New Bach-Bukowski CD (1 Viewer)

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"So fuck Doubleday Doran"
RIP
Walking and Living Through This door

Since 2003 Willem van Eekeren has been raising quite a few eyebrows with his project Bach-Bukowski. His lyrics are taken directly from Charles Bukowski's The Last Night of the Earth Poems and his melodies from the Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach. "The result is moving and more honest than all the Bach arrangements made by the slick Hilliards, Jacques Loussiers and Swingle Singers of this world' (de Volkskrant). "Bach is played gracefully, different than you might expect, more jazzy' (Dutch novelist Marchen "t Hart). The CD Walking and Living Through This Door will be presented at the Bimhuis by author and jazz connoisseur Bernlef.

http://bimhuis.com/gigs/bach-bukowski-by-van-ekeren
 
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hmm... I don't know what to think about that one? I like reading Bukowski while listening to Bach - but this...? I don't think it sounds right...

ROC... you summed it up perfectly.
 
hmm... I don't know what to think about that one? I like reading Bukowski while listening to Bach - but this...? I don't think it sounds right...

Agreed. Sounds like it is kind of reducing the magic of both to the lowest common denominator to combine them. Just leave them both to breathe on their own.
 
Ok. Reminds me of Randy Newman sings Bukowski. Plus, the the breaks seem forced as they are made to fit in with the song (call this the difference between a lyric and a poem). Certainly better than Valerian, Bukowsikal! or a techno Bukowski, but not something that I could listen through all the way...

Bill
 
Funny coincidence, Bill!

Bobby had some bad shit, real bad shit. We passed it around. Bobby
had a lot of new tapes for the stereo. He also had my favorite singer,
Randy Newman, and he put Randy on, but only medium-loud, as per
my request.
So we listened to Randy and smoked and then Valerie began putting
on a fashion show. She had a dozen sexy outfits from Frederick's. She
had 30 pairs of shoes hanging on the back of the bathroom door.
Valerie came prancing out in 8-inch high heels. She could hardly walk.


Excerpt from "Women". © Charles Bukowski
 
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[...] but not something that I could listen through all the way...

I see your point. I have his first CD and don't listen to it frequently. But I sometimes find it relaxative, while taking a hot bath.

And I've seen him several times playing live. That's a different thing than listening to a CD. It adds life to it. I like this project.
 
roni, respect your opinion and perhaps live it would make a difference, but Oh! dear fuck this is plain awful imo. Youtubed several pieces from this project and have to agree with Bill that it seems forced and the blending of both is the equivalent of a beautiful woman with her two front teeth missing.
 
I'm no fundamentalist when it comes to Bukowski or many other things, but I don't like this at all. Is it just me? Gotta agree with Stavrogin and his dentally challenged woman reference. It's just a mess.

I am open to mixed media presentations of all kinds but if you're going to put Bukowski to music, the music has to be muted both in volume and in its complexity. Bach doesn't sound right at all here. Something more ambient might work better. I don't know.

In terms of combining media, probably only video works reliably well with spoken word and Bukowski. The Born Into This main sequence is a good example.
 

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