Word: elektra
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Imagine a symphony at once brooding and luminous, tragic and triumphant, spun from a single unending melody in three long, seamless slow movements. Here it is, the "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" by HENRYK GORECKI, newly released on Elektra Nonesuch, with David Zinman conducting soprano Dawn Upshaw and the London Sinfonietta. The tenebrous string texture is punctuated by Upshaw's ethereally intoning a 15th century Polish lament and, later, a mother's dirge for her murdered son, whose words were inscribed in 1944 on the wall of a Gestapo prison. The result is chilling, moving, unique. With the collapse of communism...
...rock musicians and other celebrities are stepping in to do the job. This week Elektra Entertainment is taking out full-page voter registration ads in 20 big-city newspapers, signed by 19 of its acts, including Anthrax, KRS-One, Anita Baker and the Kronos Quartet. Rock the Vote lobbied in Congress for the "motor-voter" bill, which would offset the cumbersome registration procedures in many states by requiring that registration cards be issued along with driver's licenses...
...appeal of black rock 'n' roll. Virgin Records has signed up neohippie Lenny Kravitz, whose latest record, Mama Said, has sold about 2 million copies worldwide. Sony Music produces Fishbone, seven musical renegades who have attracted a cult following with their energetic mix of rock, punk and funk. Elektra Records is pushing Eric Gales, 17, a wunderkind who leads a musically adventurous three-man band. Epic recently released a debut album by Eye & I, a genre-busting quintet propelled by the lusty vocals of female singer DK Dyson. And pop music maestro Quincy Jones has given his blessings...
...made musical purists uneasy. If it's not the musicians' a la mode fashion statements, it's their extravagantly eclectic repertoire: from George Crumb's nightmarish Black Angels to the artless tangos of Astor Piazzolla and Jimi Hendrix's protopsychedelic Purple Haze, their trademark encore. The group's latest Elektra Nonesuch CD, PIECES OF AFRICA, finds the Kronos wandering even farther afield. A potent new brew of folk influences, Minimalism and European forms by eight black, brown and white African composers, the music ranges from the irrepressible Mai Nozipo (Mother Nozipo) of Zimbabwean Dumisani Maraire to the brooding White...
Those numbers are giving metal bands the kind of clout once reserved for pop's biggest stars. In August Columbia Records signed Aerosmith, a hard-rock band with metal overtones, to a $30 million-plus contract. Motley Crue's deal is even sweeter. Elektra Records will pay the Crue at least $35 million, including a $22.5 million advance, for its next five albums. Meanwhile, A&M Records expects big things from Soundgarden, a Seattle-based band that packs the sonic punch of early Led Zeppelin...