Battered Ornaments

Album Description

UK reissue combines two of the acclaimed songwriter's albums with the Battered Ornaments, 'A Meal You Can Shake Hands With In The Dark' (1969) and 'Mantle-Piece' (1970). Best known for writing the lyrics to many of Cream's major hits, 'Sunshine Of your Life', 'White Room', 'I Feel Free', 'Politician', Brown also worked with the band Piblokto, The First Real Poetry Band featuring guitarist John McLaughlin and the poets Allen Ginsberg and Robert Creeley. Includes one bonus track, 'The Week Looked Good On Paper'. 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

Album Details

Twofer Reissue of his First Two Late 60's Solo Ventures. Legendary British Organist Graham Bond & Guitarist Chris Spedding Guest on Several Tracks. Brown Co-Wrote Several Hit with Jack Bruce for the 60's Supergroup Cream Including 'White Room', 'I Feel Free', 'Sunhine of Your Love' and Many More.

Average customer rating:

You could tell from conversations...
Android Comes Alive
INCREDIBLE LIVE ALBUM !!!!
One out of two aint bad
OMIGOD--I'VE FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL--AGAIN!!!

Living Ornaments '79
Gary Numan
Manufacturer: Beggars Banquet UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Living Ornaments '80
Living Ornaments '81
Live in London
Ghost
Scarred

ASIN: B0000085CU
Release Date: 2005-08-08

Tracks:

Intro
Airlane
Me! I Disconnect From You
Cars
M.E.
You Are in My Vision
Somethings in the House
Random
Everyday I Die
Conversation
We Are So Fragile
Down in the Park
Remind Me to Smile
Joy Circuit
Tracks
Are 'Friends' Electric?
We Are Glass

Tracks:

Bombers
Remember I Was Vapour
On Broadway
Dream Police
Films
Metal
Down in the Park
My Shadow in Vain
Are 'Friends' Electric?
Tracks

Album Description

1998 two-on-one reissue from Beggars Banquet featuring 21 tracks recorded live on September 28, 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Includes 'Every Day I Die', 'Cars', 'Down In The Park', 'Me! I Disconnect From You', 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' and 'Every Day I Die'. Double slimline jewel case.

Album Details

Limited Reissue. Only in Print Through Jan 2000. Stock Will Deplete Rapidly Afterwards. Classic Numan Live at his Peak at the End of the 70's.

Customer Reviews:

You could tell from conversations..........2006-10-20

The Living Ornaments double-disc releases are invaluable documents of Numan's early live days. This is the first one, covering a full 1979 show in London, and is an expanded edition of the original vinyl release.

First off, the quality on all three releases is excellent---79, 80, and 81. They each differ a bit, but as official live recordings they absolutely hold up and benefit from the remastering. My favorite sound would have to be the first show from the '80 version---a the mix is perfect, the sound crystal clear.

This was recorded during The Touring Principle and features tracks from the Tubeway Army album, Replicas, and The Pleasure Principle along with a few Telekon tracks snuck in as preview material. The sound is excellent: crisp, clear, with an even mix. Still very early in his career (even with two #1 hits) Numan kept the songs close to the album versions (the subsequent Living Ornaments releases feature more elaborate production for the tracks so there is a clear progression in style from the `79 to `81 releases). The trademark keyboards are fantastic--the sound holds up today far, far better than so many keyboard-driven bands that would appear in the coming decade. Numan, perhaps accidentally, really hit upon how to make good rock without up-front electric guitars. By putting the keyboards through guitar pedals, he created a unique, futuristic, and versatile group of sounds. The whole sci-fi / Phillip K. Dick-inspired material is set against a rich, unique sonic landscape. Conversation, in particular, rolls along at seven minutes without ever dragging, while shorter songs like Me! I Disconnect From You are like being stuck in a catchy, early Atari game with Kraftwerk attire, to use a trite music-review device...

For the Numan fan, all of the Living Ornaments releases are real gems and well worth buying. Fans of any artist would be lucky to get a slew of such releases. This version is one complete show, beginning to end, while 80 features parts of two shows and 81 again captures a complete show. Sound-wise, it's fantastic, hands down, rivaled only by the first portion of 80. Also, as imports, I have no idea how long these will be available or how accessible they will continue to be in the US. This is an artist who's been perfecting and mastering the live format for decades. Sadly, despite nearly 20 albums and a live album for most tours, he's still only known for `Cars'. Ridiculous.

Android Comes Alive.......2005-11-04

Living Ornaments is an amazing recording. It's good to see Beggar's Banquet has reissued the entire concert.
This was Gary Numan's first tour and he wanted to make a big impression and he succeeded, musically and visually. Numan certainly proved the synthesizer was an incredibly powerful instrument if desired. I can easily imagine the floor of the Hammersmith Odeon vibrating to the opening notes of 'Conversation', 'M.E.' and of course 'Down In The Park'. The band play brilliantly. Drummer Cedric Sharpley and bassist Paul Gardiner made a great rhythm section. A good deal of the songs feature the signature synthesizer solos from Ultravox member Billy Currie who toured with Numan on the European half of the tour. One of the best synth solos I've ever heard is on the song On Broadway (the old R&B classic). Even though Numan's voice was emotionless on his studio albums, one can detect a bit more emotion in the vocals on Living Ornaments.
The visual impression Numan made you can get an idea from the cd cover. Two keyboard players on platforms, 20 foot high pillars of lights that looked as they were rotating and a huge pyramid of light over the drummer. The concert was filmed and released on video under the name Living Principle. It would be great if Beggars Banquet were to rerelease the concert video on DVD. There are bootleg versions available and well worth seeking out.

INCREDIBLE LIVE ALBUM !!!!.......2005-10-25

And Gary's first.The songs are welcome variations to those of the studio versions.Richer in texture and less agressive,especially on the guitar parts,maybe approaching the style of the album they were presenting at the time ¨PLEASURE PRINCIPLE¨.This was a bit of a letdown to my punk and heavy metal mentality,used as I am to live versions being faster and rawer,but this is another kind of music and I take it at face value,and it's EXCELLENT.Even ¨Bombers ¨is presented with nice arabian synth licks.The sound is incredibly dinamic,very bass heavy,and the Sharpley/Gardiner rhyhtm section is up front in the mix all along the 85'+.It's a bit synth-weak as I'd heard before I bought the record,but as good as live recordings got by late 70's.

One out of two aint bad.......2005-01-16

For Numan fans looking for "Living Ornaments 79/80 you're halfway there.The double cd has the complete 79 show with tracks not found on the original LP.Sadly this set does not have the 80 show(see track list).Still a must for the Numan fan(especially early GN).Hopefully someone will release the 80 show as well done as this.

OMIGOD--I'VE FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL--AGAIN!!!.......2004-05-10

About fourteen years ago, I was stunned and amazed to find the "Living Ornaments '79 and '80" collection in a vinyl box set. I had no idea that it even existed, but snapped it up immediately. It was totally awesome! I saw both of the tours when they came through Boston on 23 Feb. and 17 Oct. 1980, and they were both unforgettable. Today, I have to admit that I didn't know the CD existed, either, and have only now stumbled across it and the reviews. I don't have it yet, but am ordering it even as you read this. I would pay GOOD money to get a DVD of THESE Gary Numan tours, but again do not know if such a thing exists!

Average customer rating:

In Echo Park, I...
yet more illegal numan product
it doesn't sound like a bootleg at all
Great show found by fan - a must!

Living Ornaments '80
Gary Numan
Manufacturer: Beggars Banquet UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Living Ornaments '79
Living Ornaments '81
Live in London
Metal Rhythm
Ghost

ASIN: B0009PCDSS
Release Date: 2005-08-08

Tracks:

This Wreckage [Live]
I Die: You Die [Live]
M.E. [Live]
Everyday I Die [Live]
Down in the Park [Live]
Remind Me to Smile [Live]
Joy Circuit [Live]
Tracks [Live]
Are 'Friends' Electric? [Live]
We Are Glass [Live]
This Wreckage
Remind Me to Smile
Complex
Telekon

Tracks:

Me! I Disconnect from You
Cars
Conversation
Airlane
M.E.
Everyday I Die
Remember I Was Vapour
Stories
Are 'Friends' Electric?
Joy Circuit
I Die: You Die
I Dream of Wires
Down in the Park
Tracks
We Are Glass

Album Description

At the commercial peak of his career, Gary Numan released live albums from successive tours, one from the 1979 Touring Principle and one from the 1980 Teletour. Both albums are released here as a 2 CD box set. Both discs combined feature a total of 26 tracks including 'Remind Me To Smile', 'Aircrash Bureau', 'Airplane', 'Films', 'I'm An Agent', 'Cars', 'My Shadow In Vain', 'Joy Of Circuit' and more. The recordings are excellent, as are the performances. This set is a necessity for the collection of any Numanoid. Beggars Banquet. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

In Echo Park, I..........2006-09-16

This is a must for fans of early Numan, period. It includes the original 10-track Living Ornaments '80 release (part of the original vinyl box-set) PLUS a new-found, complete show from the 1980 Teletour. It's basically one and a half shows, with the second, complete show a new find.

The sound quality of the original-release 10 tracks is impeccable and probably the best from the entire Living Ornaments series (79, 80, and 81). The mix, the performance, and the overall sound are amazing; as a live album, it holds up incredibly well today and goes right to the top of my personal favorites. Hard to believe it's over 25 years old; the band is tight, and Numan's voice (as well as the very use of his voice) are spot-on for the material. Numan gets it just right between his play on the vocals, the arrangements, and the energy (even his slurring/forgetting of vocals somehow works). The songs are tweaked a bit from the '79 versions, but not as much as the '81 release, where there seemed to be a real effort to spark everything up sound-wise. Overall, the combination of rock and synth sounds effortless.

The bonus to the original release version is an entire show from the same tour. The tapes were recently found though the actual show has not been determined. The sound quality is not as good as the first 10 tracks---they're slightly muddier, less crisp. But, I'm nitpicking. It's a complete show, the performance is very good, and you get a whole slew of songs for the first time on disc. Who says this is a shoddy bootleg? Er, not quite. It's straight from the soundboard, probably found in someone's closet, so while not as crisp as the first tracks, it's still a gem. It sounds far better than some of Numan's later live releases in terms of sound. There' s lot of punch with the remastering, and if you're truly obsessed you'll enjoy having two versions of some of the tracks.

Highly recommended. All of the Living Ornaments releases are, but this is my favorite. It's an import, so grab it, not sure how long they're going to keep it in print.

yet more illegal numan product.......2006-08-10

what's that sound i hear? Oh yes, it's that oh so familiar "scrapping the barrel" noise. yes, another year another dodgy Numan bootleg to contend with. How anyone could sit through this mess is beyond me. Do yourself a favour and avoid this like yer life depended on it. utter tosh from start 2 finish.

it doesn't sound like a bootleg at all.......2006-05-18

A word about the allegedly bad sound-quality: As mentioned elsewhere, the "bootleg" portion (2nd half of CD 1 & all of CD 2) was taken directly from the mixing board and sounds really great, at least to these ears. In terms of sound-quality, it's about as good as LO '79. Sure, it's a bit rough around the edges but that's precisely what makes it so valuable! The musicians play with added verve and looseness because they probably didn't suspect the tape was rolling. Simply put: If you enjoy the studio versions of these songs, you'll get a real kick out of this "bootleg".

Great show found by fan - a must!.......2005-09-14

Beggars Banquet released virtually every Numan recording on CD that they made over the 25 years he's been in business, except for the full 1980 shows. The original tapes were lost and all that was left was the Living Ornaments 1980 short version. Thanks to Steve Roper, a die-hard collector who specializes in Gary's early years (79-80), one of the most sought after live shows was released after 25 years. Steve spent a large chunk of his life searching for his `Eldorado' - a superb full-show life recording from 1980. There are many bootlegs out there, some of descent quality, but thanks to his endless effort, came across a soundboard/mixing desk recording of one of the shows and decided to contact Beggars banquet. They were also impressed and realized that this was a golden opportunity to release this to the world. The first CD starts with the original LO80 tracks that appeared on the album. Great quality, great piece of nostalgia. After this, the re-discovered show starts, and even though the sound quality is not hi-tech, it is still VERY good and more than we could hope for, for a recording that's been in someone's closet for 25 years. For the older Numan fans this is a piece of history that was discovered by a man who never stopped searching. For the newer fans, it might sound a bit dated but it is still worth a try. Great shows, great quality and nice packaging too.
A must for Numan fans!!!
Thank you Steve Roper for your effortless searching. All we need now is a 1982 show to appear....

Average customer rating:

ASTONISHING NUMAN !!!
the best live album ever

Living Ornaments '81
Gary Numan
Manufacturer: Beggars Banquet UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Living Ornaments '79
Living Ornaments '80
Live in London
White Noise
Ghost

ASIN: B0000085CV
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Tracks:

Intro/This Wreckage
Remind Me To Smile
Metal
Me! I Disconnect From You
Complex
The Aircrash Bureau
Airlane
M.E.
Everyday I Die
Films
Remember I Was Vapour
Trois Gymnopedies
Conversation

Tracks:

She's Got Claws
Cars
I Dream Of Wires
I'm An Agent
The Joy Circuit
I Die: You Die
Cry The Clock Said
Tracks
Down In The Park
My Shadow In Vain
Please Push No More
Are 'Friends' Electric?
We Are Glass/Outro

Album Description

2005 double disc remastered reissue from Beggars Banquet featuring 26 tracks recorded live in 1981 at Wembley Arena in London. Includes 'Cars', 'Down In The Park', 'Me!I Disconnect From You', 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' and 'We Are Glass/ Outro'.

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Deluxe Edition of the Live Numan Classic Double Album Recorded at the Peak of his Pop Career in the Early 1980's. Includes Performances of "me I Disconnect from You", "Remember I was Vapour", "Everyday I Die", "Films", "This Wreckage", "i Dream of Wires", "we Are Glass" and Many More.

Customer Reviews:

ASTONISHING NUMAN !!!.......2005-12-27

113'Wembley Arena Farewell Concert.Extensive tracklist concentrated on the Telekon album.New versions of the older songs in the MORE electronic style that album featured.Hysterical audience is mixed deafeningly loud in the mix.Excellent overall sound,with incredibly heavy bottom,ear slicing upper treble and VERY aggressive midrange.Vocals are more present than on other Numan's live recordings.
I personally liked the LO79 better but this one is overkill !!!!!

the best live album ever.......2002-02-23

this is a truly amazing live performance by gary numan almost every song is great on this album this was a very expensive
live set for numan and the experiment numan was into is well
heard on this cd. he used a giant stage image wich was extreme
for its time. this is probably the finest works from him.

Average customer rating:

Ornaments
Heiko Laux
Manufacturer: Efa Imports
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

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Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005Y30I
Release Date: 2002-02-22

Tracks:

Moving Between Lines
Hypnomarchin'
Fundament
Making It Detroit
Ornaments
Tangoamt
Ornamented Licks
Walkout (1st Cut)
Fields of Tokyo
Kick and Kiss

Average customer rating:

Chris Spedding's finest hour before he joined The Wombles

Mantle-Piece
The Battered Ornaments
Manufacturer: Repertoire
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000006Z9T
Release Date: 1994-03-21

Tracks:

Sunshades
Late Into The Night
Then I Must Go
The Crosswords And The Safety Pins
Staggered
Twisted Track
Smoke Rings
Take Me Now
My Love's Gone Far Away
The Week Looked Good On Paper
Living Life Backwards

Album Description

Import reissue of 1969 album includes two bonus tracks, 'The Week Looked Good On Paper' & 'Living Life Backwards'. Repertoire.

Album Details

Featuring Chris Spedding.

Customer Reviews:

Chris Spedding's finest hour before he joined The Wombles.......1999-08-18

Although too "wilfully weird" for John Peel, this has become one of the seminal English underground records of the 1960s.

Zimmerman & Nemstov play Jewish Chamber Music

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Zimmerman & Nemstov play Jewish Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Hanssler Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000560KW
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Tracks:

Rhap, Op.11: I. Recitando - Allegro
Rhap, Op.11: II. Lento, Recitando
Rhap, Op.11: III. Non Troppo Vivace
Ornaments, Op.42: I
Ornaments, Op.42: II
Ornaments, Op.42: III
Minstrel's Song, Op.34
Song Of Mariamne, Op.37 No.2
Songs Of The Dead, Op.4: I. Massig Bewegt
Songs Of The Dead, Op.4: II. Ziemlich Langsam
Songs Of The Dead, Op.4: III. Entschlossen
Songs Of The Dead, Op.4: IV. Ziemlich Lebhaft
Songs Of The Dead, Op.4: V. Massiges Zeitmass
Kaddisch (Poem), Op.6
Song Of Songs, Op.5: I. No.1
Song Of Songs, Op.5: II. No.2
Chant Rigoureux, Op.9
Ste: I. Lento - Allegro
Ste: II. Allegro Ironico
Ste: III. Lento
Ste: IV. Molto Vivo

A Meal You Can Shake Hands with in the Dark

Average customer rating:

Correction to Amazon's listing
A bit weird in places, but with some real gems

A Meal You Can Shake Hands with in the Dark
Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Manufacturer: Repertoire
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000006V6Q
Release Date: 1994-03-21

Tracks:

Dark Lady
Old Man
Station Song
Politician
Rainy Taxi Girl
Morning Call
Sand Castle
Travelling Blues (Or the New Used Jew's Dues Blues)
High Sorrow
Raining Pins and Needles

Album Details

Includes Two Bonus Tracks.

Customer Reviews:

Correction to Amazon's listing.......1999-04-19

Incidentally the correct album title is 'A Meal You Can Shake Hands With In The Dark' by Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments. Now you know.

A bit weird in places, but with some real gems.......1999-04-15

Pete Brown was Jack Bruce's chief lyricist in the late 60's and early 70's. This was his first album, recorded in 1969 with a group of session musicians (the 'Battered Ornaments'). It was also the third album I ever bought, after Cream's 'Goodbye' and Taste's first album. 30 years later I still play it and though I tend to skip the more 'inventive' (=strange) tracks such as 'Sandcastle', there are three real gems which make the purchase of this album worthwhile. Firstly, the original 'The Politician' which Brown co-wrote with Jack Bruce and was recorded by Cream on 'Wheels of Fire' and 'Goodbye'. Apart from the lyrics this is nothing like Cream's version - you have been warned! The drunken/doped spoken intro is a scream. Secondly, 'Rainy Taxi Girl' is a beautifully melodic piece of Brown's poetry and could have been a minor hit if it had been released as a single. It was after hearing this track on Kid Jensen's radio show (UK radio) that I bought the album. Thirdly, 'Travelling Blues' (or 'New Used Jew's Dues Blues') which is a lazy 12-bar blues featuring Chris Spedding on lead guitar. It must be one of the most original 12-bar blues ever! Lyrically and melodically the album is inventive and always interesting, if a little bit wild in places. If you are interested in the development of 60's rock it deserves a place in your collection.

The last 2 tracks on the CD version of the album were later additions to the original vinyl and I must admit that I've never heard them.

Brown went on to make a couple more very good albums in the early 70's with his next group 'Pipblokto!'. These were 'Things May Come And Things May Go...' (no longer available) and 'Thousands on a Raft'. Both albums feature fine guitar work by a young Jim Mullen who went on to find minor fame in the 'Average White Band', 'Kokomo' and as a solo jazz guitarist.

Ornaments
Average customer rating:
Ornaments

Manufacturer: Spool
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00024DOWU
Release Date: 2002-01-01

Tracks:

Retablo - Passamezzo
Retablo - Almayne
Retablo - Pentacles
Ornaments
Somatic Refrain
Three Shapes of the Sword - Rio Grande del Sur
Three Shapes of the Sword - Spiteful Scar
Three Shapes of the Sword - John Vincent Moon

Album Description

"And indeed this music has the radical openness, the lack of boundary, the myopic detail (eschewing grand, overarching gesture), the (perhaps subtle) intricacy (...), and the particularity that I've ascribed to the idea of ornament. ...I think Cameron's pieces are ornaments, ornamenting a music that is inaudible, that Cameron doesn't need to write. For me, Cameron's work suggests a denser construction flowing somewhere [behind the audible sounds]." —Martin Arnold

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