Bryars: The Sinking of the Titanic: Jesus's Blood Never Failed Me Yet

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0724384597023 Label: Virgin Records Manufacturer: Virgin Records Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Virgin Records Release Date: 1998-06-15 Studio: Virgin Records
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Editorial Reviews: Bryars's The Sinking of the Titanic is one of the oddest and at the same time most mesmerising works to come out of this end of the century. It began in 1972 as an abstract art piece that kept on building and changing in the composer's mind. It's a ghostly tapestry of eerie echoes, distant sounds almost like whale songs, and interjected rifts representing the band that was playing even as the boat sank. This is a masterpiece that rewards repeated listening. --Paul Cook
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Human tragedy ....One major and minor on this stunning album. Comment: After Brian Eno had finished recording his third solo album "Another Green World" he approached the then , independent record label "Island " with a view to forming a new record label catering exclusively for the nascent experimental music scene. He wanted to promote music that otherwise ,wouldn't find an audience, but that would appeal to a select band of esoteric connoisseurs. Island , realising that there was a loyal following who would buy anything involving Eno , and trusting to his fecundity of ideas agreed, the low recording costs also appealing to their business senses. Eno named the label "Obscure " , astutely giving the label elite cache, and the first release on "Obscure" was Gavin Bryars double header "The Sinking Of The Titanic"/Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet". Recorded at the low key Basing Street studios , Eno was ensconced as producer though in actuality his role amounted to little more than an advisor. The Sinking Of The Titanic was a 1969 orchestral piece featuring fragmentary arrangements of the Episcopal hymn "Autumn" , which a survivor of the disaster has heard the string ensemble play as the ship went down. It's a wonderfully evocative noble piece of music that stills retains a churning pathos all too redolent for it's subject matter Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet is based on a thirteen bar loop of a vagrant ,s impromptu hymn singing recorded by documentary film maker Alan Power in 1971 , and not Gavin Bryars himself as many believe. I find this piece of music phenomenally moving yet can understand those dissenting voices who hear only a tramp warbling over an orchestra tuning up ...actually that's too harsh but you get the point. The way Bryars lets the music ebb and flow yet inexorably build with ever growing verdant layers is mesmerising enough but the true heart of the music lies with the vagrant who despite his circumstances sings with quavering dignity and something approaching true and pure hope or maybe faith ....or maybe he was just seeing life through a glowing alcoholic haze that day......either way it's stunning . The album was recorded as two sides of twenty five minutes as audiophiles told Eno that was the way to get the best sound quality out of the medium. Bryars has subsequently recorded longer versions of Jesus Blood, one with Tom Waits counterpoising the vocals. It's wonderful stuff but it divides listeners like little else. Some hear a turgid bilious racket but for those of us who do get it- and I am not assuming some moral or intellectual high ground here- this is one of the most poignant remarkable pieces of music ever. A dazzling melding of human tragedy -one major / one minor -and musical bravura . Customer Rating: Summary: Irritating to a pedant Comment: I've always had a soft spot for JBNFMY, as I think it explores emotional territory not often trodden in music; so I agree with the positive reviews here. One thing has always irritated me, though - as a pedant. The tramp clearly sings '"Jesu's blood" - as in "Jesu, joy of man's desiring...", yet Bryars has always spelt (and pronounced!) it "Jesus' blood". Now we have Amazon compounding the felony with "Jesus's Blood"!! Still, who cares these days, eh? Customer Rating: Summary: Only if you're in the mood Comment: I heard 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet' played on the radio in another room late one night. Had to stop what I was doing. Ended up staring at the radio like a zombie. The music was captivating, mesmerizing; I didn't want it to stop. Well, I must have been feeling tired and emotional at the time, 'cos when I got my hands on the CD and played it in the bright, brisk morning the effect was gone. I played it to some friends, and they were very curious about it. The question most of them asked was; How long does this %$!?£% go on for? Shame on them! Well, I've had the CD for a while now, so feel able to give a settled view of it, which is this. You really do have to be in the mood for this type of music, and unless you're a chronic melancholiac these moods won't come round too often. It really would be a waste of time putting this CD in that little black box in the car. But on those few occasions when you really are in such a mood, there can be little to come near it. So an average of three stars - five for when you're in the mood, and one for when you're not. One thing that strikes me about the other reviews is that they seem to focus almost exclusively on 'Jesus' Blood'. To my mind 'The Sinking of the Titanic' is equally evocative. The repeated dirge-like tune is similar to the device used in 'Jesus' Blood', and the sampled sounds with which it is mingled just pile on the atmosphere. We hear distant indistinct, presumably long-dead voices, and what could be the throbbing of engines and the deep ringing metallic echo of a cavernous hull. Takes you back. Customer Rating:* Summary: Take the time to treat yourself. Comment: The piece Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet leaves you acutely reflective and deeply touched, not to mention desperate to know what has become of the man. The old man heard on the 25 minute track is apparently not a drunk, though he was homeless when Gavin Bryars recorded him singing. His voice is all at once innocent, sweet, tender, elderly and fragile. But the words he sings are full of optimism and strength. Though I am not in the slightest a religious person, there is something profoundly spiritual in this minimalist composition. The voice, which is looped throughout the whole work, is at first heard alone, determined and insistent. It is so very slowly joined by instruments of the orchestra, as if they are not altogether convinced, but touched by his sentiments. As they continue in the loop and others join they gain strength and their voices become as certain as the old man's. On many levels you can find something allegorical about this work. In one sense the old man is like a shepherd, the orchestra his flock, being brought to safety by his continuous calling. In another, the orchestra are like his faith, closing round him, like the hand of his god, protecting him, giving him strength. As I have stated, I am not religious, so for me the most profound aspect of the work is the lack of awareness this voice has of the developing accompaniment around him, his ignorance of the beauty enveloping his simple honesty, and the questions the piece evokes about the whole idea of ignorance and faith. Customer Rating: Summary: What other composers can't do Comment: I don't think religiosity can possibly come into this. I can't agree with the one-star review. The piece is neither contrived nor grating and it shouldn't be shot down by people who are trying to find in it something that isn't there. It is what it is: beautifully arranged, conducted, conceived. An understated masterpiece. More Reviews