View Full Version : Bordeaux, first thoughts?
Jonathan
Feb-12-11, 9:52 PM
I just listened to "Bordeaux" for the first time through. It is very lovely and peaceful. Looking forward to enjoying many more hours of it this weekend!
mine hasn't arrived yet!!!
:crying:
andylama
Feb-13-11, 2:58 PM
still waiting for mine
I've listened to it a few times now, and it is brilliant. Gorgeous music that is very moving. I would agree with peaceful, too.
Many, many hours of great listening lay ahead. I just hope they continue making music together.
It ain't came yet! (to paraphrase J.Hendrix)
postlibyan
Feb-14-11, 9:16 AM
hey wait -- how did Jonathan get his already, while i am still waiting! stoopid Postal Service...
PJK
two things occur to me
bordeaux is more sublime loveliness from messrs budd and guthrie!!!
jonathan is a gentleman!
after a few more listens i have to say some of the tracks have the feel and sound of unreleased tracks from the moon and the melodies - and that is is no way a negative criticism..... it is rather lovely
postlibyan
Feb-17-11, 11:29 AM
i am liking it.
PJK
andylama
Feb-17-11, 5:31 PM
I hope mine shows up soon.
I'm listening to it right now. I'm glad the piano is back and it sounds fabulous!
the piano.....or harold budd to his friends
I'm listening to it right now. I'm glad the piano is back and it sounds fabulous!
Got mine friday, listening to it now, second time. Tracks that jumped out first time around: the first and last one ("Gaze" and "Southern Shore"). The last one even seemed to have vocals on it? Heavenly angelic female vocals? Or was it psycho-acoustics? Lovely any old way.
I ordered it twice by mistake and got an email from the lovely Florence asking me if I meant to do this or if I made a mistake and if so, should she send me another CD. That's personal service for you.
xoconostle
Feb-21-11, 6:09 PM
Many moons ago as an idealistic teenager with a passion for artistic music, I absolutely adored Brian Eno (as much for his interviews as for his music and production work,) so naturally, I bought Budd and Eno's "Plateaux of Mirror" as soon as it was released, even though I hadn't previously heard of Budd. Just the blind faith of a youthful fanboy: If Eno's on it, it's got to be good. (That was still true at the time.)
There was something in the way that Budd's compositions mined states of emotion and perspective which seemed to be missing from a lot of other contemporary piano music at the time. On the one hand, there was the brilliant yet tortured intellectual quality of Keith Jarrett's improvisational work, and on the other, the early stirrings of what I felt was relatively vapid and shallow piano music of the George Winston/Windham Hill variety.
Budd's music found a nice middle ... it was peaceful and could be listened to in an ambient context, but it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies like too much of the New Age music that was starting to find a commercial voice. What Eno called the "sense of doubt" was still there. Budd's compositions were sort of like the best of Satie without the intrusive Dada pranks.
I love all of Robin's solo releases, but sometimes think that, like so many artistic guitarists, his work often works best by virtue of cross-pollination with that of others. Obviously he and Mr. Budd have enjoyed a good working relationship over many years and I'm so glad that they still get together to make gorgeous music now and then. Both musicians' muses feature an appealing combination of melancholy and light; aside from certain atmospheric qualities that they have in common, I think it's this contemplative aspect that really gets reinforced in their collaborations. Their music isn't just pretty. It has a depth of soul and emotion that doesn't fall into any singular category.
What surprised me about "Bordeaux" on first listening is that, as Vurt already mentioned, the album almost sounds like a bit of a throwback to an earlier Budd, a younger Guthrie. The heavy use of reverb for atmosphere is indeed evocative of "The Moon and the Melodies," although in my opinion the new compositions "work" better than the instrumentals on that old project did. Classic case of richness and mellowness improved by time. Perhaps in that regard the title "Bordeaux" is as evocative of the famous wines of that region as the charm of the landscape itself.
Neither musician's work dominates at the expense of the other's, here. The interplay between Guthrie's very atmospheric playing and Budd's measured and discreet pianism is perfect. This is immediately my favorite of their collaborations. It sounds like music that needed to be, and which has always existed in some eternal logos, waiting to be channeled by the musicians. That probably sounds terribly pretentious to read but ... listen. There really is a timeless quality to "Bordeaux" which can only be a healthy thing to lose one's self in, given the jump-cut attention-deficit popular milieu in which most new music exists these days. This is music for introspection, reading, feeling, remembering who you are, remembering where you've been and who you've loved.
Although I wouldn't say that the program has any discernible narrative as such, the final piece "Southern Shore" does seem to summarize all that played before, with a bit more resolve. While some of the other pieces evoke fog, water, mist and clouds, "Southern Shore" has its feet firmly planted on Earth, graced by a certain bittersweet melancholia, culminating in a symphonic middle section from which emerges choral clusters of vocals that slowly drift to the forefront of the soundscape; the effect is partially transcendent, but this is no angelic choir ascending to the sun in major key. As always on the record, darker clouds loom heavily, if loftily. The choral presence gradually recedes as the distinct voices of the two musicians again become clearly defined, setting the listener back down, returning them home. You may not feel like you're on a journey while listening to this album, but you'll feel like you just took one upon its completion.
Pardon me for rambling at such length. I really think this is the best Guthrie/Budd collaboration yet, and expect it to age very well indeed.
Pardon me for rambling at such length.
Don't excuse yourself. I love reading pieces like this by fellow music lovers, especially when they are as eloquent as you are. You're description of the final track is spot on and I think it made me love it even better.
Keep postin'!
Dpressed
Feb-22-11, 4:05 AM
^^^^^^
2nded
my copy arrived Monday morning - direct from Mrs Guthrie, and a day before the official release date of today!
I've listened to it a number of times already and agree with what has been said above ... there are distinct "Moon and the Melodies" sounding tracks (e.g. "So Many Short Years ago")but that is I feel as much down to the instrumental voicing as the musical content.
There seems to me to be more depth to the sound, similar to the dual CD release from Robin/Harold ("before day breaks", "after night falls").
There are moments of dense complexity, and at the sametime moments of sparse simplicity ....
As usual the music just grabs me and pulls me into it .... a little like falling into a gentle, yet bottomless pool of warm water .....
which is nice!
I ordered it twice by mistake and got an email from the lovely Florence asking me if I meant to do this or if I made a mistake and if so, should she send me another CD. That's personal service for you.
indeed it is, and one of the reasons I prefer to deal through Robin's site for his releases ....
the service and response is second to none ...
that and the hopeful thought that one day he may actually sign one ;)
My first thought is where's my copy?!
All the opinions about the album above are true. I'm not good in giving positive comments on music. It's good to read about Budd and Eno's the Plateaux of Mirrors mentioned. I played some tracks endlessly, even today. First Light is my favorite track of that album. And yes, Bordeaux seems like an extend or missing tracks of the Moon and the Melodies. I play Bordeaux every day since it dropped into my mailbox. I love this album.
My first thought is where's my copy?!
maybe you need to change your avatar? :coffee:
But it will arrive soon. I'm sure.
fornasetti
Mar-2-11, 11:38 AM
I'm hearing this for the second time now.
The first time it passed by without grabbing me. This time I'm listening better and I really like The Belles of Saint Andrew.
Peaceful is a good word to describe it.
andylama
Mar-2-11, 1:24 PM
Finally received my copy on Monday. Haven't listened yet though.
I mean, I tried to listen in the car, but this is NOT driving music.
Noooo! The sound of the car engine would drown out all the reverb.
I'm sorry...I just don't think I can get into most of Robin's newer stuff...Come on Robin, if your going to do some instrumental stuff, then add some CT's spark! Anything...a drum machine, a proper ace bass riff flying through and multi-layered guitar riffs. Something like the un-named instrumental from your 1986 CT tour! I play that instrumental every single day...it's so powerful! You were the bomb!
However, there are lovely songs on the album...just not classics
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