I’ve finally set up my stereo equipment in the new listening room, including bass traps in the front corners. Happily, I managed to do some serious listening during the setup, and these, according to the Tidal report for August, are my most played artists.
Dire Straits: Initially known as Café Racers, the British rock band formed in 1977 with Mark Knopfler on lead vocals and guitar, his brother, David Knopfler, on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, John Illsley on bass guitar and backing vocals and Pick Withers on drums and percussion. They broke up first in 1988, reunited in 1990 and broke up again in 1995.
Over the years, new members Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Hal Lindes and Jack Sonni on rhythm guitar, and Terry Williams on drums joined or left at various intervals.
Dire Straits’ demo tape featuring some of their early hits was initially turned down by MCA. Still, after their hit Sultans Of Swing was played on BBC Radio, they secured a recording contract with Vertigo Records two months later. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1977, featuring Sultans Of Swing and Down To The Waterline.
The band released six studio albums, of which Brothers In Arms was the most successful. The Guinness Book Of World Records lists the album as the first CD to sell a million copies and is credited for popularizing the CD format for music. However, my favourite album, also their last, was On Every Street. Mark Knopfler started a solo career and released his debut solo album in 1996. They have won four Grammy’s and three Brit Awards.
The album On Every Street was released in 1990 after Dire Straits reunited. It featured Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher, who were joined by saxophonist Chris White, steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings, and guitarist Phil Palmer. Meanwhile, Jeff Porcaro (cofounder and drummer for rock band Toto) and Manu Katche (session musician for Sting and Peter Gabriel) shared drumming duties. While this album was not reviewed favourably after its release, it is popular with audiophiles.
You And Your Friend is my favourite Dire Straits track, unsurprisingly coming from the On Every Street album.
Kate Bush: I remember being fascinated by Bush’s voice when I first heard her singing around 45 years ago. Her musical style has been described as gothic and eclectic, while Marianne Faithful thought she should be treasured like a Stradivarius. Rapper Tricky, formerly of Massive Attack, was more gushing when he quipped, “… I don’t believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible.”
Bush (Catherine) started writing songs at age 11. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour helped her produce a demo tape, which secured her a recording contract. By age 19, she had topped the UK Singles chart with the hit Wuthering Heights. That same year (1978), Bush released her debut album, The Kick Inside, and recorded 10 studio albums.
Hounds Of Love, released in 1985, is my favourite album and features the hit Running Up That Hill. I still have that cassette tape stored away somewhere. That song became an instant hit again 37 years later when it was featured on the highly-rated Netflix series Stranger Things. It’s also remarkable for making a big impression on Gen Z’ers who were not born when it was first released.
My favourite Kate Bush song, however, This Woman’s Work, comes from the album The Sensual World, released in 1989.
Dead Can Dance: Originally formed in 1981 in Melbourne, Australia, by Brendan Perry on guitar and vocals, Simon Monroe on drums, Paul Erikson on bass, and Lisa Gerrard on vocals and percussion, most notably a Chinese trapezoidal musical instrument known as the yangqin. When the band left Australia in 1982, Simon opted to remain behind and was replaced by Peter Ulrich in London. Paul also left the band soon thereafter, leaving Lisa and Brendan to perform as a duo with session musicians.
Dead Can Dance released their debut self-titled album in 1984. Their musical style has been described as new world and darkwave, featuring African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, and Middle Eastern music and mantras. They disbanded in 1998 but reunited in 2005 for a world tour. They released two subsequent albums, Anastasis in 2012 and Dionysus in 2018. Nine studio albums were released in total.
Lisa and Brendan both have successful solo careers. Lisa Gerrard has composed and contributed to the musical scores for more than 48 movies. She received a Golden Globe for the score for Gladiator, on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer. She also sings some of her compositions in a made-up or idiosyncratic language known as idioglossia.
My favourite Dead Can Dance song, Yulunga, comes from their sixth studio album, Into The Labyrinth. Many of their music videos contain stunning visuals.
Grimes: There’s not a whole lot I can say about Grimes. There are just two songs of hers that I play on repeat when testing my system for sound quality. I’m not under other circumstances a fan of her entire catalogue, which consists of five studio albums. Grime’s is probably more popular with the younger video-game crowd.
She’s a Canadian indie pop/electro-pop artist whose birth name is Claire Elise Boucher. Her other claim to fame was being in a relationship with that cringy billionaire, Elon Musk, with whom she shares three children, one of whom disowned him for good reason. And that’s about all I care to say about that.
My favourite song, So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth, is off the Miss Anthropocene album. It’s pretty good, actually. Kinda reminds me of one of my favourite female artists, Bjork.
Aurora: Aurora Aksnes is another electropop/art pop musician from Norway who goes by the stage name Aurora. She started dancing and writing songs at age six while learning to play the piano at about the same time.
Aurora was discovered at around age 17 by a Norwegian artist management company after a friend uploaded two personal videos she recorded of her singing. After releasing a few singles and an EP, Running With Wolves, it was followed in 2016 by her debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend.
She has released five albums and collaborated on numerous film soundtracks, including working with composer Hans Zimmer on the documentary Frozen Planet 2. Aurora is considered eccentric and loves traditional folk dresses, nature and Nordic folklore.
There is a toss-up between which song of hers I like more. There’s the David Bowie cover, Life On Mars and Exhale Inhale from the album The Gods We Can Touch, which I usually play together in quick succession.
There was a long period in my life when I shunned most types of pop music, especially electronic music. I could barely tolerate any music that did not feature real musical instruments. Recently, though, I have discovered a newfound liking for a limited selection of electronic-based music. This has led to the discovery of many new artists who I would otherwise have not known existed.
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