Mister Trend's Random 10

I tend to disagree with Lyrad on Philip Glass – I find his soundtracks to be a bit repetive (though I don’t mind too much – it’s still good music, and if you’re going to be repetitive in your mechanisms, rhythms, chords, and volume, better to be repeating good stuff than bad stuff). However, I love his original works, be it his opera (“Akhnaten” is one of the more beautiful things I think has ever been written in any genre), his experimental stuff (“Music in 12 Parts”), and especially, his solo piano works. “Wichita Sutra Vortex” is off his outstanding “Solo Piano” album. It has what you can expect from Glass – the repeating of certain chords and passages (though I wouldn’t call it “minimalism” – despite what may seem a simple melody or façade, there’s too much going on in most of Glass’s work for it to be remotely “minimalist”). His solo album is full of emotion, though, and beauty (particularly the last two tracks, “Mad Rush” and “Wichita Sutra Vortex”), and the ways and moments in which he alternates from loud to soft and loud and soft again are simple, yet lovely.

1. “You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond” – Blind Willie Johnson
2. “As Canções que Você Fez Pra Mim” – Maria Bethânia
3. “Too Too Train Blues” – Big Bill Broonzy
4. “Fighting in a Sack” – The Shins
5. “It’s Me” – Dinosaur Jr.
6. “Death Cell Blues” – Blind Willie McTell
7. “Wichita Sutra Vortex” – Philip Glass
8. “Festival in the Tian Mountain” – Anna Guo
9. “Them Eyes” – The Black Keys
10. RAMIFICATIONS para 12 solo strings (1968-1969) – Gyorgi Ligeti