#itsinstrumental
Cymbals In Space 12
Santa Fe, NM USA 1982.
Kodachrome 25🎞️ Olympus OM-1📷
#gold #EastCoastKin #filmphotography🎞️ #itsinstrumental
#drums #photographersunited #photography #stilllife
April 22, 2025 at 4:12 PM
April 22, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Cymbals In Space 8
Santa Fe, NM USA 1982.
Kodachrome 25🎞️ Olympus OM-1📷
#EastCoastKin #BlySkyArt #BlueSkyPhotographers
#photographersunited #abstracrphoto #itsinstrumental
#filmphotography🎞️
April 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
#ItsInstrumental Day 7
#MusicChallenge

Genesis - Firth of Fifth (1973)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ZJ...

This inconsequential little ditty opens with an absolutely incredible, tumbling piano tune (excitingly recapitulated later on synth), while the song flows through a strange & wonderful landscape.
February 7, 2024 at 1:00 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 9
#MusicChallenge

The Beatles - Something (1969)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNav...

George Harrison’s unforgettable, wonderfully expressive guitar is an integral part of the song’s soul. What a masterpiece!
February 9, 2024 at 1:02 AM
#ItsInstrumental 26 (horns)
#MusicChallenge

Natalie Merchant - It Makes a Change (2010)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=25p8...

An almost unclassifiable album, setting poems relating to childhood by a mix of different writers, to wonderfully diverse music. This charmingly nonsense one is by Mervyn Peake.
February 26, 2024 at 1:24 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 6
#MusicChallenge

Joni Mitchell - Let the Wind Carry Me (1972) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2x...

I heard Joni describe her music as “art songs” rather than rock or folk, & this song exemplifies that. Her pianism, as always, is idiosyncratic but stunning, & perfectly natural.
February 6, 2024 at 1:02 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 10
#MusicChallenge

Kate Bush - Rocket’s Tail (1989)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyc1...

Everything about this is amazing (the drums! the bass! the Bulgarian folk singers!), but David Gilmour’s guitar is a thrilling part of the mix.
February 10, 2024 at 1:12 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 1
#MusicChallenge

Tori Amos - Bells for Her (1994)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cu7...

Tori’s incredible pianism is full of dynamic & tonal contrasts, but her use here of a prepared piano (still acoustic!) creates a suppressed, haunted & deeply sad quality unique in her work.
January 31, 2024 at 1:01 AM
#ItsInstrumental 23
#MusicChallenge

Daniel Lanois - Carla (2005)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=41i2...

I think I once heard Lanois describe his pedal steel guitar as his “church”, connecting him to the spiritual, & this little instrumental piece is a haunting example of his playing.
February 23, 2024 at 7:01 PM
#ItsInstrumental 25
#MusicChallenge

Joanna Newsom - ‘81 (2015)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AHo...

A very great songwriter (imagine a triple album where every song is a delight!), & the only one I know whose main instrument is the harp. Here she is in a lovely live performance, professionally filmed.
February 25, 2024 at 12:38 AM
#ItsInstrumental 22
#MusicChallenge

Tori Amos - Winter (1991)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmE...

An electric piano may be all she had available on the night, & it slightly hampers her dynamic range. Still my fave performance of this great song. She seems completely at one with it. It’s overwhelming.
February 23, 2024 at 5:26 PM
#ItsInstrumental 28
#MusicChallenge

Roxy Music - A Song for Europe (1973)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qOc...

This may not be most people’s favourite Roxy Music song, but it’s mine! And Andrew Mackay’s saxophone is, as usual, wonderful.
February 28, 2024 at 12:53 AM
#ItsInstrumental 17
#MusicChallenge

David Bowie - Sound and Vision (1977)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV_U...

How could I not share an example of Dennis Davis’ amazing drumming on this album? Such a fresh new sound, even now.
February 17, 2024 at 12:57 AM
#ItsInstrumental 14
#MusicChallenge

Richard Thompson - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kJ...

In the 1990s I stood ten feet from him in an HMV store as he played this song. I was the first for the signing & he smiled at me behind the desk & said, “I feel like a bank manager!”
February 14, 2024 at 12:58 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 2
#MusicChallenge

The Beatles - Martha My Dear (1968)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXaw...

An irresistible musical masterpiece (those modulations!), based on the wonderfully infectious piano tune played by McCartney at the beginning. An inspiration for Oh, You Pretty Things, maybe?
February 2, 2024 at 12:59 AM
#ItsInstrumental 21
#MusicChallenge

Paul Simon - The Obvious Child (1990)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=io_p...

Featuring Brazilian drumming collective Olodum, it effortlessly fuses percussive joy with Simon’s bittersweet lyricism. The lyrics affect me far more now than they ever could when I was 24.
February 21, 2024 at 12:44 AM
#ItsInstrumental 20
#MusicChallenge

Julia Holter - Feel You (2015)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Jg...

I love Julia Holter’s subtle way with drums (played by Corey Fogel). Understated, playful, tricksy rhythms (weird time signatures? - wish I was a musician!), but still sunny, charming & catchy pop!
February 20, 2024 at 12:55 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 19
#MusicChallenge

Peter Gabriel - Running to the Rain (2002)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHDn...

Sometimes when drums are used sparingly they can be all the more powerful. This wonderful piece includes a bodhrán, an Irish drum often used in Celtic folk music.
February 19, 2024 at 12:48 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 3
#MusicChallenge

David Bowie - The Motel (1995)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc4b...

As an example of Mike Garson’s astonishing piano playing for David Bowie, Aladdin Sane feels too obvious! This one has a true ensemble feel, but Garson’s distinctive sound is wonderful throughout.
February 3, 2024 at 1:20 AM
#ItsInstrumental 29
#MusicChallenge

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No 30 in E major (3. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo) www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4q7...

Beethoven’s last three sonatas were written when he could no longer hear a sound. They’re utterly sublime, & I’ve loved them for nearly 40 years.
February 29, 2024 at 12:22 AM
#ItsInstrumental 18
#MusicChallenge

Kate Bush - Sat in Your Lap (1982)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY17...

A wonderfully mad, inventive & very percussive song (piano included!), set in motion by the fantastic, clattering drums. Kate’s voice is the star here, though - the sheer power and range she has!
February 18, 2024 at 1:19 AM
#ItsInstrumental 16
#MusicChallenge

Fiona Apple - Limp (1999)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofv5...

Another song of hurt & fury, from an album I still associate with a painful life experience 25 years ago. The starkness of the drums & even the piano add to the snarling ferocity of Apple’s singing.
February 16, 2024 at 12:58 AM
#ItsInstrumental 27 (harmonica)
#MusicChallenge

Cat Power - She Belongs to Me (2023) www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUqp...

There’s something moving about this quiet, intimate performance of a song Ive known for decades, in a big, beautiful hall that I’ve sat, stood & even lain down in countless times. 🥹
February 27, 2024 at 12:41 AM
#ItsInstrumental Day 5
#MusicChallenge

Peter Gabriel - Playing for Time (2023)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swO...

I love i/o so much! I think it’s my favourite of all PG’s albums; different in that it’s the work of an older man, yet reassuringly “him” in every note. It has a lot of piano on it too!
February 5, 2024 at 1:05 AM