Dok (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} cyberinsekt) wrote,@ 2009-07-09 01:00:00 |
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Paul Lowry - I Got Rhythm / Sabre Dance / William Tell Overture / BBC Radio Newsreel March
The four tracks here today represent the entire known output of a little-known maverick named Paul Lowry. They were first uncovered by the excellent Music for Maniacs blog. Late to the party as usual, I didn't discover Lowry until very recently. His version of I Got Rhythm is one of the highlights of the Vicki "People Like Us" Bennett-curated album Smiling Through My Teeth. By the time I had tracked Lowry back to the source, the original audio files had long gone, but via the wonders of the internets I have been able to assemble them here for your listening pleasure.
So who the hell is Paul Lowry anyway, and why should you care? It's something of a myster. Nobody knows who he is (or most probably, was), or even when these were recorded. My money would be sometime in the late '40s or early '50s. And if I'm right, you should care because these might be the earliest punderphonic/mashup recordings known to exist.
Lowry took a bunch of popular tunes, sometimes multiple versions thereof, and spliced them together, mixing in a host of bells, whistles and breaks. A razor blade and a cutting block was state of the art studio wizardry back then, and Lowry used them with a deft and witty touch. Some people have compared the results to the humorous music of Spike Jones, but a better comparison would be the anarchic cartoon soundtracks of Carl Stalling. Lowry took liberties not just with the liberal use of crashes, belches and gunshots scattered into these pieces, but also delighted in playing tricks on the listener by postponing familiar hooks through repeated passages.
The first three tracks will be familiar to everyone, the fourth one less so. It was the theme music to the long-running BBC program Radio Newsreel.
Four tracks may not seem like much of a body of work, but for all of you completists out there it's a wet dream. Become an expert in only 11 minutes. You won't get a better offer all week.
Paul Lowry - I Got Rhythm
Paul Lowry - Sabre Dance
Paul Lowry - William Tell Overture
Paul Lowry - BBC Radio Newsreel March (Imperial Echoes)
(alternate download)
The four tracks here today represent the entire known output of a little-known maverick named Paul Lowry. They were first uncovered by the excellent Music for Maniacs blog. Late to the party as usual, I didn't discover Lowry until very recently. His version of I Got Rhythm is one of the highlights of the Vicki "People Like Us" Bennett-curated album Smiling Through My Teeth. By the time I had tracked Lowry back to the source, the original audio files had long gone, but via the wonders of the internets I have been able to assemble them here for your listening pleasure.
So who the hell is Paul Lowry anyway, and why should you care? It's something of a myster. Nobody knows who he is (or most probably, was), or even when these were recorded. My money would be sometime in the late '40s or early '50s. And if I'm right, you should care because these might be the earliest punderphonic/mashup recordings known to exist.
Lowry took a bunch of popular tunes, sometimes multiple versions thereof, and spliced them together, mixing in a host of bells, whistles and breaks. A razor blade and a cutting block was state of the art studio wizardry back then, and Lowry used them with a deft and witty touch. Some people have compared the results to the humorous music of Spike Jones, but a better comparison would be the anarchic cartoon soundtracks of Carl Stalling. Lowry took liberties not just with the liberal use of crashes, belches and gunshots scattered into these pieces, but also delighted in playing tricks on the listener by postponing familiar hooks through repeated passages.
The first three tracks will be familiar to everyone, the fourth one less so. It was the theme music to the long-running BBC program Radio Newsreel.
Four tracks may not seem like much of a body of work, but for all of you completists out there it's a wet dream. Become an expert in only 11 minutes. You won't get a better offer all week.
Paul Lowry - I Got Rhythm
Paul Lowry - Sabre Dance
Paul Lowry - William Tell Overture
Paul Lowry - BBC Radio Newsreel March (Imperial Echoes)
(alternate download)
