It's After the End of the World,Don't You Know That Yet?

Well.
Of course we're all still here.
Even this blog is still here, and that's saying a mouthful these days.

I'd just like to say Happy Holidays to you who visit here occasionally or often- I'm sure some of you have noticed the slowing-down of the postings here.
The current state of the sphere we call blog is not good.
Perhaps the new year holds promise of better things to come.
Let's hope so.

On behalf of myself and grey calx-
Best Wishes to our members and visitors for the New Year.

Peace and Good Will.

The Story of the Music Box

The Story of the Music Box

released on LP in 1971

Now is a good time to pull this one out and play it. There are a few Yuletide tunes included among the recordings of various music boxes.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Il Trovatore (Anvil Chorus)  {1:08}
composed by Giuseppe Verdi
music box used: "Household" Regina

2.  The Beautiful Blue Danube  {1:31}
composed by Johann Strauss Jr.
music box used: "Console" Regina

3.  Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep  {1:33}
composed by J. P. Knight
music box used: "Console" Regina

4.  Folk Song  {0:29}
music box used: Three Bell Swiss Box

5.  Artist's Life  {0:43}
composed by Johann Strauss Jr.
music box used: Eighteen Bell Swiss Box

6.  Garden of Dreams  {1:09}
composed by Clare Kummer
music box used: "Household" Regina

7.  Mocking Bird  {0:58}
composed by Alice Hawthorne
music box used: "Concert" Regina

8.  A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wedding March)  {0:56}
composed by Felix Mendelssohn
music box used: Capitol

9.  The Blue Bells of Scotland  {1:30}
music box used: "Console" Regina

10.  The Bohemian Girl (Then You'll Remember Me)  {1:31}
composed by Michael Balfe
music box used: "Console" Regina

11.  Lucia di Lammermoor (Sextet)  {1:10}
composed by Gaetano Donizetti
music box used: "Household" Regina

12.  Six Airs  {3:43}
composed by Jacques Offenbach
music box used: Swiss Mandolin Box

13.  Onward Christian Soldiers  {0:58}
composed by Arthur Sullivan
music box used: "Concert" Regina

14.  The Gypsy Baron (Gallop)  {0:58}
composed by Johann Strauss Jr.
music box used: "Concert" Regina

Side 2

1.  Jingle Bells  {0:53}
music box used: "Household" Regina

2.  Adeste Fideles  {1:38}
music box used: "Console" Regina

3.  Skaters' Waltz  {1:00}
composed by Emil von Waldteufel
music box used: "Concert" Regina

4.  First Noel  {1:03}
music box used: "Household" Regina

5.  William Tell (Prayer)  {1:00}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini
music box used: "Household" Regina

6.  Nightingale Song  {0:59}
composed by Carl Zeller
music box used: "Concert" Regina

7.  Angel's Serenade  {0:54}
composed by Gaetano Braga
music box used: "Household" Regina

8.  Stabat Mater (Cuijus Animan)  {0:45}
composed by Gioacchino Rossini
music box used: Capitol

9.  Auld Lang Syne  {1:23}
music box used: Swiss "Coffin" Box

10.  Hark the Herald Angels Sing  {1:43}
music box used: "Household" Regina

11.  Ave Maria  {1:03}
composed by Charles Gounod
music box used: "Household" Regina

12.  Song of the Virgin Mary  {0:49}
music box used: American Olympia

13.  Monastery Bells  {0:55}
composed by Lefebure-Wiley
music box used: "Concert" Regina

14.  O Sanctissima  {0:55}
music box used: American Olympia

15.  Cloister Bells  {0:56}
music box used: "Concert" Regina

16.  Holy City  {1:21}
composed by Stephen Adams
music box used: "Console" Regina

17.  Der Freischutz (Hunting Chorus)  {1:04}
composed by Carl Maria von Weber
music box used: "Household" Regina

18.  Bells of Cornville  {1:03}
composed by Robert Planquette
music box used: "Concert" Regina

19.  Silent Night  {2:06}
composed by Franz Gruber
music box used: "Household" Regina

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Message from the Management: Xmas/Holiday Not the End of the World After All edition

It looks like it's been a while since I last posted here.

* It was one year and five days ago that DrEyescope joined the Closet as a contributor marking his first anniversary here. I would like to thank DrEyescope for all of the great music that he has shared during his time here so far from Lukas Foss to Fat and for turning me on to some stuff that was once new to my ears. May this blog be blessed with his generosity for some time to come.
To be honest, DrEyescope is the main reason why this blog is still active. A little over a year ago, I had given some thought to shutting this blog down or at least no longer updating the blog. I believed that the time for this blog had come. At the time, I was still in school and held a full-time job where I attempted to start my career. There was very little free time to devote to the blog. Along came DrEyescope to give this place some new life and energy.

* I am trying to find time to re-up a bunch of dead links. Sadly dead links are abundant here as of late. Hopefully, there will be some of those links active again sometime during the next few days. Keep watching the "Updates about Old Posts" page.

* I may have a new post (or two) sometime before Christmas. I hope everyone has recovered from the non-event of the end of the world.

Merry Holidays and/or Happy Christmas!

Fat-Plays For You (1988 Amok)

Fat Plays For You (1988 Amok)

First words: If you liked Massacre's Killing Time, you will undoubtedly like Fat Plays For You.
 
Notes excerpted from the back cover (enclosed):
 
Looking back on our lives from a certain age,most of us recall our youthful enthusiasms with rueful amusement.How many grand designs have we lefr the the wayside,how many wild geese have we chased? Taking experience as a guide, we might be inclined to agree with Bishop Warburton's description of enthusiasm as "That temper of mind on which the imagination has got the better of judgement".
(...)
The relationship between the individual and the society is at the base of the ceremonies which we more commonly associate with foarmality. Indeed the very first ceremony most of us attend is designed to introduce us to knochling down to hard work or study when the first spurt of enthusiastic energy is over. Nothing could be mor natural. Youth is a process of sorting out preferences until one arrives at the elements of a permanent identity.
The trouble with some people is that they never do decide which enthusiasms to cultivate and which to eliminate. In the end their interests die like flowers in a garden full of weeds.

The ceremony makes an interesting illustration. The audience streams into the hall in all manner of dress,from mink stoles to tattered jeans.But when the orchestra takes the stage,the players are dressed uniformly-the men in black coats,the women in black evening gowns.The conductor walks to the posium in white tie and tails.On closer examination, children are in children's clothes and in that style of dress , they contain a pattern particular to them.Nearly all are next to water in some form or another - oceans,rivers,lakes.On a personal level,they can be very unpleasant companions.
(...)
At the same time, it is impossible to argue with Ralph Waldo Emerson's statement that "every great and commanding moment int the annals of the world is the triumph of some enthusiasm." So enthusiasm is a neutral source of energy that can be applied for good or ill.In some cases, it may seem to be applied for neither.Much of the energy it creates is simply dissipated to no particular end.However, the distance and difficulties of weather continue to make it amount the most expensive in the world.
(...)

Note:The front cover is pilfered directly from an ESP-Disk by Charles Tyler.

Biographical information from correspondence with Jeff Noble:

Fat was a No-wave group formed in Montreal, which recorded 7 albums, though only 4 were released (Plays For You, Hit, Automat Hi-life and Magnetizer). They recorded Plays for You in Montreal in 1988, then moved to Barcelona and recorded the others during their 4 year stay in Europe, though Hit was recorded in NYC in 1989.  Most notably they spent just under a year in Morocco, where they rehearsed and recorded with a local group in the Souss Valley called Ahouad Mia - a father and son on ahouad (flute) and a father and son on bendir frame drums. They were also joined by Ben Lamouden -probably the best known rebab player in the country as well as other percussionists and singers.
 
Mr.Noble considers this later work to be the best music which Fat ever recorded, and he is currently working on the final mixing and mastering of this and the mastering of the other two unreleased records as well as the re-issue of the four previously released discs all in 2013.

I have also enclosed a magazine interview with Guitarist Eric Rosenzveig from just after the release of this album.

























Eric Rosenzveig:Guitar
Jeff Noble:Bass
Phil Giborski:Drums

Fat-Plays For You (1988 Amok)

Side One:

a1-Rhino (2:53)

a2-Space Cowboy (4:33)

a3-Nu-Pa-Yip (6:11)

a4-A Man Is His Dog (6:57)
 

Side Two:

b1-Crank (1:50)

b2-Simplicity (2:11)

b3-Lampshade Of Fear (3:18)

b4-Generic (5:00)

b5-ESP (5:31)

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