Axes [Live]

Elle
"They fuse elements of British post-punk into virtuosic, irresistible grooves."

Product Description
The third album from this Brighton, England band draws on elements of their previous work, but develops them further. The result is their most assured work to date with soaring melodies and irresistible grooves. Includes a version of Leonard Cohen's "The Partisan", featured in the group's live shows. Look for them on tour with label mate Scout Niblett this spring.

Axes [Live]

Axes,Electrelane,Too Pure / Beggars,Ambient Pop,England,Indie Rock,Pop,Post-Rock/Experimental,Rock,Rock/Pop

Axes [Live]

Average customer rating:

Strong effort, more experimental yet even more bracing
Extraordinary
Splits the Difference
brilliant
Excellent!

Axes
Electrelane
Manufacturer: Too Pure / Beggars
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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No Shouts No Calls
Rock It to the Moon
Singles, B-Sides & Live
Rock It to the Moon
Silent Shout

ASIN: B0007ZP17K
Release Date: 2005-05-16

Tracks:

One, Two, Three, Lots
Bells
Two For Joy
If Not Now, When?
Eight Steps
Gone Darker
Atom's Tomb
Business or Otherwise
Those Pockets Are People
The Partisan
I Keep Losing Heart
Come Back
Suitcase

Album Description

The third album from this Brighton, England band draws on elements of their previous work, but develops them further. The result is their most assured work to date with soaring melodies and irresistible grooves. Includes a version of Leonard Cohen's "The Partisan", featured in the group's live shows. Look for them on tour with label mate Scout Niblett this spring.

Customer Reviews:

Strong effort, more experimental yet even more bracing.......2006-11-02

This is more experimental, locked into grooves and extended noise-rock, with less accessibility than on "The Power Out." While nothing leaps out on the new CD as did the choir-based Valleys or the rambuctious Take the Bit Between Your Teeth, as a whole, "Axes" feels more cohesive, more of a whole package designed to convey a serious committment to constructing blocks of sound that move and shift. Heady music, rather intellectual, yet not as austere as those too enamored of art-rock and free-jazz influences would have it. The assured, sometimes perky, often cautionary vocals prevent this from being all theory and no practice. The contrasts between the sunnier style of the words and the serious tone of the lyrics makes for an intriguing contrast, and keeps the right balance between artistic intent and popular reception. The group reminds me of a similarly eclectic ensemble a decade ago, NYC's Run On, who married the avant-garde and no-wave traditions with indie-rock directions and concise song lengths. Still a rather young band in age, Electrelane should be able to continue the path they have blazed over the past half-dozen years, and I look forward to their opening up of more connections between krautrock, NYC-inspired guitar-based orchestration, English eccentricity, and Continental ambiance.

Why this did not earn a perfect score was due to the album's mid-point nadir, Business or Otherwise, which is too loose, too wonky, and too indulgent in its lazier assembly of what in the other songs has benefited from a tighter composition, unified methods, and propulsive direction. This track halfway may have been placed to break the mood of what may have otherwise been too similar sounding an album, but while the intent is understandable, the variety of this track fails to grab the listener in the same way as the more energetic and better arranged pieces do. Steve Albini's dry and precise recording techniques work well for the band, although as on many of his indie-band productions, the results may be a bit off-putting for those wanting a lusher soundscape.

If you like this, a B-sides/live/demo collection appeared in mid-2006 that continues in this vein, hearkening back to the turn of the century and the early free-flowing nature of the band's instrumentals, moving into a more mainstream (if only by comparison) approach, and then heading off, as does this CD, into areas on both CDs like versions of The Partisan which show the band's ability to combine a message with a pulse. This is a welcome band, with intelligent music that neither falls into the pomposity of prog nor the whimsy of pop. Somehow, it manages to be firm yet not forbidding, a series of structures that tower once assembled as if to march and clatter past those watchers less able to create these massive models of moving sound. Still, we can stand and listen to them as they rumble past us.

Extraordinary.......2005-11-17

I really have to give it to Electrelane, who have continued to progress and improve album after album. With lyrics removed and unnesessary anyways, Axes reaches a new peak for them. Axes thankfully lacks the Ani DiFranco-like femi-accessability of some of their earlier work and should appeal to a perhaps smaller, yet more intellectual and diverse crowd. These women are very intense, and the album seems to have a rawness that transcends punk and a rythm that makes you feel as if they are treading the footprints of civilisation itself. After a few listens you will find yourself completely ensconsed in this album. A great album should take you somewhere that you haven't been before, and in Axes, Electrelane have pretty much gone off the deep end. It's an honor to go there with them.

Splits the Difference.......2005-05-24

Axes, Electrelane's third release, splits the difference between the instrumental raves of their debut and the more accessible post-punk of last year's The Power Out. "Split" may not be the most exact word here; nearly 75% of Axes is given to Feelies-style rave-ups - though without the Feelies devotional concentration or, pardon me, axemanship. Or lyrics - a problem when your instrumentals begin and end with the same basic chords and mid-tempo - fast - faster structures (no matter how much dissonance you throw in for variety). That said, there is still a dirty thrill to be had from the fuzzy rush of rock and roll played live in the studio, with Steve Albini's hands-off recording muddying up the sound. The songs are raw, skeletal, as if the band learned them seconds before playing them, which they probably did, with no time to belabor the obvious similarities as they rush from one giddy crescendo to the next.

brilliant.......2005-05-21

Electrelane's Axes finally arrived. It's been out for a week, I can't figure out what the hold up was but I am so happy with it. It is noticably not as catchy as The Power Out, which, probably I will be the only person that misses that. I like catchy. Especially the way that one was catchy. With hooks so smart, if I were a fish I wouldn't mind losing my life to hooks like that. I would snap on. I would take the bait. They could reel me in.

Axes is starker, and more Stockhausen, which is always popular with modern minds, not always mine. It's what John Cale's Paris 1919 should have sounded like, and was so disapointing and boring because it didn't. And it's a lot like that final, two-album leap that Talk Talk made when they transcended everything, when they abandoned pop for good and went free. I hope Electrelane stick around though.

Excellent!.......2005-05-19

Lots of people spend their time on trying to find the next "alternative music sensation." Sadly enough, most of those sensations (like, for example, The Strokes) then sound just like all those other bands before them - so it's new faces, but the same old stuff. It's actually kind of amazing (and sad) to hear how little experimentation people - musicians and listeners - are willing to tolerate.

Enters Electrelane, a band that not only on a superficial level - the band members are all women - is quite different from the rest of the crowd. I don't know whether they will be the next sensation, in a sense I don't think so (they're too unusual).

This is their third album, and it's a mix of their first two. If you've read anything about it, you probably saw it's being compared with Stereolab. If a band is like Stereolab if they use organs and have a woman singing then, sure, this is like Stereolab. But it seems to me the "stereo" you want to use for these kinds of comparisons is the one in stereotype.

The album mostly features instrumentals, recorded to sound a tad rough (Steve Albini did the recording), and the sheer variety of tracks is quite interesting. One of my favorites, "Eight Steps" sounds like an Eastern European folk band going nuts. Others feature lots of unusual instrumentations, incl. weird piano riffs and such. It's definitely a very interesting experience, and if you don't like it right away it'll definitely grow on you.

Average customer rating:

Burning Axes
Get this album!

Axes 2 Axes
Eddie Ojeda
Manufacturer: Black Lotus
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Numbers from the Beast: An All-Star Tribute to Iron Maiden
Twisted Christmas
The Dio Years
Rehab
Whitesnake - Live in the Still of the Night (Deluxe) [DVD/CD Combo]

ASIN: B000B8IT9A
Release Date: 2005-11-07

Tracks:

Tonight
Axes 2 Axes
Please Remember
Eleanor Rigby
Evil Does (What Evil Knows)
Crosstown
Senorita Knows
Love Power
Funky Monkey
Reason
Living Free

Album Description

Eddie's best known for all the years he has spent as the lead guitarist for Twisted Sister. His first solo album has nothing to prove. An album full of melody, catchy tunes, hard rock quality and metal attitude! Featuring special guests R.J Dio, Dee Snider, Joe Lynn Turner, Rudy Sarzo, Chris MacCarvill, Joe Franco, Terry Ilous.

Album Details

Ojeda's Best Known for all the Years He Has Spent as the Lead Guitarist for Twisted Sister. After Years of Creating a Name for Themselves in Bars and Clubs in the New York Area, Twisted Eventually Toured the World from Japan to Canada, Europe to Australia. Eddie Played on Eleven Albums (Which Earned a Combined 25 Gold and Platinum Records Worldwide) and Performed in Over 4000 Shows, Opening for Groups Such as Iron Maiden, Dio, Zztop, Whitesnake, and Motorhead. Ronnie Dio Chose Eddie to Perform Alongside Neal Schon, Yngwie Malmsteen, George Lynch, and Many Other Great Musicians in the "Hearing Aid" Video--heavy Metal's Contribution to the African Relief Fund. During the Twisted Period Eddie was Featured in the Motion Picture "Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure," Gave Interviews to Radio Stations Across the Country, and was Recognized in the Book, "Who's who in Rock'n'roll".

Customer Reviews:

Burning Axes.......2006-11-01

If you think a CD has to get heavy rotation on MTV to be good, listen to this one for a change, and you might learn how wrong you are. If you're interested in it because there's a version of Eleanor Rigby, however, forget it! Not only Dee Snider doesn't quite sound like Lennon or McCarney, but he's definitely done better jobs elsewhere. As to the name dropping connected with Axes 2 Axes, well, I guess Eddie Ojeda could have done without it. There are eleven solid songs on this album, they're well arranged and recorded (although I'd have preferred the sound to be a little more crisp). This is old school melodic hard rock, the kind the best of them made out there in the early eighties, and that's reason enough why you aught to put this CD under arrest in the first place. The axes burn on most tracks as on the cover, and they shure smoke from beginning to end. So if you are a part of the Twisted Sister fanbase you already own this gem. If you don't, go get it!

Get this album!.......2005-12-26

This album was a pleasent surprise! The writing is incredible and the playing is a surprise! The cover of Eleanor Rigby is probly the wrost song on the album but still worth hearing(Dee Snider singing the Beatles and a slower song to boot)Great musicianship and great songs not what you would expect from an ex twisted sister rocker!If you like instrumentals and good old fasion rockers then check this out!

Average customer rating:

Classic Swedish Power Metal Revisited

Swords & Axes
Overdrive
Manufacturer: High Voltage
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Stand Up and Fight
Blood & Thunder
Metal Attack
White Spirit
Satan's Serenade: The Early Years

ASIN: B0001BPQRU
Release Date: 2003-12-29

Tracks:

Dream Away
Black Revenge
Fightin Man
Burn In Hell
Swords And Axes
Living In Sin
Mission Of Destruction
Ode To Juliette
Broken Hearted
Die For Love
Mighty Lord
Back To Basics
Lock Og Gold
Trapped Under Ice
Ride The Fire

Album Description

2003 reissue of the Swedish metal act's 1984 album, that's unavailable domestically, features 15 tracks including 6 bonus tracks, featuring 4 reunion demos from 1993, 'Die For Love', 'Mighty Lord', 'Back To Basics' & 'Lock Of Gold', along with 2 pre-production tracks from the third album (1985), 'Trapped Under Ice' & 'Ride The Fire'. Metal For Muthas.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Swedish Power Metal Revisited.......2006-11-27

I must admit that when I think of Swedish bands, it's usually a classic melodic rock band (Europe, Treat) or a modern death metal band (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) that comes to mind, not a NWOBHM-influenced power metal band. But that's exactly the kind of music Swedish metallers Overdrive delivered.

Overdrive embraced the power metal lyrics and imagery (this album's cover is proof of that), but their sound was clearly influenced by the early 80's New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene. Their sound draws heavily on bands like Saxon, Diamond Head, White Spirit, and early Iron Maiden. It rocks hard, but there is still a melodic aspect to the songs on Swords and Axes - the band's 1984 sophomore album. It's not the same kind of Warlord/Helstar/Crimson Glory style power metal you'd find in the US at the time, nor is it the Helloween-style German power metal. This is the kind of power metal only a band fed a steady diet of NWOBHM can offer. You could slip an Overdrive song in the middle of a Neat Records compilation and no one would know the difference!

The 2003 Metal for Muthas reissue of Swords and Axes features digitally remastered sound as well as 6 bonus tracks. The first 4 tracks are from the band's decidedly un-metal 1993 reunion, but the last two (demo tracks from 1985) are straight-up (and sped-up) power metal all the way.

Swords and Axes is another lost classic that has been brought to light. Old school metal fans should make it a point to check this one out.

Average customer rating:

Wonderfully fine performance
Not ideal, but all there is

Arthur Sullivan: Ivanhoe

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Arthur Sullivan: The Contrabandista, The Foresters
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Arthur Sullivan: The Prodigal Son; Boer War Te Deum

ASIN: B000000WWK
Release Date: 1993-01-21

Tracks:

Ivanhoe: Act One, First Scene: The Hall Of Rotherwood - Introduction; Each Day This Realm Of England Faints
Ivanhoe: Act One, First Scene: The Hall Of Rotherwood - Good Thane, Most Noble Thane
Ivanhoe: Act One, First Scene: The Hall Of Rotherwood - I See But One Thing Wanting To Our Fare
Ivanhoe: Act One, First Scene: The Hall Of Rotherwood - Drink, Drink Ye All... Then Fill The Cup, Fill High
Ivanhoe: Act One, First Scene: The Hall Of Rotherwood - The Palmer! The Holy Palmer!
Ivanhoe: Act One, Second Scene: An Ante-Chamber In Rotherwood - O Moon, Art Thou Clad
Ivanhoe: Act One, Second Scene: An Ante-Chamber In Rotherwood - Good Palmer, Thou Dids't Speak Of One
Ivanhoe: Act One, Second Scene: An Ante-Chamber In Rotherwood - Like Mountain Lark
Ivanhoe: Act One, Third Scene: The Lists At Ashby-de-la-Zouch - Will There Be No More Fighting?
Ivanhoe: Act One, Third Scene: The Lists At Ashby-de-la-Zouch - Plantagenesta!
Ivanhoe: Act One, Third Scene: The Lists At Ashby-de-la-Zouch - Isaac, My Jew, My Purse Of Gold
Ivanhoe: Act One, Third Scene: The Lists At Ashby-de-la-Zouch - What Means His Motto?

Tracks:

Ivanhoe: Act Two, First Scene: Friar Tuck's Hut At Copmanhurst - Strange Lodging This For England's King
Ivanhoe: Act Two, First Scene: Friar Tuck's Hut At Copmanhurst - There Is A Custom...I Ask Not Wealth
Ivanhoe: Act Two, First Scene: Friar Tuck's Hut At Copmanhurst - Not Bad, Say I...The Wind Blows Cold ('Ho, Jolly Jenkin!')
Ivanhoe: Act Two, First Scene: Friar Tuck's Hut At Copmanhurst - And Now For Combat!
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Second Scene: Castle Torquilstone - Will Not Our Captor Dare To Show His Face?
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Second Scene: Castle Torquilstone - Welcome, Sir Templar!...Woo Thou Thy Snowflake
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Third Scene: A Turret Chamber In Torquilstone - Whet The Keen Axes
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Third Scene: A Turret Chamber In Torquilstone - O Awful Depth...Lord Of Our Chosen Race
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Third Scene: A Turret Chamber In Torquilstone - Take Thou These Jewels
Ivanhoe: Act Two, Third Scene: A Turret Chamber In Torquilstone - What Sound Is That?

Tracks:

Ivanhoe: Act Three, First Scene: Room In Torquilstone; Assault; Burning Of The Castle - Happy With Winged Feet
Ivanhoe: Act Three, First Scene: Room In Torquilstone; Assault; Burning Of The Castle - Tend Thou The Knight Thou Lovest
Ivanhoe: Act Three, First Scene: Room In Torquilstone; Assault; Burning Of The Castle - How Cans't Thou Know?
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Second Scene: The Forest - Light Foot Upon The Dancing Green
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Second Scene: The Forest - Look, Where Thy Moody Father Walks Apart...Forgive Thy Son
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Second Scene: The Forest - How Oft Beneath The Far-Off Syrian Skies
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Third Scene: The Preceptory Of The Templars, Templestowe - Fremuere Principles
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Third Scene: The Preceptory Of The Templars, Templestowe - Thou Jewish Girl, Who Art Condemned
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Third Scene: The Preceptory Of The Templars, Templestowe - A Champion! A Champion!
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Third Scene: The Preceptory Of The Templars, Templestowe - Dead! He Is Dead!
Ivanhoe: Act Three, Third Scene: The Preceptory Of The Templars, Templestowe - See Where The Banner Of England

Customer Reviews:

Wonderfully fine performance.......2004-10-10

This is one opera I have been searching for for a very long time. I read about it in a book about Sullivan. Of course, when they wrote of the opera, they showed the scene, in drawing, where Rebecca informs Ivanhoe of the battle with the Black Knight. The drawing (based on the actual performance when it premiered) grabbed my attention completely. I just wondered what this composer could do with real opera (I loved his operettas completely, and they showed quite often Sullivan was quite capable of deep emotional pathose, even if in the end he was spoofing it more than reflecting it).

Well, all the years of searching and waiting to know were not a waste. Firstly, I have never been able to locate a score of this work (as I have done with many ancient operas or forgotten ones), so I was just as in the dark as anyone else as to what to expect. I was incredibly surprised, not to mention, thrilled with the results. No, Sullivan is no Wagner, nor is he even Verdi, but he is wonderfully beautiful in his own right. Why this work has not entered into the opera houses, I have no clue, excepting maybe because it is English opera, which never does well. Speaking of "ENGLISH OPERA", here we have a recording where for the most part we CAN understand the words (a thing I never seem to find in professional recordings of English opera, or American opera; they may as well sing in gibberish, for that is exactly what it sounds like -- perhaps the composers have no clue what works in their own language?). The performers, as we know, are not professionals, but rather semi-professionals. There are some uneven performances, and sometimes the characters are not quite as developed as one would like, there are even times the orchestra sounds like it lost the beat (but this is EXTREMELY RARE), the sound quality of the recording is OK, but nothing stellar, however, it is not bad either. Yet, in spite of these drawbacks, we CAN and DO understand the words, and for once a rather strange sounding English libretto sounds natural and unforced with stupid poetry that really leaves you laughing. These wonderfully dedicated performers, no matter their individual difficulties, give us a wonderfully vivid performance where we can finally understand the opera (like all our Italian friends do when Italian opera is sung for them). That was such a treat for me, to finally actually understand the words of opera sung in my own language.

What makes this opera such a thrill, at least for me, is the natural fall of the words and the music, especially in the recitatives. Unlike most English opera where the musical line sounds completely foreign to the natural lilt of the words, Sullivan has an uncanny way of writing lines, melodies, and recitatives that flow naturally from the language itself. That was a really exciting experience to endure. For once, I didn't wish that someone would teach the composers to listen to the flow of English to gain an insight into melody. Maybe it was all those operettas that he wrote prior to this "serios opera" that taught him what he knew, or maybe, he just had a good ear for his own language and enough sense to know that trying to graft Italian or German musical idioms onto things just wasn't the correct choice.

Is it a great work? Well, no, it will never get into the record books as a perfect opera, nor will it shove Mozart or Wagner off the stage, but it is really quite good just the same. Even with all the flaws this recording has, I am so glad it is out there so I could at last hear what music fleshed out that old drawing I saw in a book all those years ago. Though Sullivan's music is not anywhere near as dramatic as one may imagine it should be, it fits well with the scene and the over all concept of the work.

I really recommend this recording, for it, at least for now, is the only one we have (and if they make a professional one, I really hope they screen the singers well, no big names if they can't sing English so we can understand it; Sullivan, as with Wagner, you MUST understand the words or the meaning is completely lost). The entire recording is really quite enjoyable, and it doesn't disappoint.

Not ideal, but all there is.......2000-08-05

If you are interested in Arthur Sullivan's Music without Gilbert, this is one of the works you should have in your collection. Unfortunately the quality of the performance is inconsistent. The orchestra is at times good, at others sloppy. The soloists are also of varying quality. This is, after all, a recording by a semi-professional group. That said, if you are willing to accept the flaws, this is currently the only version on disc. Perhaps someday the BBC will record a version, as they did with Sullivan's "Rose of Persia". In the current recording, the most pleasing selections are: The Act 3 Scene 2 ensemble "Look where thy moody father walks apart", Friar Tuck's rollicking "Ho, Jolly Jenkin", The Templar's passionate scene "Woo thou thy snowflake", and Rebecca's evocative aria "Lord of our chosen race". Not all it could be, but it's all we've got.

Average customer rating:

Another masterpiece from John, Jerry and Will.
Hellecasters surpass themselves

Hell 3: New Axes to Grind
The Hellecasters
Manufacturer: Pharaoh
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

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Escape From Hollywood
Essential Listening 1
Nashville Guitars
Return of the Hellecasters
Escape From Hollywood

ASIN: B000005DX0
Release Date: 1997-10-20

Tracks:

T.W.P.P.T.
Riddler's Journey
Ghosts Of 42nd Street
Mist Beyond Delhi
Almost Dawn
Mad Cows At Ease
As We Know It
Mr. Natural
Deiter's Lounge
Breaking Through

Customer Reviews:

Another masterpiece from John, Jerry and Will........2000-07-31

The title says it all. Three of the finest country-style players come together again to delight listeners with some of their most impressive sounds to date. Every song is a winner, but two of them really stand out to me. "Ghosts of 42nd Street" is one of my all-time favorite Hellecasters songs and is the track I listen to more than any other on this album. It has a great jazzy sound to it with some excellent piano as well. Great work, guys! "Mad Cows At Ease" is the other stand out to me. It is a funny return to the wild, lightning-fast style they are so well known for. Only the second song I have with cows in it, the other being "Farm Fiddlin'" by Zakk Wylde. For any fan of the guitar out there, buy this now and you will not be disappointed!

Hellecasters surpass themselves.......1997-12-08

With Hell III: New Axes to Grind, the Hellecasters (John Jorgenson, Jerry Donahue and Will Ray) prove that innovative guitar bands are not an extinct species. Drawing on influences from Django Reinhardt, to the Grateful Dead, to Indian pop music, the 'casters offer up 10 instrumental tracks to melt the wax out of your ears. In spite of their technical virtuousity, these three clearly play for the shear fun of it -- much to the benefit of the listener. This disk is nearly flawless. END

Average customer rating:

Hell 3: New Axes to Grind
The Hellecasters
Manufacturer: Pharaoh Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

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Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000254VX0
Release Date: 1997-10-07

Tracks:

T.W.P.P.T.
Riddler's Jouney
Ghost's of 42nd Street
Mist Beyond Delhi
Almost Dawn
Mad Cows at Ease
As We Know It
Mr. Natural
Deiter's Lounge
Breaking Through

Average customer rating:

2 Many Axes

Manufacturer: PfMentum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000AMLVO2
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Average customer rating:

Moravian songs, via Janacek, Godar, Bittova and Skampa
Skampa Quartet is great - the singer... yikes

Janácek: Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs
Leos Janacek , Iva Bittová , ¿kampa Quartet , Vladimír Godár , and Skampa Quartet
Manufacturer: Supraphon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
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Elida
Cikory
Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs

ASIN: B00061X9YC
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Tracks:

Tuzba (Desire)
Stst'/Steadiness
Lavecka (Bench)
Stesk (Woe) - Skampa Quartet
Obrk Mileho (Lover's Likeness)
Svatba Kom (Gnats Wedding)
Kouzlo (Charm)
Slib (Promise)
Orisek Lovy (Hazel Nut) - Skampa Quartet
La (Love)
Jablunka (Apple Tree)
Jabucko (Sweet Apple)
Co Je to Za Nebe (What Sky)
Safva C (Alderman's Daughter)
Cervenab(Little Red Apples)
Dobr(Good Hunt)
He Warden)
Kony Mil [My Lover's Horses]
Kv MilodejnLove Herbs)
Pcko (Posy)
LoucenMilou
Jindy a NynThen and Now)
T (Uneasy)
VzknMessage)
Belegrade (Belgrade) - Skampa Quartet
Milenec Vrah (Lover Killer)
Pomluva (Calumny)
LoucenParting)
Sirota (Lonely Soul)
Osamel Alone)
Komu Kytka (For Whom the Posy)
Z Od Mil (Love Shining)
Polajka (Thyme)
Kol(KolTown)
Psano (Love Letter)
Karafi(Carnation)
Rozmarsemary)
Pamy (Mementos)
Zpevulenka (Tender Little Tune)
Nejistota (Uncertainty)
Kukacka (Cuckoo)
Zahrcka (Fence)
Muzikanti (Musicians)
Vernost' (Faithfulness)
Bolavlava (Headache)
Osud (Fate)
Daleko ProvdanWedded Far Away)
Budk (Wakening)
Dobrada (Sound Advice)
Slzy echou (Tears of Comfort)
Koukol (Corncockle)
Kalina (Guelder Rose)
Pohreb Zbojnv

Customer Reviews:

Moravian songs, via Janacek, Godar, Bittova and Skampa.......2006-05-09

This is a unique recording of Janacek's transcriptions of Moravian folk songs. Originally for piano and voice, they have been transcribed by Slovak composer Vladimir Godar for string quartet and (occasionally) three-voice male chorus. Here they are performed by renowned Czech singer and violinist Iva Bittova, accompanied by the Skampa Quartet and chorus. The effect is not so much of classical liede, but of authentic eastern European "popular" songs - the sonority of the string quartet adds to this in no small part. Janacek would be proud.

Skampa Quartet is great - the singer... yikes.......2005-07-28

I honestly did not know what I was getting myself into when I bought this CD. I love Janacek, I love folk songs... how could I go wrong? Iva Bittova! I was concerned that she would have a 50yr old woobly voice, but instead what exists is a thin VERY nasal tone... perhaps she should be singing traditional Bulgarian music! The voice is expressive, just ugly.
The recording quality is not very good, either. On many of the tracks, Iva seems to be muffled and in the background of the recording.
Really - dont waste your time and money, unless you really would just like to have a recording of over 50 Janacek songs.

Average customer rating:

A Black Stormcloud Of Sorrow From The Frozen North

Swords & Axes
Overdrive
Manufacturer: Sound
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000007WOX
Release Date: 1998-01-21

Customer Reviews:

A Black Stormcloud Of Sorrow From The Frozen North.......2000-12-30

About seventeen years ago, five anonymous Swedes set a lost Wagnerian opera to power chords and created the nine track garden of misery that is Swords and Axes. Well,not really,but it certaninly sounds like they did. Imagine White Lion's Mike Tramp singing on Judas Priest's 2nd album, Sad Wings Of Destiny,and you're almost there. Pelle Thuresson has to possess the most tragic vocal style I have ever heard on a recording. Unlike many vocalists from his era and region of the world,Thuresson doesn't overwhelm you with operatics but rather arrests you with a detached and understated delivery. The same can be said about the musicianship,which at first listen can sound rudimentary. Yet after repeated listens,the simple riffs engulf you like an onyx tornado. Swords And Axes is a subtle yet devastating masterpiece. I remember thinking to myself "What's the big deal?" after my first aural encounter with this disc-like ouija board,but the spirits trapped within it compelled me to keep giving it a spin. For an example,I offer "Dream Away". Upon an initial listen,its acoustic intro and staccato riff may not impress,but you want to hear it second time regardless. And when you do,you can begin to hear the Priest-like genius hidden inside it.There are some filler tunes here and there(namely an instrumental),but the tall oaks that are the stronger tracks("Black Revenge","Broken Hearted",even the song titles are deceptively basic)cast nigh impenetrable shadows over them all. "Why only four stars?" you may ask. Well ,after you find your way out of Overdrive's dark forest,you'll find a cache of tracks that work in the opposite way. The extra songs(taken from an even rarer EP titled "Reflexions") take you off guard with their bright and shiny pop-metal joy,but upon closer inspection,are nothing more than fool's gold;making you want to lose yourself in the woods behind once more. "Reflexions" seems forced,like the band were trying to have a birthday party right after a funeral. The EP shows a band too fatigued to celebrate after an epic and costly battle,but trying nonetheless. Pretend that the bonus cuts aren't there and ignore the silly "airbrushed-on-the-side-of-a-van" album cover for maximum effect.