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Tuesday, February 07, 2006

The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever

In the interim between shutting off the Dish service and sending back the DVR, I've found myself unable to keep from surfing the channels, even though there are only 6 that I still have access to. These free options consist of the Pay Per View guide, NASA Television, Shope at Home (SAH) - home shopping with such not to be missed shows like Coin Vault, the Sky Angel Satellite Television Network and it's painful Faces of Abortion program, the English-language 24-hour news channel of China Central Television - CCTV News, and the Fair & Balanced Fox News.

While flipping through this variety of astonishingly agenda biased channels (guess that's what you get for free), I came across an advertisement for perhaps the most amazingly named album of all time: The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever. I must admidt that I don't know too much about classical music, but all of it seems pretty dang relaxing. Anyone out there have any experience with this one, or the second edition, or The Most Relaxing Opera Album in the World...Ever? Is The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe just some cheap rip-off, or really the best? Do they come with warning labels advising that they should not be played while driving?

Jamie Lidell - Multiply.mp3

posted by jds @ 2/07/2006 11:31:00 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At 1:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Oooo. I'm taking this quote:

    I must admidt that I don't know too much about classical music, but all of it seems pretty dang relaxing...

    and using it for inspiration on my blog. Sometime in the next week or so, I will post some insanely unrelaxing classical music.

    Perhaps Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima."

    :D

    I've always been a bit shy about posting the total insano classical music on my blog, but now I guess I need to.

     

  • At 2:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I sold a lot of copies of that record when I worked at HMV Montreal. Give the people what they want, you know.

    To be fair, marketing aside, the performances are mostly solid -- if they're going to cherry-pick slow movements from the vaults, at least they plucked them from generally decent recordings. There's a lot worse in this vein out there.

    The Penderecki Threnody is great, of course, but even that is positively mellow compared to the more recent downtown stuff like, oh, I dunno, Glenn Branca.

    Also, for any fans of contemporary nonacademic composers, the broadcasts on this site are well worth your while.

     

  • At 8:55 AM, Blogger jds said…

    Nico,
    I look forward to your post. I've always distanced myself from classical music. But, as with jazz, I'm starting to make a concerted effort to understand it better. Hopefully your posts will provide some insight.

    DJA,
    And thanks for your feedback. I feel like a "dummies guide to classical music" may be warranted. In the meantime I'll be checking out your links.

     

  • At 4:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Since you ain't no dummy, jds, I really highly recommend listening to those American Mavericks episodes. It's a great introduction to the kind of 20th/21st century "classical" music indie rock fans can relate to -- it's even narrated by Suzanne Vega! And scripted by Kyle Gann, who has a great blog, too.

    For anyone curious about getting into "classical" music, I would resist the impulse to start with the hoary old warhorses -- screw that. Get the music that's happening today. "Bands" (well, okay, "ensembles") like Alarm Will Sound, Eighth Blackbird, Ethel, Bang on a Can, etc, are an excellent place to start.

     

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