JON HOPKINS..."a childhood music prodigy who was exposed to electronica and rave created his fascination for exploring contemporary sounds with classical technique"

Jon Hopkins is a London-based electronic composer, producer and remixer. He makes powerfully emotive, instrumental music that consistently crosses genres, ranging from solo acoustic piano to explosive, bass-heavy electro. A long-term collaborator of Brian Eno, his career has remained unpredictable, taking in collaborations with King Creosote and David Holmes; remixes for such varied artists as Wild Beasts, Nosaj Thing, James Yorkston and Four Tet. His hyper-energetic live show has been seen at some of the world's most iconic venues, including Sydney Opera House with Brian Eno, Madison Square Garden opening for Coldplay, and innumerable clubs, festivals and concert halls the world over. 

 A childhood musical prodigy, he studied classical piano at the Royal College of Music from the age of 12. Exposure to the melodic side of electronica and rave via such artists as Acen, Seefeel and Plaid proved eye-opening, and influenced his fascination in exploring more contemporary sounds. He was hired to play keyboards and samplers for Imogen Heap, then after a year of touring, began to write solo music. His first two albums on Just Music, 2001’s Opalescent and 2004’s Contact Note, gained him critical recognition.

Hopkins was commissioned by multi-award-winning Wayne McGregor – renowned for his fierce, physically-testing choreography and ground-breaking collaborations – to compose music for Entity, the production for McGregor's "Random Dance" group. 

On 5 May 2009, the song "Light Through the Veins" from Hopkins' album Insides was released for free on iTunes as part of their Discovery Downloads. This song is also featured as the introduction to the first track "Life In Technicolor" on Coldplay's 2008 album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends as well as the backing for "The Escapist" which is hidden at the end of the album. Hopkins worked as one of the co-producers for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends contributing sounds and various keyboard instruments.

 In 2009 he helped Brian Eno score the Peter Jackson film, The Lovely Bones, along with Leo Abrahams. In 2010 Hopkins scored the soundtrack of the British sci-fi thriller film Monsters, his first solo feature electro-acoustic score, which is built around processed string performances by arranger Davide Rossi. Whilst, supporting slots with The XX, Royksopp and Four Tet helped the album gain further momentum, and it reached no.2 in the electronic charts on US iTunes.

He also co-wrote and co-performed Brian Eno's new album Small Craft on a Milk Sea, released on Warp Records in late 2010.

He is currently working on a new solo electronic album, to be released on Domino in 2011.

Personally I prefer tracks such as Reprise, Searchlight, The Wider Sun, Vessel, Light through the veins, and Autumn Hill...

EVANESCENCE- "Gothic rock Sinfonietta"

Evanescence are defined by Amy Lee’s beautiful melodies, compelling lyrics, poignant piano and stunning vocals, fused with Terry Balsamo’s urgent yet intricate guitar to form a seamless, ethereal mixture that perfectly channels the band’s hard rock and classical sensibilities.

Evanescence is Amy Lee (vocals, piano), Terry Balsamo (guitar), Tim McCord (bass), Troy McLawhorn (guitar) and Will Hunt (drums).  Fallen, their major-label debut, was released in April 2003 to critical and commercial success and has sold more than fifteen million copies.  Their second major label debut, The Open Door, debuted at Number One on the Billboard charts and reached platinum status in just over a month. 

Written late in 2005, The Open Door was recorded and mixed in March 2006.  Marking the return of producer Dave Fortman, the album’s musical elements include a classically-infused choir and strings on several tracks, giving further colour to songs of introspection, longing, doubt, self-respect and, ultimately, empowerment.  The album opens with “Sweet Sacrifice,” a post-relationship catharsis that head-dives from an otherworldly intro into a hard-driving thrash of hard rock guitars and soaring rock vocals.  

Originally hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, the band’s evolving sound – a nearly mystical marriage between rock, goth and classical – was informed by a curious duality. 

Amy Lee, who spent nine years studying classical piano, explains, “When I was in high school I listened to a lot of death metal bands.  Both genres are intricate, complex types of music that are very dramatic, and I’m naturally drawn to that.”  Her love for Mozart's Requiem in D minor influenced her so much that they sampled the epic chorus of the choir within their piece Lacrymosa.

The drama in Evanescence’s music – a kind of audio odyssey that can turn from piano-led introspection to hammering guitar – has resonated with listeners everywhere.  The band’s aggressive core finds a counterpart in Amy Lee’s passionate vocals, lyrics that forge a connection with audiences searching for identity or struggling with feelings of desire, hope love and loss.  The Open Door is a logical transformation of epic proportions for the band, which, in many ways has only just begun to make its mark on the music world.

VITAMIN STRING QUARTET-"rock n' roll attitude to classical technique"

The break out Vitamin String Quartet ingeniously transforms today’s most popular songs and styles with the beauty and intensity of classical string instrumentation.  A collaboration for classical and pop audiences alike.

The Vitamin String Quartet puts a classical spin on many popular genres of pop, punk, and metal and is widely known for its tributes to cutting-edge rock acts. VSQ’s innovative approach and dedication to seeking out great material highlights just how distinctive the string quartet is.

"Vitamin String Quartet is about applying rock n' roll attitude to classical technique," says Tom Tally, a violinist and arranger who has performed on and produced over thirty-five Vitamin String Quartet albums, which is one reason VSQ can count renowned film composer Danny Elfman, members of Tool, Deftones, The Killers, and Underoath as fans.

Disney has even invited VSQ to contribute to a track to the second all-star tribute to Tim Burton"s The Nightmare Before Christmas, on which the films original score was reinterpreted by bands like Tiger Army, All-American Rejects, Plain White Ts, and DeVotchKa. Their music has been heard in film and on television, most notably on the finale of the programme, So You Think You Can Dance.  

After years of releasing albums exploring the musical terrain of one great artist, VSQ is branching out with a new collection of covers and original songs that highlight their own unique contributions to their musical field. 

Their classical string arrangements have made it possible for contemporary rock, alternative and indie covers to be a part of wedding ceremonies and evidently very popular among the event sector.

Songs:                                                                                                                                                                                                       Clubbed to death and Furious Angels by Rob Dougan                                                                                                                         Chasing Cars and Run- Snow Patrol                                                                                                                                           Supermassive Black Hole, Sunburn, Time is running out, Knights of Cydonia- Muse                                                                   Clocks, Yellow, Viva La Vida- Coldplay                                                                                                                                                  Misery Business, Hallelujah- Paramore                                                                                                                                                  Numb- Linkin park                                                                                                                                                                                    Paparazzi, Alejando, Poker Face- Lady Gaga                                                                                                                                        Smooth Criminal- Michael Jackson

LUDOVICO EINAUDI, "The solo collaborator of minimalism, classical and contemporary music"

“The music of composer/pianist Ludovico Einaudi has been described as minimalist, classical, ambient, contemporary, welcoming the sound of stillness in a hectic world.”

Einaudiís music began to assume its own unmistakeable character towards the end of the 1980s, as he absorbed elements derived from popular music. Around this time he first became involved in collaborative ventures in theatre, video and dance. 

The album Le onde was a turning point in Ludovico Einaudís career as it was his first real work as a soloist.

In 2001 I Giorni was released consisting a dozen pieces for solo piano, composed as deliberate snapshots of the creativity of a musician who has achieved full freedom of expression.  This was the genesis of an album involving a long process of reflection. 

Einaudi: “When I compose, I need to improvise, but I also meditate for a long time on what I am writing. I progress on two apparently antithetical levels: I create a great diversity of styles then, at a later stage, I review it all with a rational ear.” The result was yet another performance of great emotional intensity, quite unconnected with the concept of a sound track.  Five years after Le onde, I again decided to create a solo work for piano; after experimenting with various things, I wanted to get back to the solitary dimension. It is a kind of suite of pieces in the form of an instrumental song. Although each piece has a meaning of its own, they are linked by a general idea of musical accountability and by melodic, thematic and harmonic references.” 

Einaudi aims to find a direct channel of communication with the public, be at the centre of the magic and emotion that can be created only during a live performance in gaining an immediate relationship with both music and audience. 

Ludovico Einaudi also has composed music for the cinema. He began with two films made by Michele Sordillo: Da qualche parte in citt (1994) and Acquario (1996), and continued in 1998 with Treno di panna, the only film made by Andrea De Carlo. In the same year, he composed the sound track for Giorni dispari by Dominick Tambasco, while some extracts from Le onde were included in Aprile by Nanni Moretti.

Einaudi latest album, Una Mattina, was released in 2004 for Decca.

I would have to say my favourite pieces are: Nightbook, Divenire, and Nuvole Bianche.

This is Einaudi introducing his recent release Nightbook:

Link to his website: http://www.einaudiwebsite.com/ 

MUSE, The Resistance

Recently I went to go see Muse’s visionary performance at Wembley Stadium. The concert was a compilation; popular extracts from their old repertoire with their new fused sound, which is illustrated in the current album, The Resistance.

Muse are an example of ‘musical hybridity’.  Within the music industry it is difficult to explore new ideas without losing their style, sound or image, and still remain authentic in the public’s eye.  However as a band they are continually expanding on their audience and the excitement animated in the fan’s faces that surrounded me at the concert showed just how successful fusing the musical style that people recognize with ‘innovation’ can be.

Their current album The Resistance, adds to their musical identity with the use of orchestral timbres and the detailed use of crescendos and diminuendos throughout each track stimulates a listener’s emotions when heard.  As a listener, if you were to close your eyes to tracks like Expogenesis Symphony (Part one overture) you would think your listening to a piece of film music and feel as if you have just been transported to the cinema watching a scene from your own imagination. That is why artists like Muse have featured on many soundtracks within the film itself not just the credits (recent films: Twilight series with Supermassive Black Hole and Neutron Star collision: http://muse.mu/media-player/). Expogenesis Symphony (Part one overture) begins with a chromatic rising riff played with a rubato feel by the strings followed by the cellos entering with broken chords in order to increase the tempo of the piece as a dramatic introduction to the vocals and drums; the tense dissonant chords at the end of unresolved chord progressions are typical elements of the romantic period. Concert overtures were typical of the romantic era and developed into the symphonic poem- a type of programme music, they were a short, single movement for orchestras.

Matthew Bellamy has a huge vocal range and uses the technique of falsetto in many tracks; and bends and slide the notes, vocally and on guitar (typical of blues and classical music (glissando)).

Muse’s sound is not just described as tracks and songs of an album but symphonic pieces of music in which they are now composing contemporary concertos (Expogenesis Part One, Two, and Three).

Most listeners do not recognize the elements taken from the classical genre when listening to bands such as Muse.  It is not just the use of orchestral instruments it is the artist’s interpretation when composing for the instrument in which you can truly see their influence. 
Muses's website...http://muse.mu/

Prelude to my Blog

Today we live in such a diverse society, that we are given the opportunity and choice to pick and mix what we like and dislike, what is old and what is new, which gives us the freedom to create something with the vast influences we are use to in order to create something not entirely new but a FUSION... the culture of  hybridity.


Today, the range of music on our Ipod and mp3 playlists illustrate and tell us how open minded we've become and what a diverse music listener you are.  


When musicians are composing they are not plucking ideas out of thin air they are bouncing off what they have absorbed through learning their instrument or just pure enjoyment listening.  The skills and techniques required are distinct from one genre or sub-genre to another.


My Blog will be discussing the various artists out there who are either successfully or unsuccessfully aiming to bring back the Classical period with a twist in order to bring back popularity to the genre and keep up with the modern moving times.  I won't just be talking about artists such as Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson, the typical singers who come to mind when discussing the genre but also reflecting those producers and writers who sample many famous composers works.  Furthermore analyse the current chart music who use traditional orchestral timbres to enhance their music and sound.............


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