Wouldn't You Miss Me at All?

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of the death of Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett, the most famous acid casualty of the 60s and one of the guiding lights of psychedelic rock. Where so much of the era's freakout music was characterized by self-indulgent, free associated lyrics designed to sound more profound than they were, Barrett's took precisely the opposite approach: his view of the world was a childlike one, imbuing his songs with a unique balance of carefree euphoria and unease. His melodic sensibilities were also superb, and early Floyd singles like "Arnold Layne" are, ignoring their other virtues, simply great, effortless pieces of songwriting. Of course, he's most widely remembered even by many Floyd fans as the man who disappeared, shaved off all his hair, and lived the rest of his life in his mother's home, obese and cut off from the world he no longer trusted. His subsequent solo albums are fascinating, exhibiting in equal parts the musician he once was and the increasingly fragmented mind he'd become; they're frequently as great as they are troubling. His legacy mostly (and rightfully) leans on his band's towering debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Ultimately, though, his greatest gift to the world, beginning as early as the 60s, may have been providing a much loved face to the then-taboo perils of mental health. The tragic way he spent the majority of his life - as well as songs like "Dark Globe" (below), a shattering chronicle of a fully conscious, reluctant descent into madness - continue to serve as a stark reminder of the patience and care we owe to all those in similar straits.

In Memoriam

1946-2006

Out of Print Gems: "For a Few Dollars More"

Ennio Morricone is one of the all-time greatest film composers, and one of the few to have composed pieces as instantly identifiable as any by John Williams or Bernard Hermann. He managed to score an indirect hit in 1966 when Hugo Montenegro's cover of the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was held out the number one spot on the charts only by Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"; Morricone's own soundtrack to the album hit as high as #4 on the album charts and hung around for more than a year. Previously, though, Morricone had also been instrumental in the success (and quality) of the film's kickass predecessors, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Ugly's soundtrack had, in fact, been built pretty neatly upon the scores to the other two films, centered around ringing Stratocasters and echoing, nonlingual vocals. Both scores are outstanding yet hard to find. Fistful has been rereleased relatively recently in Europe and can be had at reasonable cost. More, however, is hopelessly hard to find, and so, enormously expensive - particularly given that the album is only 17 minutes long! Despite its brevity, the soundtrack packs an incredible punch: "La resa dei conti" is every bit as stirring as its more famous Ugly cousin "The Ecstasy of Gold," and the haunting pocket watch theme "Carillon" resounds long after the dwarf soundtrack (or the epic film) has finished. "Carillon" can be heard below; the whole soundtrack can be downloaded here.



Joshua Bell in the Subway

In 2007, a social experiment turned phenomenal, Pulitzer Prize-winning article in the Washington Post was conducted with renowned violinist Joshua Bell playing his $3.5 million Stradivarius in a Washington DC subway station during rush hour. The idea was to see how many people would notice that this street performer was a cut above the average and pause in their daily routine to take in some or all of the concert. The article is certainly a success on a thought-provoking level - so many people like to think they would have stopped (or at least noticed), but how many would? - but it succeeds to the degree it does because it's accompanied by a recording of the entire performance. The audio is more than a simple curiosity: it's fascinating to hear Bell's wonderful performance placed in such an abrasive context (fortunately, helped by the choice of L'Enfant Plaza subway station, whose acoustics are surprisingly amenable to the project). With classical music usually confined to cough-between-movements sanctuaries of high society, the street noises here not only imbue the music with an impressive extra dose of vitality, but really show that great music is great music regardless of context - and that the yearning climactic strains of Bach's Chaconne can be, if anything, more uplifting when directly contrasted to the banality of everyday life. The performance makes the concert compelling listening; the context makes it essential. Interested parties can download the album here.

Track Listing
1) Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 - 5. Chaconne
2) Schubert: Ellens Gesang III, D 839 - "Ave Maria"
3) Ponce: Estrellita
4) Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs
5) Bach: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006 - 3. Gavotte en Rondeau
6) Bach: Chaconne (Reprise)