Dark Eyed & Starry They Were, Vol. 2 [Box set] [Import]

Dark Eyed & Starry They Were, Vol. 2 [Box set] [Import]

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. Cathedral [Deus Ex Machina Mix]

2. Evil [#] - The Baroness, Love Lies Bleeding

3. Plague Diary [the Subcutaneous Mix] [#]

4. Wake Up Gods - Kismet

5. No You

6. Cold II [#]

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Ballad - Snog

2. Broken - Discordia

3. Convoy - Kiril

4. Path of the Unknown [#]

5. Submission - Paradoxx

6. Hate [#]

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Black Rose [#] - Absinthe

2. Galaxy - Shinjuku Filth

3. Hellbound Overture - Love Lies Bleeding

4. Red [#]

5. Sterilized [#]

6. Clairvoyant [#]

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Australian Exclusive Compilation. Artists Include: Shinjuku Filth, Snog, Black Lung, Tenebrae, Charnel House, Discordia, Eden, Ikon, Soma, Leviathan, and More.

Dark Eyed & Starry They Were, Vol. 2,Various Artists,Import [Generic],Heavy Metal,Pop,Rock

Dark Eyed Sailor
Average customer rating:

Gentle, soft and beautiful

Excellent Americana/Celtic Performances By A Gifted Singer/Musician

Dark Eyed Sailor
Karen Mal
Manufacturer: Waterbug Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Mercury's Wings

Chris Irwin and Karen Mal

Taking The Long Way

ASIN: B000A2UCOC
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Tracks:

Dark-Eyed Sailor
Wildwood Flower
I Live Not Where I Love
I Courted A Sailor
The Unquiet Grave
Matt Hyland
Blow The Candles Out / Bangrolly Reel
Ned Of The Hill
Do You Love An Apple?
The Snows They Melt The Soonest
The Last Rose

Album Description

Karen Mal brings fresh insight to the folk tradition with a definitive songbook of new and old Celtic love songs, beautifully produced by multi-instrumentalist (accordion, guitar, mandolin, bass, bouzouki, percussion, piano, virtual harp, vocals) Gabriel Donohue, with Matt Mancuso on fiddle and Joanie Madden on whistles. What makes Mal's interpretations special is her commitment to the reality of her characters, and a respect for the dignity of human passions. Highly disciplined and deeply emotional, Karen's crystalline voice is aptly complemented by the understated accompaniments of Gabriel Donohue, evoking an older, simpler and more beautiful place.

Originally from Plainville, Connecticut, more recently from Wisconsin, Karen worked in regional theatre for several years as an actor and musical director/composer before settling in Austin, Texas to play music full-time. She has become a sought-after performer, both as a solo artist and as a sideman for others on mandolin, guitar, and harmony vocals. She has lived and worked in places from Manhattan to Memphis, from Wisconsin to California, and toured in 40 states. She won the Wildflower festival songwriting award in 2005, and performed several gigs as guest singer with Cherish the Ladies.

Customer Reviews:

Gentle, soft and beautiful.......2006-03-27

Having spent much of my youth in English folk clubs, drinking flat beer and listening to rough-hewn, bearded characters (and that was just the women) singing traditional fol-de-rol and riddle-me-diggler songs, I have an in-built skepticism of American singers who tackle traditional music from the British Isles. Karen Mal has won me over, and I am in love.

She brings a lyricism, vulnerability and a gentle soulfulness which match the lyrics perfectly. One of the songs, Wildwood Flower, is actually American but fits in nicely and serves to remind us how the transplanted British tradition flourished amid the blue grass of the New World. Gabriel Donohue does a remarkable job of producing, mixing and mastering, in addition to providing most of the instrumental accompaniments which, by the way, are splendid.

Note that there are 10 songs on the album. Bangrolly Reel and The Last Rose are brief instrumental pieces.

Dusty Springfield once described the Folk music that she recorded early in her career as music for "people who liked to jump around a lot". This is Folk of a different ilk, romantic ballads for people who like to relax and listen and ponder, and perhaps occasionally dab away a tear.

If you enjoy this album, you will also enjoy the Danish singer Sussie Nielsen (who, shamefully and inexplicably, is not currently listed in Amazon.com).

Excellent Americana/Celtic Performances By A Gifted Singer/Musician.......2005-11-25

OK, I admit it: I bought Karen Mal's "Mercury's Wings" in part because she looks a lot like an ex-girlfriend and because I'd read that she is a very good performer.

It was a good choice. Karen Mal is a diamond-in-the-rough. Her voice is pure and emotive, accompanying herself on guitar and mandolin and supported by other stellar musicians, and her selection of songs is excellent.

"Dark-Eyed Sailor" finds her interpreting 11 traditional songs in beautiful style. The disc has an Americana/Celtic feel remeniscent of Connie Dover.

This CD deserves every one of the 5 stars I've given it. Buy it ... you will not be disappointed!

Average customer rating:

Brilliant impressions of sound
Agreed, a 20+ year album that still is incredible
The greatest ambient recording ever
Probably the best Budd/Eno team-up album of all time
If you are going to buy one Budd cd

The Pearl

Manufacturer: Editions Eg Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Progressive | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
The Room
Avalon Sutra/As Long As I Can Hold My Breath

ASIN: B000003S2V
Release Date: 1990-08-31

Tracks:

Late October
A Stream With Bright Fish
The Silver Ball
Against The Sky
Lost In The Humming Air
Dark-Eyed Sister
Their Memories
The Pearl
Foreshadowed
An Echo Of Night
Still Return

Amazon.com

This sublime, tranquil recording features 11 haunting ambient tone poems for treated piano. They are crafted from simple chords, arpeggios, or melodies that are frequently trailed by delicate electronic whispers to produce dreamy results. Even though Budd and Eno chose to compose and record in a minimalist style, their gorgeous, moody music evokes so much more, for the reverberating spaces between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves. In an interesting experiment, both "Against the Sky" and "An Echo of Night" explore the same melancholic musical theme in different settings--the former is a sparse piano piece with gentle electronic treatments, the latter is a murky synth work set against a nocturnal outdoor backdrop. (Budd later explored the theme again as the ethereal elegy "Olancha Farewell" on his 1986 solo album, Lovely Thunder.) Beautifully understated, the slow-motion ballet of The Pearl is a piece of striking ambient impressionism that was highly original in its day, well before the myriads of New Age imitators its composers spawned, and it remains fresh and vital two decades later. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant impressions of sound.......2007-05-11

Without a doubt, the ambient label originated with Brian Eno. In this classic collaboration with Harold Budd, sounds from seemingly random spheres of life are distilled in connected pieces. These tracks are like a good walk in the woods on an autumn morning. Blurred textures, softly colored tones and a meditative pacing all give this album the impression of Nature itself, only more vibrant and well-defined.

The best element for me is "A Stream with Bright Fish," which opens with a coolly evocative synthesizer tone and beautifully sparse piano notes. You can practically hear the small currents and splashes of water, dappled sunlight and refracted images of silvery fish. Messers Eno and Budd haven't synthesized so much as tuned in to the atmosphere of the world just outside our everyday world. It's worth every shimmery moment.

Agreed, a 20+ year album that still is incredible.......2007-05-05

I remember first hearing "Late October" in the summer of 1984 on a local radio program. I went out immediately and purchased the cassette and basically wore it out. When ever i was in a stressed mood or needed to go for a long drive and have some good alone time.., this was the music. Now, almost 24 years later it brings back the best of memories and still is a pleasure to listen to any time. This is a must. You will not be disappointed!!!!!

The greatest ambient recording ever.......2007-01-20

Though it's over 20 years old, this still remains one the best recordings in the ambient genre. In my opinion, it is THE greatest. Period.

If you're new to the genre, this is the place to start.

If you already own this disc, I suggest listening to Budd's collaboration with John Foxx ("Translucence/Drift Music"), as it comes very close to approximating the sound of "The Pearl".

Probably the best Budd/Eno team-up album of all time.......2006-07-06

Even more than "Music for Airports" and "Plateaux of Mirror", this album is the definitive collaboration album from the Budd & Eno archives. A groundbreaking classic of the ambient genre, this disc just gets better with time, especially in an era when the New Age and ambient genres have been overrun with imitators and dilettantes.

Subtle, gorgeous piano and synthesizer work features throughout, with a richness and emotion that is hard to find on other ambient albums. When it comes to "relaxation" tunes, this one has the field beat, and I've spent many an evening, in bed, under the stars, with my wife or alone, letting the quiet, spare beauty of this disc spirit me away from the troubles of the everyday world.

Anyone seeking to find the roots of true ambient should look no further. Budd & Eno were doing it long, long before most others, and they were doing it with a style and a gentle grace that has come to typify their collaborative efforts.

If you are going to buy one Budd cd.......2006-04-14

this is the one. His other ones are great, but this one of restrained paino and Eno's light effects of slight warbles that may make you feel like you are on a quiet beach or perhaps looking in a goldfish pond leave one in a trance. This is the cd that inspired me to start playing the piano. This is the Erik Satie cd of ambient.

Average customer rating:

Typical of Cambridge Singers--A good thing
Beautifully Lyrical Folk Melodies a la Rutter
The Lark touches my own heart!
Rolicking English folk music

The Lark in the Clear Air

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000031HX
Release Date: 1993-09-13

Tracks:

I know where I'm going
She moved through the fair
The lark in the clear air
Down by the sally gardens
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
The spring time of the year
The sprig of thyme
The bold grenadier
The British Grenadiers
The dark eyed sailor
The keel row
The girl I left behind me
Just as the tide was flowing
The cuckoo
O waly, waly
She's like the swallow
The lover's ghost
Willow song
The willow tree
Wassail song
The miller of Dee
O can ye sew cushions
Afton water
Golden slumbers

Amazon.com

A whole disc of choral arrangements of folk tunes could be too much--except in this case, the choir is the excellent Cambridge Singers, and the well-chosen arrangements cover a variety of composers and styles. Among the arrangers are Rutter, Vaughan Williams, and Daryl Runswick; the repertoire includes a hauntingly gorgeous "She moved through the fair" and 23 other selections. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Typical of Cambridge Singers--A good thing.......2005-06-14

This is very typical of John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers. Superbly performed, meaning not too forceful or too delicate. Diction and tone excellent. The folk song is not necessairly as entertaining or enjoyable as some of their other repertoire, nor is it as meaningful, but it still a powerful listening experience. The money for this recording will be well spent. The arrangements, well chosen, showcase beautiful, evocative choral singing. Vaughan Williams' arrangements are best, and he is well known for his arrangements of folk songs. Rutter's are good, but his harmonies are too often predictable or saccharine.

Best are: Dashing away with the smoothing iron (5), The Dark Eyed Sailor (10), The Girl I Left Behind Me (12), Just as the tide was flowing (13), O waly, waly (15)

Beautifully Lyrical Folk Melodies a la Rutter.......2000-09-28

This is a collection of Irish, Scottish, and English folk songs beautifully caressed by The Cambridge Singers under the masterful direction of John Rutter. He seems to possess an uncanny ability to create a uniquely lush and lyrical sound with a choir.

In listening to these songs, I find that they have the capacity to simultaneously evoke feelings of melancholy and joy, and, ultimately leave me to conclude that I have been visited by sheer beauty.

The Lark touches my own heart!.......2000-04-27

In this review I am going to be exceptionally candid! This CD is a wonderfully arranged and performed set of traditional songs that will be treasured by any lover of this delicate yet vigorous music. I was a child of post war England in a poor suburb of South East England and our music teacher used to make us sing these songs which came from The National Song Book and from the folk song collectors, notably Vaughan Williams who put so much of this national flavor into his two collections, 'The English Hymnal' and 'Songs of Praise'. Before our generation the BBC had set up a radio programme called 'Listen with Mother' which we followed the established tradition of listening to them in those years of austerity (its funny you know, but we did not seem to get bored like they do today) on November evenings when the pea souper fogs swirled around the blue mercury lamps as the coal glowed orange in the grate. This music transported us to May mornings, harvesting, landscapes peopled with grenadiers, young love sick swains tip toeing in forbidden rooms at night etc. from these bleak afternoons and gave us the promise of the return of the season when we will be able to walk the Downs under blue skies once more. They also made us think that we were part of a continuum of being young, loving, having children and growing old and dying on this misty offshore island as hundred of generations had done before us. This self-consciousness of these characteristics that made us English and in their understated passion they revealed to us the promises of adulthood together with its victories, disillusionments and inevitable tragedies. Alas, the powers that dictate the conventional wisdom today have consigned these songs to the trash basket of history in the name of multiculturalism and globalism. The songs are not sung today as they appear too ethnocentric in a pluralistic society for our contemporary captains of society. This is a shame for those of us with no real English blood could still participate and enjoy these lovely songs that summon up the freshness of a spring morning or the pangs of a spurned lover in a few lines of beautifully stated verse. These are universal feelings that just happened to be in an English setting, which was where we were! The arrangements here are sublime, particularly 'She moved through the Fair' which always moves me to tears. The subject 'What are the English?' is a current topic for the UK is still settling down after Devolution and finding its own identity. They could do worse than playing 'The Lark in the Clear Air' to answer this question tout court. Please buy, but be warned: this stuff can be dangerously upsetting in its waves of nostalgia. It is like meeting a long lost (and forgotten) friend. That is an (almost lost) part of yourself.

Rolicking English folk music.......1999-06-13

Beautifully sung under Rutter's usual masterful directions. Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron and the Dark Eyed Sailor were my favorites.

Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon

Average customer rating:

Phenomenal!
Incredible
Quite an enjoyable CD
Don't Walk, run ...run ...run ...to your stores
Where did all the decent singers go?

Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon
Dawn Upshaw , Todd Ellison , Judy Blazer , Ted Sperling , Kenneth Burward-Hoy , Jesse Levy , Lawrence Feldman , and Darius de Haas
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Only Heaven: A Musical Work by Ricky Ian Gordon Based on the Poetry of Langston Hughes
My Life with Albertine (2003 Original Off-Broadway Cast)
Dream True
Finding Home - The Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon
Myths And Hymns (1998 Off-Broadway Cast, Originally Saturn Returns)

ASIN: B000059LY2
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Tracks:

Heaven
Poor Girl's Ruination/The Dream Keeper
A Contemporary
Run Away
When Sue Wears Red
Afternoon On a Hill
Love Song For Lucinda
Wild Swans
I'm Open All Night
Souvenir
New Moon
Resume/Wail/Frustration
The Red Dress
Dream Variations
Song For a Dark Girl
Daybreak In Alabama
Once I Was
Joy

Amazon.com

Along with Michael John LaChiusa and Adam Guettel, Ricky Ian Gordon is one of the Young Turks of New York's musical theater. Like them, Gordon shuns both the accessible pop of a David Yazbek and the bombast of a Frank Wildhorn, preferring instead to write post-Sondheimian art songs. The numbers here (with lyrics by Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker, James Agee) span two decades. They are marvelously interpreted by the likes of Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Darius de Haas, and Judy Blazer. Blazer ambles through "Resumé/Wail/Frustration" with delicious jazz-age wit, while Upshaw once more proves that she's a classical singer with an uncanny flair for the nonclassical repertoire. Note that anyone who's expecting anything resembling a beat is advised to look elsewhere. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Phenomenal!.......2001-09-27

Ricky Ian Gordon is a very talented composer and poet, and the songs on "Bright Eyed Joy" display his magnificent gifts. There is not a contemporary composer who has his talent of fitting text to music, and the singers on this disc bring his compositions alive. Track 17, "Once I Was," will make you weep!

Incredible.......2001-06-02

This is an incredible CD, from the sparkling orchestrations which are chamber but in the way they are mixed everything dances out at you, to the vocal interpretations which are so innovative for a recording of this type...settings of poetry but sung by regular, albeit, extraordinary regular people (except people like Dawn Upshaw and Audra McDonald who have already established themselves as major vocal artists)so that the songs feel personal. There is about this CD an incredibly meaningful air...moving, magisterial, powerful...straight from "Heaven" to "Joy" Gordon takes us on an inexorable journey through life towards transcendence and he and his brilliant players and performers succeed...Nonesuch does it again...Superb! Kudos all around. Gordon is a REAL composer, with a deep understanding of poetry as well as a fabulous gift for writing words himself!

Quite an enjoyable CD.......2001-05-20

Being a fan of Mr. Gordon's, I couldn't wait until this CD came out. And I was not disappointed. The music is a cross between classical art songs and standard Broadway fare. Perhaps most enjoyable are the tracks sung by Audra McDonald, some of which were previously released on her first solo album, Way Back to Paradise, but which were supplimented with some additional tracks that really suit her dramatic voice and extensive range. Two other highlights include "Afternoon on a Hill", "Souvenir", and "Once I Was", which demostrate clever writing on the part of the composer, as well as true understanding of the texts on the part of the performers...I feel that Mr. Guettel performs well on this disc. It may appear that he does not have the vocal training that others do, however, his interpretive skills as well as his clear understanding of texts and emotions make his tracks poignant, and his voice is quite pleasant. My only complaint would be that Darius De Haas was included on the disc instead of Billy Porter, who I have seen performing these songs live, and quite well. Mr. De Haas is quite adequate, I simply prefer the power and exultation that Mr. Porter displays when he sings the compositions. Overall, however, this is a wonderful inclusion to anyone's collection, especially anyone who is a fan of anyone writing new, sophisticated theatre music.

Don't Walk, run ...run ...run ...to your stores.......2001-05-08

A huge fan of Donald Katz's "Home Fires" in which Mr. Gordan and his family are the central characters in a moving biographical tribute to an American Family, I have followed the story of this talent ever since. What I have to say of this incredible cd is nothing less then INCREDIBLE. Though there are some major comparisons to the likes of Stephan Sondheim, I am sure Mr. Gordan does not mind in the lease, but in the ened, he is all his own. Do not walk to get this cd, run to get it ....run like there is a wild fire following you to your nearest cd store ....If you don't love it, if you aren't moved by every lyric and strong and chord, then all I can say is, your not a real musical theater fanatic.

Where did all the decent singers go?.......2001-05-07

It is such a tragedy that such beautiful music such as this CD is ruined by inadequate singing on behalf of the performers. There is ONE exception to this, of course, and that being Audra McDonald. Darius De Haas and Theresa McCarthy are both excellent musicians in an artistic sense, but they lack any sort of vocal substanance needed to carry off these difficult songs. Unsupported and in need of clarity are how I would describe their performances. Dawn Upshaw must posses some of the most glorious high notes ever to be heard, unfortunately, she swoops and scoops all over the place and manipultes her vowels in such a way as to distract the listener. Since when did this become acceptable? Adam Guettel is not a singer and I never understood why he insists on attempting to sing anyway. I still remember the first time I heard "Come to Jesus" with he and Audra. He paled so much in comparison... In conclusion - if you can stand the singing (which is very hard, I still can't force myself to listen to McCarthy attempt to sing track 4, or maybe 5)then this CD is excellent. Gordon tends to be very elementary in his compostions, so there are many hummable tunes due to his repititious themes. As a fan of art songs and Dawn Upshaw/Audra McDonald, I've been looking forward to this CD. If you are fans of them as well, and don't mind paying [the price] for about 4 good songs, then have a go at this CD!!

Average customer rating:

DARK-EYED LADY
An outstanding country album
Great Country Music
About Time

Dark-Eyed Lady
Donna Fargo
Manufacturer: Collectables
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

On the Move/Just for You
Fargo Country
Shame on Me/Fargo
The Best of Donna Fargo
Good Old Country

ASIN: B000784WQI
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

Another Goodbye
Everybody Has a Dream
Reach
Tomorrow Child
Somebody Special
Sweet Sexy Guy
For the Rest of My Life
I Saw the Light
Don't Forget to Remember
Drifter and the Dreamer
Changes in My Life

Customer Reviews:

DARK-EYED LADY.......2007-02-05

This is by far some of the best of Donna Fargo's work and personally,one of my favourite albums, with a beautiful photo of Miss Fargo on the front cover of the CD. The songs on this album are timeless,as well as being songs of integrity and strength;and also spiritual and very meaningful. They are also songs people can understand and relate to very well. Among them,my personal favourites are:"Tomorrow Child","For The Rest Of My Life","Don't Forget To Remember" and "Changes In My Life." I am very glad to see that Miss Fargo's work is being released on CD,as this is long overdue. Donna Fargo is truly one of the most exceptionally gifted and talented singer-songwriters of our time. From the beginning, with the first song "Another Goodbye" until the end, with the last song "Changes In My Life" her work on this CD is amazing and speaks volumes to the public.

An outstanding country album.......2005-05-16

This album failed to match the commercial success of its predecessor (Fargo country) but still spawned two top ten country hits (Another goodbye, Somebody special) and also contained many other fine songs. When originally released on vinyl, it became the first Donna Fargo album I ever owned.

I was particularly pleased with Donna's cover of Don't forget to remember (possibly my favorite Bee Gees song) but there are many other fine songs here including Tomorrow child, Sweet sexy guy, Drifter and the dreamer and Changes in my life.

Donna Fargo, the lady with the chuckle in her voice, has been under-represented on CD. The release of this album and Fargo country helps to rectify that injustice. Buy them both to encourage record companies to release more of Donna's great music.

Great Country Music.......2005-03-08

Great Country Music from a great singer/song writter! If your a fan of Donna's you know what a thrill it is to finally have one of Donna's albums released on CD. Let's just hope this is only the beginning! Buy it you'll like it. Standout songs are; "Somebody Special", "For The Rest Of My Life", a remake of the Bee Gees song "Don't Forget To Remember Me" and a Billy Joel song "Everybody Has A Dream"

About Time.......2005-03-08

This is a great Cd! I have been listening to my lp since 1978, I'm so happy to see this relesed on CD! I hope the rest of the Donna Fargo catalog is relesed on CD. If you a Donna Fargo fan This CD is a MUST HAVE!!!

Average customer rating:

See what the critics say about "The Legend"

The Legend of Shorty Brown
The Blue Eyed Devils
Manufacturer: Mountain View
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Electric Blues Guitar | Blues | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000AINJV
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Tracks:

Good Times
Buked' & Scorned
I'm Movin' Blues
Caliphono Blues
Bare Bones Woman Blues
Lone Mountain
Hey Hey Lawdy Lawd
3am Blues
Vista Montana Rag
That Train
Trouble

Customer Reviews:

See what the critics say about "The Legend".......2003-07-23

Southland Blues Magazine:

"One of the coolest bands you never heard of, the Bay Area's "The Blue Eyed Devils" have a couple of terrific CDs out on their own label ("Legend of Shorty Brown" & "Hard Luck" Town) and they'll be in SoCal soon on a series of dates. Playing "blues, boogies & rags" these conceptually brilliant young musicians have staked out a musical niche not too many of us have heard before. BED plays original music in the style of that being played over sixty years ago, but it's anything but quaint. Riveting, rollicking and unique is more like it. They're more than worth a listen."

Joseph Jordan [Southland Blues]

San Francisco Examiner:

"For their sophomore album, 2002's "The Legend of Shorty Brown" (Mountainview Records), the members of Bay Area classic blues quartet The Blue Eyed Devils holed themselves up in a backwoods studio somewhere in rural North Carolina with producer James Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers and whipped up a mean batch of swampy juke joint tunes about getting drunk and getting dissed, not necessarily in that order. Their music's as smooth as buttah with moonshine's bite and a serious kick. .... [Bill Picture, S.F. Examiner]

Atomic Magazine(Taken Verbatum):

The distinct immediacy in the southern blues tradition can strike even the most hardened Yankee like a slap in the face. The Blue Eyed Devils found an inroad to that tradition in producer Jimbo Mathus' Shorty Brown Studio deep in the wilds of North Carolina. Armed with peach brandy moonshine, the boys took just three days and produced a valiant tribute to the smoky downhome blues bands that have come before them.

For a bunch of white pickers from San Francisco, the Blue Eyed Devils have a remarkable feel for the mournful howl of the blues on these songs, recorded in the same purely live fashion as field recordings of the original blues legends. From the first delicate duet between Brendan Wheatley's sharp harmonica and Chris Cotton's rough-voiced wail on "Good Times," to the akimbo boogie of the album-ending "Trouble," the ghosts of long-dead bluesmen like Lightnin' Hopkins or Slim Harpo seem to have haunted Shorty Brown's place for the Devils. In between, Cotton and Wheatley trade off choruses on "I'm Movin' Blues," "Bare Bones Woman Blues," and "3am Blues." There's a lot of hurtin' to be had here.

Jimbo's production (surely learned from his own experience with the Squirrel Nut Zippers) also capitalizes on an atmosphere where you can almost feel the sweat coming off the walls and hear the scrape of fingernails on washboard and heavy boots coming down hard on beaten plank floors. Something has come out of the swamp and infected this disc. Beware, beware.

-S. Clayton Moore

Blues Revue June/July 2003(Taken Verbatum):

Even before the CD starts spinning, it's clear that The Blue Eyed Devils have an old-fashioned streak. There's the disc itself, for one thing, designed to look like a record (remember those?). There's the title, as though the band reached across a thousand miles and back several decades from their San Francisco Bay Area base for something older and grittier. And there's the fact that the album was recorded live over a five-day period at the studio of Jim Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers, no stranger to retro.

So what about the music? Well, it's solid, mostly acoustic stuff, starting innocuously enough with "Good Times," a mellow slice of harp-and-guitar with some nifty vocal duet work. "Buked and Scorned" has a high-rolling pace and cool harmonica courtesy of band member Brendan Wheatley, and "I'm Movin' Blues" sounds just a little like Mississippi John Hurt. From there, though, The Blue Eyed Devils swing wide of the traditional highway, betraying a bit of the West Coast in "Caliphono Blues" before heading for mountain-stomp territory with "Lone Mountain." While they swing right back again for "that Train," to which Mathus lend mandolin, it's evident that the Devils aren?t mere re-creationists. Actually, it's not always clear what they are; one gets the sense at times they could just as easily be playing rock-n-roll. Though this isn't their first album, being preceded by 2001's Hard Luck Town, sometimes it feels like it is.

On the other hand, they're endearingly indie, with a bit of the rawness that all blues bands mining this particular territory - music reminiscent of prewar country blues, but with just enough urban sheen to suggest the genre's transformation during its migration to Chicago, should possess. Perhaps that's not too surprising, since producer Mathus has played with Buddy Guy. There's a lot of potential here, and the band deserves a broader hearing.

GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS (Blues Revue June/July 2003)

Feb 5th, 2003

San Francisco Bay Guardian:

"They may reside on the peninsula, but the four young fellas who dub themselves the Blue Eyed Devils have their musical feet planted firmly on Chicago's South Side, circa 1939. That's where producer Lester Melrose once rounded up Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, and other blues hotshots recently arrived from the South for RCA Victor's Bluebird label and other record companies. Although it had a direct influence on the electrified post-World War II Chicago blues style fashioned by Muddy Waters, the "Bluebird sound" associated with Melrose has come to take a backseat among revivalists to the rawer country blues styles of the prewar period. "Too urban," "too commercial," the purists complained, dismissing it as hokum.

Born a generation too late to concern themselves with such arcane distinctions, the Devils dive headfirst into this upbeat style on The Legend of Shorty Brown as if they were playing for their rent and lay claim to a largely forgotten slice of Americana in the process. Chris Cotton's deep Delta drawl and expertly picked acoustic guitar lines, Brendan Wheatley's harmonica howls, Brett Klynn's two-beat slappin' bass, and the rural rhythms churned up by Justin Markovits on traps and washboard are true to tradition. Yet there's nothing academic about the 11 original tunes on their second CD, all rendered with the joyous ruckus of an old-time fish fry"

Tracks:

A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Oranges and Lemons
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Grimstock
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Hyde Park
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Hunsdon House
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Geud Man of Balllangigh
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Maid in the Moor
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Chesnut
A Series Of Eight Folk Dances: Never love thee more
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: The Turtle Dove
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: Just as the Tide was Flowing
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: Wassail Song
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: Down in Yon forest
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: We've Been Awhile A Wandering
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: An Acre of Land
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: A Farmer's Son
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: Ca' the Yowes
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: The Dark-Eyed Sailor
A Series Of Ten Folk Songs And Carols: It's of a Lawer
On Wenlock Edge
On Wenlock Edge: From Far, From Eve and Morning
On Wenlock Edge: Is My Team Ploughing
On Wenlock Edge: Oh, when I was in Love
On Wenlock Edge: Breedon Hill
On Wenlock Edge: Clun
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Tracks:

Symphony No. 3 In F Minor: Allegro
Symphony No. 3 In F Minor: Andante Modrato
Symphony No. 3 In F Minor: Scherzo
Symphony No. 3 In F Minor: Finale con Epilogo Fugato
Symphony No. 5 in D major: Preludio
Symphony No. 5 in D major: Scherzo
Symphony No. 5 in D major: Romanza
Symphony No. 5 in D major: Passacaglia

Average customer rating:

James Johnston: Opera & Song

Manufacturer: Testament
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003XJ0
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

Aida: Act 1: Celeste Aida
Il Trovatore: Act 3: Ah, Yes! Thou'rt Mine
Simon Boccanegra: Act 2: Oh Horror!...In Pity Hear Me Now
Faust: Act 3: All Hail Thou Dwelling
Carmen: Act 2: See Here, Thy Flow'ret Treasur'd Well (Flower Song)
Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg: Act 3: Morning Was Glowing (Prize Song)
La Boheme: Act 1: Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen
Madama Butterfly: Act 1: Ah, Love Me A Little (Love Duet) - James Johnston/Joyce Gartside
Pagliacci: On With The Motley
Cavalleria Rusticana: Duet: You Here, Santuzza? - James Johnston/Amy Shuard
Cavalleria Rusticana: Mother, The Red Wine Burns Me Like Fire - James Johnston/Olwen Price
Hugh The Drover: Song Of The Road
Merrie England: Act 2: Dan Cupid Hath A Garden
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: 'Tis The Day
The Dark-Eyed Sailor
Bonny Labouring Boy
Star Of The County Down
Ireland, Mother Ireland

Average customer rating:

Black Eyed Angel

Manufacturer: Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAL2ZU
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Folk Songs of the World: Quink Vocal Ensemble

Average customer rating:

Excellent
Excellent

Folk Songs of the World: Quink Vocal Ensemble
Quink Vocal Ensemble , Jose Maria Artes , Joseph Marie Canteloube , Yury Alexandrovich Falik , Y. Karni , Marc Lavry , Manuel Mossotti Littel , Bohuslav Martinu , Max Reger , and Arnold Schoenberg
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Hora!
Hitrag'ut
Sheleg Al Yiri
Loch Lomond
The Dark-Eyed Sailor
She's Like The Swallow
At The Foot Of Yonder Mountain
The Riddle Song
Nyeznyakomka
The Unfaithful Lover
Handome Mirko / Eighteen Shining Buttons
Heaven Above
Hussars / Fairy Tale
Am Donaustrom
Ej, Steht Ein Madchen
Auf Der Edre Hat Nichts Weile
Glaubst Du, Dass Ich
Ich Hab' Die Nacht Getraumet
Wie Kommt's Dass Du So Traurig Bist
Schein Uns, Du Liebe Sonne
Herzlieblich Lieb, Durch Scheiden
Virginie, Les Larm' Aux Yeux
Oh! Madelon, Je Dois Partir
Viva La Mancha!
Con El Vito!

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2002-06-17

Quink is an exceptionally talented ensemble. With voices clear and defined, they breathe new life into the traditional songs of various cultures. In particular, the arrangements are wonderful--truly lovely music, and every piece is perfectly executed. I would not hesitate to recommend this CD to anyone, however I must make mention of the fact that the title of the CD is misleading--all of the songs, with the exception of one from Israel--are from Europe, and therefore the word "world" in the title is somewhat of a fallacy. If you like European folk songs, the sound of a small chamber group, and perfect singing, I have a feeling you'll quite love this CD

Excellent.......1999-07-31

Music Info: