Just heard Angel by Massive Attack on Pandora and the Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines memories came flooding back!

I don't do a heck of a lot of music listening any more due to hearing, but occasionally can't resist the urge to revisit favorite pieces and performances and hear what I can of them. My latest such foray focused on two works of Johannes Brahms, his Academic Festival Overture and the Second Symphony. For the former I listened to maybe six different interpretations at YouTube, liking several quite a lot. In the end, I choose this old video live performance by the Vienna Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein despite me having trouble adequately hearing some of the softer passages. For the latter I settled on an interpretation new to me, again a live "filmed" performance, this time by the Deutsch-Niederländische KammerPhilharmonie led by Otis Klöber. Here is the final movement from that performance.

Don't remember this one from the game. Is it revamped* there perhaps?







*Pun SO intended!

Lol, it's the song being played on the start menu. Strangely, it doesn't show up on the list of licensed songs in the game.

Not sure why YouTube recommended this video to me, since I've had no interest in "pop" music since the mid-late 1960s. To my surprise...I found much of the discussion both informative and at times fascinating. I therefore present, Why is Pop Music So Terrible? Good stuff.

Very well done. One thing the guy left out is how much more important looks are to singers now than before. In the 60s and 70s you could be ugly and still be a star. Not today, because people watch music as much as listen to it. Now it is all about how pretty you are. How you sound has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Take Britney Spears for example. She cannot sing at all. What you hear at one of her concerts is pre-recorded and produced, because her real voice is horrific. But she looks pretty, so she was hugely popular. Tbh, I don't think anyone would know who Taylor Swift is if there was not a video of her to look at whenever her songs played.

Going to be honest, I don't even think Taylor Swift is even that attractive. To be fair, I can't stand her music--or her--but I really don't get why people think that highly of her.

Anyways, with some exceptions I find pop music in recent memory to be absolute garbage too, or at the very least pretty meh.

Khajiit saw (on tv) Taylor Swift sing live once at a New Orleans Saints football game. It was not good.

All this talk of the sad state of modern pop singing got me yearning to hear the real deal. Amongst what I heard tonight was this concert performance of Glitter and be Gay from Leonard Bernstein's Candide, sung by Natalie Dessay, about as fine a singing-actress as we've been blessed with these days, and a personal favorite.

Wow, not sure why but when Khajiit read the title of that song he was thinking it would be more akin to 20's jazz but it's totally operatic!

A cool version by Apocalyptica of an old classic:
Hall of the Mountain King

She's not what she used to be. Also; she's not Japanese or Korean...

Well the time Khajiit mentioned was like 2010, well before her current "I can make even more money doing pop stuff!". The move was kind of brilliant actually. Build a fan base of preteens with your relatively wholesome country music and make millions. Then use millions to market yourself as a pop star and put out stuff for a wider audience. Oh and a feud with Kanye West didn't really hurt her either.

Star Wars - Danger Zone = I wonder if it will ever be updated with Rogue One dogfights?

Your recent discussion of modern day singers put me in mind to hear Charles Ives' World War I era patriotic song, "They Are There!". This is the master himself, singing and accompanying himself at the piano. The recording is from 1943, and not of the best quality. If you have trouble making out the words ... they're worth hearing ... expand "SHOW MORE" to see them written (typed) out.

After the above I decided on a change of pace, so returned to a favorite composition, Beethoven's String Quarter Op.95, of which this is the final movement. Yes, I link this once before, long ago. But for me it's one of those piece that easily withstands frequent repeated listens.

Some modern day musicians who are not crap. I think it said 135 tracks make up this piece?