Edvard Grieg Selected Piano Works

Edvard Grieg was a very influential composer of Romantic music. Born in 1843, Bergen, Norway, he became a heightened figure of Norwegian nationalist and Romantic music. His mother taught him piano at an early age but he soon took off with it, studied at a conservatory and then went on to become a concert pianist all over northern Europe. Composers such as Liszt and Sibelius noticed his genius and praised him all over. In the end, this man was very highly regarded in the classical music scene. I first came to love him when I played his piece Notturno, and I fell in love with his music.

I've made 4 links worth of piano music. Some of it is played by Gerhard Oppitz and some is Eva Knardahl. Other pieces are played by other people, but I don't know their names. I don't think it really matters.

Part I:
- Humoresque, Op. 6, 3 parts.
- Album Leaf, Op. 28, 4 parts.
- Moods, Op. 73. 7 parts.

Part II:
- Four Piano Pieces, Op. 1.
- Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7. 4 parts.
- Ballade and Romances, 0p. 29. 2 parts.
- Selected Lyric Pieces:
- Lullaby
- I Love You
- Princess
- Mother's Pain
- First Desire
- The Poet's Heart
- Love

Part III:
- Random Lyric Pieces
Op. 12 - Arietta
- Waltz
- Watchman's Song
- Elves' Dance
- Folk Tune
- Norwegian Melody
- Albumleaf
- National Song
Op. 38 - Berceuse
- Folk Tune
- Melodie
- Halling
- Leaping Dance
- Elegie
- Waltz
- Canon
Op. 43 - Butterfly
- Loneley Wanderer
- In the Homeland
- Little Bird
- Erotik
- To the Spring
- Valse-Impromptu
- Album Leaf
- Melodie
- Halling
- Melancholy
- Leaping Dance
- Elegie

Part IV
Lyric Pieces
Op. 68 - Vision
Op. 71 - Once Upon A Time
- Summer Evening
- Puck
- Gone
- Nighttime
Op. 54 - March of the Trolls
- Notturno
- Scherzo
Op. 57 - Vanished Days
- Illusion
- Secret
- Homesick
Op. 62 - Brook
- Phantom
- Homeward
- Vision
Links:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Swans - White Light From the Mouth of Infinity

1991; 12 tracks

I can't stop listening to this album. It is one of the most beautiful things I've heard in a long while - and Swans is becoming a very important band to me. This is just one of many Swans releases but I really like this one atm and I felt like posting it.

Download.

Stella Arja - Borning Star By Myself

2004; 7 tracks

According to Last.fm, Stella Arja is "NS Black Metal from Russia. Members of M8L8TH, Morbus Mundi, Endlosung, Eisigwald and Hagl all participate in this project. Lyrics deal with NS ideology and Aryanism." Seeing as I love M8L8TH, this album is quite great for me. The production quality is low, but the blastbeats make up for it - especially in tracks such as For the Light of Selena Cold, and the title track. I highly recommend this album to fans of M8L8TH and maybe even Hate Forest and Wyrd, or something.

Download.

Coil - Scatology

1984; 14 tracks

I never say this about an album, but - this has to be my absolute favorite album of all time. It's the first official release of Coil's (excluding the 17-minute weird sex track), and in my opinion, their best. I think what really gets me about this album is the VOCALS. Jhonn Balance is always amazing, but there's something torturous and therefore lovely about his voice in Scatology. This album has a sort of an upbeat, industrial sound to it, but not without the strange, eerie sampling that Coil is quite well known for. I love this album. My favorite tracks are all of them! AHHH I love this album!!!!!!!!

Download.

Pantha du Prince - This Bliss

2007; 9 tracks

Hendrick Weber. German electronic artist. And I loooove this album. It reminds me of Burial, but not quite as industrial and without the vocals. This album conjures up an atmosphere much like walking down a dark city street under the stars - it's very mellow, dark, and cerebral. I've found that Moonstruck and Urlichten are my favorite tracks so far. This is a gorgeous album. More info here.

Download.

dev/null - Necrobestial Sadobreaks

2008; 8 tracks

Pete Cassin. Breakcore artist. Really cool... Off of this EP or whatever you want to call it I really liked the track Zombie Sunset - I thought it was incredible. More info here.

Download.

Doddodo - Donomichi Doddodo

2006; 15 tracks

Namin Haku. Japanese electronic artist. Gorgeous. This album combines many different things, such as "Irish folk music" with 80s hip-hop/disco/dance, as well as breakcore, harsh noise, metal, chiptune, etc. It's just an amazing work of electronic, experimental art and I really enjoyed it. More info here.

Download.

Converge - Jane Doe

2001; 12 tracks

This is pretty much my favorite hardcore band in the entire universe, and this album is the epitome of hardcore perfection. It's heavy, noisey, full of anything I could ever want in an album of it's kind. More info Here.

Download.

Medicine - The Buried Life

1993; 12 tracks

This is a really, really nice shoegaze album. It reminds me of Slowdive a bit, but a little noisier. Warning: awfully beautiful female vocals. More info here.

Download.

Clams - S/T

2001; 10 tracks

Pretty cool Japanese slowcore/shoegaze/noise album. The vocalist's soft vocals are great. More info here.

Download. + track 10

Perfume - ⊿

2009; 12 tracks

I'm not a HUGE fan of j-pop, but Oh. My. God. This album really is quite something. Might be one of my favorite new j-pop/synthy/electronic albums. I'm quite honestly loving it right now. Favorite tracks: Dream fighter, The Best Thing, and Kiss and Music. :) More info here.

Part 1
Part 2

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Alatt Született

2005; 11 tracks

Fucking amazing album. More info here.

Download.

Dead Man's Bones - S/T

2009; 12 tracks

Interesting debut album from this band. It features a creepy young boy's choir... Nice effort. Pretty creepy album (I like the word creepy today). More info here.


Download.

Urfaust.

I've decided to get down to business and post more black metal instead of dreampop/shoegaze/whatever because it's much more important... but also because I'm in a black metal mood >.<



Urfaust is a black metal group from the Netherlands. More info on Urfaust here. It may just be me, but I've noticed that most of their album covers have something to do with a man, either in anguish/agony, or in a deep state of meditation, or just sitting in the dark somewhere. Maybe this is supposed to be Docteur Faust, or Goethe, or a Schopenhauer. In any case, these images contribute quite well to the atmosphere of the music... I really like it when artists do that, but I guess it's generally unwise to judge an album by its cover. Well, screw that, I do it anyways.

Geist ist Teufel


2004; 6 tracks

I'm going to write like a first grader because I feel like this explanation should be simple: This is my favorite Urfaust album. It might be one of my favorite black metal albums. I cannot describe what appeals to me so much about this album. I just like it. The end.

Download.


Verräterischer, Nichtswürdiger Geist


2005; 7 tracks

Okay, listen. There are NO words at all to describe the magnificence of this album. It is the most amazing "black metal" album I've heard in like, forever... Plus, it has great album art. PLUS PLUS: it has CLEAN vocals! in black metal - gotta love that.

The first track (Dunkel, still von Ewigkeit) is 13 minutes long. It is a completely instrumental classical track. Some might find this odd for a black metal album, or whatever. This track is really amazing, reminiscent of something like black coffee mixed with snowstorm, seen through a beautiful stained glass window. Actually, let's make this a broken stained glass window. It's like that, beautiful, but only because it is shattered. The rest of the tracks are equally as great.

Download.


Drei Rituale Jenseits des Kosmos EP


2008; 3 tracks

While not my favorite Urfaust release, it is the first thing of theirs I ever heard and it was quite enjoyable. I was not expecting the marvelous clean vocals, especially on "II," but that made it all the more powerful for me. These three tracks seem to radiate a dark, ancient, mysterious majesty that can only be experienced by the abrasive sound of Urfaust... In other words, it's a really awesome EP.

Download.

I have only heard these two albums and the one EP, so I cannot give my thoughts on their two splits and 09 EP, but I'm sure they're great............................................................... :3

Sweet Trip

This band needs much more recognition and support... They really are one of a kind and amazingly great. Sweet Trip is without a doubt one of my favorite experimental/dream-pop/electronic groups ever. More info here.

Halica (Bliss Out V.11)


1998; 7 tracks

This is a good album full of nice moments but I feel like their other two releases are much better!

Download.


Velocity : Design : Comfort


2003; 12 tracks

So freaking gorgeous. Jazz. Electronic. Shoegaze. Every fucking thing is in this album. It has also been described as.. IDM? I believe that stands for "intelligent dance music." This CD is full of good rhythm and soft harmonies, such as in the song "To All the Dancers of the World, A Round Form of Fancy." I think that's my favorite track off of this album.

Download.


You Will Never Know Why


2009; 14 tracks

This is absolutely my favorite Sweet Trip album, and possibly my favorite shoegaze/indie album in the entire universe. It is very different from V : D : C, but by no means in a bad way. It is softer and introduces newer "folk" elements, such as acoustic guitars, that aren't present very often in their previous stuff. I really, really love the song Milk. It is one of the most powerful and beautiful songs I have heard in a long while. If you're wondering which ST album to get, please please get this one. You will not regret it.

Download.

The Daysleepers

This is sort of like if shoegaze took dream-pop on a date and they had pop-rock children. xD Whatever you want to call them, I've liked The Daysleepers for over 3 years now and am just deciding to post the better of their two EPs and their only full-length. More info here. I especially love the vocals in this project. Most of their music gives off an 80s post-punk style, but is more ethereal and atmospheric, and not very objective at all. Yay...


The Soft Attack EP





2006; 7 tracks

This albums is melancholy, gorgeous, and it reminds me of the beach. My favorite tracks are The Soft Attack and Cloudless.


Download. 


Drowned in a Sea of Sound 


2008; 10 tracks Such fucking BEAUTIFUL vocals.... Ahhhh.


Download.

Why?

I've been listening to Why? for about 2 years now, off and on, and they are still as wonderful as they were the first time. I've looked into many of their "similar artists" on Last.fm and nothing has ever come close to comparing with them :'). Why? is an Oakland based trio that has been making music for about 10 years. Their work is hard to describe, as it is so diverse and experimental and gorgeous. I'd say it's mostly indie hip-hop, with some rap and even some folk elements (especially in their newest album, "Eskimo Snow"). I have heard their entire discography about 20 times and I haven't gotten sick of it ONCE. I love their album Oaklandazulasylum the most by far. More info here. Enjoooyyy.


Oaklandazulasylum


2003; 14 tracks

This is my favorite Why? album. It took me a while to get into it because most of the songs are pretty short and fragmented and... it's just a trip to listen to the whole thing beginning to end. I always end up being in some dreary, dreamy state listening to this album - it gives me really funny dreams! My favorite tracks are Dream on Cortelyou, Our Neighbor's Daughter, and A Little Titanic. This is a perfect album, but it might not be for everyone... I suggest lisetning the shit out of it and forcing yourself to like it. I promise you will.

Download.

Elephant Eyelash


2005; 12 tracks

This album is extremely complex and layered and rich in texture/lyrical content. My favorite tracks are Yo Yo Bye Bye, Gemini (Birthday Song), and Rubber Traits. It is a difficult album to get into, but I'd consider it their most mature work of all. I love it.

Download.

Sanddollars EP


2005; 8 tracks

I really like this EP, especially the song 500 Fingernails. I think it shows a nice progression from their previous two albums. It seems like it introduces you to Why?'s new sound on Alopecia.

Download.

Alopecia


2008; 14 tracks

This is a cool album, but I think it is overhyped. As a whole, it's not amazing. I really love the songs "Simeon's Dilemma" and "Torpedo or Crohn's" like.. with all of my fucking heart. I also love the lyrics to the first 5 songs. Alopecia features more rapping, which turns some people off but whatever. Why? is awesome -heart-

Download.

Eskimo Snow


2009; 10 tracks

This is a nice album, it features more sentimental lyrics and softer music... I don't know how to describe it. Against Me is an amazing song :3 Eskimo is not bad, but it's not my favorite Why? album.

Download.

Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat, Op.83

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) is one of my favorite composers. This is so weird, my favorite piano concertos are always the SECOND one! I love Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, I adore Shostakovich's, Prokofiev's is gorgeous, and Bartók's of course. I recently heard this exact version of this exact Piano Concerto on the radio the other day and I was, to say the least, frozen and amazed. I thought it sounded Romantic, but then there were Modern influences that made me think again. I always try to guess the composer whenever I hear some classical piece on the radio and I almost always get it right! But this time it was just impossible - I've never heard anything like this. The rich textures of the orchestra contrast beautifully with Arrau's magnificent, clear, scintillating playing of the piano.

Below is a link to the concerto as performed by Claudio Arrau and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink. It was recorded in Concertgebouw, Amsterdam in the October of 1969.



Download.
4 tracks

Goldfrapp

I just began listening to Goldfrapp (real name:Allison Goldfrapp) because I was really excited to see that she shared my name. I heard from my boyfriend that Seventh Tree was his favorite album, and I wanted to hear it, but the next day I couldn't remember which album it was that he had said. SOOO, I got Black Cherry and was amazed. I eventually also got Seventh Tree and it was extremely gorgeous, to say the least. I decided to put them both up here, although I do like Seventh Tree a tiny bit better :')

Black Cherry


2003; 10 tracks

Download.


Seventh Tree


2008; 10 tracks

Download.

Coil - The New Backwards

2008; 9 tracks

While this is not my absolute favorite Coil album because of one reason: Jhonn Balance wasn't a huge contributor to the overall sound and production of the album, I have recently discovered how simply mindfucking it is... xD I don't even know if that's an adjective, but I just feel frozen when I listen to this album. It drives me crazy. My favorite tracks so far (besides all of them) are AYOR (which sounds a whole lot like Bloodstream,and other songs from Ape), Copacaballa (My absolute favorite Coil song ever, hands down), and Backwards, which is eerily gorgeous. More info here.

Download.

Carbon Based Lifeforms Discography

Okay, so here we have one of my favorite ambient/electronic acts in the entire world. Carbon Based Lifeforms (CBL) are Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Segerstad, both born in 1976 and based in Sweden. There are several reasons why I love this group so much. First, the track titles are very interesting, 9/10 having to do with some scientific process or theory or other. Second, it is extremely relaxing to listen to, especially while falling asleep. World of Sleepers is my favorite. :)


 Hydroponic Garden  2003; 11 tracks 

Download.

World of Sleepers  2006; 11 tracks  Download.   Irdial EP  2008; 2 tracks  Download.   Interloper  2010; 10 tracks 
Carbon Based Lifeforms came out with their 4th full-length album on May 3, 2010. It's much of the same things as their previous releases, but it is in no way a disappointment. CBL's distinctive psychill tracks are as calming as listening to waves on the shore, or the fall of rain. I really enjoyed this album and expect more great things to come from this Swedish electronic duo.

 Download.

Coil - Musick To Play in the Dark, Pts. 1 and 2

Download.

Vol 1 - 1999; 6 tracks
Vol 2 - 2000; 7 tracks

Moon Music. This is amazing ambient/experimental music, work of Jhonn Balance and Peter Christopherson.

Important Info about Pt. 1:
- "Are You Shivering?" is about the drug MDMA, colloquially known as Ecstasy.

- The song "Red Birds..." is based on the album Rubycon by Tangerine Dream. The name for this song was taken from Nostradamus book The Prophecies.

- Piano on "Red Queen" is performed by Thighpaulsandra and is about the media spreading lies.

- The spoken line on "Strange Birds" is taken from Aleister Crowley.

- "The Dreamer Is Asleep" is about William Blake.

Angelo Badalamenti - The City of Lost Children OST

1995; 16 tracks

Honestly, this might be one of my favorite albums in the entire universe. Angelo Badalamenti is a god. Tracks like "Miette," "Opium Prince," "Who Will Take My Dreams Away?" and "Les Enfants Sauvent One" make me feel happy to be alive again - they renew my spirit and lift me up. This soundtrack is pure beauty and the movie is, as well. Highly fucking recommended.

Download.

Colleen - Everyone in the World Wants Answers

2003; 13 tracks

Colleen is French musician Cécile Schott, who began going under that alias in 2001. Her music is cute, soft, and beautiful. This is an amazing debut album. Stand-out track: "I Was Deep in a Dream and I Didn't Know It."

Download.

Ben Frost - By the Throat

Ben Frost is Australian composer who now resides in Iceland. His music is transcendental for me. There are elements of nearly everything I like in his music, especially this album: Black metal, soft electronics, some drone, elements of harsh noise, and experimental use of many different instruments. I want to have this album forever - it is a frosty masterpiece. More info here.


2009; 11 tracks

Download.

Paavoharju - Yhä Hämärää

2005; 11 tracks

Paavoharju is a folk band from Finland. This band has been described as freak folk, experimental, and even something I've never heard before: "Illbient." I am astounded by the angelic beauty surrounding this album. The vocals are delicate, the guitars are rich and textural, and the samples and electronic bits make this unlike any folk album I've ever heard. It mixes chip-tune with opera and folk. I love it so much. Stand-out tracks: Puhuri and Musta Katu. This album is one of my favorites of the week :) More info here.

Download.

Battles - Mirrored

2007; 11 tracks

Battles is a New York city rock group, founded around 2002. This is the only album of theirs I've ever heard, but it's super great. You will never hear anything remotely similar to Battles, and I think I'll love this album forever. It reminds me of dredg, faintly, only because of the vocals. The style is reminiscent of Giraffes? Giraffes! and... as much as I hate to say it... Animal Collective. Lay your hipster judgements aside and listen to this purely wonderful album.

Download.

P.O.S. - Never Better

 2009; 15 tracks

P.O.S. is rapper Stefon Alexander from Minnesota. His music can be described as alternative hip-hop, or punk-inspired rap (Stefon has credited the punk band Fugazi as a major influence). I just love P.O.S., no matter what. It's extremely brutal and yet lovely and poetic. Stand-out tracks: PUREXED (x 1000 ^ 1000).

Download.