#OrchestralManoeuvres (28): Tinseltown In The Rain #TheBlueNile. Finishing this @tansleyjames.bsky.social curated challenge (thanks James) with some synth strings, flowing in places and deployed rhythmically in the middle-eight of this sublime “sense of place” song. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinselt...
I’ve been away from work for a week, but am looking forward to hearing from my colleagues at @thebaytrust.bsky.social - on Monday - how this event went. I knew they’d planned it well; looks like the delivery was every bit as good :-)
#OrchestralManoeuvres (27): Cloudbusting #KateBush. Kate Bush & Dave Lawson are apparently credited with the almost classical arrangement for the former’s composition here. It makes for a perfect-sounding record. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbu...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (26): Nothing Sacred #ParadiseLost. Gregor Mackintosh, the band’s lead guitarist, arranged the strings here and it gives the song’s arrangement a fine touch of harmonic drama. m.youtube.com/watch?v=-sNn...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (25): Pale Green Ghosts #JohnGrant. If I recall correctly, in the BBC series Sound of Song, Grant described the inspiration for this being along the lines of a #CabaretVoltaire bass line with #Rachmaninoff inspired strings. It works. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux1f...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (24): Nocturnal Me #EchoAndTheBunnymen. The instrumental sections of this sound as though they could soundtrack a chic Euro-noir thriller on #BBCFour. Adam Peters arranged the strings superbly. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu5P...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (23): Here Comes The Rain Again #Eurythmics. Real plucked and bowed strings feature here (arranged by Michael Kamen) and appear to be more than just augmentations of the Lennox/Stewart composition. A very adeptly produced combination. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Co...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (22): Lullaby #TheCure. Synth strings of both the plucked and bowed variety set the mood here - and it is a captivating one, setting the scene for Robert Smith’s whispered vocal. Smith & Roger O’Donnell appear to be the synth-string players. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lullaby...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (21): Angel Dust #NewOrder. This is a very short digital synth-string section just before the fuzzed/overdriven main instrumental theme reprise at the end of piece. It has good classical tones. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynif...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (20): Our Mutual Friend #TheDivineComedy. As an instrumental this would have definite, almost euphoric, echoes of Philip Glass. It supports delivery of Neil Hannon’s lyric tremendously still and makes for a very satisfying listen. m.youtube.com/watch?v=3qtc...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (19): Xavier #DeadCanDance There’s a multitude of orchestral instrumentation in this but I’ve long thought the strings added particular strength to the rhythm of the song’s chorus accompaniment as well as flow elsewhere. m.youtube.com/watch?v=0WRB...
This is very impressive. It is a great composition and this rendition does it justice. The part your daughter plays is tremendous (both from her and the band in support.) Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks Tom. It’s a fabulous record and I don’t know many people who are aware of it (despite it once being on an episode of Tomorrow’s World!.. or, rather, there was a segment featuring it being recorded.) I’m so old I saw Act play live once - though without a string section!
#OrchestralManoeuvres (18): Snobbery and Decay #Act. David Bedford arranged the orchestra on this, which includes a spiralling-up string section at the single version’s climax. Stephen Lipson produced Thomas Leer & Claudia Brücken’s composition. It is grandiose IMHO. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snobber...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (17): Breakfast #Associates. A second Lynton Naiff arrangement in my selection and it is part of a luxuriously grand sounding record. The piano and Billy Mackenzie’s voice may dominate but the strings add drama and reflection with aplomb. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfa...
A bit of floral colour to start the week at @thebaytrust.bsky.social - crocuses/croci in #ThePinesGarden. Elsewhere everything from a grant funding panel to proposals for tea ceremonies are in this week’s diary…
#OrchestralManoeuvres (16): A Million Things #ClanOfXymox. I’ve gone for the bonus track on the cd of ‘Medusa’ here (rather than the ‘Twist of Shadows’ version), and it’s really just the song’s introduction. Synthy but nicely arranged. m.youtube.com/watch?v=GU2k...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (15): If You Go Away #ScottWalker. The arrangement of Wally Stott (later Angela Morley) both supports and enhances Walker’s delivery of an Anglicised/translated, mood-shifting, Brel lyric superbly. www.shazam.com/song/1443111...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (14): Vienna #Ultravox. This is really just the impact of Billy Currie’s viola solo, as it gives a grandeur that the composition’s title may only otherwise have implied (Midge Ure’s tale of the song’s background is brilliantly open…) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_...
A pleasure Hedley. I’ve only recently picked up on Jim’s photos and (as I do with yours) really enjoy them … as he posted one from Uffington Castle it just struck me to make a connection between both accounts!
Fabulous location. Not sure if you are aware of him, but @hedleythorne.bsky.social posts very nice images of that landscape on BlueSky from time to time. Good for what I think is called a “timeline cleanser”!
#OrchestralManoeuvres (13): The Romance of the Telescope #OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark. There’s quite a bit of mellotron orchestration in this, though the strings might be a synth and add glimmer to the glorious arrangement. m.youtube.com/watch?v=DHuN...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (12): The Rhythm Thief #Sparks. A “banger” without any sort of propulsive drumbeat. There are some seriously frenetic strings however, giving added drama to the musical astonishment Russell Mael sings of. A fantastic record. m.youtube.com/watch?v=kqCm...
Given I work for a charity that has had a very modest capacity to generate some green energy for the past couple of decades, it’s probably no surprise that I find the #LocalPowerPlan to contain encouraging ambitions (including of socioeconomic nature too.) Worth a read. www.gov.uk/government/p...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (11): Left To My Own Devices #PetShopBoys. A quite famous use of strings for this selection. Richard Niles’ arrangement even starts the record and goes on to provide melodic moments, transitions and support for the narrative vocal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_to...
Thanks. It’s a good track. I’m not sure I have a favourite piece on this LP; I tend to listen to it as a whole (there’s a good article on @thequietus.com account re such album relationships, by the way) and it has all sorts of fine moments. By turns funny, melodic, singalong-able etc. #Blancmange
#OrchestralManoeuvres (10): I Give To You #NitzerEbb. Andrew Poppy’s orchestration brings drama to Harris & McCarthy’s already urgent song (with Alan Wilder & Flood on production duties.) The string section around the rain in the lyric works especially well. m.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQf...
In the new #gardenofcuriosities exhibition (curated by @danthompson33.bsky.social) at @thebaytrust.bsky.social #PinesGarden there’s a little bit on necessary movement of populations from places destabilised by a changing climate. This article makes for timely reading alongside it IMHO.
#OrchestralManoeuvres (9): Unfinished Sympathy #MassiveAttack. Wil Malone arranged the strings for this and they certainly are a key ingredient in the emotive perfection of the composition. There’s not a sound, instrumental or vocal, out of place in this record. m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmr...
#OrchestralManoeuvres (8): Sex Object #Kraftwerk. Much of this song features an arrangement (Synclavier sampled strings?) that might suit a real orchestra. At the end it becomes magical as the bass “cellos” give lift by playing a new section under the main theme. www.shazam.com/en-gb/song/8...
