Many great new arrivals for the New Year include latest releases and favourite titles in pop, rock, jazz, rhythm & blues, film soundtracks, opera, dance, classical and children’s songs. They include baubles, bangles and beads shimmering in various audio and video formats such as CD, DVD and online database.
Black & White by Colleen Hewett.
Two hit new releases feature three of Australia’s most popular and iconic performers. Colleen Hewett is known for her stellar pop music career from the 1960s on, with chart-topping hits such as Day by Day from the musical Godspell, Super Star and Wind Beneath My Wings. She was also crowned Queen of Pop twice in the early 70s, and has had starring roles in long-running hit musicals such as Godspell, Pippin with John Farnham and The Boy from Oz.
Black and White is a complete departure for Colleen featuring country and soulful blues tracks, on a journey that traces her family history, including previously unknown details about her ancestry and experience with domestic violence. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Jazz Chart when released last year. Highlights include the opening blues track, Blues is my Business, The Key and Rockin’ Chair, about her grandmother, written by Melbourne musician Tony Naylor.
Two Strong Hearts Live : highlights by John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John.
Two Strong Hearts is a live recording of highlights from the 2015 Australian concert tour by Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Album chart. Greatest hits spanning five decades are performed and include their soaring duet for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Dare to Dream, and crowd pleasers such as You’re the Voice, Xanadu and Physical. Addictive!
All of these CDs are currently available on the Listening Posts in Arts. The online catalogue indicates which Listening Post the CD is available on. There are eight jukebox listening posts in the Arts Reading Room, where you can listen to CDs from the audiovisual collection.
Group of people using Listening Posts in Arts (c) Andrew Lloyd
The Definitive Anthology by The Easybeats.
Following the recent passing of rock legends Stevie Wright and David Bowie, two albums provide both a tribute to and insight into their musical styles. The Definitive Anthology by The Easybeats features lead singer, Stevie Wright, on this compilation of the groups hit songs, including the boppy She’s So Fine, Friday On My Mind and toe-tapping The Old Oak Tree.
Low is the eleventh studio album released by David Bowie. Regarded as a creative high-point and one of his most influential releases, it also marked a shift in his musical style toward an electronic and avant-garde approach. It includes music he intended for the soundtrack to The Man Who Fell to Earth, the compelling 1976 Nicolas Roeg science fiction drama film Bowie also starred in.
Selected Works 1972-1999 by Eagles.
The Eagles Selected Works : 1972-1999 is a compilation by the Eagles that chronicles all of their work from their debut 1972 self-titled album to the 1999 millennium concert. The four CD set features the groups greatest hits, album tracks and previously unreleased live performances.
La Boheme by Puccini, performed by Opera Australia (DVD).
Opera Australia, c2011
Romeo & Juliet by Graeme Murphy and The Australian Ballet (DVD).
As the 2016 Melbourne seasons of Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet are fast approaching, two DVDs showcase performances or titles that will be part of this years repertoire. La Boheme by Puccini has been reimagined for this dazzling 2011 production by Gale Edwards, set in early 1930s Berlin.
Romeo and Juliet with Prokofiev’s famous score has also been reimagined for this spectacular 2011 production by Graeme Murphy, set in alien landscapes, myriad locations and eras. But this year The Australian Ballet is presenting The Houston Ballet in the acclaimed traditional Stanton Welch version.
These and other DVDs and audio-visual material, can be requested via the online catalogue and viewed in the AV Centre in the Library, during normal opening hours.
ABC, 2015
Mad Max : Fury Road : original motion picture soundtrack. Music by Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL.
There was a Man Lived in the Moon is a popular collection of nursery rhymes and children’s songs featuring two of Australia’s foremost singers, soprano, Jane Sheldon, and baritone, Teddy Tahu Rhodes. Does Incy Wincy Spider, Hot Cross Buns, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Cock a Doodle Doo and Oranges and Lemons sound familiar?!
In total contrast is the thunderous and action-packed soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL to the latest instalment of the Mad Max saga, Mad Max : Fury Road, that may sweep this years Oscars.
Provenance by Vince Jones & Paul Grabowsky.
Provenance reunites two Australian jazz legends, the platinum-selling Vince Jones, on vocals and flumpet (flugelhorn-trumpet), and the multi-ARIA award winning Paul Grabowsky, on piano, some forty years after the two musicians first worked together.
This superb new album features standout tracks such as the opener, Rainbow Cake, a wonderful cover of We’ve Only Just Begun, made famous by The Carpenters, and the Irish folk song, The Parting Glass. Live performances of the album would be well received at jazz clubs and festivals around town if shows can be scheduled.
Drive Time : calming classics.
Right as the Rain features the renowned American soprano, Leontyne Price, and pianist, conductor and composer, Andre Previn, performing musical comedy excerpts from shows such as Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I and popular songs such as My Melancholy Baby and A Sleepin’ Bee. Originally released in 1967, this crossover disc comes to the Library as part of the John Cargher bequest.
Drive Time : calming classics is an ABC compilation of relaxing classics to accompany the drive home, with music by Mozart, Bach, Satie and ravel.
Right as the Rain by Leontyne Price & Andre Previn.
The following TV documentary on Broadway director and choreographer, Bob Fosse, is also available through the Dance in Video Alexander Street Press database. It is available free online in the Library, or from home if you are one of our Victorian registered users.
The life of Fosse, who directed such iconic film musicals as Cabaret and Sweet Charity, is profiled with interviews.
Bob Fosse : dancing on the edge.
