• Music

    Svitlana Nianio – Transilvania Smile, 1994

    Though the recording quality is not audiophile quality, this collection of theater music by Ukrainian singer and artist Svitlana Nianio documents the soundtrack to a theater project she was involved in at the time called Transilvania Smile.  From her label Muscut Records’ Bandcamp site: “Svitlana Okhrimenko (artist name: Svitlana Nianio) is a Ukrainian artist, musician, and signer. She is one of the most prominent representatives of the independent music scene of Kyiv in the late 1980s — early 90s. She has repeatedly recorded and performed in collaboration with other musicians and bands, such as Oleksandr Yurchenko, Sugar White Death (Cukor…

  • Music - Spotify

    Duke Ellington – Such Sweet Thunder

    Duke Ellington’s Shakespearian masterpiece, Such Sweet Thunder, is the first album I bought for its typography alone.  I had heard older releases by him, had classic discs like Money Jungle, but this album caught my eye because I had had a deep interest in typography around 1994-1995.  The text on the right was so crisp despite its size, and of course the iconic photo of Duke meditating on the piano with big block capital letters made the album look more like an artifact.  The music is, of course, sumptuous, but if you have a Spotify account, you can enjoy it…

  • Music

    Borut Kržišnik – Lightning

    I have a proud history with Slovenian composer and guitarist Borut Kržišnik.  Many years ago, I ran a small record label of note called Falçata-Galia, and I launched the label with his album Stories From Magatrea.  He has continued to make amazing music since then, and is currently exploring the point where contemporary classical music and soundtracks collide.  This release is from 2013.  I wish him continued success.

  • Music

    Giedrius Kuprevičius – Erotidijos

    Giedrius Kuprevičius is a Lithuanian composer with roots in theater music.  Erotidijos has a rather long history, originally being released on cassette in 1994, but the latest release adds around 30 minutes of music, and is available on vinyl as well as download. From his Bandcamp site: Erotidijos is a haunting yet hypnotic tableaux Kuprevičius originally created for a Stanislovas Rubinovas theatre play staged in 1994 in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Lithuanian composer was one of the founding members of the pioneering electronic pop outfit Argo and has written dozens of scores for stage and film over the past several decades, imbuing…

  • Music

    TienYinMen – Between Clouds (雲峽)

    TienYinMen are a collection of composers and musicians based in Hong Kong who release a lot of thematic soundtrack music played on traditional instruments and electronic instruments.  They have a healthy body of work to choose from, and I found this one to be the best out of a great lot.  I can see why they would be in demand for scoring TV programs as well as theater.