POX: Vangelis

Search: "Heaven & Hell", "Mask", "Bladerunner", "1492", "Opera Sauvage", "Soil Festivities", Any Best Of that includes early '70s stuff like "Spiral", "Albedo", "Hymne"..., "Short Stories" w/ Jon Anderson is great, too.

Destroy: "The City", "Direct", most late-'80s thru '90s V is iffy.

Love Vangelis. It always saddened me that he got associated with the school of cheese New Agers like Kitaro, Andreas Vollenweider and their ilk. Vangelis' stuff, when it's really on (search just about anything recorded at Nemo Studios in the 70's), is a thing of awesome beauty.

There's a great article somewhere on the Sound On Sound magazine website that interviews his engineer at Nemo and tells how many of the classic tracks were recorded. I don't have a link but it's worth searching out.

and... Sex Power, for the title. Haven't ever heard it.

I like Direct, too. Or I did in the 80's.

I only need one album really: Heaven and Hell. One might not like it but for me it's dynamite.

Also side two of Apocalypse des Animaux. Beaubourg's the best completely abstract one, though I need to hear Invisible Connections again. And Blade Runner's great too.

I have an interview disc with Vangelis circa 1975 trying to promote 'heaven and hell', thick garbled greek accent: 'There are two kinds of music, there is the earth music and there is the cosmic music. The earth music is of the earth, it is earthly, and there is no cosmic music. I make the cosmic music.'

Yes, that one's pretty boring.

There's a funny story out there somewhere, of Yes auditioning Vangelis to replace Rick Wakeman, in 1974. Apparently, he wanted to show the band that he was a multi-instrumentalist, so he got behind the drum kit and started bashing away thunderously: "I PLAY DRUMS GOOD, YES?"

i just got it as a gift from nick forte and it's good! the only one i've yet really liked... of the stuff i've heard.

1 - Infinity (Aphrodite's Child)
2 - Creation du monde
3 - La mer recommence
4 - Come on
5 - Movement 3 (Theme from Cosmos)
6 - Intestinal Bat
7 - Needles and Bones
8 - Beaubourg part II
9 - L'enfant
10 - Blade Runner Main Titles

Though it's sad not to include anything from 'See You Later', which is an awfully strange record.

See You Later (Outtakes) lyrics

you really have to wonder what was on his mind when he was making See You Later

http://www.engelen.demon.nl/seeyou.htm

aw

<3

I have some of those SYL outtakes and they're pretty odd. Very minimal by Vangelis standards, also.

The 2nd disc of the recently reissued <i>Blade Runner</i> soundtrack is beautiful.

how is... disc 3

err...not too good. Too much sax and misguided attempts at "currency" via use of BIG shuffley beats.

Disc 3 would've sounded more current in 1998.

Trying to have a go here

1. Alpha
2. Five Circles
3. So Faraway.. So Close
4. Blade Runner
5. Hymn
6. To The Unknown Man
7. Chung Kuo
8. Love Theme From Blade Runner
9. Chariots Of Fire
10.Pulstar

Hmm. I meant "So Long Ago, So Clear", not "So Faraway, So Close".

It sounds like they blew it yet again with the 25th Anniversary edition of Blade Runner.

disc 2 of the 25th Anniversary Blade Runner = as good as Vangelis gets. 1994 album (disc 1) has a lot of misses / saxophones / one-too-many voiceovers from the film when what you want is instrumentals -- disc 2 is long stretches of the floatiest, spaced out soundbeds, the track "At Mr. Chew's" = grade A abstract electronic music.

I wish it were available seperately, as a stand alone album this all of what he's good at without all the things that usually try me (some sections are a bit on the sentimental side that made me write him off entirely when I was younger, but I'm there now). Though it's a bizarre punishment he still left off 'Eye on the City', the actual music played over the opening credits, crippling blow

I agree. I wish it was released as a single cd, also. Re CD1: One thing I never understood was the love "Bladerunner Love Theme" gets from people. Vangelis + saxophone is a pretty bad combination. I'm glad the sax is pretty much (entirely?) absent from the 2nd disc. Need to listen again!

ESPER EDITION

the ESPER boot is fantastic and includes all the sound design & foley from the film minus (most of) the dialog, so it's much more about immersive soundtrack listening. disc 2 is just the instrumentals, nicely sequenced into a suite

not mentioned so far: 'reve' is really nice and i do have a soft spot for 'somehow i'll find my way home'. i need more vangelis, apart from the obvious stuff it's a bit of a glaring blind-spot in my musical world, i think.

I've pretty much resigned myself to never seeing the opening credits theme on CD, but I was hoping he'd put the weird pseudo-Arabic music from Taffey's strip club on disc 2.

edit: is it in this Esper bootleg? Because if so HOT GOD DAMN.

Taffey Lewis Night Club 2:02 Vangelis Blade Runner (Espers)

(Espers edition includes a lot of music that isn't actually Vangelis -- O.M.D., Gail Laughton, etc., I wish I knew more about that Arabic nightclub music, it sounds like it was mixed from different sources -- whoever did the sound design & mixing for this film = unsung hero)

taffy lewis nightclub is one of my favorite cuts - phuture!

Just finished downloading the Esper boot from TPB, and while I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, YES SLEAZY ARABIC STRIPPER MUSIC. So happy!

http://faunigena.blogspot.com/2008/04/vangelis-papathanassiou-fais-que-ton.html

Love that album. Beautiful, bittersweet headphone listening.

This guy rules.

Thanks so much for that link Milton - this sounds awesome. As I commented on that blog, the chants in the first part, as well as the synthpattern that follows (the segment from 7:40 to 10 minutes, roughly) are eerily similar to Bowie's vox and synths on "Warzawa"..

I just got myself a copy of Mask, and I'm really enjoying it. It sounds kinda similar to Heaven & Hell (which is awesome, of course), except that it's more moody and less cosmic, and the choral bits are somewhat more spiritual/Christian, especially in Movement 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ebjso1kk4

Are there any other Vangelis albums that combine atmospheric electronics with grandiose, operatic choir vocals the way H&H and Mask do? I think I like this side of him the most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kRS4pkrBqE&feature=related

God, "L'Enfant" is so pretty it makes me cry.

Yes it is.

I just cleaned up (hiss removal, added a little dynamics "oomph") two sort of hard to find concerts from 1978 & 1979 - Paris and London repsectively. Beautiful live improvs with piano, synths, percussion and other instruments. Incredible live versions of "Spiral" and others. Can up this week if anyone wants.

*respectively

Mind that the sound quality will be what it is cuz these are from mp3 sources but still...

yes please

will do

Yeah, I'd like to hear those too.

I just Leonardo'd the first of these. Enjoy!

been on a Vangelis kick lately - loved L'Apocalypse des Animaux, such a pretty little album, and I dig how restrained Earth is for how ambitious it wants to be, but Heaven and Hell is the one hitting me hard right now, so many powerful moments scattered throughout

anything else you guys would rec?

Antarctis and China have a similar bombastic vibe to H&H, I'd recommend checking out those two first. Mask also has the same combination of choral singing + synths, but it's more subdued and spiritual. A lot of people rate Albedo 0.39 really high, but personally I think the proggy workouts that appear between minimal synth pop gems make that one less than great. If you dig Vangelis's keyboard chops, I'd recommend Opéra Sauvage, which is more moody and atmospheric than H&H, but almost as good, and it has "L'Enfant", which I think is the most beautiful tune Vangelis ever recorded.

Also, if you like the vocal bit in Heaven and Hell with Jon Anderson, do check out The Friends of Mr. Cairo by Jon & Vangelis... It's a bit uneven, but it has three absolutely brilliant prog-pop songs ("I'll Find My Way Home", "State of Independence", "The Friends of Mr. Cairo"), and the rest is not bad either. The other Jon & Vangelis albums are not essential, in my opinion.

Sorry, the first album I mentioned is called Antarctica, not Antarctis.

thanks Tuomas - definitely will check those out, though I'm kind of cautious about the Jon & Vangelis ones

Antarctica sounds very much like you would want a synthesizer album about Antarctica to sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0Xy_6WIY0

But you wouldn't go wrong with any of the following:
Opera Sauvage, Chariots of Fire soundtrack, Antarctica, or China.

The soundtrack to COSMOS wrecked me, in the best way possible. Went on a major Vangelis kick then (which led through high school). The was a time that I could have rattled off tracks from memory and filled a list out. As it stands, I'm just echoing what's been said above: HEAVEN AND HELL, SOIL FESTIVITIES, ALBEDO 0.39 and BLADE RUNNER (Esper) have something for everyone. But there was a time when Vangelis and Wendy Carlos ruled my world completely and utterly.

It's easier to make a short list of what to avoid:

Oceanic
Voices
Direct
Alexander

Everything else is worth checking out, pretty much.

Antarctica sounds very much like you would want a synthesizer album about Antarctica to sound.

There's a great bootleg of that album I found online which has about three times the music. Alas, it died in the Great Crash of 2010.

So i conjured the Esper Edition of Blade Runner last night and yeah, wow, I get it now. That is, I get why ppl are so obsessed with this particular score. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVQuScFOoEk

For the French speakers here ...

I've been listening to this at work after everybody else leaves early:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QQJfPi3ps

Has anyone heard Demis Roussos' solo LPs? I'm a little scared to dive into them but there's one that Vangelis co-wrote that sounds interesting...

Jaxon could probably answer that but I think he quit posting

Demis Roussos "I Dig You" is the Idjut Boys / Phantom Slasher song "Going Greek"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Q1HsPE5cQ

which I just realized is almost the same as Odyssey - "Who" (which is arr. and prod. Vangelis)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uta02hfUF4o

Still listening to this Blade Runner boot. So fucking great.

The Roussos solo stuff that Vangelis had a hand in is a bit heavy on the cheese for me. I would search for albums he produced for other folks in the 70s, especially Italian pop names like Patty Pravo, Riccardo (sp?) Cocciante and Claudio Baglioni. These are all big on the choirs and cavernous "Heaven & Hell" style synth armies. Then there's the lovely, more subdued record he did with Greek teen singer Mariangela. That one has more of an "Opera Sauvage" sound pallette going and is pretty special. All fave records of mine. Avoid most things he produced for others in the 80s I say bar a couple of things like the collabs with Irene Pappas and "Short Stories" with Jon Anderson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIRFK_IBbZ4

I just cleaned up (hiss removal, added a little dynamics "oomph") two sort of hard to find concerts from 1978 & 1979 - Paris and London repsectively. Beautiful live improvs with piano, synths, percussion and other instruments. Incredible live versions of "Spiral" and others. Can up this week if anyone wants.

― A happenstance discovery of asynchronous lesbians (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:14 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

*raises one paw pleadingly*

oof - misplaced the drive with these files recently during a big apt. renovation but I do have them stored somewhere. will dig them up and post asap.

oof - misplaced the drive with these files recently during a big apt. renovation but I do have them stored somewhere. will dig them up and post asap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygq4zfOdsdU

Here's an idea of the London one, though I cleaned it up a bit. Will dig for the concerts this weekend.

http://thegrowingbin.blogspot.com/2012/01/vangelis-tegos-tapes.html

https://soundcloud.com/nev-dorrington
^^ contains blunt splices dubbed from the VHS tapes, to remove the narrator's occasional interjections about the spinal surgery closeups onscreen

furiously downloading every track

cases 22-27 are nice and blade runnery

THIS IS RUINING MY LIFE

Anonymous said...
!!!DAMN!!! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING.... 4 YEARS AGO I WAS IN DR. TEGOS' HOUSE FOR A CATERING EVENT (I WAS ONE OF THE WAITERS). I HEARD HIM SAYING THAT ONE OF HIS FRIENDS CALLED VANGELIS (A VERY COMMON NAME IN GREECE LIKE "BOB" IN U.S.) IS NOT GOING TO COME BECAUSE SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO HIM. I J U S T "CONNECTED THE DOTS" AND FREAKING REALISED HE WAS REFERRING TO THE V A N G E L I S !!!! I WAS SO CLOSE TO MEETING HIM!!!!!!!! F U C K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OCTOBER 9, 2012 AT 12:27 AM

^^^ilm version of party down

omg that surgery video

I hope someone dubs over the surgery descriptions with dialog from the Blade Runner voiceover.

chariots of fire are the same tune as on top of old smoky
who old smoky?

So the soundcloud links total about three hours' worth of music... I wonder if the other nine hours are anywhere online? Because this stuff is awesome.

I could easily imagine there being dialogue or narration over 75% of this. The original masters are just begging for an online release (this is how you do it these days: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nasa-voyager-space-sounds/id336195159)

but yeah it's the good vangelis. he seldom lets himself go longform cosmic, side 2 of l'apocalypse, beauborg, invisible connections, but when the unmoving camera's tightly focused on an opened spine for hours, you've got the license for some deep musical thinking

nice to hear something good from the late period, most of the time now he's just on this sound (still technically amazing): http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/12/04/vangelis-and-the-journey-to-ithaka-documentary-now-available/

Well, the linked video up above on Youtube has pretty sparse narration... but at this point the rough edits where the narration has been chopped out just sound like part of it. Case 04 has a kind of Soil Festivities/Aphex Twin thing going on, and it is fabulous, while Case 08 is along the lines of the quieter parts of the City. As you say, it's good Vangelis... it sounds very 80s Vangelis for something (supposedly) from 1998, too.

That reminds me, I need to find a copy of Invisible Connections... I bought it ages ago but the the CD was corrupted and wouldn't play.

Has anyone heard Demis Roussos' solo LPs? I'm a little scared to dive into them but there's one that Vangelis co-wrote that sounds interesting…

Just grabbed my first cuz it was cheap, The Demis Roussos Magic and I'm diving in now. Track 1: I'm having trouble already with it, but it appears side B contains another (?) version of "Let it Happen," so I'm curious about that.

Oops, I meant:

Has anyone heard Demis Roussos' solo LPs? I'm a little scared to dive into them but there's one that Vangelis co-wrote that sounds interesting…

revive quote

The inside-the-gatefold image didn't prepare me for "Mourir Aupres De Mon Amour," the first track.

http://www.demisroussos.info/disc/albums/magicAdd.jpg

Maybe I'm missing something. Like, knowledge or something.

OK kind of digging "My Face in the Rain." Kinda like if Terry Reid had recorded with Vangelis.

Cookin' big production of Chrisma's "U", here "I Dig You" to end side 1. Is it a Chrisma original? Dunno--can't tell from a quick look at discogs.

Forever and Ever is glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3vCB3YBMUo&feature=kp

and this goes so hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FAgtWMGj4

<3 Roussos

Damn, the compression on the drums/bass on "Let it Happen" really gives it the feel of a loop.And some real forward-looking synth lead bits. It's not my new favorite version of this tune, but it is pretty great.

By "Damn" I meant more like "dayum" of course

And OK maybe this is becoming my new favorite version

Greek Reggae now. It is islands I guess

Greek Traditional Jamaican Mento rather haha

Has anyone heard Demis Roussos' solo LPs? I'm a little scared to dive into them but there's one that Vangelis co-wrote that sounds interesting…

First one is pretty good tbh!

I was obv drunk last night. "I Dig You" clearly the forerunner to Chrisma's "U", not the other way around