Tag Archives: art

My October Playlist

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

This was a widget, but I’ve decided to elaborate on my playlist a bit as I am discovering more music than ever. So here is the music that is seeing me through Autumn!

Jason Isbell – Something More than Free

How out of character of me…a country record! Throw away the prejudice and it’s a beautiful feeling of freedom to judge good music on the merit of being…well GOOD! And that is what Jason Isbell is, he writes some cracking contemporary music, loads of melody over a subtle minimum use of chords, lush violin arrangements and the thing that sold me most…his intelligently crafted lyrics. The latter which usually puts me off most southern american music, as it goes all too shallow and pedestrian. This on the other hand…hits deep.

Beach House – Depression Cherry 

This band have been about a while, but it wasn’t until scrolling through Pitchfork that I ended up devouring their newly released album. A brooding all red album with moody female vocals, synths synths synths and guitar motives that all suit my taste for all things melancholic.

Debussy – Piano Works Volume 4

I’ve started properly learning piano, I am teaching general music lessons so it will come in handy but alongside that lies my aspiration to play this masterpiece.

Debussy, the very much loved composer who broke a lot of boundaries in the classical world and spearheaded one of my favourite art movements, impressionism!

Spirited Away Soundtrack

I love the film, and I want to play this on piano too.

Joni Mitchell – Hejira 

Sometimes, you have to kick yourself for bypassing something you shouldn’t. I’ve known Joni Mitchell for most of my life and I’ve been on edge over the past year when reading about her health in the news. Blue, Big Yellow Taxi, Both Sides now, how much more great stuff can you write? Then comes along the album that the hardcore fans in particular are beholden to, that is even more adorning…and that is Hejira. The album is just incredible, WHY did I not pay attention to it til now!? It features alongside Mitchell’s incredibly thoughtful lyrics accompanied by the musical genius of Bassist Jaco Pastorious and Larry Carlton (whose more than likely played guitar on many songs you know)…what more could you want? The title track in particular has been very apt for the grey clouds that have sometimes dominated the sky over these recent autumn days. ‘I’m sitting in a cafe’, and in the space of five minutes, Joni articulates what has been a very challenging year for me at times that has led me to a lot of self-reflection and pondering…the best music brings about a truth that you identify closely with, how did she know this about me? That’s the power of art.

Hejira is timeless.

Laura Nyro

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

You can call music amazing all you like; you can overuse that adjective in abundance all over the comments sections of social media platforms, but to me, it isn’t amazing unless it reaches a part of your soul that identifies with you in a way that is so resonantly truthful to oneself, that it brings tears to your eyes, sends shivers up your spine, and there isn’t really a tangible way in which your love of it can be expressed.

Which is exactly what I experienced about a month ago when I discovered Laura Nyro via the Lefsetz letter. When I Followed through Bob’s description song by song, I was very quickly sold, and off I went, searching for her music.


The first track I heard was ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ then ‘Stoney End’. Instantly recognisable hits from The Fifth Dimension and Barbara Streisand but Nyro wrote them!

As I ventured Nyro’s catalogue throughout a night of insomnia, I started to slowly unravel her genius: her angelic voice, that demanded your attention from everything between a soft whisper or a bellowing cry, her virtuosic piano playing that could interweave the simplicity of a solid backbeat of a catchy rock n’ roll pop tune with the dreamy complexity and space of jazz, not to mention the stunning arrangements of tracks such as ‘Lu’, ‘Poverty Train’, ‘Gibsom Street’ or my personal favourite ‘Captain for Dark Mornings’…some of those tempo changes too!!!

But the key thing about Laura Nyro is her soulfulness, sensitivity and sincerity. One of those few artists that can elevate certain feelings of love, loss and loneliness to above and beyond. Like those few artists, she died way too young, and it breaks my heart even more so when I listen to her.

As a Friday Night listening to Nyro transcended into a Saturday morning, and after a train ride and a strong coffee, I popped into the record store and bought 5 albums!

I’ve been telling everyone about her ever since, and only 1 person out of everyone knew who she was, having fallen under the radar whilst other artist’s renditions of her songs turned them into hits.

You’ve got to hear Laura herself though…she’s too good not to be heard by so few.

‘There is no way to make a living in it’

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

‘There is no way to make a living in it’ When I have told older folks in the past that I want to be a musician, make records, perform music and in basic human principle, do what I love doing, I was often thrown back the response ‘but there is no way to make a living in it.’ Now, I have recently seen others inflict that idea on younger people and want to take my own personal space here just to politely give a few examples of musicians who are making a living, and more so than that, being fulfilled in themselves as well as fulfilling others.

Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan – regarded as one of the best guitarists in the world, dropped out of a literature degree at Oxford and worked in Mcdonald’s for several years before becoming the venerable musician he is today.

hugh-laurie

‘Actor, musician, writer. Because the world needs more of those.’ Hugh Laurie’s twitter bio.

imogen-heap-gloves

Imogen Heap – Has had her ups and downs in her music career but her persistence and sense of innovation makes her one of electronic music’s most loved artists

laura2

Old head on young shoulders – Laura Marling’s ambition is untempered.

James-Rhodes

And last but certainly not least – james Rhode’s who constantly works towards supporting music education and raising awareness of it’s importance

So why do people say this? 

Because making a living from an artistic vocation isn’t easy: in fact, according to Renee Magritte, it’s a mystery, I’ve read into art a lot trying to find logic in it where there is more often than not, no logic to be found. There is an imminent amount of risk involved, along with uncertainty of any stability or sustainability. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no way to make a living from it. This statement is usually made incontrovertibly out of personal doubts and fear as opposed to reasoning. The way to make a living from music or art requires talent, a hell of a lot persistence, hard work, luck, good attitude, intelligence, uncompromising arrogance and sacrifices to an extent…it is bleedin’ hard and it is certainly not for just anyone; but Mr Laurie is right, it is artists, actors, musicians producers are the people that gives the world it’s colour and reminds us of the beauty that this world is capable of offering to us.

So what should be said instead?

Instead of saying ‘there is no way to make a living’ out of music to aspiring young people, devaluing their love of what they do and forcing them to do another subject or vocation that would potentially offer stability in the coldest comforts and maybe misery and regret, approach  the subject with a perception that isn’t binary. Say that it is possible, but it’s a way of life that you will do because you HAVE to do it as opposed to just wanting to do it. It is about being realistic whilst also being encouraging and supportive.