MUSIC MEMORIES and other stories

Πέμπτη 1 Οκτωβρίου 2026

Zbigniew Preisner • Trois Couleurs: Blanc

Zbigniew Preisner (Polish: [ˈzbiɡɲɛf ˈprajsnɛr]; born 20 May 1955 as Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski)^[1] is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as well as the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He is a member of the French Film Academy.^[2]

Three Colours: White (French: Trois couleurs: Blanc, Polish: Trzy kolory: Biały) is a 1994 arthouse psychological comedy-drama film co-written, produced and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.^[4]^[5] White is the second in the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals, following Blue and preceding Red. The film, like its precedent and succedent, received widespread critical acclaim and was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards.

White is about equality, with the film depicting Karol Karol, a shy man who, after being left by his wife in humiliating circumstances in Paris, loses his money, his residency, and his friends. As a deeply ashamed beggar in Paris, Karol begins his effort to restore equality to his life through revenge.

Τετάρτη 30 Σεπτεμβρίου 2026

Philip Glass - The Photographer

Philip Morris Glass^[1] (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers.^[6]^[7] He described himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures",^[8] which he has helped to evolve stylistically.^[9]^[10]

Glass founded the Philip Glass Ensemble in 1968. He has written 15 operas, numerous chamber operas and musical theatre works, 15 symphonies, 12 concertos, nine string quartets, various other chamber music pieces, and many film scores. He has received nominations for four Grammy Awards, including two for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Satyagraha (1987) and String Quartet No. 2 (1988). He has received three Academy Award for Best Original Score nominations for Martin Scorsese's Kundun (1997), Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2002), and Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal (2006). He also composed the scores for Koyaanisqatsi (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Hamburger Hill (1987), The Thin Blue Line (1988), Candyman (1992), The Truman Show (1998), and The Illusionist (2006).

Glass is known for composing the operas Einstein on the Beach (1976), Satyagraha (1980), Akhnaten (1983), The Voyage (1992), and The Perfect American (2013). He also wrote the scores for Broadway productions such as the revivals of The Elephant Man (2002), The Crucible (2016), and King Lear (2019). For the last he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.

Glass has received many accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Drama Desk Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has also received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995, the National Medal of Arts in 2010, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018, and the Grammy Trustees Award in 2020.

The Photographer is a three-part mixed media performance accompanied by music (also sometimes referred to as a chamber opera) by composer Philip Glass. The libretto is based on the life and homicide trial of 19th-century English photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Commissioned by the Holland Festival, the opera was first performed in 1982 at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

The Photographer A Music-Drama in Three Acts (1983) Music by Philip Glass The Philip Glass Ensemble Michael Riesman, conductor Paul Zukofsky, solo violin ACT I: "A Gentleman's Honor" (vocal) ACT II "A Gentleman's Honor" (instrumental) ACT III

Τρίτη 29 Σεπτεμβρίου 2026

Zbigniew Preisner • Trois Couleurs: Red

Life

Zbigniew Preisner was born in Bielsko-Biała, southern Poland, and studied history and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself music by listening and transcribing parts from records. His compositional style represents a distinctively sparse form of tonal neo-Romanticism. Paganini and Jean Sibelius are acknowledged influences.^[3]

Three Colours: Red (French: Trois couleurs: Rouge, Polish: Trzy kolory: Czerwony) is a 1994 romantic psychological drama mystery art film co-written, produced and directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. It is the final installment of the Three Colours trilogy, which examines the French Revolutionary ideals; it is preceded by Blue and then by White.

Kieślowski had announced that this would be his final film, planning to retire claiming to be through with filmmaking;^[3] he would die suddenly less than two years later. Red is about fraternity, which it examines by showing characters whose lives gradually become closely interconnected, with bonds forming between two characters who appear to have little in common.

Red was released to universal critical acclaim and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director for Kieślowski. It was also selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was disqualified for not being a majority-Swiss production; its precedent however, submitted by Poland, was accepted although it did not secure a nomination.^[4] Since then it has been widely regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the greatest French-language films ever made.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Colours:_Red

00:00 | 01. Milosc Od Pierwszego Wejrzenia | Zbigniew Zamachowski • Music: Zbigniew Preisner • Lyrics: Wislawa Szymborska 04:28 | 02. Fashion Show I • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 09:18 | 03. Meeting The Judge • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 10:20 | 04. The Tapped Conversation • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 11:40 | 05. Leaving The Judge • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 13:31 | 06. Psychoanalysis • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 15:39 | 07. Today Is My Birthday • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 18:45 | 08. Do Not Take Another Man's Wife I • Music: Van Den Budenmayer 21:15 | 09. Treason • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 24:42 | 10. Fashion Show II • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 26:09 | 11. Conversation At The Theatre • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 29:57 | 12. The Rest Of The Conversation At The Theatre • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 30:55 | 13. Do Not Take Another Man's Wife II • Music: Van Den Budenmayer 33:44 | 14. Catastrophe • Music: Zbigniew Preisner 34:33 | 15. Finale • Music: Zbigniew Preisner

Zbigniew Preisner • Trois Couleurs: Bleu

Life

Three Colours: Blue (French: Trois couleurs: Bleu, Polish: Trzy kolory: Niebieski) is a 1993 psychological drama film co-written and directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. It is the first instalment in the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, followed by White and Red (both 1994). According to Kieślowski, the subject of the film is liberty, specifically emotional liberty, rather than its social or political meaning.^[3]

Set in Paris, the film follows a woman named Julie (Juliette Binoche) whose husband and daughter are killed in a car accident. Suddenly freed from her familial bonds, she tries to isolate herself and live in seclusion from her former ties. However, she discovers that she cannot escape human connections.^[4]

Upon its release, Blue received widespread critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. It remains one of Kieślowski's most celebrated works.^[5]^[6] The male lead, Benoît Régent, died of an aneurysm at the age of 41 in October 1994, just one year after the film was released.^[7]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Colours:_Blue}

Though I speak with the tongues of angels, If I have not love... My words would resound with but a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy... And understand all mysteries... and all knowledge... And though I have all faith So that I could remove mountains, if I have not love... I am nothing. Love is patient, full of goodness; Love tolerates all things, Aspires to all things, Love never dies, while the prophecies shall be done away, tongues shall be silenced, knowledge shall fade... Thus then shall linger only faith, hope, and love... but the greatest of these... is love.

Villagers of Ioannina City - Age of Aquarius

Villagers of Ioannina City (VIC) is a folk rock band from Ioannina, Greece, formed in 2007. They play post, stoner and psychedelic rock with a large dose of Greek folk music from the region of Epirus. The regional musical tradition is characterized by polyphony, specific rhythms and tunes, and the use of clarinet, kaval, and bagpipe. The band fuses this unique folk music with modern psychedelic forms, creating a sound where the dominant solo instrument is the clarinet. They have played in the biggest rock festivals and in numerous sold-out shows in the biggest music scenes in Greece.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villagers_of_Ioannina_City

Current members

Alex Karametis – guitar, vocals, synth
Akis Zois – bass
Aris Giannopoulos – drums
Dimitris Brendas – bagpipe, winds

➡️ https://vicband.bandcamp.com/ ➡️ https://smarturl.it/AgeOfAquarius-NPR

Tracklist: 1. Welcome 0:00 2. Age of Aquarius 2:58 3. Part V 11:41 4. Dance of Night 21:29 5. Arrival 30:02 6. Father Sun 31:54 7. Millennium Blues 40:31 8. Cosmic Soul 49:14 9. For the Innocent 58:17 10. Sparkle out of Black Hole 1:03:20

Produced by VIC and Asteris Partalios Recorded by Asteris Partalios at Magnanimous Studio, Thessaloniki, GR Mixed by Keith Armstrong at Pietown Sound, Los Angeles, CA Mastered by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound, Nashville TN Cover art by Fotis Varthis Cover editing by Graphic no Jutsu Video edit by John Kaimakamis and theNightwatchers Contact with V.I.C Facebook: / villagersofioanninacity Instagram: / villagersofioanninacity

Δευτέρα 28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2026

Villagers of Ioannina City - Venceremos

"Venceremos" explores a world broken by illusion, control, and fear. It follows those who rise against it, rejecting gods and modern kings to reclaim freedom and meaning. A story of resistance and the courage to exist, here and now. Through struggles, hopes, fears, and the deepest reflections on life, one truth remains: the quest is one, its name is Freedom. Order Venceremos here: ➡️ https://vic-store.com/ ➡️ http://lnk.to/VillagersOfIoanninaCity...

Tracklist: 1. Alienation 0:00 2. Home 0:44 3. Ghosts in the sky 10:39 4. Venceremos 18:00 5. The Ruiner 23:27 6. No fear 30:25 7. Here and now 37:08 8. Epitaph 49:12 9. Requiem 52:50 ===================

Alex Karametis - Vocals, Guitars, Synths Akis Zois - Bass Aris Giannopoulos - Drums Dimitris Brentas - Bagpipes, Winds Produced and recorded by Alex Karametis at Magnanimous-X studio, Thessaloniki, GR Mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen, at Hansen Studios, RIBE, DK All songs written & arranged by Karametis/Zois/Giannopoulos Except "Epithaph" written by Karametis/Brentas All lyrics by Alex Karametis The bridge of the song "Home" features a passage from the recitation of the remarkable poem "Our sun" by Giorgos Seferis performed by the poet himself. Backing vocals: Anthie Kirkou Sofia Kamina Chrysanthi Tsolaki Zourna on "No fear" - Sylvain Barou Album artwork - Fotis Varthis Album layout - Elias "SpyOne" Tsafaras Video edit - John Kaimakamis and theNightwatchers ========

Follow VIC ======== Website: https://www.vic-band.com Facebook: / villagersofioanninacity Instagram: / villagersofioanninacity

Σάββατο 26 Σεπτεμβρίου 2026

RUPHUS - New Born Day

Here is a copy of one of Norwegians finest Prog Rock exports `New Born Day` by Ruphus. Released by Polydor (2382 037) in 1973 the original first issue came in a gatefold `Textured` sleeve with a large fold-out poster of the band, original copies are getting hard to find especially with the poster. A copy sold on for £427 in 2024 (with poster), top copies without aforementioned poster still sell for around £150!!

Formed in Oslo, Norway in 1970 - Disbanded in 1981 RUPHUS is probably one of the most important 70's Norwegian hard rock band with progressive tendencies. Their debut "New Born Day" is certainly one of the best Norwegian albums. But three members left after the album release and a new singer was found for their second album "Ranshart", a more progressive record. Future jazz-rock legend Terje Rypdal produced their third album "Let Your Light Shine", a jazz-rock album that had much success in Germany, but again, personnel change struck at the worst of times, but their fourth album "Inner Voice" continued the formula, but further changes undermined the group, eventually folding at the end of the decade to general indifference.

Side 1 1. Coloured Dreams 0:00 2. Scientific Ways 4:02 3. Still Alive 10:00 4. The Man Who Started It All 14:34 Side 2 1. Trapped In A Game 20:01 2. New Born Day 26:06 3. Day After Tomorrow 31:47

Πέμπτη 16 Απριλίου 2026

Bob Smith – The Visit (1970)

This album is a very ghostly visit from Bob Smith. On much of the album the music seems to draw together the various strains of west coast psych and folk rock, and then slathers it with reverb and hay production. Mr. Smith's voice also helps with his fine, expressive baritone. He often comes across as a far more chilled out Jim Morrison, complete with metaphysical hippy 'poetry.' The music itself manages quite a bit of variation, with some first rate guitar, fun touches such as vibraphones, and a truly groovy rhythm section. There must be a few samples lurking about in Maury Alexander's and Smith's production for those who have already cashed-out on David Axelrod's albums.

This albums starts of strong, with the first three tracks all making a positive impression. "Please's" bittersweet vibe and distant harmonies are custom for a documentary soundtrack where they cover one of those San Fran festivals with headbands and hippy moms breastfeeding. "Constructive Criticism" does the same before launching into a fun, full throttle acid-guitar and cheese organ groove. I'm sure at the time this music seemed about two years or so behind the times, but I'm willing to say that doesn't matter 40 years after the fact. I find that "Mobeda Dandelions" is a particular standout. It starts sounding much like a "Morrison Hotel" outtake before launching into a wild, almost krautrock-sounding rave-up. "Can't You Jump Rope" also catches my attention through some great interweaving guitar parts. The primary flaw here is really just another example of the double-album curse. The atonal plodding of "India Slumber" really disrupts the flow, and if you also cut the somewhat dull blues of "Source You Blues," you'd have an even better single album.

While there is some mild experimentation, "The Visit" doesn't do a whole lot that you haven't heard before. It is, however, a top rate encapsulation of some late 60's (especially West Coast) styles. With it's distinctively late 60's production and find performances throughtout, I find it's mostly a joy to listen to and a great, poppy psychedelic obscuritiy.

https://psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.com/2009/07/bob-smith-1970-visit.html

01. Please 3:14 02. Don't Tell Lady Tonight 3:09 03. Constructive Critique 4:43 04. Ocean Song 4:50 05. The Wishing Song 5:04 06. Can You Jump Rope? 5:47 07. Latter Days Matter 3:31 08. India Slumber 7:47 09. Source You Blues 6:02 10. Sunlight Sweet 3:10 11. Of She, Of Things 3:17 12. Mobeda Dandelions 3:18 13. The Path Does Have Forks 5:25 14. Try, Try To Understand Yourself 3:22

Bass – John Lantini Drums – Skip Schneider Engineer – Mark Taylor (22) Flute – Stan Keiser Guitar – Mike Degreve Keyboards, Vibraphone [Vibes] – Daryl "Captain Keyboard" Dragon* Lead Guitar, Vocals – Bob Smith (23) Mellotron, Synthesizer [Moog] – Don Preston Percussion [Hand Drums] – James Curtis (4) Producer – Bob Smith (23), Mark Taylor (22) Violin – Larry Chapman (2) Written-By – Bob Smith (23)