Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 15:38:24 -0500 From: Dickerson Architecture Subject: Michael Brook Anyone have and/or have a review of this new CD? I may have been away if the list has already discussed it, sorry. Steve Gasparyan, Djivan / Brook, Michael Black Rock Label - Real World Catalog No. - RLW46230.2 Origin - USA 10/20/98 - compact disc 1998 collaborative outing by noted 4AD recording artist Michael Brook with world musician Djivan Gasparyan. The black volcanic landscape of Lanzarote provided the unifying location for Gasparyan's mellow, gorgeous performances and the inimitable creativity of guitarist/ producer Brook. Together with multi-instrumentalist Richard Evans, they have created a dramatic, sultry and beautiful soundscape. Eight tracks. In Stock AB-CD price $14.97 Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 14:58:19 +0200 From: Andras Salamon Subject: Gasparyan/Brook (was: Re: Nick Drake) Someone asked what the Gasparyan/Brook collaboration on Realworld was like. The short answer is that I don't like Gasparyan's vocal noodlings, they remind me of crusty central European dirges wafting around when I was growing up (yes, I know Armenia is not in central Europe). This is no reflection on the merit of Gasparyan's art, just a reflection of my personal insecurities--they say Hungary has the world's highest suicide rate, and I am starting to see why. Brook does his usual mellow guitar reverb sounds, and Gasparyan's duduk playing (it's an ancient instrument which was influenced by the oboe*) is intriguing. His voice is technically quite good, too. I could grow to like the music if the vocal style weren't so intrusive. The long answer will have to wait until I can actually remember it in my head enough to write about. (* watch out for irony) Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 17:45:04 +0200 From: Andras nospam Salamon Subject: Re: michael brook/4AD On Fri, Dec 11, 1998 at 11:18:58AM +0100, mundt wrote: > it might actually be worth checking the liner notes of michael's recent > collaboration output with djivan casp ... eh, gasparyan if he still > appears 'courtesy of 4ad'. that's the way real world records used to > credit him on his works with nusrat fateh ali khan. No mention of 4AD anywhere. Then again, it may have appeared in small print in an inconspicuous place on the pack. I've revised my opinion of Gasparyan's singing: it doesn't grate anymore, instead the instruments appear more prominent in the mix. And the sound is very dreamy, very distracting--perfect as background for weekend afternoon lounging in the sun (yay, it's midsummer here in the southern hemisphere). That the lyrics aren't intelligible to me is a good thing: the sleeve notes imply that they are about soulful EuroAsian folk music staples like darkened souls, tortured love expressed in tortuous metaphors, the motherland (with variations involving warm bullets lodged in hearts), and more forced metaphors. This kind of stuff is intensely irritating to me, so it is just as well it is sung in Armenian.