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Vangelis has died

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Re: Vangelis has died

#52

Chariots of Fire is iconic of course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a-HfNE3EIo I think my first encounter with his music was the Ernest & Julio Gallo wine commercials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mES7lzR9uFE Seems he should have been considerably older than 79.

[deleted]

Re: Vangelis has died

#53
Maaaaaan about the time Blade Runner came out I was a fourth grader fumbling with the Chariots of Fire record pretty much every day. That was the first record I remember associating the different reflections on the grooves with the length of the song. Pretty clear given that side 2 was all one song.

So many elementary school crushes I dreamt of to that album.

Didn't get whacked upside the head by Blade Runner until like 1989 or something and then went on that endless quest to find the version of the soundtrack that most matched what you hear in the movie (there was some legal crap about releasing the original music). Ended up with a few of the CDs floating around.

My world wouldn't be the same without his music.

Re: Vangelis has died

#55

one of his more esoteric and probably less known tracks : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6qoTPhhv9w La petite fille de la mer

That track was almost impossible to get hold of back in the day. I had heard of it, but never heard it. After years of asking around in record stores I finally found a really scratchy sounding cassette tape (no doubt a pirated copy) in a German record shop in East Frisia the summer of 1985.

Re: Vangelis has died

#56
post #28

I don't know much about Vangelis other than Chariots of Fire, he's Greek, and my neighbor when I was a kid loved the shit out of him. I assumed for a very long time Vangelis was an entire band and not just one person. RIP amongst so many others, lately.

He could be an entire orchestra not just a band yes

He had an album based on Greek folk music (Odes, 1979). This is a cretan dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc9_qVAflzk

Re: Vangelis has died

#58

I love Soil Festivities, still decades after hearing it for the first time. Amazing album. Not to diminish his other work, but that one really stands out for me. Also, if you don't know about it yet, check out his collaborations with Jon Anderson, as Jon & Vangelis, two awesome musicians at their peak. What a pity...

Yes what remarkable, 'organic' sound. Also 'l'apocalypse des animaux' and his other early albums really. Despite being old synths, they still sound classic

Re: Vangelis has died

#59

Massive, epic talent. Did everything by ear and instinct, never learned to read or write music. Incredible feel for timbre, melody, and structure. The DX7 synth used to have a ridiculous "chuff chuff chuff DING!" comedy steam train preset. It sounded terrible and was utterly useless except as a 10 second novelty. He used it in one of his soundtracks - and somehow made it perfectly musical in that setting.

which one was it?

Re: Vangelis has died

#60

Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes. I have tickets for Olafur Arnalds next week, and there is a younger generation of composers like…

When I listen to Chronotope Project I hear the Vangelis influences. Along with Vangelis' inspiration to pursue such solitary and personal musical expressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARkcu3J8OvI https://chronotope-project.com/bio

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