The Napster Blog

Cirque du Soleil, Zed

"The French Canadians are coming! The French Canadians are coming!"

Okay, so maybe that sentence doesn't pack the same dreadful punch as it used to when it was used with "Russians," or "Redcoats," or even "Mongols." Quite the contrary. These days, if a large number of French Canadians descend on your town, either a) you live in South Florida; or b) your town is hosting the world-famous Cirque du Soleil, Quebec's second-largest cultural export, behind Céline Dion.

There are relatively few examples of mainstream entertainers who so completely bridge the gap in taste between young and old, male and female, and all other demographic categories the way the astonishingly talented Cirque performers can. Obviously, audiences will remember the fantastic art direction, costumes, and choreography of these opulent shows. But equally important to the experience is the music—all original (save for the show Love, which incorporates The Beatles' catalog) and international in flavor. The soundtracks to the shows have sold quite well, regularly peaking near the top of Billboard's Top World Music Albums chart.

The latest soundtrack, Zed, comes from a Cirque show that took up residence at the Tokyo Disney resort in 2008. It tells the story of Zed, an embodiment of the human condition, as he travels the world. His globetrotting is accompanied by multi-ethnic musical styles, including pieces inspired by Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, East Asian, and African traditions, but arranged and executed in a very contemporary manner. The music is dramatic, stirring, and alternately bombastic or sentimental, depending on the experience of the main character.

If you've ever been to a Cirque du Soleil performance, listening to René Dupéré's soundtrack for Zed may evoke many of the live show's hallmarks: The anticipation, the humor, and the sense of wonder common to all of their productions. And if you haven't seen Cirque yet, do yourself a favor and splurge for a ticket one of these days; it's nothing if not memorable.

Halloween Grab Bag of Treats

[To help set a spooky mood for this year's fright fest, here's a small collection of previously posted suggestions for Halloween party music. They're from different genres, and each is scary in its own way. —Ed.]
 

Spooky Blues: Napster Playlist
Does it get any scarier than a six-foot-six, three hundred pound man literally moaning at the moon at midnight? Yes, believe it or not, it does, and when a tormented guitar player who, legend has it, actually made a deal with the devil in exchange for instrumental skill, details his torment by hellhounds, you might want to count your blessings. For some, Halloween comes around more than just once a year -- just listen to Bessie Smith or Son House for proof. So if tonight you find yourself dancing with a demon in the wee hours or shaking hands with a ghoul over some misguided wager, remember... the sun will rise tomorrow.
 

Various Artists, This is Crucial Reggae: Halloween
Halloween isn't really celebrated in Jamaica, except at the big resorts full of Americans hopped up on jerk chicken and beef patties, among other things. That said, the good people at RAS Records have taken the liberty of putting together a compilation of dub tracks that fit in nicely with the spooky theme of the holiday. This Is Crucial Reggae: Halloween is a special edition in the Crucial Reggae series. The tripped-out soundscapes created by Lee "Scratch" Perry, his band The Upsetters, and the legendary Augustus Pablo are a great choice for party hosts looking for something a little less obvious than Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And with tracks like "Dracula Prince of Darkness," "Doctor Satan Echo Chamber," and "Bells of Death," you'll be feeling irie and eerie at the same time.
 

Halloween Metal: Napster Playlist
With fright night fast approaching, it's time to line up the scary music to make this year's gathering of ghouls truly terrifying. Submitted for your approval: What's more horrifying than a seething batch of metal? Black metal, death metal, doom metal, grindcore, speed metal, power metal, sludge metal... metal metal metal metal metal!!! Featuring such catchy numbers as "Dead by Dawn," "Blood on My Hands," and "Coffin Fodder" by such upstanding organizations as Deicide, Morbid Angel, and Cradle of Filth, Napster's "Halloween Metal" playlist is not for children, but for metalheads with sufficient maturity to handle the heaviness. You'll also encounter numbers by Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, and Slayer, so if outrageous, bone-rattling horror-noise is on your list of treats this year, this playlist may just do the trick.
 

Mannheim Steamroller, Halloween
Mannheim Steamroller, aka composer Chip Davis, struck again in 2003 with Halloween, a collection of silly, fun versions of classic songs you'd expect to hear come October (or is that July now?). The group has been primarily known for their New-Age take on Christmas and holiday music, but Halloween is its own complete holiday offering, with all the usual Steamroller hallmarks: neoclassical arrangements, drum machines, and a lively synthesized orchestra. All the major spooky classical pieces are covered: Bach's famous "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" starts us off, followed by Grieg's eerie "Hall of the Mountain King." Some of Davis' own compositions are placed between other famous musical pieces by Wagner ("The Flying Dutchman," "Ride of the Valkyries") and Mussorgsky ("Night on Bald Mountain"). He also adds a bizarre spacey element to the mix with "Z-Row Gravity," "Crystal," and his own rendition of the Twilight Zone theme. A few more easily identifiable favorites include  "Funeral March of a Marionette" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The second half of the album is made up of sound effect-oriented numbers that are meant to be shuffled with the first half. Perfect for the whole family, Halloween provides prime background music that's playful enough for all to enjoy.

Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman: Minimalism

Rather than working in lavish, romantic scales as Fryderyk Chopin or Franz Liszt did generations before them, artists like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and John Cage took a very different approach in the 1960s and '70s, focusing on the fundamental tones, shapes, and structures that formed the basis of the minimalism movement. The strikingly simple and stark forms presented by modernist and pop art painters such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Robert Morris had a profound effect on the style, changing the way people thought about "negative space" in both visual art and music. Napster's "minimalism" playlist offers a variety of works from the early innovators, along with notable composers who followed, including Michael Nyman, John Hassell, and Gavin Bryars.

Gonzales, Solo Piano

It's always interesting when an artist known primarily for one genre of music dives into a project of a completely different nature, as did pop-metal-maker Andrew W.K. with his recent collection of piano compositions, 55 Cadillac. In a somewhat parallel case, Gonzales, primarily known for his rapping/MC skills,  production work, and performances with Peaches, Manu Chao, Jane Birkin, and Jamie Lidell, surprised some in 2004 with the release of Solo Piano, a collection of piano pieces that are startlingly sublime for an artist not traditionally trained in jazz or classical music. Glass, Reich, Satie, and Gershwin are likely inspirations, though Gonzales' natural aesthetic and technique create an original sound that is as captivating as it is surprising.

Patrick O'Hearn, So Flows Sessions

Released late last year, So Flows Sessions is a collection of material not used for Patrick O'Hearn's critically acclaimed, breathy 2001 offering, So Flows the Current. The tracks are what you might expect if you're familiar with O'Hearn—ruminative reveries featuring polished yet strikingly earnest bass, synth, and guitar work. What's special about O'Hearn's music has always been his natural ability to successfully bring contemporary pop sensibilities into the realm of New Age music. The bassist for '80s New Wave sensations Missing Persons in a previous career stage, O'Hearn seamlessly melds groove with slow, atmospheric meditation (for example, explore the bass line on "Home Stretch")—and So Flows Sessions is no exception. As a companion to So Flows the Current or as a stand-alone work, Sessions is another entry in O'Hearn discography highly recommended for fans as well as newcomers.

Tosca, No Hassle

Since 1997, Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber have been making downtempo electronic music under the name Tosca. (Previously, Dorfmeister worked with Peter Kruder as Kruder & Dorfmeister, also creating downtempo electronica and dub music.) For Tosca's latest release, No Hassle, the duo uses soupy synth sounds with lush guitar and introspective voice-overs, similar in fashion to DJ Shadow on his album Entroducing..., particularily during the second track "Elitsa." The guitar harmonics and wavering synths in the third cut, "Springer," bring to mind Air's Moon Safari, with some world-influenced New Age instrumentation over the top, while "Oysters in May" contains synthetic swells and patterns reminiscent of Jean-Michel Jarre or Klaus Schulze. The rest of the album flows beautifully, with interweaving synth, bass, and beats, making it quite a relaxing listen, and perhaps the perfect soundtrack for a night drive. No Hassle also includes several live renditions following the album's studio tracks.

New Age Beat: Napster Playlist

Napster's "New Age Beat" playlist features some of the best new age artists to employ a rhythmic pulse in their music—and in many different fashions. Monica Ramos beautifully meshes a seductive beat with graceful harp in "Silencio Profundo" from her 1999 debut, Moai, while Enigma similarily strikes, but with flute accompaniment in "Sadness Part 1," also from their debut, MCMXC A.D. On the lighter side, Kevin Kern creates gorgeous floating piano, flute, and guitar over a sparse but effective beat. Govi and Jesse Cook prefer a tropical, spicy rhythmic flavoring in their songs "Treasure Bay" and "Tempest." Other featured artists include Cusco, Annie Haslam, Enya, and Ayman. For additional tracks, check out "New Age Beat, Vol. 2."

Cluster, Qua

German space-rock pioneers Cluster (Dieter Moebius and Hans Joachim Roedelius) this week released Qua, their first studio album in 13 years. The duo have been performing off and on recently in Berlin and London, much to the excitement of fans, who now have something else to cheer about. The new album finds Cluster experimenting with a colorful array of sounds, developing unique and somewhat spooky atmospheres with swarms of interweaving modified voice, synthesizers, and percussion. Progressive and engrossing, Qua provides quite a peculiar listening experience, proving the duo hasn't missed a step. It's surprisingly easy to zone out amid the plethora of zigs, zoops, zips, and zags, especially during "Na Ernel." In other words, this is meditation music for the insane. And for Cluster, that's a high compliment indeed.

If you like this, check out Journey by Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Neu!'s self-titled debut, Faust IV by Faust, or La Vie Electronique 1 & 2 by Klaus Schulze.

The Kronos Quartet, Floodplain

When it comes to small classical ensembles retaining mainstream success in pop culture, The Kronos Quartet have been at the top of the list for nearly four decades. In 1986, cello quartet Apocalyptica drew buzz with their Metallica covers album, and more recently their Billboard-charting single "I Don't Care" featuring Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace, and since then countless string-quartet tribute albums have been released. But no other popular ensemble of its kind—if it even has a kind—has displayed the intensity and diversity The Kronos Quartet has since forming in 1973. Among their impressive achievements are the group's 600-some pieces, 400 of them commissioned from luminaries including minimalist Terry Riley; a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance in '04; revered soundtrack work (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), and a genre-quilting collection of cover pieces that would even make Mike Patton's head spin (Jimi Hendrix, Television, Sigur Rós). And yet The Kronos Quartet continue to explore.

Their latest, Floodplain (also commissioned), examines ongoing difficulties surrounding Middle Eastern countries situated near rivers; places that once nurtured the beginnings of civilization but now face extreme poverty amid hazardous flooding. Kronos fluidly find a way to represent this turmoil with striking depth and earnest emotionality, all with their usual stunning musicianship. Aside from the genre leap the album represents, it also features some unexpected elements, including guest artists Terry Riley, Wu Man, and The Azerbaijani Alim Qasimov Ensemble, as well as accompanying instrumentation that includes electric sitar, tambura, riq, shruti box, begena, tape, nagara, and additional Serbian folk instruments. Kronos also experimented with instruments specifically built for them; Walter Kitundu, apparently the quartet's "instrument builder in residence," invented a musical device called the Beguèna Maridhia, which was inspired by a begena, and a modified voila.

Steve Roach, Dynamic Stillness

Purposing stillness as a dynamic. Interesting, no? This is the concept behind New Age soundscaper Steve Roach's new album, aptly titled Dynamic Stillness. It's an approach that's been visited before, most notably by Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, and more recently Stars of the Lid, but Roach here masterfully creates sound textures that simply flow with an eerie calmness. As the album art suggests, you can almost picture the sound achieved as a giant, ominous cloud drifting along with intermittent flashes of light. The stillness Roach is able to create through this slow movement is pretty remarkable; the opening 40-minute piece, "Birth of Still Places," creeps along with a dark presence, setting the mood for continued ambiance. All in all, it's a gorgeous listen. And if you're looking for background music for meditation, this is pretty much as good as it gets.