Today's spur of the moment purchase

This may seem hypocritical since I've already stated my opinion on Il Divo but today I bought a CD by the group with the catchy name "The ten tenors." I immediately thought of the Irish Tenors, whose choice of reportoire I can't stand, but from the cover photo they seemed a bit more mainstream than that. After a quick look at the tracklist, which included versions of several songs I quite like, I decided to risk it.

Fortunately, their sound isn't as heavy and quite as sentimental as that of Il Divo. It doesn't sound like a competition of who can sing the loudest - quite the contrary actually, as some "solo" parts of the songs are sung by two or three of them in unison. This, among other things, makes them sound more like a men's choir than a group (as the name states, there are after all ten of them.) Their individual voices aren't that grand and impressive, but they're all reasonably good pop/musical vocalists and not trying to be something that they're not. And they're not acting like they think they're God's gift to women.

It's true that some tracks are a little over the top, but it's more pleasing to the ear because it's the orchestra that turns up the volume, while the vocals aren't quite as loud. The songs are in general arranged more like pop songs/ballads than operatic songs. A suprising gem is their rendition of "Les Choristes", or "Vois Sur Ton Chemin" as it was called in the French Oscar nominated film - they've actually turned it into an up-tempo pop track and though the idea sounds intimidating, the result is refreshingly catchy.
Another surprisingly good cover is "Who wants to live forever", one of Sarah Brightman’s biggest hits. There’s not much of Sarah Brightman left in this version, and that pleased me.

Conclusion – today’s spur of the moment purchase was, fortunately, well worth the money.

Joshua Bell - Voice of the Violin

I often find myself lost of words when trying to describe or evaluate classical music - as I don't play any instrument and just started listening to classical music a year ago I really have no knowledge to build the so-called review upon. I don't have a trained ear in that regard.

Which is why Voice of the Violin is the perfect album for people like me.

All the 15 tracks are vocal works transcribed for the violin; most of them very well known. The idea behind the recording is to let the violin "sing" where the lead soprano/tenor voice should have been. The result is surprisingly refreshing and elegant - it's of course lighter than many of the violin concertos he's recorded earlier, and has already been placed in the same category as his earlier "Romance of the Violin" recording, but it doesn't cross over the dangerously fine line that separates the romantic from the schmaltzy. (That having been said, the cover photo suggests otherwise. It looks like someone went overboard with the "diffuse glow" effect in Photoshop. That alone would be enough to scare the experienced classical audience off.)

The biggest surprise about listening to the album is discovering how close the sound of the violin actually IS to the human voice - and that you don't find it frustrating to hear the music without the words. In the liner notes, Joshua also reveals that he made an effort to think and even breathe like a singer during the recording - it is actually audible in most of the tracks and gives the music some kind of special intimacy and authenticity.

The only "disappointment" in the pieces he's chosen would have to be "Ave Maria" - I wish he would have picked a different version than Schubert's, which has been done so many times it's become a chestnut. "Song to the Moon" is my personal favourite and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" is also a gem. I suspect Joshua will "convert" yet another generation of fans with this release.

Don't give up!

Because Josh Groban says You Are Loved. (photo: Warner)

The single was made available for streaming on the fanclub site today (and on AOL first listen) and I, along with thousands of fellow Grobanites, threw myself over the link and waited anxiously for the file to load. You've all read my worried ramblings about what Josh would or would not sound like on the forthcoming album; what direction he would take musically. I'm not worried any longer, if anything a little surprised, in a positive sense.

"You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" is definitely not an operatic song, probably not even deserving of the crossover label. It's a sort of power ballad, where a lot of the power comes from Josh's golden larynx - he shows off his wide vocal range by reaching way down on the low notes and then, the minute after, soaring high with his beautiful falsetto. These 4 and half minutes of vocal brilliance are built up around moving, yet positive lyrics, about knowing you're worth something in this world and that someone will always be there to pick you up if you should fall. A topic that seems to be balancing on a fine line between cheesy mush and sincere sweetness, but with a voice like his, Josh can pull it off. The listener believes in him from the first note - "Don't give up/It's just the weight of the world/When your heart's heavy/I will lift it for you" - seemingly standard phrases, but expressed oh so convincingly.

If you were first drawn to Josh Groban's voice through the operatic tracks of his debut album and is half expecting him to start belting out arias on his upcoming release, I must disappoint you. Josh is not an opera singer, though he may want to move towards that genre later, and for the time being he seems comfortable expanding the meaning of the term pop music as we know it. The result, which we'll be able to hear November 7 (already available for pre-order at Amazon), may annoy classical purists and delight chart-pop listening teens, but one can at least not argue with the fact that Josh Groban has a God-given voice.

You can listen to the song here: http://music.aol.com/franchise/firstlisten

finally: new music from Odd Nordstoga

It's true! The single "Heim te mor" is taken from his forthcoming album (the title hasn't been announced yet but the release date is October 18) and has much of the same ingredients as his smash hit "Kveldssong for deg og meg" from 2004: A feel-good beat, a catchy chorus that gets stuck in your head after two listenings, a bit odd (pun intended!) combination of instruments - accordeon, banjo, harmonica and guitar - and a guaranteed singalong potential.
Another thing the song (in my opinion) has in common with his last hit is also, however, the immediate feeling of "what the heck was that!?" after the first listening. When your ears are "trained" to listen to more melancholy or classically oriented music it takes a few minutes to adjust to hearing this kind of songs - After five hearings though I have to say that personally I have a little problem with the presence of the tuba in this latest recording; to me it gives a little too much German polka feeling to the song. That's why I love it so much when Odd breaks into sudden cries of "yee-haw!" - that brings it back to Texas again...

I won't have to tell you that Odd Nordstoga's musical sound is unique. You'd think that would make his music difficult for everyone to grasp, but it seems that almost all people, regardless of age and sex, embrace his happy little tunes and down to earth lyrics. He has sort of become a Norwegian national hero. If you think the description of his genre was a little vague, why don't you go and listen to the song yourself:
http://www.universalmusic.no/les_mer.asp?newsid=3604