... even though it's not really news, it's nice to see someone going back to his [musical] roots....
In 1975 a young man in the the UK released his third studio album of "long-format" music called
Ommadawn. The chap was Mike Oldfield, he of
Tubular Bells fame.
Ommadawn was released on a plastic (to be precise, vinyl) disc of roughly 12 Imperial inches in diameter, to be spun around its central perforation at precisely 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute, and contained grooves that represented the sound that would be emitted from the appropriate reproduction apparatus. It was a delight (or at least I thought so), and was part of the rather complex soundtrack that guided me into the long and winding road that led me to being the man that I am today (or at least in part). It had but three tracks to it, the first track filled all of "side 1" of the disc, the other two occupied "side 2" with the second track being much longer than the first.
Here it is:
in its entirety.
Fast forward to 2017, and Mr. Oldfield, now many years older than his younger self, had been toying with a second-cut at the thing -- and made good in January of that year, and the result is remarkable. Not only does Mr. Oldfield return gracefully and sensitively to the "long format", but does an entirely nice job in
Return to Ommadawn. It's actually recognisable as an extension and reflective re-thought of the original. It represents the first time since 1978 that he's employed the long format, and he remains masterful at it.
Two parts only:
Part 1 and
Part 2.
Turn the lights down and the speakers up. It passes faster than one might expect.