Sticking Them With Some Other Chump

While listening to and reviewing all my CD's, I came across several regrettable choices, none more regrettable than the gut wrenching mediocrity of The Coral's Magic and Medicine. I haven honestly been trying to offload that disc since I first picked it up. No self-respecting record store would take it.

Anyway, I finally put my 17 worst CD's up for sale on ebay, and started the bidding at a mere 99 cents. What was surprising was that more people bid on my CD's, albeit in very small increments, than bid on my Punisher comic books which were up for auction at the same time. The winning bid was $3.25 for all 17 discs, and I was happy to be rid of them at any price. Just for fun, I'm going to go through each of the 17 discs and discuss just how much of the loot they were worth.

A - Monkey Kong - $.13 A fair price for some aggressively mediocre pop punk.

A - Hi-Fi Serious - $.21 A's second album is better than their first, but ultimately it still sucks.

The Apples in Stereo - Science Faire - $.20 This band is capable of so much more than they do here. This is a highly disappointing disc from a very good band.

Bouncing Souls - Tie One On - $.37 A live recording of one of the world's best punk bands is certainly one of the better discs in the lot. Of course this album sounds like it was recorded on wax cylinders by an untrained monkey, so the brilliance of the band does not shine through. Still better than most of the discs here, though.

Buck-o-Nine - Twenty-Eight-Teeth - $.14 This ska album does not move the dial at all for me. It's as if the Foo Fighters (a band whose music does not connect with me in any way, despite giving it many many chances) cut a ska record.

Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole - $.09 There was a time when I really loved this album. Of course there was also a time when I would poop my pants and just wait for someone else to take care of it. There are just certain things we grow out of.

The Coral - Magic and Medicine - $.01 I did consider making this album worth 0 cents, but I feel good about having been paid even the smallest pittance for it. Unloading this albatross will certainly be a blessing to the rest of my music collection.

The Dentists - Deep Six - $.22 This album is only a major disappointment because The Dentists cut a 7" single which by far the greatest 7" record I own. Every song on this disc is a pale shadow of the band's 45 rpm glory. If I had been introduced to them as a lukewarm britpop band, I wouldn't have been disappointed. I also probably wouldn't have bought this album.

Erasure - Other People's Song - $.15 It's hard to really really hate an album by a band you really love. Other People's Songs is just an awful collection of covers, and not worth listening to under any circumstances.

The Exies - Inertia - $.33 For 11.9 months out of the year I hate nu metal. For a small piece of every year, I feel the need to give my ears the musical equivalent of a meal at Taco Bell, and I suddenly become all about nu metal. For that reason and that reason alone, I award this disc a higher price than most others.

Greenwheel - Soma Holiday - $.19 An average price for some very bland alternative. I only bought this disc because a record store bargain bin had a "Buy 10 and they're $1 apiece" sale and I needed a 10th disc. I definitely overpaid.

Susanna Hoffs - When You're a Boy - $.17 Susanna Hoffs is one of my very favorite female artists from the 80's, but this album was a big mistake. It was a mistake for her to attempt to pull off some sort of weird female Hall and Oates sound, and it was a mistake for me to buy it.

Jet - Get Born - $.21 Jet was one of the umpteen bands in the early 00's to be branded "The New Rolling Stones." I don't like The Rolling Stones, so why did I collect all their acolytes? Get Born was fun at first, but it has no replay value.

Schatzi - Death of the Alphabet EP - $.25 I don't know what Schatzi is or what they are intended to be, but they almost achieve it. Unfortunately, there's too much good music to bother with relatively near misses.

Schatzi - Fifty Reasons to Explode - $.24 While their EP didn't answer the question "What is Schatzi all about?" this full length release does even less to answer the big question.

Various Artists - Plea For Peace/Take Action Volume 2 - $.08 There are actually a couple decent songs on this double disc compilation. Unfortunately, they are hidden in a mess of emo and screamo.

Various Artists - Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits - $.26 I actually really liked this album when I got it. The idea of having bands from the 90's cover classic cartoon themes sounds great, but it wears thin pretty quick.

Anyway, there you have it. 17 CD's worth a whopping $3.25. I'm just relieved to get rid of some of the worst entries in my music collection. I think the karmic benefits of offloading these discs will bring a bountiful year to the remainder of my music collection. Here's to hoping.

A Major Accomplishment

With my review of Christmas in the Stars I have now officially listened to and reviewed every single CD in my collection. I have written 538 reviews for the CD's in my collection (they total more than 538 because I hit all my Cambodian CD's in a single review), so that's a major accomplishment. I'll now be moving on to my records and digital music, which will take me a lot longer than my CD's did. Anyway, I just wanted to give myself a big pat on the back for sticking with this blog (even though I seriously wanted to quit no less than three times). I just feel like I'm starting to hit my stride and it's a good feeling. So yeah, this is more for me than it is for you.

Meco - Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album

This is a nice little musical oddity a friend gave me for Christmas as a joke. It's pretty good gag gift. Everybody knows Star Wars holiday fare is hilariously bad, and this album is certainly no exception. It was produced by Meco (the same man who gave us Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk) and it features Anthony Daniels, who was the original C-3PO from the movies.

If you think you've heard bad holiday music before, you ain't heard nothin' 'til you've heard "What Do You Get a Wookee for Christmas (When he Already Owns a Comb?)." Oh, and I loved the unintentional comedy which comes from "Sleigh Ride" in which C-3PO teaches R2-D2 to sing. This is hilarious because C-3PO is a Rex Harrison or William Shatner type when it comes to singing (that is to say the guy speak-sings everything and doesn't sing so much as single note). Anyway, this album, though undeniably awful, is kitschy fun in that Ed Wood/Roger Corman sort of way. If you listen to this album in an MST3K frame of mind, you'll more than likely enjoy it. So as far as a rating goes, this is an anomaly in that it really deserves two ratings.

For the actual music, this album deserves no more than...

But for kitsch value and campy holiday fun it deserves a full...

All My Cambodian Music

I'm going to review all my Cambodian music in one post because I honestly can't imagine that there will be very many people interested in it. I am not a fan of world music. I generally hate things sung in a language I don't know (exceptions: Rammstein, 1960's French music, and Chicos del Sabado). I speak fairly fluent Khmer, so I can dig on Cambodian music. I don't expect anyone who doesn't have a connection to Cambodia to care about this post at all. Just move along. Oh, and I romanized the titles of these albums as best as I could. Blogger doesn't recognize Khmer script.

Musicians of the National Dance Company of Cambodia - Homrong- This is one of three discs of traditional Cambodian music that I purchased during my time in Cambodia. Much of the music on this disc is accompaniment for Apsara dancers, a traditional Cambodian form of dance that dates back several centuries (before the advent of shirts, if you can believe it). Anyway, it's a nice overview of some of the traditional Cambodian musical forms and instruments. I am an especially big fan of the final track, which is a single unaccompanied voice singing from the point of view of a mother talking to her child about the horrors of the Pol Pot era. If you want traditional Cambodian music, this is a great place to start.

Cambodia: Folk and Ceremonial Music - This is another disc of traditional Cambodian music. It compiles a number of musical forms including weddings, boxing matches, shadow puppetry, and dance. The main reason I bought this album was for the boxing music. I've been to some kickboxing matches (Brodal Serey Khmer is a much more brutal form of kickboxing than Muay Thai, and the world would know it if Cambodia had been taken into the British, rather than French, empire) and I absolutely loved the music and the pageantry of the pre-match ceremonies. I could take or leave a lot of the rest of the music, but the Phleng Khlang Khek is fantastic.

The Music of Cambodia Volume 3: Solo Instrumental Music- This is a good overview of what some of the traditional Cambodian instruments sound like in solo performances. There are some masterful performances on instruments such as the tro, khloy, chapey, and sralai. The main selling point of this disc is that they actually captured a performance on the kse diev, a rare zither-ish instrument with an open gourd which, when cupped against the chest, forms the sound board of the instrument. Playing the kse diev involves continous cupping and uncupping of the goard against your chest as one hand plucks the string and the other works the fingerboard. It is notoriously difficult to play and very few people in the world have mastered it. The kse diev performance on this disc has a few notable mistakes, but it is one of the very few places where you can hear this rare instrument. One can only hope that as the Cambodian government and economy stabilizes (it's been in the process of stabilizing since the eary 90's. On a positive note, it has gotten somewhat better) more Cambodians will take up the kse diev and keep this ancient tradition alive.

The Best of Cambodian Oldies - Phteah On Kbae Phnom Sompeauv- Very few musicians have meant as much to their homeland as Sin Sisamouth has to Cambodia. He is a shining light from the pre-Pol Pot era. The older generation in Cambodia reveres him as a master songwriter and singer, and the younger generation is brought up with a respect for what the man means both symbolically and musically. More than once, Cambodians took time to tell me just what a talent Sin Sisamouth was. Every place name in Cambodia has a story behind it, and the legend of Sin Sisamouth is that he would write a song for every single place he ever visited. This may very well be true because, even though much of his music was destroyed in the Pol Pot era, large amounts of Sin Sisamouth have survived, and most of the music is in some way related to place names in Cambodia. This disc, while claiming to simply be Cambodian oldies, is pure Sin Sisamouth. I do have more of his music tucked away somewhere, but I don't know where it is at the moment. Anyway, Sin Sisamouth is the greatest Cambodian musician ever, and this album is proof.

Meng Keo Pichenda - Min Chua Te Ne! - When I first arrived in Cambodia in 1998, two things were very big in terms of popular music: 1) Celine Dion's horrible song from Titanic, a movie I refused to see and still have not seen until this day. But yeah, I heard that freaking song at least 10 times a day in Cambodia because they were playing it everywhere. 2) Meng Keo Pichenda. She was the biggest musical star in the country at the time. I bought this album for one song: "Bong Khmau Ruh Bropon." It was being played at a lot of weddings at the time, so it seemed like the sort of thing I should own. There aren't that many hits on this album, but it's still some of the best Cambodian music of the late 90's.

Meng Keo Pichenda - Bomg Kom Tuo Na! - Now here's an interesting approach to an album that you'll never see in America. There are three bona fide hits on this album: "Bong Kom Tuo Na," "Srolanh Broh Songha" (which was the biggest Cambodian language hit of the 90's) and "Min Thomada." Each of these songs appears on the album twice, once with Meng Keo Pichenda singing, and once with her male backup singers singing. The male backup dancers generally sing in a different key, and are usually off pitch as well. It's just disconcerting to hear the exact same song you just heard only with poorer vocals in a different key. My brain has never gotten used to it. Anyway, you would never see that in American music. As it stands, this album does have three hits, even if the rest of it is a whole lotta confusing filler.

Preap Sovath - Prom Sneh Bong Tuo - When I first arrived in Cambodia, Preap Sovath's star was on the rise. Now he's the biggest male performer in the country (he even got dreadlocks and attempted to rap at one point. It was an odd career move). I actually met him once and he seemed like a nice guy. Anyway, I bought this album for one song: "Apsara Krong Kampuchea." In this song he sings with a northern Cambodian accent, which is vastly different from the Phnom Penh accent I was used to (I still have a hard time understanding people from Battambang). Aside from that one song, there are a few half-decent ballads on this album and not much else.

Preap Sovath - Mian Thmey Mdec Min Brap - Now this is a great Cambodian album. It contains all the awesomeness of "Mian Thmey Mdec Min Brap," which was a huge hit in 2000. It also has a number of other ballads and dance numbers, all of which are pretty great. If you buy only one Preap Sovath album, this is probably the one to go with.

4 Strong - Kom Chua Lu Promh Lecet - Of all the modern Cambodian music in my collection, this is far and away my favorite album. I know all these songs by heart, and when I get the hankering for some good ol' Khmer music, this is usually what I reach for. I don't know why this group wasn't a bigger deal (they were fairly big for a short time, and broke up. I believe all the members of the band are still in music, but sadly not together). I met Sovanthida at Lucky Market once, and she is one of the most beautiful Cambodian women I have ever seen. Anyway, this is the best Cambodian album I have ever come across. I especially love the re-imagining of the Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way" (they basically turn it into a song in which, through promising he doesn't have ulterior motives, a guy friend-zones himself. It's pretty awesome).

EV - Som Chrok Knong Beh Dong - I own the first album by this group on cassette, and it has the greatest Khmer ballad I have ever heard. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find that album on CD, so I figured another album might be just as good. It isn't. It's not bad, but it's not as good as I wanted it to be.

Bayarith nung Leakana - Yol Prom Sneh Bong - This album is a fine example of nyeak music (nyeak means to move in a jerking motion), or as the rest of the world calls it: techno. There are a few good nyeak songs on this disc, but the best Cambodian nyeak song of all-time is "Khmas Ian Ey On," which is the first track on this album. Oh, and one of my all-time favorite ballads is on this album as well: "Beh Dong Krodah." All in all this is a nice album to own.

Bayarith nung Leakana - S'at Ot Toah - How did I review a single Bayarith album and not mention the fact that he looks like a Cambodian Peter Lorre? I dunno. Anyway, I loved the first Bayarith and Leakana album so much, I went back for seconds. This album is okay, but not as good as the first.

Sovanthida nung Endi - Khmau Nih Na Cha - I believe this is the first post-4 Strong album for Sovanthida, but I could be wrong. Anyway, this should be a great album because this is the best half of 4 Strong. unfortunately the songs aren't that strong. "Turosap Rok Sneh" is particularly bad. It's just sad because I know these guys can do better.

Now did anyone bother to read the reviews for each and every album? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Aaron Copland - Rodeo, Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring

Aaron Copland is simply the greatest American composer there has ever been or will ever be. If you ever wonder who John Williams steals all his good ideas from, look no further than Copland. And my streak of not being able to compliment Copland without knocking Williams is still alive.

While I aspire to own a more comprehensive collection of Copland's works, this Naxos compilation provides a nice overview of the man's work. It begins with "Fanfare for the Common Man" which is possibly my favorite piece of classical music ever written. This is followed by four of the five movements from Rodeo. The disc closes with Billy the Kid and Copland's transcendent Appalachian Spring. While there are certainly better recordings of each of these works, this disc is an excellent overview and would work as a nice introduction for anyone unfamiliar with Copland.

The Turtle Creek Chorale and Dallas Wind Symphony - Testament

Now this is American music as it was meant to be. Testament compiles music from some of America's best composers (Randall Thompson, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein) who used words from some of America's finest poets and writers (Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost). The result is something more patriotic than the national anthem itself (I actually prefer O Canada to The Star Spangled Banner. It has a better melody and conveys a better message).

All of the music on this album is performed by The Turtle Creek Chorale, an all-male chorus which is accompanied by the Dallas Wind Symphony. While The Testament of Freedom is meant to be the central gem of this album, I actually prefer the other works. Copland's arrangement of "Simple Gifts" is simply one of the best things to ever happen to music. I was also swept away by Berstein's "Make Our Garden Grow," which was a pleasant surprise. The testament itself is a fine piece of music, but I find it was somewhat overshadowed by all the other excellent music on this album.

Monteverdi - Vespers of 1610

Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 is a sprawling sacred work which is nearly equal in length with Handel's Messiah, which is quite remarkable for its day. There are no other works of this scale from any of Monteverdi's contemporaries, so Vespers of 1610 wins points for scale alone. The music itself represents a number of different styles which form a much more cohesive whole than one might think.

This performance by Boston Baroque conducted by Martin Pearlman is excellent. The cover of the album states that the work is performed on period instruments. This lends an air of authenticity to the recording, and certainly influenced my listening experience. Anyway, having never listened to Vespers of 1610 before, I was absolutely impressed. If other reviews are to be believed, this is merely a workmanlike recording and "better" recordings are available. This seems a highly subjective statement, and doesn't influence how much I enjoyed this recording.

Wagner - Masters of Classical Music

It was once said of Wagner that he has good moments, which are usually followed by bad half-hours. I tend to enjoy Wagner, but even as a Wagner apologist I have to admit that some of his works tend to be a lot  longer than necessary (I'm looking at you Der Ring des Nibelungen).

This CD compiles some of the better movements from lengthier Wagner works. Oddly enough, it doesn't contain Ride of the Valkyries, which is one of Wagner's best known works. It does contain a nice recording of the overture to Tannhauser, which always makes me think of this cartoon (I especially love Bugs' fat horse).  Anyway, if you're looking for snippets of some of Wagner's better works, I suppose you could do worse.

Vivaldi for Valentines

Somewhere in the 90's, Philips started releasing classical recordings which were aimed at people who don't traditionally listen to or enjoy classical music. They had titles like Chopin and Champagne, Liszt for Lovers, and Bach for Bedtime. Although the titles of these albums and their respective cover art are all quite cheesy (note the guy saying, "Baby baby baby" on the cover) the music itself is actually very high quality.

While the music on this disc may not put your lover in the mood quite as well as Barry White or Marvin Gaye, many of the tunes are moving in their own way, if not romantically. I would refer any and all to Vivaldi's excellent Guitar Concerto in D. It's honestly the best piece of classical guitar work I have ever heard or ever expect to hear. Anyway, this disc is filled with great performances of some of Vivaldi's slowest (and therefore most romantic) music.

The Very Best of Vivaldi

While this may not actually be the very best Vivaldi has to offer (it only contains "Autumn" from The Four Seasons, and everyone knows "Winter" is the best of Vivaldi's Four Seasons) it is still a nice Vivaldi compilation. This was my second helping of Vivaldi as a child, so I still probably enjoy it more than it deserves.

Viva Vivaldi

This sampler was my introduction to Vivaldi when I was a kid. I had just picked up the viola (I had previously been a trumpet player in the middle school band, but our band teacher got busted for cocaine. He was the best band teacher our town ever had) and my older brother pointed me to Vivaldi, who is one of the very few composers who gave violists something interesting to do (the viola is the alto of the orchestra. They tend to get stuck with all the uninteresting junk that isn't fit for violins or cellos).

Anyway, I soon came to understand two things about Vivaldi: 1) He was an absolute master of the concerto form 2) He could make a silk purse out of the lowliest sow's ear. He had a penchant for writing concerti which feature some of the lesser-heralded instruments of his day. He could write a bassoon concerto that would almost make it seem like a good idea to take up the bassoon. He also wrote for instruments like the viola d'amore (a 12 string viola with 6 sympathetic strings), which simply don't exist anymore. Viva Vivaldi is a nice introduction to the man's work, containing the more moving movements of his best and most interesting concerti. I especially enjoy "Laudamus Te," which is a selection from Gloria. As my first introduction to Vivaldi, I tend to slightly overvalue this compilation.

Handel - Messiah (highlights)

Every December I make a point of revisiting Handel's Messiah. I currently tend to favor the complete recording as performed by The English Concert and Choir, but before I was able to purchase that complete recording, I had to make do with this version containing highlights from the oratorio as performed by Musica Sacra.

While Handel's Messiah is best enjoyed in its full splendor, I can't fault this recording of highlights at all. It contains most, if not all, of the best arias and choruses from Messiah and all of them are very ably performed by Musica Sacra (the New York one). If you prefer to only have a taste of the splendor of Handel's masterwork, I would point you to this disc. If you want the full work in all of its glory, I would point you elsewhere.

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture

This recording of the 1812 Overture is my very favorite. Sir Georg Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and what sounds like real live cannons. As you may well know, the 1812 Overture is known for its use of cannons, though many conductors opt not to use them for financial and/or safety reasons. I have been searching for more information on this recording (somehow I lost the liner notes, which is not something I tend to do), but to my ears it sounds like real cannons, so we'll assume they are until I'm told differently.

Anyway, this album contains not only the best recording of the 1812 Overture I have ever heard, but an assortment of other Tchaikovsky goodies as well. These include "Romeo and Juliet" which has been used in a bazillion romantic scenes through the years, and "The Nutcracker Suite," which was a Christmas tradition in my family for a number of years (I have five sisters, all of which studied ballet). I love every single note of this disc. Sir Georg Solti brings a sense of dignity to each of the pieces, especially the 1812 Overture which is still regarded as a gimmick work among many critics. This was one of the pivotal classical recordings of my childhood, and it still moves me decades later.

Johann Sebastian Bach - The Masterpiece Collection

I bought this budget Bach compilation at a time when I was expanding my CD collection by any means necessary. Today's young whippersnappers will hardly remember the time when the more CD's you owned, the more impressive a person you were. Anyway, I mainly bought this because it was cheap and I happen to enjoy Bach.

One of the benefits of being a fan of classical music is that many budget recording still contain high fidelity recordings of great performances. You can't really say the same for truck stop CD's. Anyway, the highlights of this album are the classic "Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor" a selection from the St. Matthew Passion, and the song that makes juvenile minds snicker: "Air on the G String." For a budget CD, this is a very nice compilation and a good introduction to Bach for the uninitiated.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Schubert: Mass in G Major/ Schumann: Requiem for Mignon

In my review of Faure's Requiem, I mentioned that my college choir would occasionally perform at San Xavier del Bac, a Spanish mission built in the late 1700's. Although it gets a bit small once you cram a full orchestra and choir into it, San Xavier is a wonderful place to perform sacred music. In 1998 I had the opportunity to perform Franz Schubert's Mass in G Major in San Xavier, and will always remember the experience fondly.

I purchased this recording of The Chamber Orchestra of Europe performing Schubert's Mass as a means of remembering one of the highlights of my musical career. As with most Deutsche Grammophon recordings, the quality of this album is superb. In addition to the Schubert piece, this disc also includes Schumann's Requiem for Mignon from Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister." Although I have no personal connection to this piece, it is almost as enjoyable as the Schubert. This disc is always a nice trip down memory lane for me, as the rating will reflect.

P.Q.Q. Bach - Oedipus Tex & Other Choral Calamities

While the 1712 Overture will always be P.D.Q. Bach's greatest work, there is still plenty of fun in the rest of his works. Oedipus Tex, a western-themed oratorio, is just as silly as anything else in the P.D.Q. Bach repertoire. The oratorio opens with the choir singing "Well, Oedipus thinks he's just an easygoing kind of guy. No point in warning him of T-R-A-G-E-D-Y." This kind of on-the-nose hilarity works well throughout the piece, and although Peter Schickele does not have the sort of voice you'd like to hear in more serious pieces, it's well suited to the comedy of Oediupus Tex.

Although the titular work on this album is very funny and well worth the price of purchase, I can't say the same for the ill-fated "Classical Rap." The advisory on the album cover reads, "Warning! Contains "Classical Rap." Pathetic Advisory. Inane lyrics." Even with this warning, your mind will hardly be ready for the horrors of Peter Schickele rapping. Not only does he rap, it's an 8 and one-half minute track. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five didn't even carry on that long. So yes, the "Classical Rap" is the sole blemish on an otherwise fine album.

The album rights itself with "Knock Knock," a compendium of cheesy jokes sung in a serious voice by the choir (one of the jokes is a personal favorite. Q: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change). The juxtaposition of the choir's sound and the jokes they are singing makes for exactly the sort of silliness you come to expect from P.D.Q. Bach.

P.D.Q. Bach - 1712 Overture

Professor Peter Schickele and his alter ego P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742) are the funniest thing to happen to classic music since Victor Borge. P.D.Q. Bach is to classical music what Weird Al is to popular music. He is a talented composer and conductor who chooses to use his powers for silliness.

As you might guess, the 1712 Overture is a parody of the 1812 Overture and it simply must be heard to be believed. P.D.Q. Bach takes the familiar motifs from the 1812 Overture and twists them slightly, allowing their similarities to tunes such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Pop! Goes the Weasel" to shine through. It's a work of both sheer genius and sheer silliness. The canon fire in the original is replaced by balloons popping, which is absolutely hilarious. My older brother bought this album at Bookman's in Flagstaff on a family trip, and we all listened to it on the way back home. Actual painful side-splitting laughter ensued because our minds were not prepared for how hilarious it was going to be. The organ solo at the end of the piece was particularly hilarious (partially because the pedal work consisted of a single constantly-droning note) and caused a great deal of laughter.

In addition to the aforementioned 1712 Overture, this disc also contains a number of other P.D.Q. Bach works. While each is hilarious in its own way, I prefer The Preachers of Crimetheus (a ballet in one selfless act). This ballet brings in some of the more interesting instruments in the P.D.Q. Bach repertoire. These include the tromboon (trombone with a bassoon reed), slide whistle, windbreaker (pan pipes made of cardboard tubes), and lasso d'amore (rope with a whistle attached to the end). Each of these instruments stands out hilariously against the standard instrumentation of the piece. As it is with all P.D.Q. Bach works, it must be heard to be believed.

Faure - Requiem

When I was in college, I had the privilege of being in two of the best choirs on campus. Once a year these choirs would go on tour, and once every two years that tour would include a performance at San Xavier del Bac. I had the opportunity to go to San Xavier twice, and performed Faure's Requiem on one of those tours. I don't know if this music would be as near and dear had I not performed it in a 200+ year old church with a substantial echo delay, but it is one of the most remarkable pieces of choral music I have ever heard.

Gabriel Faure had a certain knack for creating interesting and highly efffective chords. His music, when properly performed, will have overtones bouncing around the room long after the choir has stopped singing. "In Paradisum" is absolutely angelic, and his "Agnus Dei" is absolutely the best I have ever heard in all of Latin sacred music (and believe me, I've heard a few Agnus Dei's in my day). Faure's Requiem is an absolute delight to sing, and a nearly equal delight to listen to. The Schola Cantorum of Oxford gives an inspiring performance of the requiem on this disc, and I highly recommend it.

Handel - Water Music/Music For the Royal Fireworks

While Messiah will always undoubtedly always be Handel's greatest and most well-known work, the two works on this disc are probably his second and third most popular.

Water Music and Music For the Royal Fireworks are very similar pieces of baroque orchestral music. They have all the hallmarks of baroque music, including way more horn trills than any non-baroque piece would dare attempt. Truly this is stately music for men in large wigs. Anyway, both pieces are very ably performed by the English Chamber Orchestra. I must admit that I found myself a little baroqued-out by the time this disc was done. It's just very decadent music from a decadent era.

The Cambridge Singers - Faire is the Heaven: Music of the English Church

This collection of English hymns and sacred music is simply fantastic. I have always been a fan of choral works, but especially of religious choral works. Faire is the Heaven is a chronological compilation of religious music by English composers. It begins with the Latin rite and moves through the Reformation, Restoration, and on to the Anglican revival.

The Cambridge Singers carry each and every piece straight up to the heavens. Their harmonies are both precise and lush, which leaves every single hymn ringing in the rafters. All in all this is a very nice compilation of Anglican music, and I enjoyed every second of it.