One of the most obnoxious flute recordings ever

RudallRose · Post by **RudallRose** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 10:13 am

That is really, REALLY frightening!
A flying David Hassel...
criminy
but it could probably be improved with a little flute in the background, huh?
at the least, a Rhino snort.

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 10:52 am

He is a consumate player. And by the way, he plays an old Rudall.

Actually, he plays an Olwell. The carefully applied silver rings of which he has augmented with wide reflective mylar bands.

(Edited to mention that this is the flute he's playing in the pic that Aaron posted.)

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 10:55 am

Jeez that's desecration.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 12:17 pm

meemtp wrote:Jeez that's desecration.

Hey, when you've got the spondulics, the world is your oyster!

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:36 pm

Nanohedron wrote:Quote from his "Awards and Honors" section:

(1988) --"Michael became the youngest person in history to be awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from President Ronald Reagan and the National Endowment for the Arts, recognizing him as one of America's greatest living artists."

My goodness. We know he's well-endowed, then.

The National Heritage Fellowship is nothing to sneeze at. It is an award given by the US government to only 12 or so folk and traditional artists a year, out of a pool of hundreds of nominees. In the over 20 years that this award has been given out, there have been only 10 Irish-American recipients: Joe Heaney, Joe Shannon, Martin Mulvihill, Michael Flatley, Jack Coen, Liz Carroll, Donny Golden, Mick Moloney, Kevin Burke, and this year Joe Derrane. That's pretty distinguished company for Mr. Flatley!

He was given the award for his dancing, not his flute playing, although I'm sure the flute playing was a factor. This award is considered a lifetime achievement award, so normally the recipients are more advanced in years than Flatley was when he got it in 1988. The argument was made in his case that a dancer's artistic lifetime ends rather early compared with a musician or a craftsperson. Of course, the risk you take when giving plaudits to a young artist is that their later work may not be up to the same standard, or might even be embarassing. (Look for instance at the recently-deceased Marlon Brando.) Still I doubt that the National Endowment for the Arts is in any way embarassed by their choice of Flatley for this award.

I first saw him dance at a concert performance around the time he got this award. He was flamboyant, sure, but I have to say I've never seen a better Irish dancer (and I've seen a lot of them!) Most dancers, even the best of them, appear bound to the floor from which they rise up to tap out their rhythms. With Flatley, though, it was as if he was floating above the floor and his toes would just gently reach down and tap out vast and complex rhythms. What he was doing was entirely traditional, but it was taken to its most pure and ultimate expression - pure rhythm, unchained by gravity or other human limitations. This was a good six years before any thought of Riverdance. No dancer, before or since, has ever been able to dance as well in the Irish idiom. He deserves every award he's ever received, even if he doesn't know when to keep his shirt on...

Leonard · Post by **Leonard** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:07 pm

I think it's really sad to play along with a MIDI computer (and this applies to Lord of the Dance too) when there is so many good musicians just waiting to play in this world...

elizabeth · Post by **elizabeth** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 6:41 pm

Amen to that, Leonard!

Elizabeth

oleorezinator · Post by **oleorezinator** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 7:20 pm

"One of the most obnoxious flute recordings ever"
hmmmmm, i wonder what the reaction would've been if'n you hadn't told who was playing. my accompanment filter is working so the flute playing sounds ok to my ears. but hey,

Hornpiper · Post by **Hornpiper** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 2:27 pm

Yah mon, we be jammin'. <<No, wo-man no cryyyyyyyyyy>>

I don't even really like his playing that much, either.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 3:00 pm

Yes, the flute playing sounds sort of 'ok'- ish, the point is that he is capable of quite exceptional solo playing that has drawn on quite profound musical traditions in a *real* way. When you can play very well it doesn't take a great effort to play 'ok' ...and charge for it.

More sub-standard ear candy crap for the tonally conditioned. People don't generally really know what they like, they like what they know because they've been taught to 'know', and what better way to appeal to people than giving them easily palatable ideas of things... 'celtic' this, 'pure drop' that, 'innovative' this, 'fusion' that... it's advanced bollocksology for idiots invented largely by idiots who have attached themselves to Irish music because there is something to gain from the atmosphere of quite high levels of artistic ignorance sorrounding it.

End of rant.

Regards,

Harry.

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:02 pm

MacBeth: Act V Scene V wrote:To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Mark Renton: Trainspotting wrote:It's sh*t being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the (bleep) Earth! The most wretched miserable servile pathetic trash that was ever shat on civilization. Some people hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to get colonized by. We're ruled by effete assholes. It's a sh*t state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any (bleep) difference!

Harry wrote:More sub-standard ear candy crap for the tonally conditioned. People don't generally really know what they like, they like what they know because they've been taught to 'know', and what better way to appeal to people than giving them easily palatable ideas of things... 'celtic' this, 'pure drop' that, 'innovative' this, 'fusion' that... it's advanced bollocksology for idiots invented largely by idiots who have attached themselves to Irish music because there is something to gain from the atmosphere of quite high levels of artistic ignorance sorrounding it.

Am I the only who thinks these quotes go together?

Cheers,
Aaron

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:36 pm

AaronMalcomb wrote:Am I the only who thinks these quotes go together?

Yes, i'm afraid so!

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 5:12 pm

Y'know, come to think of it, that backup track reminds me a lot of South African reggae artist Lucky Dube's style.

Hiro Ringo · Post by **Hiro Ringo** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:56 pm

Should we take his flute playing,the background music on his flute playing and his cool jacket separately?

I feel his flute playing is "a part" of his musicianship. The background music,the producer he chooses and his jacket either. :roll:

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:59 pm

Now I didn't expect that venting to produce Shakespear.

It's all summed up in the now legendary rural myth about the old fiddler listening to the young player and leaning over to him to say "Fair play young fella, keep playing that music, the good stuff doesn't make the money any more".

It's incredible the guff that you have to accept these days to stay moderately sane and retain some sort of sense of humour. People will buy anything with a nipple or a sequin on it 'God©' bless them.

Regards,

Harry.