When - and note I say when rather than if, as I think by now you're sure to agree I've earned it - when I get to curate Meltdown, I'm definitely inviting Alan Morse Davies along to do a spot. Come on RFH bods, you know I'm the guy for the 2013 festival. I'll save you a bit of time and pre-emptively accept your offer, okay? You know I'd pick more interesting acts than if you gave the job to Nitin Sawhney or Björk or whoever. Although Björk would be rather cool. We could do it together if you want.
Anyway, Alan Morse Davies. If you're a regular reader you'll know how good this Welsh composer is. New listeners may wish to start with his racy minimalist Night Falls Fast, those who like noisy layered complexity might try his monstrous Amusement Park Phases. But I'm not convinced he's ever done anything better than this treatment of Claude Debussy's swoony Clair de Lune. Davis took a vintage 78 recording of the work, pressed in 1927, and has manipulated it, slowing it down and stretching it out to several times its original length. It's become something impossibly beautiful in the process, shimmering and romantic. Absolutely the most gorgeous thing you'll hear this month.
Alan Morse Davies - Clair de Lune
(alternate download)
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- Dok (
cyberinsekt) wrote,