The Grotesque (1995)

Even the best ballet music is, by its nature, episodic, and Ravel’s voluptuous score for Daphnis and Chloë is no exception. For all the ingenuity with which the music is constructed from limited motifs to give a sense of symphonic unity, obeisance to the symphonic imperatives of shape and structure does not necessarily lead to the best performance. It is better to concentrate on the excitement of the moment, for this is a stupendously exhilarating score in which Ravel fills his ‘vast musical fresco’ with an endless series of brilliant tableaux.

Even the best ballet music is, by its nature, episodic, and Ravel’s voluptuous score for Daphnis and Chloë is no exception. For all the ingenuity with which the music is constructed from limited motifs to give a sense of symphonic unity, obeisance to the symphonic imperatives of shape and structure does not necessarily lead to the best performance. It is better to concentrate on the excitement of the moment, for this is a stupendously exhilarating score in which Ravel fills his ‘vast musical fresco’ with an endless series of brilliant tableaux.

Rather than being guests, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth have lent their names to the Duke Ellington Orchestra, giving them considerable control over the session; while Mercer Ellington is listed as leader, the conductor and principal arranger is Dankworth. One unfortunate result of this arrangement is that some of the offerings are "based on variations or adaptations" of the original Ellington and/or Billy Strayhorn compositions. Thus, "Chelsea Bridge" comes out "September Rain," and "Take the 'A' Train" is "Cleo's 'A' Train." Neither come off well - and the latter title is presumptuous. "We're Rockin' in Rhythm" has its moments, especially Dankworth's clarinet solo in the style of Jimmy Hamilton. The best "variation" is "Love Call," based on "Creole Love Call"…

Not many versions of the Symphonie fantastique rival Myung-Whun Chung’s in conveying the nervously impulsive inspiration of a young composer, the hints of hysteria, the overtones of nightmare in Berlioz’s programme. He makes one register it afresh as genuinely fantastic. Some may well prefer the more direct, more solid qualities that you find in the new Mehta version, also well played, and recorded with satisfying weight, but the volatile element in this perennially modern piece is something which Chung brings out to a degree I have rarely known before, and that establishes his as a very individual, sharply characterized version with unusually strong claims.

Ute Lemper - City of Strangers (1995) {Decca 444 400-2}
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© 1995 Decca Records | 444 400-2
Vocal / Jazz / Cabaret / Classical / Modern

Although Ute Lemper is best known to her devoted cult following as one of the great cabaret singers of all time, the German-born singer began as a stage actress, and has continued this career in tandem with her cabaret work. 1995's CITY OF STRANGERS combines the two sides of Lemper's musical persona, putting songs by the idiosyncratically brilliant Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim next to chansons by the equally unique French composer Jacques Prevert.

The third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on September 22, 1995, concluded on the same channel on May 17, 1996, and contained 24 episodes. The season continues to follow the cases of FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively, who investigate paranormal or supernatural cases, known as X-Files by the FBI.

The season features the conclusion of several plot-lines introduced in season two, while also introducing several new plot elements. Major plot arcs include an elaborate conspiracy being discovered when a fake alien autopsy video is acquired by Mulder, Scully's search for the killer of her sister, and the mystery surrounding X (Steven Williams). Pivotal characters such as the First Elder (Don S. Williams) and the alien virus black oil were first introduced in this season. In addition, the season features a wide variety of "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes, which feature stand-alone stories not of influence to the wider mythology of the series.

Tilt was Scott Walker's first album following over a decade of silence, and whatever else he may have done during his exile, brightening his musical horizon was not on the agenda. Indescribably barren and unutterably bleak, Tilt is the wind that buffets the gothic cathedrals of everyone's favorite nightmares. The opening "Farmer in the City" sets the pace, a cinematic sweep that somehow maintains a melody beneath the unrelenting melodrama of Walker's most grotesque vocal ever. Seemingly undecided whether he's recording an opera or simply haunting one, Walker doesn't so much perform as project his lyrics, hurling them into the alternating maelstroms and moods that careen behind him. The effect is unsettling, to put it mildly. At the time of its release, reviews were undecided whether to praise or pillory Walker for making an album so utterly divorced from even the outer limits of rock reality, an indecision only compounded by its occasional (and bloody-mindedly deceptive) lurches towards modern sensibilities. "The Cockfighter" is underpinned by an intensity that is almost industrial in its range and raucousness, while "Bouncer See Bouncer" would have quite a catchy chorus if anybody else had gotten their hands on it. Here, however, it is highlighted by an Eno-esque esotericism and the chatter of tiny locusts.