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The song “Aqualung,” the title track on a Jethro Tull album from 1971 bearing the same name, is quite familiar to those such as myself who were born in the middle of the Pleistocene epoch. Although it’s one of the best-known songs in Jethro Tull’s repertoire owing to its striking riff, its full meaning isn’t obvious. From a superficial reading of the lyrics, it seems to be about a bum checking out girls from a park bench while suffering from chronic bad health. (more…)
1,586 words
Five years ago I wrote an essay called “Rediscovering a Song” in which I discussed my mistaken initial assessment of “Cat’s in the Cradle,” the famous 1970s hit by Harry Chapin. I had put that assessment in a box in my mind, sealed it up, and never bothered to reopen it until many, many years later: (more…)
2,732 words
I knew an older British lady many years ago with whom I got along rather well. We bonded over our shared conservativism as well as our similar takes on various cultural touchstones in the English-speaking world. On one topic, however, we seemed to differ more than she let on. I shared with her my naïve opinion that Winston Churchill should be considered the man of the twentieth century. (more…)
2,252 words
In rock ’n’ roll it wasn’t the winners but the losers who made for the most compelling stories. — English rock journalist Nick Kent (more…)
Christian Thielemann
Christian Thielemann
519 words
Vienna Philharmonic
Christian Thielemann, conductor
Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8 in C Minor (Edition Haas)
Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, California
March 9, 2023
Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony was presented at Zellerbach Hall on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley last Thursday evening, during an uncommonly intense northern Californian rain storm. (more…)
John Foxx
John Foxx
2,632 words
Listening, they were listening. — John Foxx, The Quiet Men
Ultravox! were a band out of time. — My brother
Genres in music, like genders elsewhere, keep multiplying. But there is one which seems particular to England: art-rock. Founder members of bands often met at art college, if they weren’t getting together at Pistols or Bowie gigs (which often meant they were already at art college), and the results of visual arts students transferring their visions to a musical canvas produced a rewarding school of rock music. (more…)
Le Poème Harmonique
Le Poème Harmonique
1,333 words
Le Poème Harmonique is an early music ensemble founded by French lutenist and conductor Vincent Dumestre. The group is known for its recordings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French and Italian music, which have received several accolades. In Aux marches du palais and Plaisir d’amour, the group turns to traditional French songs, some of which are still widely known and sung today. (more…)
2,896 words
I am the last of the famous international playboys. — Morrissey, song of the same name
Reggae music is vile. — Morrissey, 1980s interview
It began as one of those pub conversations about culture and art. You know how it is: Four or five guys (no chicks, please; they tend not to know much about music, and they are a distraction) not so much shooting the breeze as machine-gunning it. (more…)
863 words
The famed Ukrainian black metal band Drudkh has returned. All Belong to the Night (“Всі Належать Ночі”), released on Friday, is Drudkh’s first studio album in four years and one of its strongest albums to date. Its potent blend of sorrow and defiant aggression provides a fitting soundtrack to the Ukrainian people’s fight against Russian imperialism. (more…)
3,718 words
“I’ve just got a new record of Civil War music,” my brother recently bragged over the telephone.
He wanted some snappy tunes to listen to, and mentioned that the Nazi marches he is so fond of have been banned from YouTube. “I’ve discovered Italian Fascist marches,” he said. “They’re very melodic and . . . so operatic.” He referred to a long-ago record cover. “They’re so warm.” (more…)
Kaldrad Tribute (M8l8th, organizátor festivalů Asgardsrei, vyhlásil, že letošní /2019/ Asgardsrei bude věnován Kaldradovu odkazu)
Kaldrad Tribute (M8l8th, organizátor festivalů Asgardsrei, vyhlásil, že letošní /2019/ Asgardsrei bude věnován Kaldradovu odkazu)
3.279 slov
English original here
Kdo chce plně porozumět významu letošního festivalu Asgardsrei, musí plně pochopit dopad scény Blazebirth Hall a zejména jejího nejplodnějšího umělce Kaldrada na NSBM (nacionálně socialistický black metal) i na sound východoevropského black metalu jako takový.
Nikdy jsem se s Kaldradem nesetkal, ani neviděl žádné z jeho nemnoha živých vystoupení. (more…)
3,643 words
Much could be said about Laibach (and has been, here at Counter-Currents). The name is the German form of Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital city. The language choice references their Austro-Hungarian past, and depending on who you ask, maybe some other era, too. Their sound is one of a kind, as unique as that of Laure LePrunenec. Laibach is best described as an industrial band with heavy martial and totalitarian influences. One notable characteristic of their unique presentation is walking a tightrope between fascist aesthetics and socialist realism. (more…)
1.718 slov
English original here
Na obalu debutového alba projektu Überfolk Music for Nations se mezi kopci vine stezka někam do dáli, symbol cesty k ideálu. Takováto cesta ale nevyhnutelně bývá nesnadná a vede prachem, blátem i trním pozemského života. Tento obraz dobře vystihuje hudbu recenzovaného dvojalbového projektu, jelikož Music for Nations skutečně vypráví o lidech s kořeny, lidech otevřených vizi, lidech spojených sdíleným původem i osudem. (more…)