Wim Mertens — Struggle for Pleasure (1988)

Klaus Nomi — The Cold Song (Live in Germany - 1982)

I'm not very fond of Klaus Nomi's synth-opera music, some of it dosen't age very well. But there is a song by him I think is just timeless. It's his interpretation of The Cold Song taken from Henry Purcell's King Arthur opera. The fact that Nomi knew he was dying of AIDS while giving this show (and that it was certainly his last visit in the country where he grew up) makes his performance all the more intense and troubling.

! Modern Marimba ¡

I had to post about this marimba thing so I guess my blog is reopened! I recently stumbled on a video by a guy called Evan Chapman playing an excellent version of the song Opening by Philip Glass (on the Glassworks album). There is something about the sound of this instruments that makes the song sound better. I feel like the sounds are softer, more flowing than on the original. So I went looking for a studio recording of this song. Turns out I found one. It's by Nathaniel Bartlett on an album called Precipice: Modern Marimba. The album contains marimba renditions of modern composers classics: Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, Boulez and Bartók to name a few. You can buy the excellent Opening version by Nathaniel Bartlett here.

Olafur Arnalds — 3355 [Official video]

Olafur Arnalds
3055 [Official video]
Album: Eulogy of Evolution (2007)
Animation by Zoon Designs

Ryuichi Sakamoto — Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

I haven't seen the movie Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983). But in the last days I have been listening a lot of the album Playing The Piano by Ryuichi Sakamoto. This album features Sakamoto covering his own compositions on solo piano. Got this song stuck in my head lately...