More Free CDs

It’s been nearly three months already since my first CD giveaway, so, here’s another. The usual rigmarole applies. To lay claim to one of these discs, leave a comment below stating which of them you’d like. Then, send me an e-mail which includes your mailing address. I’ll decide who gets what (it’s almost always first-come, first-served), and will mail out the discs within a week or so. I’ll limit the offer to two single-CDs or one double-CD per recipient.

1. Spem in Alium, composed by Thomas Tallis, performed by the Tallis Scholars under the direction of Peter Phillips. I bought this choral classic because I love Vaughan-Williams’s Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis: alas, the theme in its original context, in this recording, anyway, didn’t make much of an impression on me.

2. String Quintet in C (D. 956), composed by Franz Schubert, performed by the Emerson Quartet with Mstislav Rostropovich. I don’t know why I’ve not been able to get into this well-regarded performance of one of Schubert’s best-loved chamber works. I may try coming back to this piece in years to come, but, for now, this disc is up for grabs.

3. Gavin Bryars: A Portrait. I thought I would enjoy this generous selection of Bryars’ works, having been intrigued by what little I’d caught of this composer’s music over the years, but these discs (it’s a 2-CD set), didn’t do it for me.

4. The String Quartets (no.s 1-3) of Michael Nyman, as performed by the Balanescu Quartet. I enjoy some of Nyman’s soundtrack & other works, and used to cherish a cassette copy of some live performances by him and his band. I found these quartets interesting enough to listen through a few times, but I’ve not returned to them since.

5. Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concertos, Nos 2 & 3, performed by the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra with Laura Mikkola as the soloist, and conducted by Eri Klas. I already had fine recordings of the first and third concertos, and only wanted to hear the second. As it turns out, I wasn’t much taken with it… This disc also features a lovely orchestral piece entitled Isle of Bliss, which I also have on another recording.

6. Styx / Viola Concerto, composed by Giya Kancheli and Sofia Gubaidulina, respectively, and both performed by the St Petersburg Maryinsky Theatre Orchestra with Yuri Bashmet as the soloist, and with Valery Gergiev conducting. I love Bashmet’s playing, and was enthused by the reviews of these contemporary works when this disc was released, but, after trying to listen through it at least half a dozen times, I was forced to concede that it wasn’t for me.

7. Naqoyqatsi composed by Philip Glass as the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, and performed by Yo-Yo Ma with the Philip Glass Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Riesman. I do like a bit of Philip Glass from time to time, just not this particular bit, as it turns out.

8. Karma by Pharoah Sanders, and his band. I guess you could call this psychedelic jazz, and it sounds great, but, it seems, I am never in the mood to listen to it.

9. Ovalprocess by Oval, aka Markus Popp. I quite enjoyed my first acquaintance with this disc of electronic ‘glitch music’, but hardly ever felt like revisiting it after that.

10. The Contino Sessions by Death in Vegas. I heard Dirge, and really liked it. Then I saw the video for Aisha, and really liked that. So I bought the CD, but didn’t like any of the other tracks…

11. Hail to the Thief by Radiohead. The Bends was one of my very favourite CDs, ca ’96-’97, but then OK Computer came out, which everyone seemed to love - apart from me. I ignored Kid A and Amnesiac, but thought I’d give the band another try with this latest effort. I liked a few of the songs, but the album as a whole didn’t catch my imagination. I guess I’m just over my Radiohead phase.

12. The Concretes by The Concretes. I probably would have loved this CD & thought it the very height of cool had it come out when I was nineteen or twenty years old. Sadly, this Swedish band’s moody charms, such as they are, are lost on the older me. Note that the copy I’m giving away is the original Swedish release, and has a different cover to the one pictured. I think the tracks are the same, though.

13. Plastic Fang, by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I’ve bought at least four JSBX CDs, out of which Now I Got Worry is probably my favourite, and Plastic Fang is, by quite a distance, my least favourite.

14. Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins. I downloaded a couple of songs by this band having heard only good things about them, and I liked one of those songs, Young Pilgrims, enough to make me want to buy this CD. When the disc arrived, however, I found I was none too keen on the album as a whole.

15. Walking With the Beggar Boys by Elf Power. I must be one of the last people to have heard of the Elephant 6 Collective, but, for the past couple of months I’ve been listening to the Olivia Tremor Control, to Circulatory System, and to the magnificent Neutral Milk Hotel more than anything else. I was pleased, then, when I saw this release by Elephant 6 alumni & co-conspirators Elf Power in my local CD store, only to be less than impressed when I actually played it… If you like, it’s all yours!

Posted by misteraitch at October 9, 2004 12:05 PM | TrackBack