That Bloke In The Big Smoke

1823, "treasury, storehouse," from Latin thesaurus "treasury, a hoard, a treasure, something laid up," figuratively "repository, collection," from Greek thesauros "a treasure, treasury, storehouse, chest." The meaning "encyclopedia filled with information" is from 1840, but existed earlier as thesaurarie (1590s), used as a title by early dictionary compilers, on the notion of thesaurus verborum "a treasury of words." Meaning "collection of words arranged according to sense" is first attested 1852 in Roget's title. Thesaurer is attested in Middle English for "treasurer" and thesaur "treasure" was in use 15c.-16c.

[Source]

I've decided to embark on an ambitious project to bring myself up-to-speed with music. I thought it would be a delightful idea to compile a DVD (the one with the highest capacity, 9GBish I think) with the world's greatest music of all-time. It's going to take a while but I've set out a little time every week to work on it so hopefully it will be finished by the end of the year. Unfortunately, my knowledge of good music is very weak. I'd like to think I know a lot of good music but the truth is, I don't. Which is where you guys come in. All you need to do is list songs which deserve to be part of the compilation. Don't worry if others have listed the same before you. And don't limit yourself to just a few tracks. More than 1000 songs are going to make the final cut and if it turns out there's enough for two DVDs, all the better. It's amazing how much cheerier life has become now that I find myself listening to nothing but incredible music. And of course, any of your contributions that make the final cut, will be suitably acknowledged in a special custom designed album cover. To help you find this entry easily, I've post-dated it to 31 December 2011 so it will always be the first one to appear when you view my journal home page. Don't limit yourself to just English music. I want stuff from all over the world. I don't care if it's just a beat. If you think it's good, share it. Even if it doesn't make the final cut, it'll still make a great addition to my mediocre collection of music. I love being introduced to great new music. Tonight alone (8 Dec 08) I've discovered one of the greatest opera singers of all-time, Enrico Caruso. His stuff is so good it's convinced me to buy a gramophone once I start earning again. So get in!

EDIT 1: Gramophone (well a USB-emboldened laser record player) added to collection, Feb 2009.
EDIT 2: 30+ vinyls and growing. Thanks to everybody who has contributed to my budding collection. :)

On Friday evening I went to a South Indian/Carnatic classical music concert with my dad and some of his friends. The star attraction was U. Srinivas (see video above) who plays the mandolin. He was accompanied by his brother who also plays the mandolin and four others on traditional South Indian percussion instruments, including three of my favourites: the ghatam (an earthenware pot), the morsing (played between the teeth!) and the mridangam (the South Indian tabla). They played for over three hours and it was held at Muscat's open air amphitheatre. The event was organised by the Tamil Wing of the Indian Social Club and over a thousand people attended. There were four types of tickets, two of which cost 5 Rials ($13) & 10 Rials each, while the others were complimentary and split into VIPs & VVIPs.

We had VVIP tickets which meant we sat in the front row, but to the extreme left side. I would've preferred to sit a few rows back in a more centrally located seat. In any case, it didn't really matter as long as the performance lived up to its hype. And that it did. I'm not well versed with the intricacies of Indian classical music (North or South), but even I could appreciate the mastery of Mr Srinivas. And his accompanying troupe were not too shabby either. Each South Indian classical work usually runs 15-20 minutes and of the 8 or 9 performed, I recognised about half. A couple of them were crowd favourites and elicited finger-whistling from the rowdier sections. There were even calls for more.

All in all, a very pleasant experience. I got twitchy towards the end but I'm glad I went. South Indian classical music is even less unknown than North Indian/Hindustani classical but is just as good, if not better. I've always been fascinated by how western (classical) instruments have often been adopted by South Indian musicians into its classical fold and to great effect. The violin is by far the most popular choice but the most notable is the saxophone, exemplified by the maestro par excellence, Kadri Gopalnath. He's worth a YouTube search.

It's the usual rules:
1. If you reply to this post, I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and link to, if you feel like it) 5 music tracks that start with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

I got the letter G. Like last time I've linked my tracks to YouTube and Spotify. Enjoy!

1. Green Onions (Booker T. & the M.G.'s) - yt; sp
2. Ghost Town (The Specials) - yt; sp
3. Girls & Boys (Blur) - yt; sp
4. Groovejet (Spiller) - yt; sp
5. Gymnopedie No. 1 (Erik Satie) - yt; sp

Instructions:
1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload, if you feel like it) 5 songs that start with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

I was graciously conferred with the letter R:
1. Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets [spotify; youtube]
2. Respect - Aretha Franklin [spot; yt]
3. Rag Doll - Aerosmith [spot; yt]
4. Rapunzel (Live in Chicago '98) - Dave Matthews Band [spot; yt]
5. Reptilia - The Strokes [spotify; yt]

As a fan of BBC Radio Four's Desert Island Discs programme, I really enjoyed this short exercise. All the tracks were chosen from my custom-made playlists on Spotify of: Pre-60s Classics, 60s & 70s Classics, 80s Classics, 90s Classics and 2000s Classics. I picked a track from each playlist but was surprised to find so few beginning with the letter R! The first track brings back memories of high school, the second track is an all-time classic that became Franklin's signature song, the third track takes me back to middle school when one of my best friends who had just moved to Oman introduced me to the band he was obsessed with. The fourth track takes me back to my first year at uni. I'd never heard of Dave Matthews Band until I met the people on my floor who turned out to become my best friends at McGill. This particular version of Rapunzel was my best friend's favourite and it quickly grew on me. And finally the last track reminds me of my mum. I heard it on the radio hours before flying to India after her passing away (which I didn't know of at the time). It gave me peace and comfort.

If you'd like a letter, leave a comment. :)

Thanks to aldehyde for this. 13 million hits, a live performance on Ellen's show and a mention on the Beeb. Not bad for a 12 year-old.

Two Oscars, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and now the Grammys. Well done A.R. Rahman! Thanks to Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the Tamil composer sure is riding the crest of Western success. And he deserves it all. Slumdog Millionaire wasn't his finest work but up there with the best. It seems like only yesterday when I first heard his music in one of my favourite films of all-time, the 1992 hit Roja.

Booked! Should be a cracker. Timing couldn't be better. Last exam on June 22nd and festival starts the 23rd. Best way to celebrate!!!

UPDATE: 100,000+ tickets sold-out in less than 12 hours. :)

Thanks to BBC Radio 3's excellent Composer of the Week programme, I have discovered this delightful opera composed by an Italian 180 years ago. The opera is set in India and depicts a tale of forbidden love between Idamore, the Pariah (or Outcast) and Nayala, the daughter of a Brahmin high priest of the temple. It is the earliest example of Western music dedicated to India that I have come across and therefore retains extra special significance. Unfortunately there is only one known recording of the opera and it is currently unavailable on Amazon. I'd love a vinyl copy...