Great Instrumentals
The concept is incredibly simple. Name some of your favorite pieces of instrumental music. It can be classical, rock, blues, whatever. Name your favorite performance of it for added fun. Put it out there.
Some of my personal favorites, just to name a few:
--Gershwin: "Rhapsody in Blue"
--Beethoven: "Moonlight Sonata" (Depeche Mode, rather, instrumentalist Alan Wilder, does a fine performance of this on the "Little 15" single)
--Miles Davis: "Concierto de Aranjuez" (written by Joaquin Rodrigo)
--Depeche Mode: "Stjarna" (written by Martin Gore, also on the "Little 15" single)
<b>Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place</b> - to me, this song is sort of like the aural equivalent of looking into someone's eyes and just <i>feeling</i>. I love it. From <i>The Downward Spiral</i>.
<b>Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined</b> - wow. This blows my mind every time I listen to it. Definitely one of my favorite instrumentals. From <i>The Fragile</i> (CD Left, track 7).
<b>The Heart Asks Pleasure First</b> - from <i>The Piano</i>. It's only 1:32, but there seems to be so much in that short time. I found this on Napster and man... good lord do I love this track. It's spec-tac-u-lar.
<b>Beethoven - Für Elise</b> - I dunno. Classical was the first thing I was ever really into as a kid (besides reading and snakes) and it kind of burned its way into my mind at a young age. The cell phone ringers don't do it justice.
<b>B.J. Cole</b> plays Debussy's <i>Pavane Pour Une Enfante Defunt</i> and <i>Clair de Lune</i> on pedal steel. And while we're on Debussy, <b>Tomita's</b> version of <i>Gardens in the Rain</i>
<b>Rundgren's Utopia</b> plays <i>Mr. Triscuits</i>; Rundgren on guitar and Roger Powell on synth. Also Rundgren's <i>Breathless</i> and <i>Sidewalk Cafe</i>, fine pieces of studio work for their day. Also <i>Pranha</i> from <i>A Treatise on Cosmic Fire</i>
<b>Beaver and Krause</b> <i>By Your Grace</i> and <i>Good Places</i>, with Gerry Mulligan on sax, Paul Beaver on pipe organ and Gail Laughton on harp, recorded in Grace Cathedral.
The mandatory instumental tracks on each <b>Alan Parsons Project</b> album. <i>Hawkeye</I>, <i>Pipeline</I> and <i>Chinese Whispers</i> in particular. Same thing for <b>Joe Walsh</b>
<b>Dave Grusin's</b> <i>Power Wave</i>
<b>Pink Floyd</b> <i>Terminal Frost</i> and <i>Meddle</i>
<b>David Foster's</b> <i>Flight of the Snowbirds</i>
<b>Synergy</b> <i>Delta One</i> and <i>Delta Two</i>
<b>Joe Satriani:</b> <i>Flying in a Blue Dream</i>
<b> Steve Vai</b> <i>I Would Love to</i>
<b>Suzanne Ciani</b> <i>The Velocity of Love</i>
<b>Wendy Carlos</b> doing JSB's <i>Sinfonia in D major</i>, especially the 25th anniversary edition
<b>Afro Celt Sound System</b> <i>Eireann</i> and <i>Hypnotica</i> have great instrumentals even though there is a vocalist
Anything recorded by
Sheffield Lab, but these two CDs are among my favorite instrumental recordings.
11420-2 F THE SHEFFIELD DRUM AND TRACK DISC. The Sheffield Drum and Track Disc combines two "direct to disc"recordings made by Sheffield Lab in 1980 and 1982. These recordings quickly became the reference standard for component testing and evaluation, and achieved legendary status with recording engineers, hi-fi equipment manufacturers, audio sales personnel, and audiophiles world-wide. Features Robbie Buchanan and James Newton Howard on keyboards, Nathan East on bass, Mike Landau on guitar, Carlos Vega on drums, and Lenny Castro on percussion. "The 'standard' for all hi-fi systems" -Stereo Sound
10055-2 G JAMES NEWTON HOWARD and FRIENDS / James Newton Howard Experience the definitive CD version of this audiophile classic! The original Lab 23 analog master tape has been remastered by Gavin Lurssen and Doug Sax, to bring you the highest possible sonic quality in a 24Kt gold collector's edition. James Newton Howard is a highly-regarded composer for film and television, with credits that include Prince of Tides, Alive, Dave, Grand Canyon, Promised Land, Wyatt Earp and the new hit series, ER. He was joined on this project by members of the legendary rock super-group, Toto, which featured the unequalled brilliance of Jeff Porcaro on drums, and a dazzling display of three virtuoso keyboard artists on nine Yamaha synthesizers.
Billy Thorpe- Children of the Sun- Its only rock and roll but...
Sam Bush and David Grisman- Wayfaring Stranger -The tune itself is classic hillbilly gospel. Bill Monroe built a mandolin part for it which Bush and Grisman turned into a powerful mandolin duet.
Bela Fleck - His Bluegrass Sessions recording has a cluster of wonderful instrumental pieces including Buffalo Nickel, When Joy Kills Sorrow, and Spanish Point. I'm not sure which group of musicians did these cuts but its some combination of Fleck banjo, Tony Rice guitar, Sam Bush mandolin, Mark Schatz bass, Stuart Duncan fiddle, Jerry Douglas dobro, and Vassar Cements fiddle, among others.
David Grisman Quintet- Cedar Hill, Dawg Patch, also recorded as Dawgwood Dawgma with Stephane Grappelli, Dawg Funk, and their version of the Sabbath prayer Shalom Aleichem. The Quintet featured a huge number of different performers from its inception in 1976 through the present. They play Dawg music which ranges from straight up Jazz to Bluegrass. Awesome live string band.
DM has created about 2 dozen instrumentals over the last 21 years, many of them b-sides to singles. Among my faves (besides the 2 mentioned previously)
Pimpf from Music for the Masses
Sibeling from the "Enjoy the Silence" single
Oberkorn from the "The Meaning of Love" single
Other fine instrumental tracks
Moments in Love by the Art of Noise
The Defector by Recoil
A few great Zappa instrumentals, going past the obvious "Watermelon in Easter Hay" and "King Kong":
"We Are Not Alone" (from The Man From Utopia) - Incredibly catchy track from an otherwise mediocre album.
"Sofa #1" and "Sofa #2" (from multiple albums) - Some versions of these tracks had lyrics, but the instrumental versions were just as great.
"Thirteen" (from You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6) - Shankar on electric violin, a thoroughly unique cadence and an all-around nifty track.
"The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" (from Lather and elsewhere)
"Let's Make The Water Turn Black / Harry, You're A Beast / The Orange County Lumber Truck" (instrumental medley) (from YCDTOSA Vol. 1 and Ahead Of Their Time) - an awesome display of the early Mothers' sound and skill. The Ahead Of Our Time mix is the better one.
Damn near all of "Jazz From Hell," but particularly "G-Spot Tornado". Musical whiplash on an almost-impossible-for-humans-to-play scale.
Bela Fleck is seconded, BTW. Haven't heard a bad song from his assorted projects yet.
anything from bizets "carmen", especially "march of the toreadors". i know theres technically lyrics from a lot of this, but since i cant understand them and i find myself humming it constantly, i figure it counts.
~james
Two words: SURF GUITAR.
(Dick Dale. The Chantays. The Ventures.) Need I say more?
The name of the song escapes me at the moment...the first song on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (the song during the opening credits). Dick Dale and the Hightones, IIRC. Great stuff.
Oh shit...how could I forget The Reverend Horton Heat's Big Sky, which he generally uses to open a show. Psychobilly at its finest. Together with Baddest of the Bad, they are one of the best one-two punches in rock music. (Those interested: Tracks 1 and 2 on 1994's Liquor in the Front CD)
I believe The Lively Ones supplied that fat surfsound for Pulp fiction. Love it!
edit- Surf Rider was the tune
again- Telstar is the other surf tune worth crankin
The song I was thinking about is "Misirlou" by Dick Dale and His Del-tones...I was close. That soundtrack has some great instrumentals on it.
I just dogpiled it to see if I was blowing smoke. A few different surf acts were involved
here. I don't remember which scene the Dick Dale tune was in. Might have to grab that soundtrack although I have a couple Lively Ones CDs.
I'll get behind the Dick Dale votes!
here are some more:
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions and Hip-Hug-Her are classics.
Bill Dogget - Honkey Tonk. one of the greatest guitar solos ever.
Dave Brubeck- Take Five- the song, the whole album is hard to do without.
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra- I Got It Bad and That Aint Good- 1956 live recording with Johnny Hodges on altosax- he literally makes it cry. add Prelude to a Kiss, A-Train...All gorgeous.
Lee Morgan- The Sidewinder ,1963, trumpet, on Blue Note- a wicked-cool groove.
Benny Goodman-Sing,Sing,Sing, 1936 Live Carnegie Hall Jazz concert- (first one ever there, first integrated band, the audience was dancing in the aisles, you can feel it.) Gene Krupa on drums, Lionel Hampton vibes.
Charlie Parker April in Paris. its beautiful.
By
White Cliffs of Dover by Mulletboy?
How about if its not an instrumental, but might as well be? Sigur Ros uses their own made up language (Hopelandic, a variation of Icelandic and lots of drugs) in order to create another instrument in the form of his voice. The singer from the Cocteau Twins generally did the same thing.
So getting that out of the way, I'd have to say:
Sigur Ros - Staralfur : Off of the Agaetis byrjun cd. Really, this is like crack for the ears. The guitar alone is enough to die for.
Tortoise - TNT: I have a live version (I think it's from the All Tomorrow's Parties) of this song that will just blow you away.
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - East Hastings : more post-rock goodness. The time changes, build-up of the melody and intensity...gives me shivers just to think about it.
But that's all post-rock type stuff. There's also stuff like Amon Tobin, DJ Cam's Mad Blunted Jazz entire double-disc album, Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (Or anything from the In a Silent Way sessions, really)...I could go on and on in the jazz world, so I won't.
Funny, the one category where I couldn't really think of any is rock. Oh well.
That's what I was gonna say - great instrumentals makes me think of Cocteau Twins, but it's not instrumental.
Failing that I'm nominating "Kinetic Ritual" by Klark Kent, aka Stewart Copeland circa 1979, because Mags already took the Pink Floyd stuff.
Originally posted by Griff
[B] White Cliffs of Dover by Mulletboy? [/B]
I think it's actually a bowl-cut gone bad.
Mountain Jam - Allman Bros., Eat a Peach. 33 1/2 minutes of greatness.
Apocalyptica - four dudes w/ cellos do Metallica. Odd, but really, really good.
Sandstorm - Darude, in the opening of Blade, there's a rave with vampires (how many convenient cliches, neh?). This is the song that's playing.
In Sounds from Way Out - Beastie Boys. Wha??? An entire album of B-Boys doing instrumentals? How bizarre. How delicious.