Not so long ago, I wrote in appreciation of the lovely new album by Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland. It wasn’t the first time I’ve enthused about Nordic music and, as I’m about to prove, it wasn’t the last. There’s something special about the way many musicians from the Nordic countries blend folk, jazz, formally … Continue reading Beyond Folk, Beyond Jazz: two terrific albums from Norway
These days I don’t watch as many new films as I used to, partly because I no longer work full-time as a critic/programmer and have other things I enjoy doing, partly because I get a lot out of revisiting the films I admire most, and partly because so many new movies clearly aren’t made for … Continue reading Command Z: Steven Soderbergh on the state of things…
It’s fair to say that Nils Økland is not a name that will be familiar to many people. But I’ve written about him here before, and judging by the number of people who read that post he evidently has a substantial band of followers – and quite rightly so. The Norwegian composer, bandleader and violinist … Continue reading More Norwegian Good: Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland
Back in the late 1990s, at the London Film Festival, I dimly recall having seen – and been both befuddled and beguiled by – a long, slow, monochrome film of The Postman Always Rings Twice. György Fehér’s Passion (Szenvedély) was considerably artier and more enigmatic than any of the earlier versions of James M Cain’s … Continue reading Into the Unknown: A different film called Twilight
Since 2018, when the Danish String Quartet released their first Prism CD, I have been eagerly awaiting the fifth and final album in the series, and at last it is here. The Quartet’s idea for the string of releases was simple, as announced on the back cover of each of the CDs: ‘Lines of connection … Continue reading Great Beethoven and More: Music through a Danish Prism
A confession: I wasn't familiar with the work of Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) until around a decade ago, when a friend also attending the Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna suggested we take a break from movies and visit the Morandi museum. So I missed a film – who knows how good it would have been? – … Continue reading Less Is More: the idiosyncratic genius of Giorgio Morandi
In December 2021 I was moved to write expressing my enthusiasm for a new album by Graham Collier (pictured above) – new only in terms of the disc’s release, since the British bassist-composer had died a decade previously; the music – a jazz suite in five parts – had actually been recorded (for the first … Continue reading But Is It Jazz? (Three recent releases…)
It was my friend Nick James who introduced me to the pianistic brilliance of András Schiff, pointing out that the playing I’d hear on the birthday gift he’d bought me – the Hungarian’s 2001 concert recording of the Goldberg Variations – would be rather different from Glenn Gould’s renowned recordings of Bach’s masterpiece. Certainly, I … Continue reading Bach at the keyboard: András Schiff’s latest gem
As regular readers will know, I’ve been posting my personal ‘year’s best’ lists ever since I started writing here in 2016, and each time I’ve prefaced the survey of my favourite movies, music, etc, with complaints about the dreadful state of British and international politics followed by the expression of (mostly forlorn) hopes for an … Continue reading My best movies, music, books and other moments from 2022
Over the last few years I've occasionally posted recommendations for recent BluRay/DVD releases and CDs that might prove useful for anyone wondering what to buy as gifts for Christmas. Since they seem to have been fairly popular posts, I thought I’d do it again – and I’ve even added in a couple of books this … Continue reading Just in time for Christmas, part 2: classic movies, new music releases and books…
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 