Eyvind Kang: Virginal Coordinates
List Price:
Our Price: $9.38
You Save: $7.60 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.35 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Composer: Eyvind KangComposer: Walter Zanetti
Performer: Playground
Performer: Mike Patton
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2004-05-04
Music Label: Ipecac Recordings
Soundtracks:
- Go In A Good Way To A Better Place
- I Am The Dead
- Doorway To The Sun
- Occultum Lapiden
- Harbour Of The NADE
- Taksim
- Sidi Bou Said
- Virginal Co-Ordinates
- Innocent Eye, Crystal See
- Marriage Of Days
Free Music Notes for Eyvind Kang: Virginal Coordinates
Free Music Review: What if . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
What if the entire history of Western Christian mysticism, William Blake, plainsong, Tantum Ergo, polyphony, Renaissance dance, Baroque, German Romanticism, Gamelan, South Indian classical, Japanese folk song, Icelandic chill-out, Olivier Messiaen, Alva Noto, microtonalism, Samuel Barber, Daniel Lanois without the cheese, Native American, Appalachian, Scottish folk, North African Berber, Nu-pop, ambient drone, Minimalism, Industrial, beat poetry, cosmic consciousness, post-rock, Toronto Indie Apocalypse, Van Dyke Parks, chamber jazz, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Gustav Holst, The Beach Boys, Sun Ra, Eric Satie, Heitor Villa Lobos, Phillip Glass, and New Music sensibilities were all to be assimilated, processed, deconstructed, and retrieved in one enormous, death-defyingly gorgeous, show-stoppingly virtuosic yet eminently listenable and instantly accessible disc? That's a pitiful attempt to capture in words what is going on in this absolutely astounding album, certainly a landmark, a watershed in the history of recorded music.
Just the shear scope of the soundscape boggles the mind. A basic six-piece unit (Michael White, violin; Mike Patton, voice, electronics; Tim Young, electric guitar; Tucker Martine, live sound processing; Evan Schiller sound movements; and Evyind Kang, violin and composer) is augmented by a sixteen-piece orchestra featuring woodwinds, brass, strings, acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, accordion, percussion, and drums. Kang has written some absolutely mesmeric compositions featuring all of the styles noted in the first paragraph, which are then arranged and played in a most compelling and beguiling manner. Certainly the inclusion of such noted sound manipulators as Patton, Schiller, and Martine contribute greatly to the sweep and grandeur of the musical palette. But perhaps the most salient fact about this disc is that it is a live recording, albeit, thankfully, with none of the annoying audience interruptions that all too frequently accompany such undertakings.
The centerpiece is the 19:23 "Doorway to the Sun," which must be heard to be believed (or vice versa). Here composer Kang pulls out all the stops, creating a map of the musical universe that encompasses the farthest reaches of Ultima Thule, maelstroms, blasted heaths, ocean bottoms, planetary cycles, black holes, desert sunsets, double helixes, equinoxal precessions, 80-foot Cortez Reef, Uluru, Rapa Nui, Chichen Itza, and all points in between. The chantlike vocals coming in at about 10:20, courtesy of the inimitable Mike Patton, largely unintelligible, yet strangely understandable, s(h)immer with repeated words/phrases like "seven, seven, seven key [____]" "interplanetary [____]" "astral intelligence gave them," "liberation receive them," "heavenly firmament kiss it," "multiplicity dissolvent" "spirit of the innocents save them"--or similar utterances. And even though they make no rational sense, they resonate with the deepest racial memories and human sentiments summed up by the world's greatest myths and religious stories. Sound like New Age blather? Maybe, but I don't think so.
The rest is nearly as remarkable, if not quite as ambitious and far reaching. I am especially taken with the title cut, impossible dense yet unfolding with crystal clarity, sonically startling with its ominous percussive underpinnings, white noise wash, and massive brass assault yet featuring the most remarkable sound imaging where even single string instruments and belllike nuances ring out from the speakers. Indeed, from a production standpoint alone, this disc deserves highest praises. Other favorites include "Sidi Bou Said," with its faux East Indian textures, oriental oboe, and spot-on ensemble voicings, and "Innocent Eye, Crystal See," a simple melodic statement that just keeps unfolding with a magical assortment of string, percussive, and wind voicings until it becomes, finally, an incredibly rich sound tapestry. Not surprisingly, my favorite numbers are the three longest, where Kang and the players get to display the full monty of their instrumental and vocal glory.
Eyvind Kang, someone always worth listening to, has here produced not only his masterpiece, but in my humble opinion, the greatest disc of the young millennium, music that sets the bar so impossibly high that I don't see it being topped anytime soon.
Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Fantomas - Suspended AnimationRelease date: 2005-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $11.88
Price in other shops:
General Patton, X-Ecutioners - General Patton Vs the X-EcutionersRelease date: 2005-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $14.66
Price in other shops:
Mike Patton - Pranzo OltranzistaRelease date: 1997-04-22; Music CD
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
Patton & Kaada - RomancesRelease date: 2004-11-30; Music CD
Best price: $5.09
Price in other shops:
Tomahawk - Mit GasRelease date: 2003-05-06; Music CD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Mike Patton - Solitude of Prime NumbersRelease date: 2011-11-08; Music CD
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady ByRelease date: 2011-04-19; Music CD
Best price: $11.88
Price in other shops:
Eyvind Kang: AthlantisRelease date: 2007-07-10; Music CD
Best price: $11.84
Price in other shops:
Fantomas - Director's Cut Live: A New Years RevolutionUni; Release date: 2011-09-06; DVD
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
Eyvind Kang: The Story of IcelandRelease date: 2000-06-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.29
Price in other shops: