Posts Tagged ‘Mike Oldfield’

One of my all time favorite albums is Mike Oldfield’s Amarok, released in 1990. This must be one of the most varied and creative recordings ever (not just in new age music, but in any genre). Here Mike Oldfield constantly changes theme, non-stop for 60 minutes!

While Virgin Music in 1989 wanted a follow up to Tubular Bells, something to take Mike’s fame to old heights, Mike decided to make a piece of music that could not be played on radio, and not be cut up and sold as singles. All because he was frustrated with Virgin music. The result is a strange but marvelous album, unlike anything else. In time it has almost become a research field in the world of music. On Tubular.net is an extensive analysis of the album. Every part is special.

What I like about the album is the feeling of movement. In the 60 minutes you get to hear a high number of melodies, and they all communicate different feelings and emotions. When the hour is up, you feel like you have experienced a lot. It is truly a world of sound, only paralleled by Tubular Bells.

Sample the album on Amazon.

This may or may not be an April fool´s joke: Mike Oldfield is part of this years line up on the “Spirit of 1971” stage on Saturday 25th June at this years Glastonbury Festival. This according to Tubular.net and Somerset Guardian:

Included in the line-up this year will be The Edgar Broughton Band, 70s pop-festival stalwarts whose chant of “Out, Demons, Out” echoed across many a festival field. Tubular Bells creator Mike Oldfield is also playing, along with Steve Hillage, Arthur Brown and Nick Lowe, who played at the 1971 festival with his band Brinsley Schwarz.

Source

More news on this as we get it.

We don´t feel certain that it is true, but it would be nice to see Mike live again.

Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is one of those few works in new age music that is being rerecorded and rearranged by other artists (other examples are Enya’s Caribbean Blue and Oxygene by J. M. Jarre).

I was recently made aware of the below Italian version of Tubular Bells. Or, it is actually an excellent song on its own terms inspired by the bells. Great music and video Mimmoxa!!

Campane Tubolari from mimmoxa on Vimeo.

And while we are talking about Mike Oldfield; On board Mikes boat Sea Dragon, moored off St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Fanny Oldfield has been exploring her husband’s music and writing a diary about her experiences. The latest posts are about Mike’s album Voyager.

See the all posts here – and notice all the excellent photos in the posts too. Fanny Oldfield is an excellent photographer.

We all are dreaming about finding our very own paradise, a place where we can relax and enjoy nature at its best.

One man who obviously has found his paradise, is Mike Oldfield. He is currently enjoying some well-deserved quality time in the Bahamas on his boat. Getty Images has quite a few recent pictures available of Mike Oldfield. Also make sure to read Mike’s wife’s Bahamas diary on fanpage Tubular.net. 

As a longtime fan I must say that I am so happy to see him with a smile on his face.

(Never forget that our music genre has lots of album with the paradise island as theme).

After the massive, totally overwhelming success of Tubular Bells (1973) the 21 year old Mike Oldfield had an almost impossible job; to make a follow-up. The whole world demanded a follow-up. A worthy follow-up.

Yes, Mike had an almost impossible job to do. But when he first got started, it was – to use a description which Mike would like today when he is living in the Bahamas - smooth sailing. Or to quote his autobiography:

Hergest Ridge was a real struggle to begin with, but having pushed myself to get started, it was like piling twigs on a fire. It took on a life of its own, with its own momentum, and it became self-sustaining.

Musically it was nothing like Tubular Bells. It had trumpets and tin whistles, all different kinds of influences that were in some ways echoes of the place I was living in, I suppose you would call them New Age sounds in today’s terms. I was running on nearly empty tanks when I was putting it together, but I managed to cobble together some kind of album.

Changeling - The Autobiography of Mike Oldfield
Virgin Books 2007, page 158.

Personally I hold Hergest Ridge to be among Mike Oldfield’s finest works, and a much more personal and intimate release than Tubular Bells. Just listen to the trumpets at 10 min 05 sec onwards and you’ll hear what I mean; Hergest Ridge is simply beautiful and heartfelt.

It was however not a new Tubular Bells, and for many of the 1970s record buyers Mike Oldfield lost actuality with this release. He was yesterday’s news.

We have seen re-releases of Hergest Ridge before, last time in 2000 when a Digital Remaster was issued. This 2010 Deluxe Edition features versions of the original record remastered by Mike himself, unheard demo versions, plus the mixes found on the vinyl version first released in 1974 – along with some nice DVD footage. Disc three also contains a very welcome 5.1 Surround Mix. As you can see there is also a new cover as Mike never liked the original cover (“this one was just a bit weird” - Changeling page 160)

Here is the Deluxe Edition tracklistings:

• Disc 1

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 2010 Mix Previously Unreleased 19:21
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 2010 Mix Previously Unreleased 18:46
03 In Dulce Jubilo (For Maureen) 02:45
04 Spanish Tune 03:11

• Disc 2

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 1974 Stereo Mix 21:32
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 1974 Stereo Mix 18:40
03 Hergest Ridge Demo Part One 1974 Demo Previously Unreleased 20:21
04 Hergest Ridge Demo Part Two 1974 Demo Previously Unreleased 18:13

• Disc 3 (the DVD)

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 2010 5.1 Surround Mix 19:20
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 2010 5.1 Surround Mix 18:45

Note that there is also a digital version available on iTunes which contains disc 1 and 2 (everything except for the Surround Mix and footage).

The most interesting part of this release is of course the unreleased demos. I think they sound nice – but as with the Tubular Bells demos of last year you are not likely to listen much to them; they are weaker sounding and quite unpolished. But for true fans it is always nice to relive the construction of something noteworthy – so in this aspect it is well worth the price.

To sum it up; Hergest Ridge tells the story of a young man who has to do the impossible; to create something to equal Tubular Bells. It didn’t of course, but still it is always a welcome listen to the fan. Very much so. For years and years. And now, in 2010, we even got a new and much nicer cover and a 5.1 Surround Mix! To quote Mike:

I know I’m very unstable, and I probably always will be, but the point is that I’ve accepted that about myself. Hergest Ridge, on the other hand, is smooth, uncluttered. There are no tube trains, very few car doors, lots of open countryside, smooth hills, a general feeling of smoothness and wellbeing and non-hysteria, just a much nicer environment.

Universal Music has put together a very nice webpage here. And if you missed it on 1st of April: fanpage Tubular.net’s very own Hergest Ridge 2010 mix.

Now you have the chance to own a piece of new age music history! The studio where Mike Oldfield recorded Tubular Bells is up for sale. Online magazine nme.com reports:

A 16th century house at Shipton-on-Cherwell, The Manor was converted by Richard Branson into the UK’s first ever residential recording studio.

The Grade II listed building opened its doors in 1971 and saw the likes of Gong, Sandy Denny, John Cale, Vivian Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Tangerine Dream record there in the early ’70s, reports The Independent on Sunday.

Read the whole article here.

I recently wrote an article called Music of the Spheres – Two years after. I hold Music of the Spheres to be one of Mike Oldfield’s best. Below is a video with Mike and Hayley Westenra from the Alan Titchmarsh Show which was recorded in connection with the album release.

We all love live new age music here on .nu, don’t we? These two artists are just so talented!!!

Everything moves so fast today. This is nothing new of course, we still only have 24 hrs a day and what’s hot today is gone tomorrow. It is just the nature of our Brave New World I guess. That said, it is sometimes interesting to look back just a year or two and see if things that were important back then still has relevance. Do we even remember?

Looking at the most recent new age music history, the release of Mike Oldfield’s “classical music” album Music of the Spheres was a massive event. Not only did it promise brand new acoustic material well outside the crowded Tubular Bells-universe, but also a handful of world’s finest artists; pianist Lang Lang and soprano Hayley Westenra, conductor Karl Jenkins and the complete Sinfonia Sfera Orchestra, all participated on the album. Yes, it was massive.

Still I feel that the album came, got some nice PR and reviews in main stream media, and disappeared. (Yes, I know that this is the fate of many albums. There is just so much music being published today, and all music of the past is available at our fingertips too). Again; Brave New World.

But one year ago I saw this post over at the Tubular.net forums and it got me thinking, posted by the user: TheMann:

It is now about a year since I first listened to Music of the Spheres. Then, I was stunned by how ambitious this work really is, and I quickly felt in complete love with this masterpiece.

A year later, nothing has changed for me: I find nothing in Mikes output as emotional as this full-length, far-reaching orchester piece. Quite remarkable words, having in mind that Mike wrote (many) other eternal masterpieces, e.g., Ommadawn. Now, let’s not argue what work is his finest; It’s all down to taste.

Listening to it now, today, nothing has changed for me either; Music of the Spheres is still an awesome album in all respects. It is far-reaching and quite remarkable, like previous classics. Interestingly enough, the latest review of this album is written by Mike Oldfield’s wife, Fanny Oldfield – this too on fan page Tubular.net:  

It is something that has to be said about Mike’s music, it always makes you feel something…it is not like any boring track that is almost invisible. Mike’s music stays with you, tells you a story, brings emotions and gets your heart to beat faster.

If it is love for Mike or his music that makes her heart beat faster remains unsaid. My point is only that Music of the Spheres is an album not to be missed. And if I dare to make a conclusion about music in general based on this; it is not that too much is being released – it is just that all the music of the past also is so accessible today. This is great news for anyone, like me, that enjoy to dive into oceans of music and experience what’s there. But we will not get new Tubular Bells – that is; famous works of art that live on and on – but we will get just as great albums that doesn’t get famous.

Even when they are awesome, and created by someone famous.

Just like Music of the Spheres.

See the 8 first minutes of the wonderful Spheres below:

Mike Oldfield is in many ways the only true celebrity in New Age Music. At least the only artist that that has had his share of scandals and negative tabloid headlines. Artists such as Enya, Kitaro or Edgard Froese are, well, more down-to-earth and have never been given that role in media. To see that this is true you only have to read this recent article in Sunday Express by Adam Helliker. It starts with the words: 

SO DISILLUSIONED is multi- millionaire composer Mike Oldfield with Britain that he has rejected a formal education for his children and is teaching them himself while he sails his family on a yacht around the Caribbean.

And more:

“Unless you want to be a nuclear physicist there is nothing you can’t teach yourself on the internet,” Oldfi eld tells me from his yacht moored off the Virgin Islands. “My children are getting a wonderful education learning all about sea life and meeting other children who sail into the harbour.”

Hopefully the time at sea will give Mike new inspiration – or at least some peace of mind, far away from the UK and the tabloids.

Source: Tubular.net

Mike Oldfield fanpage Tubular.net published the news that there would be a special Hergest Ridge 2010 edition out (much like the “high quality but not that popular” Tubular Bells 2003 edition) – and not only the planed re-release of the good, old Hergest Ridge.

In connection with the April Fools’ joke, a funny looking web page was published – which contains the The Hergest Ridge Supreme pizza!

I’m not going to say anything negative about “yet another” Mike Oldfield classics re-release – only note that this time around it is NOT another Tubular Bells version… This year it is all about two just as interesting releases, Hergest Ridge (1974) and Ommadawn (1975).

Amazon.co.uk has now begun taking pre-orders on the Deluxe Editions of these albums. According to their track lists, Hergest Ridge includes In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen), Spanish Tune and demos of Part One and Part Two. Ommadawn includes a ‘lost version’.

They also have a single disc edition of Ommadawn, which includes In Dulci Jubilo, First Excursion, Argiers and Portsmouth, plus there’s a single disc edition of Hergest Ridge which currently has no track listing.

The release date is May 24th. There will also be vinyl editions available.

Source: Tubular.net

Now this is something quite different; Mike Oldfield fan page Tubular.net has something remarkable to share:

On board the Oldfield’s boat Sea Dragon, moored off St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Fanny Oldfield has been exploring her husband’s music and writing a diary about her experiences.

The diary contains Fanny Oldfield’s personal view of her husband’s music. One thing is certain though; she has not been his biggest fan in the past. In fact, she hasn’t heard that much of his music at all. Only a few albums and some selected tracks. So the diary of her voyage through his music starts with his most recent album Music of the Spheres. She writes:

Music of the Spheres is an album that I do know and have listened to many times. I heard Michael working on it. One of my pleasures was to make dinner and if Michael left the studio door open I could hear, from the kitchen, what he was working on in the studio. That is how I heard the sounds of this beautiful album for the first time. The actual first time I heard it properly was in a mastering studio in London. Wow, it was just fantastic… The music took me on a journey away from London, England, Earth!

Read it on Tubular.net - where it has got a lot of attention from MO’s fans. 

What an interesting project! Also be sure to check out Fanny Oldfield’s nice photo art.

We recently told you about the band Fadalack , who did their version of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Another interesting project that is soon out on the road is Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts’ Tubular Bells for two. Their two-man version of the classic comes to life utilizing acoustic and electric guitars, two pianos, three synthesizers, two drum kits, bass guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel, and of course, tubular bells!

So if you are in Australia on the 13^th of March you have the chance to experience a rare and special Tubular Bells performance. Read all about it here.             Source: Tubular.net

Some pieces of music will live forever. One such title is without a doubt Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. I am sure this groundbreaking album will be played 50, 100 or 500 years from now.

A sure sign of the quality of TB is that it is being played live by other artists too. Below is the group Fadalack at a concert in Alicante, Spain, performing TB live. Here are more pictures and a presentation of the band in Spanish.

What a great performance! Still, one can’t avoid being impressed too by the very young Mike Oldfield who composed this and played most of the instruments himself… Source: Tubular.net

A “not that popular” part of Mike Oldfield’s creative works, the computer game Music VR (which also includes the Tres Lunas (2002) album music), was recently removed from Mikeoldfield.org – but has now found new life on fan page Tubular.net. They are the new official source for everything Music VR. The game is now free to use – and can be downloaded from this page. According to Wikipedia, Mike Oldfield spent £25 million developing the game.

I have never been a big fan of the game itself – but I enjoy the Tres Lunas soundtrack very much. I think To Be Free is a marvelous song!

Mike Oldfield fans that use the popular web browser Firefox now can download a free exclusive Tubular Bells skin – which will take your everyday browsing into a Tubular world! I learned about the cool feature from my good friend, the talented new age artist Tubular Tos. Merci!

You can download it here.

… and rest assure, it is NOT another version of Tubular Bells… We got enough of them by now. According to Universal Music, new editions of Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn will be out in April. These albums are, together with Amarok, easily Mike Oldfield’s best. This is great news!

Source: Tubular.net

Well, this it is not 1973 and it is not the BBC UK Top 40 Albums Chart either, but Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is currently no. 1 on UK’s New Age Music chart on iTunes!

That has to mean something … Yes? YES!

See the complete chart here – and see how many no. 1 spots Enya has. But is it her new “best of” album that are on top of 14 NA music charts?

The iconic Tubular Bells-cover will be released on a first class stamp by UK’s Royal Mail. It is a part of a series featuring classic album covers. The stamp will be released on January 7th 2010.

You can see the stamp art here. Source: Tubular.net