Music I Listen to While Reading

Van Morrison 'The Philosopher's Stone'

The cover art announces the production of this compilation. Bare, unadorned standing stones on an Irish plain, the production of this two disc set is equally spare yet hopeful. There is no horn section. No saxes. Just vocals, some guitars, drums, piano and the Hammond of course.

Disc one to me is highlighted by Wonderful Remark, Not Supposed to Break Down, Madame Joy and Contemplation Rose. At turns joyful and melancholic, Van covers all the familiar territory he has so skillfully traversed throughout his career. With able lyric writing, exemplary song stylings and proficient musicianship, the disc screams (whispers understatedly) genius.

Disc two opens with the absolute raucous Street Only Knew Your Name, a tore down Gospel if I've ever heard one, and I venerate the late Mahalia Jackson. Real Real Gone sans horns and Bright Side of the Road prove to be pared down gems as well.

Throughout discs one and two, one is treated to some of the finest music from one of our finest singer songwriters. Van proves his stuff stands on it's own without glossy production and studio gimmicks.

A genius such as Van Morrison deserves to be heard the way he prefers, and he proves he not only can put out some of the best songs of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, but has an excellent listener's ear as well.

Whether an introduction to the Man, or an addition to his previous works, Philosopher's Stone proves to be one of the most amazing compilations in popular music history, in my humble view.





Lisa Gerrard's 'The Silver Tree'
I have been a Lisa Gerrard fan since her Dead Can Dance days. What I have appreciated most about her is the way she uses her voice as an instrument. Atop spare, sweeping electronic orchestration, Lisa's distinct and obviously strictly trained voice and breathing truly take on a dimension of their own. And that is where this music takes you. To another dimension. In the opening track, InExile, Lisa attains what I've never heard from her before. A dusky, sonorous timbre that will set the tone for the rest of the album. On the way home listening to this in the car c.d. player, 'cinematic' came to mind. I even checked the insert when I got home, thinking 'The Silver Tree' may have been a movie I missed.

This is not a lively c.d. It is slow and unfolding, spiraling in places. Perfect music to listen to intently as there is more to this than meets the ear at first.