Na’amen Gobert Tilahun

Both the works on this recording were written during wartime. Debussy’s 1915 En blanc et noir, composed during a late creative burst, is his musical response to the horrors of World War I. Messiaen’s revolutionary Visions de l’Amen from 1943, written to be performed by the composer and his teenage pupil, Yvonne Loriod, is a profound religious meditation whose emotional intensity is overwhelming. The role of the two pianos is clearly divided. Melodic and expressive elements are confined to the second piano, Messiaen’s part, whereas all that is percussion, brilliance and rhythmic development is heard in the first piano, Loriod’s part.

Over a period of some twenty years, from the late 1720s, Handel composed a series of virtuoso arias using only thewords Allelujah and Amen as his texts. They were probably for use in private worship, and take their place in the tradition of Divine Song established by Purcell and other composers. Here they receive their first recordings, set in a context of contemporary sacred song and instrumental music, with theaccompaniment provided by the beguiling sound of two theorbos and chamber organ. They are heard here in the extraordinarily dramatic timbres of a male-soprano voice perhaps as close as modern listeners can come to the vocal acrobatics of the castrati who so amazed their own audiences.

This is another welcome, and important, exhumation from the EMI catalogue courtesy of ArkivMusic. It is welcome in the sense that it is surely one of the finest recordings of this seminal work and important in that is restores one of Argerich’s rare performances of twentieth century music.

The fourth studio album from Brooklyn-based band Yeasayer, Amen & Goodbye, will be released worldwide on April 1, 2016. To visually interpret the album, Yeasayer collaborated with renowned sculptor David Altmejd (whose artwork is a major influence on the band) to create the gatefold artwork. The teasers released prior to album announcement contained some of the sculptures Altmejd created while listening to the bands new album. This was a dream come true for the band and the full artwork is utterly spectacular. Amen & Goodbye is the follow up to 2012’s Fragrant World. Moving away from a digital-heavy approach, Yeasayer recorded Amen & Goodbye to tape at Outlier Inn Studio in upstate New York, then brought on board Joey Waronker (drummer - Atoms For Peace / Beck) to deconstruct everything to make the final document.

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True to its title, it IS an essential collection. There isn't a bad or wasted track on this collection - but then, the Swan Silvertones never did any bad songs - some just dig a little deeper in the well of divine inspiration than others. The sound is great - the songs are outstanding, the Swans are immortal.