exquisite beauty concealed within brutal noise
926367
Many will never understand this band/album, I myself happily passed Emperor by for my more approachable death metal. Then one day it finally clicked, I could listen beyond the deliberately poor production to discover the masterpiece hidden below.

Sure I've heard better black metal albums, from a technical or truly evil/necro sounding perspective but Emperor (and this album) stand alone.

For an album of such intense brutality and obstructive production, the palpable happiness I glean from listening to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is quite surprising. It is an emotionally uplifting ride through simply amazing textures and arrangements.

To anyone even vaguely interested in exploring outside the confines of conventional music, this release is essential listening, even if you don't like it at first, I can guarantee your subconscious will not let it go!
3832038
stunningly beautiful but absolutely horribly sounding.  It is loud, so loud my one neighbor complained.  I have it as an accent on my side door, handing from a wreath hook.  It is quite obtrusive of a sound for a wind chime.  For decoration I get many compliments, but even when I open the door and it clatters the same people's eyes widen and I get an "OMG" look, LOL.  Gorgeous but be prepared for the louder chime sound.
3207433
This stylish, compelling art film is as cruelly beautiful as the women it portrays--a glimpse into the darkest corners of the human psyche.  You do not need to be an expert on the modeling industry to know that it is a harsh world where those who work are also the objects, that chews many people up and spits them back out again, profoundly changed and often broken.  It is arguable that it's unavoidable in an industry where flawless appearance is your career and livelihood.  When everyone working is equally beautiful by most people's assessments, what else can these women do to get ahead of each other except eat each other alive?
"The Neon Demon" seeks to examine this in startling, often horrific detail, to incredible effect.  It shies away from nothing, but the actual plot and events in the movie are only half of the real story.  Look beyond the surface level to see what these events really represent--this movie urges you to look past the literal and into the symbolic, even as the literal events may shock and disturb you.  Discomfort on the part of the viewer is intentionally created and it is extremely effective.  You will want to look away, but be unable to tear your gaze from the screen!  Switching abruptly from the real to the dreamlike and back again, the music and visuals are captivating on their own.  But, there's truth in the old cliche--the most beautiful people can sometimes be the ugliest on the inside.  This is not a film for the faint of heart or those who just don't want to look so deeply into this darkness.  Disturbing content abounds.  Proceed only if you are ready for that.
This movie will leave you thinking about it long after the credits have rolled.  Those who are not interested in deep thought will get much less from this movie--it requires and rewards deeper contemplation.  Like many truly great pieces of art, it remains in your mind and gets under your skin.
If what I've talked about so far has intrigued you, I encourage you to watch.  Peer into the neon lights and be blinded by the darkness you find within.

(By the way, I think to categorize this as a horror thriller isn't especially accurate.  I believe Amazon Video should have a separate "Art Films" category for movies like this.)
4622248
It would be a shame for the previous reviewer to scare away music lovers from experiencing these sonically ravishing interpretations of  Stravinsky's "bird" pieces.

While it is true that Levi mutes the fierce and piercing aspects of the two avian portraitures, the beauteous and ravishing sounds they possess have never been so fabulously displayed as here.

I know only that my music system and the one used by the "Gramophone" magazine's critic seem to have had no trouble in conveying the astonishing beauty of Stravinsky's creations, and I urge music lovers to give this disc a try.

This is a magnificent achievement on the part of all concerned.
4656454
Elegant and melancholy, Requiem is an unsettling drama that is as beautiful visually as its subject matter is depressing.

Each scene is excellently framed and contrasts in lighting, colors and settings allow the film's mood to parallel the highs and lows of the character's circumstances. As their predicament spirals out of control, and they shed the last vestiges of dignity and restraint, the film hurls you into their darkness - a chasm of moral bankruptcy, hopelessness and decrepitude.

Requiem approaches the material with an objectivity that often feels brutally cold, but it handles the characters with a tenderness that makes their already mournful fates emotionally crushing for the viewer. The film does not offer us the comfort of a happy ending, so don't expect to go home smiling.

The movie ultimately ends on a note that is starkly (and unavoidably) anti-drug, but this is not a preachy movie with some hidden moral agenda. The objective here is not to highlight the evils of drug use, but to mourn the human cost, weighed in hopes dashed, lives derailed and loves forsaken. This is after all, a requiem, a rueful ode to dreams buried and lost forever.

The Directors Cut DVD is the only version you should consider buying. It contains the full unedited version with mature material that was removed from the watered down theatrical version. Not a movie you'll watch often, but one that will always resonate when you do. Highly recommended.
1031329
This DVD-A recording recreates the ambience of Symphony Halls. It is as if you are in a Symphony Hall sitting right in your media room. The engineering of the strings, brass, percussion and vocals in the Chorale in the Fourth Movement is absolutely the most stunning I have ever heard. That would include some live performances of this masterpiece. The clarity of every instrument in the orchestra was overwhelming, giving the listener a rich, full sound that a regular CD of this same piece is not capable of producing. Indeed, to mention "CD" in the same sentence with this recording is oxymoronic: they do not belong in the same class though they are ostensibly the same piece. Following the "Ode to Joy" in the Fourth Movement, the baritone sings out of the front left channel, and one would not be schizoid to think that he was in the room with you because of the ambience, force and clarity of his voice. Aside from the flawless music conducted to perfection by Barenboim, 19 pages of liner notes are quite excellent, reproducing a translation of the German into English and French of Schiller's "Ode to Joy", along with quite excellent commentary on each movement (also translated) and the individual characteristics of each. When one considers that Beethoven was nearly completely deaf at the time of its premiere, was raised by an abusive, alcoholic father and could have produced what is undoubtedly the most beautiful symphony ever created, this DVD-A does him, and us, an honor. Oh, freude (joy) indeed.
2809196
It is often dificult to express emotions, especially those that choke our words in tears or heartache. However, Havoc and crew have beautifully expressed that which grasps at the pith of human understanding and sang the sorrow that haunts every one of us. Here, songs range from the punk style of Black Sails on the Sunset to the more melodic style of Art of Drowning. I think that the current hardcore trend is also embodied in this musically engineered masterpiece. the poetry of the lyrics is riveting and if the music cannot inspire you, the revealing words of raw emotion will. How does darkness feel now that she has been captured?
4070609
Absolutely gorgeous. Clean and precise, emotionally intense yet nuanced, this recording was a revelation.
2661943
For those wanting to experience beauty and madness, look no further... this studio effort is perfection.
Also grab "Absent Lovers" (Live from Montreal). It took two weeks before I could bring myself to remove this disk from the CD player.
4020508
Gorgeous, devastating, and, finally, haunting.
202008
Are you ready to take an audio tour of your deepest, darkest, most painful aural experiences and allow yourself to be hurled into the extremes of emotional, musical expression with Nothingface? You had better be if you  intend on experiencing the full breath of ...Everyday Atrocity.  Hailing  from the backstreets of Washington DC's socio-polotical wasteland the  quartet's assault on the senses comes from every angle with lyrics only  matched by the musical aggression emanating forth from with each member.  Lying in a middle ground between mid-Atlantic hardcore and American thrash,  the nearly hour long  onslaught of Tom Maxwell's frantic guitar riffs is  continually treaded upon by the angst of Matt Holsts's schizophrenic  vocals.  With an underbelly made up of wandering, counterpoint basslines  and drumming bordering on polyrhythmic, Nothingface are a lethal  combination of undulating musical aggression.  The lullaby inspired beauty  of the melodies is often crashed like an overturned crib by the utter  violence of Holsts' guttural wails and mirrored with stunning turns in  musical direction by the rest of Nothingface.  This effectively takes the  listener to parts of their mind, body and soul they only experience in the  nightmare of the psyche throughout the band's sophomore effort. ...Everyday  Atrocity is about confronting demons within.  It is the soundtrack for  internal emotional animosity, paralleled as if one were to score the  stunning beauty and utter
violence of a volcanic eruption.  Bursting at  the seams with intense emotional drama lyrics and expressive musical  ideals, this is a mini-epic of scathing dynamics, bi-polar execution,  driving riffs, technical performance and unadorned physical and  psychological pain.  Be prepared, for Nothingface are not for the week of  heart or mind and ...Everyday Atrocity easily lives up its title, taking  all around it on a tour deep into the turmoil of the mind and spirit and  commanding unabridged aural control.
4340129
Everything about this picture is beautiful, even the ugliness is beautiful...an oxymoron, but the only way I can describe it. This is a stunning tale of 16th century sex and violence, with a dirty realism, but still an overlay of beauty.
Isabelle Adjani is intense, beautiful, and sensuous as Margot, the highly sexed, intelligent and dutiful sister of the doomed King Charles IX of France. She is forced into a marriage of political and religious convenience by her bitterly ambitious mother, Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi) to the repulsive Henri Navarre (sympathetically played by Daniel Auteuil). There is a tremendous amount going on, and Margot's incest with her brothers is more than hinted at.
The searingly sensual Vincent Perez plays La Mole, who eventually becomes Margot's doomed lover. Their first encounter is an acrobatic feat of anonymous sex in an alleyway that is breath-taking. Their later love scenes are intensely erotic. This film only becomes better on repeat viewings. I found I was able to grasp more on my second viewing. There is so much going on, so many twists and turns and shocks, and the film is also quite long. It never lags, and even Margot's grudging tolerance, if not love, for her husband, is believingly portrayed. Very highly recommended.
4652553
The best and worst of sounds come together in this somewhat abrasive album. Dark, disturbing and definitely not for the weak of heart or stomach. The disc begins with the drug addiction tale of "Mr. Self-Destruct" and ends with the sensitive self-mutilation anthem "Hurt". Hardcore NIN fans will be totally happy; people who love Limp Bizkit and Britney Spears need not apply. The album's title track, which probes into the dark recesses of suicide and what motivates one to do it, may be too disturbing for even the most hardcore NIN fans. Common background noises include the sounds of people screaming and buzzing flies. A fair warning-do not listen to this album if you are in a rotten mood, or a happy one, for that matter. Only listen if you are ready to experience a very creepy, yet artfully executed collection of songs.
2988331
Lush, yawning expansiveness has been a sort of sonic trademark of Hecker's. I was a fan of the dense dreaminess conjured up in his last, "Harmonies in Ultraviolet" and I think Hecker plays on the same themes here, on this meticulous follow-up, while slowly pushing himself slightly further down the slope. Fitting analogy there too, I think, cause  icy meridians, quiet purple snowfalls, dark wintry nights, and colossal crunching glaciers are some of the unintended imagery on the record. Hecker creates soundscapes that somehow sound both quiet and cold.  The music is meditative, melodic, lonely, surprisingly deep, and occasionally winsome. As a whole, the record is astoundingly affecting.

I think the opening track "100 Years Ago" is unabashedly cloying, and bookended by the honking finale "200 Years Ago"  an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise pristine creation. But as the album gently buzzes and rollicks into its stunner climax tracks--"Paragon Point" to "Her Black Horizon" to "Currents of Electrostasy"--one is truly transported. Eyes close, breath goes shallow, and one can only listen and feel.

Electronic music in the current moment still seems to me to be a liquid, difficult genre to pinpoint, understand, and master. There are deft and different approaches: from the Icelandic mumblings of Mum to the static retro shoegaze of M83 to the underground and scratchy groove of high end dubstep acts like Burial. But Hecker seems to me a master of his game; he's the only one still standing in the gauzy shadows without a brand, without a gimmick. He's content to turn the knobs, and paint a picture. You're with him all the way. And in that there is innocence, and in that as well, at times, transcendence.
203085
Sound and Fury, the first work on this album of the same title, boldly introduces itself with striking, sharply accented piano with bursts of wild interruptions of strings. It truly does feel furious especially in the third movement. It grows in short spurts of fast paced movement, broken up by pauses, much like taking breaths during a shouting match. These wild interruptions and shouting matches are balanced by the middle movement that is a sorrowful sounding contrast. The piano acts almost like a harp while the strings sing their sad song. The virtuosic and wild nature of Sound and Fury makes it both impressive and emotionally evoking.

tudes for Piano, Book 1 are six short pieces, each exploring different techniques in varying attitudes. The atmosphere of each one ranges from playful and light to driving and powerful. The uncertainty of a solid tonal center throughout gives all of the tudes a subtle whimsical feel.

Kandinsky Images is musical interpretation of four of Wassily Kansinskys abstract artworks. When first listening to these, I did not research the images that are given in the titles for each selection. Instead, allowing myself to take in the interpretation, fall into the unknown painting. What I found was that I was pulled into each one, experiencing the depictions of mood, color, texture, and depth.

Smoky Mountain Autumn is the only work in this collection to use horn. At first, the horn is like an echo or the violin. But it soon overtakes as storyteller of this transition into winter. Perhaps a little mournful at first, the horn announces the arrival of the new season most prominently at the start of the second movement. What took me by surprise was about a minute into the third and final movement. The violin begins to use pizzicato and styles more commonly associated with the fiddle tradition of American folk music.

I enjoyed listening to this collection of works from Paul Osterfield, which was sent to me, free of charge. As someone who is a student of music, it was a pleasure to hear these new pieces, which are exciting and modern continuations of the chamber music tradition. I found myself caught up in the music, appreciating the complexity and beauty of the atmospheres and moods that are diverse. Osterfield does a wonderful job of painting a picture through his music. I will definitely be listening to this again soon!
2811446
This would be readily included among my "desert island" discs. Some of Rabih Abou-Khalil's work has steered uncomfortably close to the cocktail lounge, but this set is a work of genius.
While the title track is awash with exciting tempo changes & vigor, "Dreams Of A Dying City" is incredibly sensual and steamily meandering. Definitely one of the most gorgeous compositions that I have ever heard. "Ornette Never Sleeps" is slightly more jazzy, yet still retains the pronounced Arabic feel of the rest of the disc.
"Georgina" has a starkly beautiful opening statement from the oud and some virtuoso playing from The Balanescu Quartet. The chamber orchestra feel during the beginning of the piece evaporates, leaving an incredibly sensual solo from the oud in its place.

"No Visa" has a more "refined" sound, but the dark beauty remains. The orchestral "swoops" accent the Arabic flavor. "The Pain After" is the only chamber piece I can think of that uses a tuba in a bewitching way. As with all of these pieces, this composition is haunting in its dark beauty. This disc is apparently out of print, which is a travesty. If you can find it, I heartily recommend that you get it & experience the beauty for yourself!
496642
Each word, almost each and every separate word is like a natural, richly colored landscape  painting.  The music of Michel Legrand and Jessye Norman's voice : a wonderful combination of quality and craftmanship. I admire those two musicians in their own field, but now together, stunning !
It's pure gold. This collaboration embodies a wonderful honesty, authenticity, subtlety, and incandescence...qualities that are very rare nowadays. It's a must have for anyone who appreciates the subtle, sublime and the unpretentious. This album simply could not be better.
I'd like to give this CD countless stars for splendid recording.