cool music

Two recent YouTube finds, one being music I've heard before, and one not.

The first is a performance on the Tonight Show (Carson era) by the Bulgarian Women's Choir from their amazing 1990 album "Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares". I love the strength in their voices - one could not accuse them of sounding girlie! The time signature for this piece is 7/8, which adds an extra element. This type of "odd" time sig. is common in Eastern Europe (and elsewhere), but rarely heard in most Western music.



(All embedded YouTube clips can be seen directly at their YouTube page by double-clicking on the video.)

Next up is Imogen Heap. I hadn't heard of her before, but saw a link to this clip and found it to be very cool. She sings and accompanies herself live by looping the various vocal and percussive parts on the fly. Watch her sing the first background line, then as it plays back she adds the next one, and so on. Then she fades the backing parts in and out of the mix as she sings the melody. Talk about multi-tasking! She also has a remarkably pure voice, aided by excellent intonation and a very good sense of rhythm. Me likes...