This somber goes to eleven!

February 6, 2008 4:54 PM

I really like The Nau Ensemble's CD Variations on Joy Division. If you're familiar with it, can you help me find more like this?

Despite certain shortcomings, it's still one of my favorite CDs. But I'm stumped finding any other recorded work by the Nau Ensemble, Hans Ek, or Coro de Bellini.

To clarify, I'm not looking for recommendations for other string-quartet reinterpretations of pop music. And, while appreciated, I'm not looking so much for pointers to specific artists/composers.

When it comes to classical/chamber/choral music I'm more of a "I don't know much about it, but I know what I like" kind of person. So I lack the vocabulary to better describe what I like about it (apart from that it's lush yet sparse, simple yet stretches out a bit, and has an ideal choral-to-instrumental ratio). So I'm hoping for recommendations along the lines of "I love that CD too and you'd probably like [this specific CD]."

Thanks in advance!

posted by Martin E. to media & arts (3 comments total)

The Balanescu Quartet did an album called Possessed with a lot of Kraftwerk covers.
posted by phrontist at 7:06 PM on February 6, 2008

I've downloaded a few things by The Vitamin String Quartet on eMusic before and enjoyed them. I tried a search for that group on Amazon and got a ridiculous number of hits (CDs and MP3s). It seems they're more of a label name that a specific quartet - a contemporary "101 Strings".
posted by loosemouth at 3:20 AM on February 7, 2008

Did you like the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack?

I am hoping to recommend the first 3 Spiritualized albums, if you like lush/sparse simple/stretching kind of noise. Lazer-Guided Melodies, Pure Phase, and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. They progress in order from sparse to lusher. The ones after that are more rock'n'roll, though.
posted by herbaliser at 10:38 AM on February 7, 2008