Bedroom Music

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Garlands entered Stratosphere Sound on the last day of summer and emerged on New Year's Day with their first long-player. Their most ambitious work to date, it is definitely an autumn record, all honey, wine, and melancholy. The recording reunited Garlands with old friends Gary Maurer and Andy Chase. Chase, who is part-owner of Stratosphere and a founding member of the band Ivy, has worked with Garlands in the past, mixing their previous release (picnic, lightning), which garnered wide praise from indie press and charted remarkably well on CMJ radio. For the new project, Maurer took the reigns as producer, engineer, whip-cracker, and love-giver. In addition to past efforts mixing and recording Garlands records, his impressive resume includes work with Luna, Cornershop, Fountains of Wayne, A Girl Called Eddy, and his own critically acclaimed band Hem. An old-school producer, Maurer is meticulous about getting every sound just right, from the lead vocal to the subtlest ambient background burbles. His production aesthetic was the perfect complement to the music, creating a gauzy dream world where even the fast songs feel mellow. The result may be the best bedroom record since the Velvet Underground's third.

Tracks:

Beyond Belief
Tears Before Bedtime
Shabby Doll
The Long Honeymoon
Man Out Of Time
Almost Blue
...And In Every Home
The Loved Ones
Human Hands
Kid About It
Little Savage
Boy With A Problem
Pidgin English
You Little Fool
Town Cryer

Tracks:

The Land Of Give And Take (Early Version of Beyond Belief)
Tears Before Bedtime (Alternate Version)
Man Out Of Time (Alternate Version)
Human Hands (Early Version)
Kid About It (Alternate Version)
Little Savage (Alternate Version)
You Little Fool (Alternate Version)
Town Cryer (Alternate Version)
Little Goody Two Shoes (Alteranate Version)
The Town Where Time Stood Still (Alternate Version)
...And In Every Home (Rehearsal)
I Turn Around
From Head To Toe
The World Of Broken Hearts
Night Time
Really Mystified
The Stamping Ground
Shabby Doll (Demo)
Man Out Of Time (Demo)
You Little Fool (Demo)
Town Cryer (Demo)
Seconds Of Pleasure (Demo)
Imperial Bedroom

Amazon.com

Imperial Bedroom was the bridge between Elvis Costello's early rock-oriented records and his later, more musically complex creations. The album found the singer-songwriter trying to approximate the jazz-tinged music of pre-rock Tin Pan Alley composers like the Gershwins and Cole Porter. Whether he completely succeeded is still argued, but the late, great Chet Baker did make the beautiful saloon song "Almost Blue" part of his concert repertoire. Costello's other goal was to capture the lush, symphonic production techniques used by the latter-day Beatles. This he achieved by hiring longtime Fabs engineer Geoff Emerick to produce. The album's first five songs work as an almost seamless suite of music, with "Man Out of Time" standing as one of Costello's most gorgeous compositions. A second disc features alternate takes and singles, including the extra-catchy "Imperial Bedroom," written and recorded after the album's completion. --Bill Holdship

Album Description

Produced under the direct supervision of Elvis Costello. Housed in a slim-line package, each rerelease contains a deluxe 28-page booklet with brand-new liner notes by Elvis Costello, rare photos, reproductions of memorabilia, and printed song lyrics. Album includes an entire second disc of bonus material!

Album Description

Produced under the direct supervision of Elvis Costello, this double CD includes a deluxe 28-page booklet with brand new liner notes by Elvis Costello, rare photos, reproductions of memorabilia and printed song lyrics. Also includes 23 bonus cuts on disc 2 - alternate versions of 'Tears Before Bedtime', 'Man Out Of Time', 'Kid About It', 'Little Savage', 'You Little Fool', 'Little Goody Two Shoes' & 'The Town Where Time Stood Still' - demo versions of 'Shabby Doll', 'Man Out Of Time', 'You Little Fool', 'Town Cryer' & 'Seconds Of Pleasure' plus 'The Land Of Give And Take' (early version of 'Beyond Belief'), 'Human Hands' (early version), 'Town Cryer' (fast version), '...And In Every Home' (rehearsal), 'I Turn Around', 'From Head To Toe', 'The World Of Broken Hearts', 'Night Time', 'Really Mystified', 'The Stamping Ground' & 'Imperial Bedroom'. Rhino. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

Odyssey through the EC catalog continues (2.5 stars).......2007-06-25

Costello fans will likely brand me a heretic, but 'Bedroom' seems to me to be one of his more overrated recordings. 'Beyond Belief' and 'Man Out of Time' certainly rate consideration in a 'Best of' compilation. 'Long Honeymoon', 'Human Hands' and 'Every Home' are somewhat interesting. However, beyond that I find little that's especially compelling here.

There are treats on the bonus disc that I enjoy more than much of the original 'Bedroom' recordings, thanks in part to Steve Nieve's scorching work on the ivories. In fact, the alternative version of 'The Town Where Time Stood Still' and the toe-tap inducing "From Head to Toe" merit inclusion on my desert-island list of Elvis favorites.

Quite good but Costello has done better.......2007-06-21

Elvis has long admitted to being a Beatles fan, of course (going as far as calling them the greatest band ever in Rolling Stone). And this is the closest he got to embracing the Fab Four's occasional dipping into "classical rock" (that is, rock influenced by classical music - I'm not trying to invent a new phrase for "classic rock"). The result is an odd, but mostly satisfying effort. I say "mostly" because sometimes he goes totally overboard in places, making You Little Fool, Town Cryer, Pidgin English and ...And Every Home sound treacly, overloading them with harpsichord, strings, Baroque piano, flutes, clarinets, bassoons, lutes, hautboys, kazoos... (okay, I made a couple of those up).
Overproduced? Well, yeah. But that's part of its charm, I guess you could say. And more often than not it's a classic: Take the cynical Beyond Belief or the ballads Almost Blue and Man Out of Time. Shabby Doll, Tears Before Bedtime and The Long Honeymoon (which has the only accordion part I've ever heard that I can honestly say I like) aren't as prominent as those three, but they have the same feel and are just as good. And Costello's lyricism and immortal melodicism are diminished.
However, there are at least two better Costello records out there. Maybe three. My favorite Elvis albums are the first three (and this one), and I can honestly say at least This Year's Model and Armed Forces (and probably My Aim is True) are better. So this is quite good, but don't start here.

A Fever Dream.......2007-06-12

When I first discovered this album I was in high school in '82. I bought the LP and started to feel ill, so I went home, grabbed my headphones, put the needle on the record and laid down on the couch. As the first side progressed, my temperature rose as I settled into what later became mono. I quickly became delirious and began to hover in a hallucinatory state as the music filled me. Who knows if I was still awake when the first side ended, but apparently I got up and flipped the record at some point. The perspectives in the music were distorted and mixed up. Drums were obviously being played loudly, but were buried in the mix as if they were screaming in vain to be heard. Voices whispered, crooned, howled, laughed and threatened. Hammond organs melted into harpsichords. The bass player sounded like he was either tuning up throughout the whole album or he was just kidding around. Acoustic guitars sounded impossibly swollen, as if they were trying to make the needle jump out of the groove. The lyrics were evocative of everything and nothing but in my fevered mind made perfect sense. Afraid that words would fail him, the writer used them all up as quickly as he could. I listened to this album over and over when I was in bed for weeks, trying in vain to grasp it's scope. Staring at the lyric sheet didn't help as the lyrics were all smashed together with no gaps in a single block of typewritten text as if were some sort of ransom note. The whole album sounded like the inside of someone's head with thoughts spilling every which way, some resolved, most unresolved. When I was well, I revisited the album, sure that I had imagined the whole thing. I hadn't. It remains one of my favorite E.C. albums and one of my all time favorites. Always compelling and a true one of a kind. Elvis and the Attractions all sound like they're at their wits' end, racing against madness that is hot on their trails, expressing the race in a musical language all their own. Masterpiece, for sure. (I personally prefer the Ryco version with bonus tracks on one disc, as the bonus tracks provide relief in the form of a somewhat light-hearted postscript to the intensities preceding.)

THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER MADE!!!.......2007-02-13

My favorite album is IMPERIAL BEDROOM by Elvis Costello because it has a spectacular sound. Elvis Costello has always been a great lyricist and this album show us why.Songs like Almost Blue,The Long Honeymoon,Man out of time, and just about every other song in this album is an instant classic.IMPERIAL BEDROOM is Elvis Costello's masterpiece. I would even go as far as to say that IMPERIAL BEDROOM is the greatest album of all time.Iknow that would make a BEATLE MANIAC angry at me,but i have listen to SGT.PEPPER LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND so many times before and i'm just not impress by it at all.I think it's overrated don't get me wrong it's not a bad album,but i just think IMPERIAL BEDROOM BLOWS IT AWAY BY A LOT OF MILES!!!

My favorite album of all time....and I'm a 40-year Beatlemaniac!!.......2006-07-31

"A Hard Day's Night" and "Abbey Road" take the #2 and #3 places on my all-time list, right behind this spectacular gem. The SEARING impression this album made on me has as much to do with the events of my young adulthood at the time as it does with the brilliant music I was hearing from the LP on my turntable. I won't bore you with details but here's the basics: my friend Jon turned me onto this album; it had recently been released and I had just broken up with the first person I ever truly fell in love with....and you know how dramatic/traumatic these things are to a 19-year old! The album perfectly mirrored my feelings in a particular time & place as no album had before or since. I don't mean to suggest that this is a set of maudlin "break-up" songs best suited for jilted 19-year olds; on the contrary, it runs a broader gamut of musical stylings and displays a bolder sophistication than had been present in his recordings up to that time....but it still includes his trademark savage guitar attacks and pointed, acid-tongued lyrics. The production is flawless, unique and quite striking. The essence of this album's profound effect on me is the seemingly effortless way that raw, hypersensitive, uncommunicatable emotions are magically transformed into aural beauty of the absolute highest quality. When the album first "got hold of me", I was listening to it literally 2 or 3 or 4 times a day....and this went on for months and months. Obsessed? You bet.

The "Masterpiece?" campaign for the album definitely hit the nail on the head with this one. Not discounting the brilliance of his earlier, tougher albums (which I got into only after hearing "Imperial Bedroom"), Elvis & the Attractions turned a corner with this recording and climbed to staggering heights of musical greatness.

Elvis was armed with an unparalleled batch of new songs. Produced by one-time Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, and with the Attractions at the top of their game, the album absolutely soars from the first note to the last. Elvis's lyrics here are as wicked or as tender as ever and are unquestionably some of the finest of his career; additionally, he displays a striking, previously-unheard range of vocal stylings.

I play this album with a commitment to not interrupt it. It MUST be listened to as one continuous piece of music. I know it's difficult for most people to find an extra hour to pay undivided attention to music, but it's worth the effort. It's almost impossible for me to choose "standout" tracks from this album, but here's my short list:

"Man Out Of Time" - staggeringly majestic, absolutely perfect, possibly my very favorite Elvis song
"Little Savage" - incredibly infectious, endlessly clever
"Pidgeon English" - brutal and tender, funny and sad, all at the same time; devastating lyrics
"You Little Fool" - aaahhhhhhhhhh: CLASSIC Elvis wickedness!
"Town Cryer" - beautifully orchestrated, touching sentiments

There's so much more to Elvis than his earlier "angry punk" catalog....and he'd be the first to remind us of that. There's plenty of that attitude here, but by crafting a unique, unexpected and unforgettable album it was also a giant step forward for Elvis & The Attractions. This recording turned me into a lifelong Elvis fan....and, with this album, I turned my sister into one, too. She's probably more rabidly devoted to Elvis than even I!! "Masterpiece", indeed...!!

By the way: I wore out three cassettes of this recording in 2 years. I've literally listened to "Imperial Bedroom" at least 400 times over the last 24 years and I've played it in every format: LP, cassette, CD.

Average customer rating:

Decent interpretation marred by terrible intonation
excellent choice for Romeo & Juliet
Superior interpretation, same remastering

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

$7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (complete ballet); Wolfgang Sawallisch; Philadelphia Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Prokofiev: Cinderella
Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Complete opera); Beverly Sills; Nicolai Gedda; James Levine; London Symphony Orchestra

ASIN: B0002XV310
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Tracks:

No.1 Introduction
No.2 Romeo
No.3 The Street Awakens
No.4 Morning Dance
No.5 The Quarrel
No.6 The Fight
No.7 The Prince Gives His Order
No.8 Interlude
No.9 Preparing For The Ball
No.10 Juliet As A Young Girl
No.11 Arrival Of The Guests
No.12 Masks
No.13 Dance Of The Knights
No.14 Juliet's Variation
No.15 Mercutio
No.16 Madrigal
No.17 Tybalt Recognises Romeo
No.18 Departure Of The Guests (Gavotte)
No.19 Balcony Scene
No.20 Romeo's Variation
No.21 Love Dance
No.22 Folk Dance
No.23 Romeo And Mercutio
No.24 Dance Of The Five Couples
No.25 Dance With The Mandolins
No.26 The Nurse

Tracks:

No.27 The Nurse Gives Romeo The Note From Juliet
No.28 Romeo With Friar Laurence
No.29 Juliet With Friar Laurence
No.30 The People Continue To Make Merry
No.31 Folk Dance
No.32 Tybalt Meets Mercutio
No.33 Tybalt And Mercutio Fight
No.34 Mercutio Dies
No.35 Romeo Decides To Avenge Mercutio's Death
No.36 Finale
No.37 Introduction
No.38 Romeo And Juliet (Juliet's Bedroom)
No.39 The Last Farewell
No.40 The Nurse
No.41 Juliet Refuses To Marry Paris
No.42 Juliet Alone
No.43 Interlude
No.44 At Friar Laurence's
No.45 Interlude
No.46 Juliet's Bedroom
No.47 Juliet Alone
No.48 Morning Serenade
No.49 Dance Of The Girls With The Lillies
No.50 At Juliet's Bedside
No.51 Juliet's Funeral
No.52 Death Of Juliet

Customer Reviews:

Decent interpretation marred by terrible intonation.......2007-04-06

I had great difficulty restraining myself from turning this off when listening to it for the first time, because London does such a terrible job of being anywhere near in tune for much of it. Combined with many missed notes in the brass, messy passagework in the strings, and woodwind playing that seems intent on doing anything BUT creating any sort of phrase, it's doubtful this is worth even the small price Amazon has it listed for.

For a budget recording of this that's actually decent, I'd be much more inclined to buy Naxos' release of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine's version under Andrew Mogrelia.

excellent choice for Romeo & Juliet.......2006-04-14

I am writing mainly in response to Sarman (Sweden). I own the fforte edition and have played this many years on several systems. On Onkyo DR-UN7 dvd receiver driving Epos 22's, the sound is excellent, as it was using Panasonic dvd player, NAD amplifier, and Epos 11's. Previn is one of best interpreters of Prokofiev--after all, he is a Russian born in Berlin. I don't know who could call either the playing or the re-mastering "dull". The natural alternative is Gergiev, re-issued on Philips great 50 recordings at medium price. That is also quite good. I would avoid the others.

Superior interpretation, same remastering.......2006-04-01

This interpretation is dramatic and organic, for example the "Death of Tybalt" is real spooky, whereas in "the people continue to make merry" the orchestra sounds like a local band in a parade, and so on. It sounds Prokofiev ingenious to me. This is clearly my favourite out of R&J recordings. The Ancerl/CPO heartbreaking recording of some 10 scenes might be the most delicious of them all, but again it does not diminish the Previn recording.

Someone called this Previn recording "lackluster". It could have to do with the recording technique, the sound is slightly dull at times. This is the same remastering as previously released on EMI double forte. However at times I think it sounds fine. It might have to do with my HiFi system or small speakers, I might try another pair. I'd appreciate comments from other reviewers on this.

Varese Sarabande 25th Anniversary Celebration

Average customer rating:

A good value
The Sound Track Since Bernard Hermann
Good mix of film music
A mixed collection of movie music
Uplifts your soul, takes your mind into the heavens

Varese Sarabande 25th Anniversary Celebration

Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Star Wars | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Paramount 90th Anniversary Collection: Scores
In Session: Film Music Celebration
The Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection
Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music
The Incredible Film Music Box

ASIN: B00008WI90
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Tracks:

The Man from Snowy River (Bruce Rowland)
The Winds of War (Bob Cobert)
Blue Velvet (Angelo Badalamenti)
Witness (Maurice Jarre)
Raising Arizona (Carter Burwell)
Pee Wees Big Adventure (Danny Elfman)
Halloween (John Carpenter)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (Charles Bernstein)
The Fly (Howard Shore)
RoboCop (Basil Poledouris)
The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
The Right Stuff (Bill Conti)
The Final Conflict (Jerry Goldsmith)
The Abyss (Alan Silvestri)
Brainstorm (James Horner)
Peggy Sue Got Married (John Barry)
My Left Foot (Elmer Bernstein)
The Dead (Alex North)
Stanley & Iris (John Williams)
The Milagro Beanfield War (Dave Grusin)
Driving Miss Daisy (Hans Zimmer)

Tracks:

Steel Magnolias (Georges Delerue)
Unforgiven (Lennie Niehaus and Clint Eastwood)
Raggedy Man (Jerry Goldsmith)
The Grifters (Elmer Bernstein)
Green Card (Hans Zimmer)
City Slickers (Marc Shaiman)
Father Of The Bride (Alan Silvestri)
While You Were Sleeping (Randy Edelman)
Babe (Nigel Westlake)
The Adventures Of The Great Mouse Detective (Henry Mancini)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Laurence Rosenthal)
The Secret Garden (Zbigniew Preisner)
A Little Princess (Patrick Doyle)
Rudy (Jerry Goldsmith)
Iron Will (Joel McNeely)
Memphis Belle (George Fenton)
Eye Of The Needle (Mikl)
Total Recall (Jerry Goldsmith)
Back To The Future Part III (Alan Silvestri)

Tracks:

To Die For (Danny Elfman)
The Player (Thomas Newman)
Black Robe (Georges Delerue)
Medicine Man (Jerry Goldsmith)
2001 (Alex North)
Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire (Joel McNeely)
The Crow (Graeme Revell)
Blade (Mark Isham)
The Omen (Jerry Goldsmith)
Vertigo (Bernard Herrmann)
Scream (Marco Beltrami)
The Sixth Sense (James Newton Howard)
Xena: Warrior Princess (Joseph LoDuca)
Air Force One (Jerry Goldsmith)
Starship Troopers (Basil Poledouris)
The Matrix (Don Davis)
The Iron Giant (Michael Kamen)
Youve Got Mail (George Fenton)
A Little Romance (Georges Delerue)
Pleasantville (Randy Newman)

Tracks:

Sunset Boulevard (Franz Waxman)
L.A. Confidential (Jerry Goldsmith)
Rounders (Christopher Young)
The Score (Howard Shore)
The Replacements (John Debney)
Gone In 60 Seconds (Trevor Rabin)
The Bourne Identity (John Powell)
Rush Hour 2 (Lalo Schifrin)
XXX (Randy Edelman)
Die Hard (Michael Kamen)
The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones)
Moby Dick (Christopher Gordon)
The Mists Of Avalon (Lee Holdridge)
Cleopatra (Alex North)
Life As A House (Mark Isham)
Emma (Rachel Portman)
In The Bedroom (Thomas Newman)
Cast Away (Alan Silvestri)
One True Thing (Cliff Eidelman)
Unfaithful (Jan A.P. Kaczmarek)
Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstein)
Ice Age (David Newman)
Shrek (Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell)

Customer Reviews:

A good value.......2007-05-17

I wasn't expecting to have 4 discs for this price, and the music is a quality selection of film music, giving a good scope of the genre, and a very listenable transfer.

The Sound Track Since Bernard Hermann.......2006-07-25

This collection is bound to capture your heart and evoke a tin ear on successive tracks. I found much to like and some duds - easy to skip over.
Very good value.

Good mix of film music.......2006-07-02

Good mix of films!
I'm a big fan of this soundtrack music and will be looking for more CD's like this.

A mixed collection of movie music.......2006-02-23

For the price, this CD is a great bargain. The musical selections, as you might expect, are mixed in quality ranging from extraordinary to so so, the balance being worthwhile and interesting. Sonically the CD is excellent.

Uplifts your soul, takes your mind into the heavens.......2006-01-06

I have been listening to great scores for many years and this collection is truly inspirational in so far as the choice of different scores takes you on a journey of listening pleasure matched by only a few collections.The price is incredibly reasonable for hours of listening pleasure. Don't pass this one up

Average customer rating:

Amazing music
Speaks at low volume
An amazing debut album

Speaks Volumes
Nico Muhly
Manufacturer: Bedroom Community
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Volta
The Witches of Venice
Songs by Mahler, Handel & Peter Lieberson
Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs
Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar

ASIN: B000KCHW2W
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Tracks:

Clear Music
It Goes Without Saying
Honest Music
Quiet Music
Pillaging Music
Hudson Cycle
Keep in Touch

Customer Reviews:

Amazing music.......2007-07-26

Nico Muhly's music reminds me of a combination of chamber music, Bjoerk's Medulla CD (Muhly actually played the piano on one of the pieces), and Philip Glass / Steve Reich / John Adams (in that order?) influence. The music is exciting, because there are many things happening, and often you wouldn't reall expect them. What's also imortant in this context is the producer, Valgeir Sigurdsson - who is not simply a producer in the classical sense, but who actively influences the music in his very own way.

Do I recommend this? Certainly yes! A very good start - and my personal favorite - is the last song on the CD, "Keep in touch".

Speaks at low volume.......2007-04-22

This debut disk has gotten a lot of hype, but it's hard to hear why. The music is spare and pretty, but not a whole lot more. Well, it is Arty with a capital A but it almost sounds like the main concern is not to do anything aesthetically uncool, rather than to really try anything or take a risk. There are a few odd touches, like having the clarinettist miked so closely that the clacking of the keys sounds like tap dancing. That made me want to turn down the volume.

An amazing debut album.......2007-04-15

Nico Mulhy's "Speaks Volumes" is an amazing collection of diverse, beautiful works for small chamber ensemble. Covering an amazingly wide range of styles, the album's tracks betray the composer's own unique biography: Columbia University English major, Julliard Composition student, collaborator with both Bjork and Antony and the Johnsons, and accomplished percussionist and keyboard player. Most of all, his six-year stint as an editor and performer with the Philip Glass ensemble shines through. Deliberate, serious, and sparse, "Speaks Volumes" is loud and clear.

Average customer rating:

Excellent performances of a selection of Herrmann's later film scores
Classic, at reduced price

Bernard Herrmann: The Film Scores

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Soundtracks | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Vertigo: Original Motion Picture Score (1995 Re-recording)
Bernard Herrmann: The Film Scores
Bernard Herrmann: The Twilight Zone (Television Series Score Re-recording)
The Ghost And Mrs. Muir: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Bernard Herrmann Film Scores: From Citizen Kane To Taxi Driver

ASIN: B00077F9AM
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Customer Reviews:

Excellent performances of a selection of Herrmann's later film scores.......2007-06-15

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic produce fine performances of a selection of Herrmann's post-1955 film scores.

The music itself is of variable musical interest.
The music from "The Man who Knew too Much", "Vertigo", "Marnie", "North by Northwest", "Taxi Driver" and "Psycho" shows Herrmann at his best.
"Torn Curtain" and "Fahrenheit 451" find Herrmann at his least inspired and it is a pity Salonen didn't jettison these items in favour of something else.

The performances cannot be faulted and lovers of Herrmann's music will find much to enjoy here.

Classic, at reduced price.......2006-08-15

As much (if not more) than any other film composer, Bernard Herrmann's music stands up to listening independent of the films. The emphasis here is on Herrmann's scores for Hitchcock, when both men were arguably at their creative heights.

Note: this is NOT a collection of original soundtrack recordings. However, Salonen and the LA Philharmonic at absolutely top-notch, and the recording is beautiful. Certain subtleties are actually easier to hear on this recording than on some of the originals.

As if I couldn't recommend this highly enough, the price has been reduced on this reissue! This deserves a wide audience, don't hesitate to buy it.

Average customer rating:

Exceptional Collection

Bedroom Adagios

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pavanes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music

More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Midnight Adagios
Heavenly Adagios
Cello Adagios
Movie Adagios
Evening Adagios

ASIN: B0000BWVBV
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Tracks:

Concerto For Harpischord, Strings, And Continuo No. 5 In F Minor, BWV 1056 - Raymond Leppard
Concerto Grosso In B Minor, Op. 6, No. 12 - The Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields
Pavane For A Dead Princess - Steve Erquiaga
Romance For String Orchestra - The Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields
Carnival Of The Animals - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 - Alexandre Lagoya
En Bateau - l'ochestre de la suisse romande
Humming Chorus - BBC Concert Orchestra
Sicilienne - Steve Erquaiaga
Italiana - The Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields
Una Furtiva Lagrima - BBC Concert Orchestra
Chanson De Matin, Op. 15, No. 2 - BBC Concert Orchestra
Suite In E Major For Lute, BWV 1006A/1000 - Eduardo Fernandez
Touch Her Soft Lips, And Part - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Suite for Cello Solo No. 3 In C Major, BWV 1009 - Pepe Romero
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Julian Lloyd Webber
Pavane - Nicholas Kraemer
Serenade For Strings In E Major, Op. 22 - The Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields

Tracks:

O Mio Babbino Caro - BBC Concert Orchestra
Cavatina - Goran Sollscher
La Fileuse - L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande
Flower Duet (Sous Le Dome Epais) - BBC Concert Orchestra
Pied-En-L'Air - Nicholas Kraemer
Arioso - Steve Erquiaga
Two Aquarelles - English Chamber Orchestra
In Paradisum - Stephen Cleobury
After A Dream - Steve Erquiaga
Suite For Cello Solo No. 1 In G Major, BWV 1007 - Mischa Maisky
My Bonny Boy - The Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields
Concerto For Guitar In D Major, RV 93 - Eduardo Fernandez
Un Bel Di - BBC Concert Orchestra
Holbert Suite, Op. 40 - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Concerto For Oboe In D Minor, BWV 1059 - Heinz Holliger
Vissi D'Arte - BBC Concert Orchestra
Sheep May Safely Graze - William Bennett
Fantasia On Greensleeves - William Bennett

Customer Reviews:

Exceptional Collection.......2003-12-31

I have heard many, many classical "mood" collections, and this is one of the best, with many surprise selections.
It is consistently restful and calming.
I recommend it highly.

Average customer rating:

Elvis shatters the expectations

Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Manufacturer: Hip-O Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

New Wave | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

International | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

My Aim Is True
Armed Forces
Get Happy!!
This Year's Model
King of America

ASIN: B000OHZJLY
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Tracks:

Beyond Belief
Tears Before Bedtime
Shabby Doll
The Long Honeymoon
Man Out Of Time
Almost Blue
...And In Every Home
The Loved Ones
Human Hands
Kid About It
Little Savage
Boy With A Problem
Pidgin English
You Little Fool
Town Cryer

Amazon.com essential recording

"Masterpiece?" was the word--in Columbia Records' ad campaign, anyway--when Imperial Bedroom appeared in 1982. As the album plays, though, the emphasis occasionally seems better placed on the question mark. This is a very good, sometimes dazzling album, but as a heart-wrencher it holds not a candle to King of America, and as a singular example of elegant pop craft it can't top Costello's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, Painted from Memory (not too shabby as a heart-wrencher itself, come to think of it). Of course, there are plenty of small miracles, and one huge one in the mind-bending "Beyond Belief." Imperial Bedroom is gorgeous more often than not, but in a way, there's more heart in the simple Smokey Robinson and the Miracles cover, "From Head to Toe," that appeared as a single later that year. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

Elvis shatters the expectations.......2007-05-06

When "Imperial Bedroom" first hit the shelves, critics were falling over themselves with superlatives. Even Columbia's "Artist...Masterpiece?" ad campaign was begging the question. Was this the album that would crack the new wave stereotype that had been hung around Elvis Costello's neck since "My Aim Is True?"
The answer was yes...and no.

Granted, hiring Geoff Emerick to put his Beatle-esque touches made for a handsome, rich sound, more than any other album in EC's discography. The expansiveness paid off right from the album's opener, "Beyond Belief." Toying with his own range and the overlapping vocal parts, Elvis' willingness to experiment rocked the foundations of all the early "punks" of the period. (Think of how closely Joe Jackson's "Night And Day" and The Police's "Synchronicity" followed.) The experiments were also inherent to the arrangements. The high pitched strings that slip out of the album's fade to "Town Cryer" were four cellos overdubbed to sound like an entire string section, as I recall.

Working from the pretext that they could experiment like the Beatles did, each song was tinkered and toyed with till (as you can hear in the comparisons to the bonus disc's demo versions) they barely resembled their original ideas. It made the original album's side one a song suite of near "Sgt. Pepper" proportions, with the standout of "Man Out Of Time" marking the perfect bridge between the Elvis of old and the Elvis of new. His anguished howl that breaks the song open and then ushers it into the heartbreak of "Almost Blue" reset the boundaries of compositions in 1982.

Comparisons to Gershwin and Porter were also being tossed around when "Imperial Bedroom" first came out, one suspects they had more to do with overzealous critics trying to make associations with "serious music" than to the obvious merits of Elvis' songwriting prowess. The debt to Tin Pan Alley ("The Long Honeymoon") is truly there. But the lyrical jabs and jibes are still pure Costello, and a line like "In a private detective overcoat and dirty deadman's shoes" would be perfect for that kind of stage production cross. I'd be hard pressed to imagine Cole Porter working up the anger behind "Shabby Doll."

In short, the dark and introspective "Imperial Bedroom" was a turning point for Elvis, final proof that he was at the crest of the still expanding wave of British writers that had begun emerging in the early 80's. It was likely the best album of 1982 as well.

Average customer rating:

Ambitious, Sprawling, Brilliant
Elvis Costello's Best
Some great tunes, too much production
Good Stuff
Simply a Classic

Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

New Wave | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Singer Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

King of America
Blood & Chocolate
Almost Blue
Goodbye Cruel World
My Aim Is True

ASIN: B0000009UX
Release Date: 1994-08-30

Tracks:

Beyond Belief
Tears Before Bedtime
Shabby Doll
The Long Honeymoon
Man Out Of Time
Almost Blue
.....And In Every Home
The Loved Ones
Human Hands
Kid About It
Little Savage
Boy With A Problem
Pidgin English
You Little Fool
Town Cryer
From Head To Toe
The World Of Broken Hearts
Night Time
Really Mystified
I Turn Around
Seconds Of Pleasure
The Stamping Ground
Shabby Doll
Imperial Bedroom

Amazon.com essential recording

"Masterpiece?" was the word--in Columbia Records' ad campaign, anyway--when Imperial Bedroom appeared in 1982. As the album plays, though, the emphasis occasionally seems better placed on the question mark. This is a very good, sometimes dazzling album, but as a heart wrencher it holds not a candle to King of America, and as a singular example of elegant pop craft it can't top Costello's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, Painted from Memory (not too shabby as a heart wrencher itself, come to think of it). Of course, there are plenty of small miracles, and one huge one in the mind-bending "Beyond Belief." Imperial Bedroom is gorgeous more often than not, but in a way, there's more heart in the simple Smokey Robinson and the Miracles cover, "From Head to Toe," that appears as a bonus track on the Rykodisc edition. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

Ambitious, Sprawling, Brilliant.......2005-12-17

The opening four songs of "Imperial Bedroom" are a simply amazing outpouring of Elvis at his finest; "Beyond Belief", "Tears Before Bedtime", "Shabby Doll", and "The Long Honeymoon" come at you like a brilliant bully, daring you not to be dazzled by their lyrical dexterity and musical diversity. "Beyond Belief" is that, with a spine tingling delivery of Elvis at-his-best lyrics that almost qualify as an instrument in itself. The first four are followed by "Man Out Of Time", which is fine also, and which manages to pull in the reigns of the almost out-of-control locomotive energy created by the first four songs. This definitely is a work of great ambition by an Elvis Costello at the peak of his songwriting powers, and its sprawl only occasionally dilutes the towering achievement of "Imperial Bedroom". "Town Cryer" is promising but never finds its edge, and is not helped by overproduction. In general it is the (over)production that is the only real weakness, and it's not a significant weakness. The sheer, raw talent of the young Elvis flexing his prodigious songwriting muscles more than compensates for a few too many horns.

Elvis Costello's Best.......2004-07-12

This is definitely Elvis Costello's best work to date. All of the songs are strong with nary a dud on the album. It's also notable that the additional songs that were provided for this CD version are great too. If you are new to Elvis's work, this is the best place to start.

Some great tunes, too much production.......2002-11-21

Listen to the opening lines of "The Loved Ones" and you hear Costello at his best. Snappy lines, sung with force and definitely dripping with caustic wit. Then we hit the piano "noodling" and the song starts to drift away from me. The CD is filled with moments like this; great lyrics and a solid melody often lost amidst overproduced musical adornments. Stripped down, this is some of Costello's best stuff; songs that walk the fine line between emotion and intellect. But every time I feel like I get close to the heart of the song, I feel lost in the middle of music that serves no purpose. This is definitely worth a listen and I still enjoy popping it in the machine, but I feel some of his other works is more deserving of the high praise given IMPERIAL BEDROOM.

Good Stuff.......2002-07-08

Seems Elvis really had fun with this album. I like musicians who have serious sensibilities and yet are capable of maintaining a sense of humor.

Simply a Classic.......2002-05-28

See below for effusive praise. Suffice it to say that Elvis Costello is not my favorite artist by any means, yet this is unquestionably one of my three favorite albums of all-time, and easily my favorite album of the 1980s.

Average customer rating:

Huh, only 3.5 stars?
More of the Same
It'll grow on you
Not your average pop music
A cohesive electronic statement

One Bedroom
Sea & Cake
Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Indie & Lo Fi | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Fawn
The Sea and Cake
The Biz
Sam Prekop
Nassau

ASIN: B00006JCJF
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Tracks:

Four Corners
Left Side Clouded
Hotel Tell
Le Baron
Shoulder Length
One Bedroom
Interiors
Mr. F
Try Nothing
Sound & Vision

Amazon.com

A busy slate of side projects seems to have cast this vaunted Chicago "post-rock supergroup" (featuring refugees from Shrimp Boat, The Coctails, and Tortoise) into occasional limbo--this is only their third album since 1997. But it's those very activities that arguably inspired the Sea and Cake to record this vibrant, often sublime collection. Colored by a seductive cocktail of influences that includes Brazilian jazz and arty kraut-rock textures, with singer-songwriter Sam Prekop's breathy vocals a much less precious take on Michael Franks's, the 10 tracks on One Bedroom are a masterly exercise in restraint, subtle sophistication, and melodic playfulness. Prekop's über-cool delivery takes center stage throughout, whether it's playing against jazzy, electronic-infused backdrops on standouts like the dreamy "Left Side Clouded," the nervous rhythms of "Hotel Tell," the breezy ambitions of "Shoulder Length," or the spare beauty of the title track. It's an album whose languorous jazz-pop dares defy deconstruction, and one that glides toward the future with a clean, well-defined sound several musical strata removed from its members' alt-rock roots. --Jerry McCulley

Album Description

Their first record in over two years finds them as innovative and vibrant as ever. Cutting guitar notes, melodic, propulsive, and rhythmic drumming, swirling synthesizers and distinct vocals that float in and out. While there are moments of transcendental bliss, the record retains an overall pop element throughout. Includes the Bowie cover 'Sound And Vision' with The Aluminum Group joining in. Thrill Jockey. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

Huh, only 3.5 stars?.......2006-04-22

(4.5 stars, but not a strong enough 4.5 to give it a five on this scale... if that makes sense - so a 4.4?)
This is a very good album, very clean, certainly bordering at times... I'll say near, not 'on', easy listening (though not nearly as much as Oui), but really it sounds great - and it's far too subtle, well done, tightly executed, sonorously pleasing, etc., to be "easy listening" - such a label insults this album. But I had to review it when I saw that it was only averaging 3.5 stars. Okay, yeah, 4 isn't a huge difference, but this album deserves (IMO, of course) to be in the 4 star range.

More of the Same.......2004-02-16

Like the Bodean's, these guys from Chicago can put out three CD's with six songs on them! I liked "Fawn" and "The Biz" sort of. The latter I gave to a friend. But, I was expecting something new form them on "One Bedroom". Nope.

It'll grow on you.......2004-01-25

The only TSAC album I had before this was "The Biz", but I generally like to get the artists most recent albums before I get the older ones.

Don't believe the 3.5 star average (at least before this)...this album is great. It's hard to say much that hasn't been said, but I will say this..."Le Baron" is an amazing song. "Interiors" really strikes some personal chords as well.

Each song on the album is quite unique. The drumming, as these guys are known for, is excellent. I would recommend listening to these guys with a bass system...most groups that aren't rap or techno generally don't exploit bass too much, and as a result, those two genres sound awesome with a subwoofer, while other music doesn't benefit as much. Let me say this; with a sub, One Bedroom (and The Biz) is absolutely amazing. Listen to "Hotel Tell" with a good system if you don't believe me.

Anyways, as the title of this review suggests, first time or two you listen to it, it's not gonna be as good. There are times when you can really get into it - coming from someone who loves a lot of music and tries to listen to it as much as possible, if any album is so enticing that I'll listen to it three times in one day, there's gonna be something special there. One Bedroom is one of those albums.

Not your average pop music.......2003-04-07

With One Bedroom, TSAC have proven their knack for writing quirky pop songs that still endure long after its 40 minutes have ended. At the same time, TSAC lives up the motto of "Sound and Vision": giving the listener a view of the world, as seen through them - a hypnotic panorama of sound that doesn't disappoint, and sure enough, is only getting better over time.

The first track, "Four Corners," immediately sets the tone for the entire album, and TSAC is at the top of their creative game here. A hypnotic (as well as memorable) riff from Archer Prewitt and John McEntire's 4-to-the-floor drumming sets things off, but not before the electronics help intensify the proceedings (along with Eric Claridge's always melodic bass playing). Not until the 3-minute mark do we hear Sammy Prekop chiming in with his first words of the whole album, and he delivers the goods. Like an indie rock answer to Dave Matthews, Prekop may be hard to figure out in terms of what he's singing about, but this is the TSAC I've always loved & known, & this track really stands up for repeated listening.

"Hotel Tell," the title track, "Mr. F," "Interiors," and a cover of Bowie's "Sound & Vision" are no doubt highlights on an already awesome album, done up in typical TSAC fashion, but the indisputable highlight that deserves some mentioning is "Shoulder Length." Again, McEntire's fetish for analog synths and old-school rhythm machines really work together brilliantly, but on this track, even more so. However, they don't distract from the center of attention - you guessed it, Sam Prekop right up front in the mix. With its dub/reggae/Can/Neu!/techno vibe all over the place, "Shoulder Length", even if it clocks in at just over 3 minutes, is worth every second of its playing time. It's also lyrically accessible, even if it takes a few listens to figure out what Prekop's singing about - scoring & getting some: "Summertime/don't give it all away" and making moves without missing opportunities that are meant to be: "Specialize/begin/a look in your eye/well you're gonna miss it/don't tell/I'm believing this is true"

In short, One Bedroom is the best TSAC album to date, and for those who want to give their DMB or John Mayer CDs a break for a moment, this is the album to pick up (no pressure, of course).
Just prepare to listen to this album with open ears and an open mind to get at why TSAC is an awesome group that defies categorization and trends and still continues to do so after 10 years.

A cohesive electronic statement.......2003-03-29

This album is a huge departure from The Sea and Cake's previous album, Oui. On Oui, the songs were very warm, the synthesizers were used to support the traditional rock instruments. On One Bedroom, the songs, while still engaging, are more electronic and alien. The guitar steps aside for the synthesizer, and the drum machines seem to appear more than the drum set. The division between songs that center on more traditional rock arrangements and more electronic compositions is actually pretty equal. What's amazing is that the album is cohesive enough to make the instrumental songs flow seamlessly with the heavily electronic songs. Not only do the songs flow well on this album, the cover of David Bowie's "Sound + Vision" makes sense next to the original compositions. So, if you're interested in the Chicago music scene, if you like electronic music, or if you're a fan of tasteful light rock, go listen to this album now.