The_Vernon_Elliott_Ensemble--Ivor_The_Engine_and_Pogles_Wood-2007-i8

Section

MP3/FLAC

Group

i8

Size

28,97 MB

Files

39

Date

2008-01-10

NFO

      a r t i s t : The Vernon Elliott Ensemble
        t i t l e : Ivor the Engine & Pogles Wood
          d a t e : 2007
        l a b e l : Trunk (JBH027CD)
        g e n r e : Other
  r l s.  d a t e : Jan/2008
      t r a c k s : 39
    b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
          s i z e : 28,8 MB

   _______________________________________________________________________

     First things first, let's just take a moment to consider how
     refreshing it is to see a bassoonist getting some recognition.
     Surely one of the most underappreciated of all woodwind
     instruments, here the bassoon takes centrestage as the
     instrument of choice for bandleader and composer Vernon
     Elliott, whose best known works - soundtracks for children's
     classics Ivor The Engine and Pogle's Wood - are captured here
     in all their glory. Brilliantly, the sleeve notes feature
     photos of Elliott posing with his instrument of choice: in the
     first he is but a toddler, while in the second he's all
     elegant and formally attired as an adult, yet in both pictures
     he somehow manages to strike the same pose. Clearly for this
     man the bassoon was a vocation, a way of life.

     Elliott was clearly a highly inventive and resourceful
     composer, not restricting himself to an instrumental palette
     but going so far as to record sound effects and foley work for
     the show, from coal being shovelled to the actual sound of
     Ivor in motion. You even get to hear outtakes as Elliott and
     his artists try out different techniques (with running
     commentary no less). The mechanics of it all prove to be very
     DIY and lo-fi, with no radiophonic or electronic intervention
     to help out. As for the music itself, the chugging rhythms and
     the parping horn sounds are all far more resonant and
     sophisticated than they really need to be for a children's
     show, beautifully evoking steam locomotion. Looking back on
     Ivor The Engine, there's some pretty weird, magic realism-type
     stuff that crept into that show. Just look at the characters:
     you'd never find a dragon who had a sideline as a part-time
     chorister cropping up in Thomas The Tank Engine, would you?
     You'll find some truly remarkable gems in the soundtrack to
     the less widely remembered Pogle's Wood (made between 1966 and
     1967). Using a small ensemble comprising strings, woodwind,
     harp and tuned percussion Elliott and his musicians came up
     with some wonderful material, and magical sound effects. Have
     a listen to the spine-tingling 'Witch's Theme' for an example
     of how vividly the music ventures into the uncanny. As with
     the music from Ivor The Engine, Elliott goes far beyond the
     call of duty in his composition and arrangement. Of course,
     releases like this play the nostalgia card pretty heavily, and
     I don't know about you, but I for one find nothing more
     painful than seeing a thirty-year old man in a Thundercats T-
     shirt, and nothing more interminable than people starting up
     conversations about how much they like Button Moon ("I mean
     why was there a hoover on the moon in the first place?
     Mental!" etc...), but in this case the music merits your
     attention, and so long as Trunk can persistently present
     archive material with such care and attention then everybody
     wins. Genuinely excellent, and lovely packaging to boot...

     http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=66965
     http://www.trunkrecords.com/turntable/pogles_ivor.shtml

   _______________________________________________________________________

      01-Oliver Postgate Intro and Main Theme                   [02:09]
      02-Cruising Theme                                         [03:07]
      03-Fast Theme                                             [02:23]
      04-Donkey Theme                                           [01:59]
      05-Cat's Theme                                            [00:46]
      06-Ivor's Jig                                             [00:09]
      07-Effects - Donkey Departing                             [00:17]
      08-Effects - Coal                                         [00:10]
      09-Effects - Ivor Chuffing                                [00:21]
      10-Elephant Walk                                          [02:16]
      11-Land of My Fathers                                     [00:43]
      12-Effects - Ivor Resists Starting                        [00:11]
      13-Effects - Handling Chain                               [00:17]
      14-Effects - Get Art Of It!                               [00:22]
      15-Oliver and Peter Developing Ivor Noises                [01:03]
      16-Ivor Short Theme                                       [00:28]
      17-Effects - Ivor Parps                                   [00:24]
      18-Intro by Oliver Postgate                               [00:16]
      19-1 Retake 3                                             [01:30]
      20-Pogles Walk                                            [02:38]
      21-Pogles Walk Brisk                                      [01:17]
      22-Pogles Run Around Playin "He"                          [01:06]
      23-7 Take 6                                               [01:15]
      24-Apprehensive Music                                     [01:51]
      25-Untitled Cue From Session One                          [00:50]
      26-Plant Growing                                          [00:22]
      27-Pogle Into Witch's Theme                               [01:40]
      28-Effects - Magical Noises                               [00:49]
      29-Effects - Various Magic Noises                         [01:08]
      30-Organ Tune For Captions                                [00:40]
      31-7 Take 2                                               [01:37]
      32-C Take 1                                               [00:39]
      33-King of Diamonds                                       [01:03]
      34-7 Take 5                                               [00:55]
      35-Untitled Cue From Session Two                          [00:16]
      36-13 Number 1                                            [00:24]
      37-2 Take 1                                               [00:24]
      38-Piccolo Attempt                                        [00:19]
      39-Untitled Cue No.2 From Session Two                     [00:34]
                                                                -------
                                                                 38:38 min

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