Tag: classicalmusic

Women of the 80s and 90s (my annual post of great things from the 80s and 90s)


I keep waiting for pop culture to stop talking about the 80s and the 90s, but every year I easily find a handful of worthwhile articles that touch on that time in different ways.

Recently I watch “Mau”, which was a short documentary on Bruce Mau, who I first encountered in the 80s. In fact I have one of his Zone books, and I’ve often considered buying more of his publications. They are dazzling and dense. Mau went on do work on everything from Coca-Cola to Mecca. He’s a fascinating person and designer, and if you get a chance, I recommend you watch the documentary. Meanwhile, check out this review: Mau Review: A Book as Good as Its Cover – POV Magazine. It has a trailer in it too.

On the topic of 80s design, check out this: Toronto Penthouse by Dvira Interiors Celebrates 1980s Architecture. Very beautiful, and very unlike what you might think 80s architecture is (cough, Memphis).

The 80s has that reputation, though. Consider this piece: Dua Lipa and a new era of Boom Boom fashion. Certainly the 80s could be very…boisterous. But for all that loudness, the 80s could also be understated To make my case, I give you this: Giorgio Armani is reissuing some of its most iconic pieces.

Besides fashion and design, the 80s and 90s gave us some great photography. Consider this photo essay: 16 Photos That Captured the Dawn of Punk in The New York Times. Or this piece in The Guardian: ‘I wanted to capture the range of British culture at the time’: the photographer who documented late nights on the 90s London tube. And I highly recommend you check out this story about how these  80s Headshots of Famous Artists came about. It’s Cindy Sherman like you’ve never seen here (and that’s saying something).

Of course with artists like Madonna still releasing music, we will always be reminded of her hits from the 80s and 90s too. Here’s a recent interview of her in Interview magazine. (A very 80s mag.).

Another band from that time who had hits was EBTG. Here’s the Guardian with Everything But the Girl’s 20 greatest songs – ranked! (I like the exclaimation mark). Another hit maker from then was Cesária Évora. Here’s a story on the efforts to ‘keep her name alive’. I approve of that effort. I’d add Seals and Crofts to that list of musicians whose name should be kept alive, especially after Dash Crofts of Summer Breeze rock duo Seals and Crofts recently passed away. Fine musicians, all.

Finally, here’s a story on how Talking Heads and Brian Eno Wrote “Once in a Lifetime”. On the topic of 80s films, here something on the film “Barcelona”: Fated to become a cult classic’: why Barcelona is my feelgood movie. Last but not least, here, a piece I think of often: THE IMPACT OF AIDS ON THE ARTISTIC COMMUNITY – The New York Times.

Somewhat lighter is this piece, Speak, Yuppie.

Do you love music? Then you want to read Absolutely on Music by Murakami and Ozawa

The great conductor Seiji Ozawa died last week. The New York Times has his obit here. If you don’t know much about him, I recommend you read that obiturary.

Regardless of how much you knew of the man, if you haven’t read it already, I hope you have the chance to read the book he did with Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music. Anyone who loves music will get something out of this book, which is a document of six conversations the two men had. (It’s a podcast before they were a thing, so to speak.) And no you don’t have to be an expert in classical music to get enjoyment from reading it.

Here’s a review of the book. And here more on the book from the publisher.

Get a copy today.

 

 

Two exciting new things from Apple

First up, the new iphone 14 plus in yellow. Love it! Apple is wise to assign unique colours to new hardware. It’s a smart way to attract people to a new product, and all those new selfies with the new yellow phone is likely to drive up more sales. (I have been known to fall for this sales approach. :))

Also new is Apple Music Classical. I confess, I didn’t understand why Apple was splitting off Classical music this way. After I read more about it, it makes sense. I hope it will lead to people listening to more classical music.

Good work, Apple!

What is a prelude? (and more ways to learn about classical music…)

Then consider going to this blog. Here’s the piece there discussing: What is a Prelude? After you read that,  scroll to the very bottom of the post, where you will see they also have introductions to minuets, cantatas, operettas and more.

Saturday afternoons are a good time to learn such things. Then find some music to listen to.

Here’s a fine introduction to Avro Pärt

This piece – A guide to Arvo Pärt’s music | Music | The Guardian – is a fine introduction to the music of Avro Pärt. This quote sums up his work well:

The success of Pärt’s work – the repertory of choral works he has composed over the last four decades, the instrumental works, even the new symphony he composed in 2008 – is, I think, much more than simple popular acclaim for a composer who uses some familiar chords. Pärt told me that what he wants his music to express is “love for every note”, and in turn, communicate the spiritual power that he sees as music’s essential purpose. Pärt is too modest to say that he has achieved that, but for the listeners who love his music, it’s an irrefutable truth.

There are lots of places to find his music, including YouTube. Here’s one of my favorite pieces, Spiegel im Spiegel

Enjoy that piece, and hopefully enjoy many hours listening to the music of Part.