23-06-2016, 21:46
Altamira â Mark Knopfer & Evelyn Glennie
The soundtrack to the movie of the same name. The Cave of Altamira is the place in Spain where fantastic Paleolithic era paintings were discovered by the young daughter of an amateur archaeologist in eighteen something or other. Loads of bison etc., all incredibly well preserved â itâs a World Heritage Site.
This music is Sir Mark in an entirely different mode â donât expect anything remotely resembling Dire Straits, nor any of his grittier/folk based recent offerings; this is MK at the helm of a totally different ship. He wrote all the music for this soundtrack, with the exception of tracks 3 & 7 (there are 10 in all) which are by Evelyn Glennie. For those who donât know, Dame Evelyn has been deaf since the age of 12. Clearly itâs been no impediment whatsoever to her career as a percussionist, and she claims that deafness is misunderstood â that one can hear with other parts of the body. Sheâs a marimba specialist and performs barefoot so one would draw the obvious conclusion that her feet pick up on the resonance of the various instruments that way. Amazing!
Other notable personnel appearing on this album are: cellist, Caroline Dale - she played the cello in the movie Hilary and Jackie, is presently principal cellist of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and the English Chamber Orchestra, and has contributed to recordings by David Gilmour, also toured with artists as diverse as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Oasis and David Gray!!, Guy Fletcher â keys and music producer â he was with Dire Straits and has since pretty much been involved in most of MKâs releases, and Michael McGoldrick â specialist in folk and Celtic whistling things. There is some serious pedigree here.
Itâs so very interesting to hear â there is no fancy flamboyant fingerwork, in fact, if anything the opposite is true â beautiful, clear, true guitar notes with a slightly Spanish flavour, and in some places, a Celtic sound, however, nothing is overdone. The cello is gorgeous, the percussion formidable, and the whole package is sophisticated and impeccably produced â it just oozes class IMHO. All instrumental with those two purely Glennie pieces which are quite, quite fascinating - in her âDream of the Bisonâ I swear you can actually feel the herd thundering along.
Although I definitely want to see the movie, for me, the music conjures it all up in any case - a bit like reading a book first, before viewing something youâve already imagined. Very happy with this purchase!
Still no additional clips on the tube, so this is the title track â again â¦
[video=youtube;xdAhSZB2lh8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdAhSZB2lh8[/video]
The soundtrack to the movie of the same name. The Cave of Altamira is the place in Spain where fantastic Paleolithic era paintings were discovered by the young daughter of an amateur archaeologist in eighteen something or other. Loads of bison etc., all incredibly well preserved â itâs a World Heritage Site.
This music is Sir Mark in an entirely different mode â donât expect anything remotely resembling Dire Straits, nor any of his grittier/folk based recent offerings; this is MK at the helm of a totally different ship. He wrote all the music for this soundtrack, with the exception of tracks 3 & 7 (there are 10 in all) which are by Evelyn Glennie. For those who donât know, Dame Evelyn has been deaf since the age of 12. Clearly itâs been no impediment whatsoever to her career as a percussionist, and she claims that deafness is misunderstood â that one can hear with other parts of the body. Sheâs a marimba specialist and performs barefoot so one would draw the obvious conclusion that her feet pick up on the resonance of the various instruments that way. Amazing!
Other notable personnel appearing on this album are: cellist, Caroline Dale - she played the cello in the movie Hilary and Jackie, is presently principal cellist of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and the English Chamber Orchestra, and has contributed to recordings by David Gilmour, also toured with artists as diverse as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Oasis and David Gray!!, Guy Fletcher â keys and music producer â he was with Dire Straits and has since pretty much been involved in most of MKâs releases, and Michael McGoldrick â specialist in folk and Celtic whistling things. There is some serious pedigree here.
Itâs so very interesting to hear â there is no fancy flamboyant fingerwork, in fact, if anything the opposite is true â beautiful, clear, true guitar notes with a slightly Spanish flavour, and in some places, a Celtic sound, however, nothing is overdone. The cello is gorgeous, the percussion formidable, and the whole package is sophisticated and impeccably produced â it just oozes class IMHO. All instrumental with those two purely Glennie pieces which are quite, quite fascinating - in her âDream of the Bisonâ I swear you can actually feel the herd thundering along.
Although I definitely want to see the movie, for me, the music conjures it all up in any case - a bit like reading a book first, before viewing something youâve already imagined. Very happy with this purchase!
Still no additional clips on the tube, so this is the title track â again â¦
[video=youtube;xdAhSZB2lh8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdAhSZB2lh8[/video]
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
![[Image: 220px-Graffiti_Bridge_%28film%29.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Graffiti_Bridge_(film).jpg)
![[Image: 220px-TheBeeGeesSaturdayNightFeveralbumcover.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheBeeGeesSaturdayNightFeveralbumcover.jpg)
![[Image: 518I1YvFREL._AC_US218_.jpg]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518I1YvFREL._AC_US218_.jpg)
![[Image: 220px-Elvisbluehawaiisoundtrack.jpg]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elvisbluehawaiisoundtrack.jpg)
