After some fun birthday (happy "39th again", Elizabeth!) and holiday (good to see you again, Diane) parties, of course the topic of dancing is going to come up!
Well, at least I bring it up – helps me feel more global. Worldly...
So, these are some of my favorite DJs and "electronica" or "techno" artists that I have been buying music by for a number of happy years: Paul Oakenfold, DJ Tiësto, and Underworld. Somehow related are artists like DJ Shadow and Vangelis. I won't put 'em in here, but remind me, self, to write about Fear Factory some day!
An amazing album called Another World galvanized my admiration for
Paul Oakenfold since it has some clips from the 2nd greates film of all time, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Also uses some stuff from the original soundtrack of that movie by a Greek electronica composer / performer, Vangelis. Vangelis, by the way, may be putting up a homepage soon, but I was only able to find this VangelsWorld (under construction) site; there's a lot on this Vangelis page on the Wikipedia, however.
Not sure you could put this group in the DJ category, but they do get the "techno" label. Underworld contributes the best track of all (IMHO) on the movie soundtrack for Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. I really want to get their new cd. Wish I remembered to include that on my list to Santa, along with the new release of U2's Joshua Tree. (no link needed)
DJ Tiësto is said to be the world's #1 DJ on his website, and Wikipedia (again with the..!) offers info. that supports the claim to some degree! First stuff I heard by him featured his use of a well-known piece by Samuel Barber, the Adagio for Strings. This piece, used in many movies (I first heard it in Oliver Stone's Platoon), is included in a track on a Tiësto cd called Just Be. I keep buying the new editions of the In Search of Sunrise 'cause they are cool to drive to – especially along the Merritt Parkway on the trip from Boston area to Long Island, but I digress... I want, some day, to go see Tiësto in a place like Holland.
A different kind of sound comes from someone I think has a Boston connection, DJ Shadow. More of a hip-hop sound, perhaps more accessible for people who find the techno guys (as above) hard to endure.
Most of these guys have huge sites which I have trouble viewing and enjoying with the dial-up connection I have here. The school's computer is about to run out of juice; I forgot the power cord in my hurry to begin vacation. More parties, yay! Worldly, indeed.
