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MIKE OLDFIELD - Incantations; MIKE OLDFIELD - Incantations
Topic Started: Aug 3 2011, 09:54 AM (227 Views)
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MIKE OLDFIELD
Incantations

UMC 2011

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This was album number four from Mike Oldfield, which was originally released in November 1978 as a double album. The original comprised four parts, 'Incantations Parts 1 - 4', and although primarily a one man band, saw contributions from David Bedford. Gong percussionist Pierre Moerlen, Sally and Terry Oldfield, and Maddy Prior, who provided vocals on 'The Song of Hiawatha'. The lyrics to that were taken from Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha", and the lyrics in 'Part Four' are Ben Jonson's "Ode to Cynthia" from Cynthia's Revels.

This latest reissue (it was remastered and reissued in 2000) sees the remastering overseen by Oldfield, and the package contain rare material, and, as with the earlier reissues of "Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge" and "Ommadawn", a brand new 5.1 mix by Mike Oldfield, as well as footage from his 1979 concert tour. There's also room for his 1979 single, 'Guilty', which saw Oldfield recording a disco single in New York! Much to the horror of many.

Now I haven't heard this album since about 1980, so I'm not going to go into the excruciating detail that the more obsessive Oldfield fanboys will. Suffice to say, that it's one of his best, especially 'Part 4', which is quite stunning. It saw him utilising a small orchestra, and it's minimalist approach has more in common with modern classical music than it does anything resembling rock, although there are a good few proggy moments. However, it takes some patience, something I have more of nowadays than I did back when I first heard it. The repeating motifs make a lot more sense to me now, and I can appreciate the fine details of the arrangements.

The 5.1 mix is wasted on my ears, but the second disc of rare material was a bit of an ear opener, with some really excellent tunes dotted around. It just went to show that he was still on a roll at the time. The concert material isn't the most engaging you'll ever see, but as it was his first concert tour, it's of historical value, and is musically excellent. I did notice some overly sensitive whingers talking about a jump on Part 4, but Universal Music say "The new re-master of Incantations is faithful to the original analogue master tape. These tapes included an edit point at 12:37 on Part 4 of Incantations which can be discerned as a small jump in the track." So there you go.

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