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Post by Nonfatman on Sept 12, 2010 21:26:43 GMT -5
I had a chance to listen to Rupi's Dance a few days ago, first time in awhile, and liked it less than I have in the past. It struck me that many of the songs are insubstantial ditties, especially The Capuccino Song, Rupi's Dance and Photo Shop, which is the obligatory Fat Man remake. The lyrics to all three of those are uncomfortable in one way or another, and I find myself skipping them automatically.
Two Short Planks, although it too falls into the ditty category, with not much going on lyrically, nevertheless it is extremely catchy -- maybe the most catchy song Ian has ever written -- with sparkling acoustic guitar and an uplifting and energetic flute solo. Hard to get it out of your head; I find myself pressing the replay button on that one. Eurology is a quite clever and catchy instrumental, one that I really like.
But then there is the overly lugubrious Old Black Cat, the insufferable Griminelli's Lament and the silly Pigeon song. I find myself skipping these as well. A Week of Moments is fine right up to the musical bridge which inexplicably and annoyingly detours back to the Roots to Branches-era sound; it is out of place, and it ruins the song for me.
But the album really shines with some of the more substantial numbers, like Lost in Crowds, A Raft of Pigeons, A Hand of Thumbs and Not Ralitsa Vasilleva. All of these are first-rate both in terms of the music and lyrics, and they are all extremely original songs with terrific arrangements and vocals. I think they rank with Ian's best works.
My overall verdict on this album is 2 and 1/2 stars out of 4.
Jeff
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Post by My God on Sept 13, 2010 8:45:54 GMT -5
Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull. However I have all his solo recordings as well, just to have them I suppose.  It's Rupi's dance. |
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Post by tootull on Sept 13, 2010 9:29:51 GMT -5
Fave tracks on Rupi's Dance
Calliandra Shade (The Cappuccino Song)
Lost In Crowds
A Raft Of Penguins
A Week Of Moments
A Hand Of Thumbs
Pigeon Flying Over Berlin Zoo
Not Ralitsa Vassileva
Birthday Card At Christmas (Bonus track from The Jethro Tull Christmas Album)
I like all of the tracks on the rest of Ian's solo albums.
I didn't promise to stay the pace
Not in this lifetime, BAAAAAABE
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Post by tootull on Sept 13, 2010 12:51:51 GMT -5
Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull. However I have all his solo recordings as well, just to have them I suppose. It's Rupi's dance. I've been missing what time could bring...There's no time for everything. No time for everything.  "Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull." Not in my home.Rupi's has hit the wall for me lately. Walk Into Light plays here when I'm home. My wife tends to play Divinities, or at least that's the Ian music that usually greets me at the door. SLOB & Dot Com would have made a super double Tull album as far as we are concerned here. slightly angry. LOL Who has the right to question what I might do, in feeling I should touch the real and only things I feel. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2010 12:58:58 GMT -5
Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull. However I have all his solo recordings as well, just to have them I suppose. It's Rupi's dance. I've been missing what time could bring...There's no time for everything. No time for everything. "Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull." Not in my home.Rupi's has hit the wall for me lately. Walk Into Light plays here when I'm home. My wife tends to play Divinities, or at least that's the Ian music that usually greets me at the door. SLOB & Dot Com would have made a super double Tull album as far as we are concerned here. slightly angry. LOL 3 out of 4 do it for me, the three being, WiL, SLOB and Divinties; all great albums that sit alongside anything else from the wider Tull catalogue. As for RD, it has it's moments, but I can't listen to the whole album. Like Jeff, I have to skip tracks and I have to say it's too many tracks that I have to skip, I've edited it down and mixed it up in a playlist of stuff from SLOB and Dot.Com. |
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Post by My God on Sept 14, 2010 8:49:34 GMT -5
Perhaps ''pales in comparison'' was too strong a comment. Actually, I am getting Rupi's Dance in a few days.  I'm not inclined to acts refined, If that's how it goes. |
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Post by Blue on Sept 14, 2010 9:52:40 GMT -5
I've wanted to like it.
I've tried to like it.
Meh.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2010 9:59:41 GMT -5
I've wanted to like it. I've tried to like it. Meh. Olives stuffed with anchovies leaves me with the same feeling. Blue, how the devil are you? |
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Post by tootull on Sept 14, 2010 11:30:58 GMT -5
Perhaps ''pales in comparison'' was too strong a comment. Actually, I am getting Rupi's Dance in a few days. I'm not inclined to acts refined, If that's how it goes. *too strong Tentative tiptoe or giant leap. This world’s no stage for the faint at heart...Let’s crash and burn some other day. Bonded in terror or suspicion deep. Tentative tiptoe or giant leap. A week of moments – a clutch of days – Ten thousand minutes of a Passion Play. |
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Post by tootull on Sept 14, 2010 11:34:47 GMT -5
So, I'm left to defend poor Rupi's Dance, eh. |
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Post by tootull on Sept 14, 2010 13:38:14 GMT -5
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Post by Blue on Sept 14, 2010 17:48:20 GMT -5
I've wanted to like it. I've tried to like it. Meh. Olives stuffed with anchovies leaves me with the same feeling. Blue, how the devil are you? Fat and feisty! Dropping something in the post for you tomorrow. ;D |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2010 4:40:27 GMT -5
Olives stuffed with anchovies leaves me with the same feeling. Blue, how the devil are you? Fat and feisty! Dropping something in the post for you tomorrow. ;D Well I can match the first one!  Thanks Blue, looking forward to it. Remember, If once you have finished de-cluttering and you feel the need to reclutter let me know what you need, I have a loft and a garage full of stuff, nothing in particular, valuable or interesting , just stuff that I can let you have! ;D |
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Post by Blue on Sept 15, 2010 8:07:01 GMT -5
Will do.
Bill the Bear and I are off for a trip to the Zoo. We're going to visit our daughter there. Wait. That didn't come out right. She works at the Zoo we're visiting. She puts together the meals for the critters. She's not, oh, never mind.
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Post by My God on Sept 15, 2010 8:44:14 GMT -5
I hate analog as well. The CD was my saviour!  Tell your mother that you walked all night on velvet green. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2010 11:26:55 GMT -5
I hate analog as well. The CD was my saviour! If only CD's were the size of albums and had all the cover artwork at a decent size with liner notes in a font size you could read |
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Post by tootull on Sept 15, 2010 12:03:46 GMT -5
I hate analog as well. The CD was my saviour! If only CD's were the size of albums and had all the cover artwork at a decent size with liner notes in a font size you could read Yes, the only downfall for me, too. Sounds like an old man's whine. ;D |
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Post by My God on Sept 16, 2010 8:28:49 GMT -5
I finally got Rupi's Dance. This is a great disc. I can't seem to stop listening to it.  And why not try to interrograte this apparition? I melt away to get lost in this quaint condition. |
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Post by TM on Sept 16, 2010 9:34:12 GMT -5
Glad you like it. I'm going to pop it on now and give it a spin...well I guess I'm actually just going to simply click on it now... Back to you later on it.  |
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Post by My God on Sept 17, 2010 8:29:18 GMT -5
I remember when I used to put discs on the spin. Now I just click as well. Good old technology I suppose. It was a new day yesterday, It's an old day now. |
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Post by Nonfatman on Sept 17, 2010 14:57:15 GMT -5
So, I'm left to defend poor Rupi's Dance, eh. I will defend it in saying that it has some excellent material, some of which is almost like old-style Tull, for instance, Lost in Crowds and Hand of Thumbs resemble old Tull. The other truly great songs are Raft of Penguins and Not Ralitsa Vassileva, both of which I love, and I would say that these 4 songs are as good, if not better, than anything on Secret Language with the exception perhaps of the sublime Circular Breathing. But, overall, Secret Language is the more consistenly great album, because everything on that album is great, it's an amazing piece of work, which one critic described as "height of powers" stuff by Ian, and I agree. In addition to the four great songs on Rupi, you've got some very good ones, like Two Short Planks, which has got arguably the most catchy melody that Ian has ever written, and it's just a fun, happy song, with splendid guitar and a great flute solo during the musical bridge. The lyrics are fluff, but in this case it's okay, because the song just works. A Week of Moments, I like a lot, it's got some very nice piano, but I think the song is flawed, primarily because of the detour it takes back to the Roots to Branches sound. I just don't care for that part of the song. Old Black Cat is not a bad song, but in my opinion, it's a little too mournful for a cat. I like Eurology, I think it's also a catchy and fresh instrumental with a clever idea behind it. The Pigeon song is very good musically, but I am turned off to the song by the constant repetition of the word pigeon, and also the subject matter of the song is something that Ian has already done, more effectively, in One Brown Mouse. Plus, I freakin' hate pigeons. They are the roaches of the bird world. Rupi's Dance is the opposite of Old Black Cat. Whereas OBC is too lachrymose over the loss of a cat, Rupi's Dance is a little bit too "loving" almost to the point of weirdness, especially one line in particular. I don't like this song at all. Photo Shop is another one I don't care for. Something about the voyeuristic nature of the lyrics is a bit creepy, plus the song is another Fatman re-make. The Capuccino Song is a bit repetitive and the lyrics do not comfortably fit with the music, because they have too many syllables and it sounds like he is rushing the singing to fit with the music. Overall, I think the album is a mixed bag, it's very good, but not great, with some uncharateristic weak material to go along with the excellent material. Secret Language of Birds is a lot better, and is one of Ian's greatest works. Jeff  |
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Post by tootull on Sept 17, 2010 15:12:23 GMT -5
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Post by Nonfatman on Sept 17, 2010 16:32:51 GMT -5
No, I don't like it all, nor do I agree with his comments as they pertain to Secret Language of Birds. Many of the songs on the album are love songs, they are not frivolous "nothings" at all. There are also some more serious songs like Set-Aside, Sanctuary and Monteserrat, as well as songs about works of art. I think, though, that his comments might apply to ditties like Calliandra Shade and Rupi's Dance, and Hare in the Wine Cup too. But there are no such "ditties" on Secret Language of Birds. The love songs on SLOB display a lot of insight into human psychology, much like the lyrics to A Hand of Thumbs, which I like. Jeff |
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Post by tootull on Sept 23, 2010 13:31:54 GMT -5
I hate analog as well. The CD was my saviour! If only CD's were the size of albums and had all the cover artwork at a decent size with liner notes in a font size you could read  "While new records are pristine and static-stuck to their sleeves, old records have a very particular smell. I can be transported back to the Eighties in an instant by having a good sniff of Jethro Tull's Aqualung. Likewise, there's a sensory aspect to the opening of a tasty gatefold sleeve in full artistic splendour." www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/walesmusic/2010/09/vinyls-dirty-glamour.shtmlJethro Tull - Aqualung "The aforementioned record featured the grizzled form of the titular character of the album and title track. He's a vagrant of questionable habit. The sleeve was heavy, grainy and dirty - so appropriate to the themes of the album." |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2010 11:25:41 GMT -5
If only CD's were the size of albums and had all the cover artwork at a decent size with liner notes in a font size you could read "While new records are pristine and static-stuck to their sleeves, old records have a very particular smell. I can be transported back to the Eighties in an instant by having a good sniff of Jethro Tull's Aqualung. Likewise, there's a sensory aspect to the opening of a tasty gatefold sleeve in full artistic splendour." www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/walesmusic/2010/09/vinyls-dirty-glamour.shtmlJethro Tull - Aqualung "The aforementioned record featured the grizzled form of the titular character of the album and title track. He's a vagrant of questionable habit. The sleeve was heavy, grainy and dirty - so appropriate to the themes of the album." I remember going into the A1 Stores in Walworth to buy Aqualung when it was first released; holding the album and just looking at it taking in everything on the cover, the canvas feel of the cover didn't escape me either. Reading the back and not quite getting it. I took it up to the counter where the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted to listen to it first. Not on headphones, but in a booth, how old is that!  A few seconds into Martin's opening and that was it, I was going home with this album. |
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"Ian's solo stuff pales in comparison to Tull." Not in my home.
