Posts Tagged ‘Mike Oldfield’

We all are dreaming about finding our very own paradise, a place where we can relax and enjoy nature at its best.

One man who obviously has found his paradise, is Mike Oldfield. He is currently enjoying some well-deserved quality time in the Bahamas on his boat. Getty Images has quite a few recent pictures available of Mike Oldfield. Also make sure to read Mike’s wife’s Bahamas diary on fanpage Tubular.net. 

As a longtime fan I must say that I am so happy to see him with a smile on his face.

(Never forget that our music genre has lots of album with the paradise island as theme).

After the massive, totally overwhelming success of Tubular Bells (1973) the 21 year old Mike Oldfield had an almost impossible job; to make a follow-up. The whole world demanded a follow-up. A worthy follow-up.

Yes, Mike had an almost impossible job to do. But when he first got started, it was – to use a description which Mike would like today when he is living in the Bahamas - smooth sailing. Or to quote his autobiography:

Hergest Ridge was a real struggle to begin with, but having pushed myself to get started, it was like piling twigs on a fire. It took on a life of its own, with its own momentum, and it became self-sustaining.

Musically it was nothing like Tubular Bells. It had trumpets and tin whistles, all different kinds of influences that were in some ways echoes of the place I was living in, I suppose you would call them New Age sounds in today’s terms. I was running on nearly empty tanks when I was putting it together, but I managed to cobble together some kind of album.

Changeling - The Autobiography of Mike Oldfield
Virgin Books 2007, page 158.

Personally I hold Hergest Ridge to be among Mike Oldfield’s finest works, and a much more personal and intimate release than Tubular Bells. Just listen to the trumpets at 10 min 05 sec onwards and you’ll hear what I mean; Hergest Ridge is simply beautiful and heartfelt.

It was however not a new Tubular Bells, and for many of the 1970s record buyers Mike Oldfield lost actuality with this release. He was yesterday’s news.

We have seen re-releases of Hergest Ridge before, last time in 2000 when a Digital Remaster was issued. This 2010 Deluxe Edition features versions of the original record remastered by Mike himself, unheard demo versions, plus the mixes found on the vinyl version first released in 1974 – along with some nice DVD footage. Disc three also contains a very welcome 5.1 Surround Mix. As you can see there is also a new cover as Mike never liked the original cover (“this one was just a bit weird” - Changeling page 160)

Here is the Deluxe Edition tracklistings:

• Disc 1

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 2010 Mix Previously Unreleased 19:21
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 2010 Mix Previously Unreleased 18:46
03 In Dulce Jubilo (For Maureen) 02:45
04 Spanish Tune 03:11

• Disc 2

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 1974 Stereo Mix 21:32
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 1974 Stereo Mix 18:40
03 Hergest Ridge Demo Part One 1974 Demo Previously Unreleased 20:21
04 Hergest Ridge Demo Part Two 1974 Demo Previously Unreleased 18:13

• Disc 3 (the DVD)

01 Hergest Ridge Part One 2010 5.1 Surround Mix 19:20
02 Hergest Ridge Part Two 2010 5.1 Surround Mix 18:45

Note that there is also a digital version available on iTunes which contains disc 1 and 2 (everything except for the Surround Mix and footage).

The most interesting part of this release is of course the unreleased demos. I think they sound nice – but as with the Tubular Bells demos of last year you are not likely to listen much to them; they are weaker sounding and quite unpolished. But for true fans it is always nice to relive the construction of something noteworthy – so in this aspect it is well worth the price.

To sum it up; Hergest Ridge tells the story of a young man who has to do the impossible; to create something to equal Tubular Bells. It didn’t of course, but still it is always a welcome listen to the fan. Very much so. For years and years. And now, in 2010, we even got a new and much nicer cover and a 5.1 Surround Mix! To quote Mike:

I know I’m very unstable, and I probably always will be, but the point is that I’ve accepted that about myself. Hergest Ridge, on the other hand, is smooth, uncluttered. There are no tube trains, very few car doors, lots of open countryside, smooth hills, a general feeling of smoothness and wellbeing and non-hysteria, just a much nicer environment.

Universal Music has put together a very nice webpage here. And if you missed it on 1st of April: fanpage Tubular.net’s very own Hergest Ridge 2010 mix.

Now you have the chance to own a piece of new age music history! The studio where Mike Oldfield recorded Tubular Bells is up for sale. Online magazine nme.com reports:

A 16th century house at Shipton-on-Cherwell, The Manor was converted by Richard Branson into the UK’s first ever residential recording studio.

The Grade II listed building opened its doors in 1971 and saw the likes of Gong, Sandy Denny, John Cale, Vivian Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Tangerine Dream record there in the early ’70s, reports The Independent on Sunday.

Read the whole article here.

I recently wrote an article called Music of the Spheres – Two years after. I hold Music of the Spheres to be one of Mike Oldfield’s best. Below is a video with Mike and Hayley Westenra from the Alan Titchmarsh Show which was recorded in connection with the album release.

We all love live new age music here on .nu, don’t we? These two artists are just so talented!!!

Everything moves so fast today. This is nothing new of course, we still only have 24 hrs a day and what’s hot today is gone tomorrow. It is just the nature of our Brave New World I guess. That said, it is sometimes interesting to look back just a year or two and see if things that were important back then still has relevance. Do we even remember?

Looking at the most recent new age music history, the release of Mike Oldfield’s “classical music” album Music of the Spheres was a massive event. Not only did it promise brand new acoustic material well outside the crowded Tubular Bells-universe, but also a handful of world’s finest artists; pianist Lang Lang and soprano Hayley Westenra, conductor Karl Jenkins and the complete Sinfonia Sfera Orchestra, all participated on the album. Yes, it was massive.

Still I feel that the album came, got some nice PR and reviews in main stream media, and disappeared. (Yes, I know that this is the fate of many albums. There is just so much music being published today, and all music of the past is available at our fingertips too). Again; Brave New World.

But one year ago I saw this post over at the Tubular.net forums and it got me thinking, posted by the user: TheMann:

It is now about a year since I first listened to Music of the Spheres. Then, I was stunned by how ambitious this work really is, and I quickly felt in complete love with this masterpiece.

A year later, nothing has changed for me: I find nothing in Mikes output as emotional as this full-length, far-reaching orchester piece. Quite remarkable words, having in mind that Mike wrote (many) other eternal masterpieces, e.g., Ommadawn. Now, let’s not argue what work is his finest; It’s all down to taste.

Listening to it now, today, nothing has changed for me either; Music of the Spheres is still an awesome album in all respects. It is far-reaching and quite remarkable, like previous classics. Interestingly enough, the latest review of this album is written by Mike Oldfield’s wife, Fanny Oldfield – this too on fan page Tubular.net:  

It is something that has to be said about Mike’s music, it always makes you feel something…it is not like any boring track that is almost invisible. Mike’s music stays with you, tells you a story, brings emotions and gets your heart to beat faster.

If it is love for Mike or his music that makes her heart beat faster remains unsaid. My point is only that Music of the Spheres is an album not to be missed. And if I dare to make a conclusion about music in general based on this; it is not that too much is being released – it is just that all the music of the past also is so accessible today. This is great news for anyone, like me, that enjoy to dive into oceans of music and experience what’s there. But we will not get new Tubular Bells – that is; famous works of art that live on and on – but we will get just as great albums that doesn’t get famous.

Even when they are awesome, and created by someone famous.

Just like Music of the Spheres.

See the 8 first minutes of the wonderful Spheres below:

Mike Oldfield is in many ways the only true celebrity in New Age Music. At least the only artist that that has had his share of scandals and negative tabloid headlines. Artists such as Enya, Kitaro or Edgard Froese are, well, more down-to-earth and have never been given that role in media. To see that this is true you only have to read this recent article in Sunday Express by Adam Helliker. It starts with the words: 

SO DISILLUSIONED is multi- millionaire composer Mike Oldfield with Britain that he has rejected a formal education for his children and is teaching them himself while he sails his family on a yacht around the Caribbean.

And more:

“Unless you want to be a nuclear physicist there is nothing you can’t teach yourself on the internet,” Oldfi eld tells me from his yacht moored off the Virgin Islands. “My children are getting a wonderful education learning all about sea life and meeting other children who sail into the harbour.”

Hopefully the time at sea will give Mike new inspiration – or at least some peace of mind, far away from the UK and the tabloids.

Source: Tubular.net

Mike Oldfield fanpage Tubular.net published the news that there would be a special Hergest Ridge 2010 edition out (much like the “high quality but not that popular” Tubular Bells 2003 edition) – and not only the planed re-release of the good, old Hergest Ridge.

In connection with the April Fools’ joke, a funny looking web page was published – which contains the The Hergest Ridge Supreme pizza!

I’m not going to say anything negative about “yet another” Mike Oldfield classics re-release – only note that this time around it is NOT another Tubular Bells version… This year it is all about two just as interesting releases, Hergest Ridge (1974) and Ommadawn (1975).

Amazon.co.uk has now begun taking pre-orders on the Deluxe Editions of these albums. According to their track lists, Hergest Ridge includes In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen), Spanish Tune and demos of Part One and Part Two. Ommadawn includes a ‘lost version’.

They also have a single disc edition of Ommadawn, which includes In Dulci Jubilo, First Excursion, Argiers and Portsmouth, plus there’s a single disc edition of Hergest Ridge which currently has no track listing.

The release date is May 24th. There will also be vinyl editions available.

Source: Tubular.net

Now this is something quite different; Mike Oldfield fan page Tubular.net has something remarkable to share:

On board the Oldfield’s boat Sea Dragon, moored off St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Fanny Oldfield has been exploring her husband’s music and writing a diary about her experiences.

The diary contains Fanny Oldfield’s personal view of her husband’s music. One thing is certain though; she has not been his biggest fan in the past. In fact, she hasn’t heard that much of his music at all. Only a few albums and some selected tracks. So the diary of her voyage through his music starts with his most recent album Music of the Spheres. She writes:

Music of the Spheres is an album that I do know and have listened to many times. I heard Michael working on it. One of my pleasures was to make dinner and if Michael left the studio door open I could hear, from the kitchen, what he was working on in the studio. That is how I heard the sounds of this beautiful album for the first time. The actual first time I heard it properly was in a mastering studio in London. Wow, it was just fantastic… The music took me on a journey away from London, England, Earth!

Read it on Tubular.net - where it has got a lot of attention from MO’s fans. 

What an interesting project! Also be sure to check out Fanny Oldfield’s nice photo art.

We recently told you about the band Fadalack , who did their version of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Another interesting project that is soon out on the road is Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts’ Tubular Bells for two. Their two-man version of the classic comes to life utilizing acoustic and electric guitars, two pianos, three synthesizers, two drum kits, bass guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel, and of course, tubular bells!

So if you are in Australia on the 13^th of March you have the chance to experience a rare and special Tubular Bells performance. Read all about it here.             Source: Tubular.net

Some pieces of music will live forever. One such title is without a doubt Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. I am sure this groundbreaking album will be played 50, 100 or 500 years from now.

A sure sign of the quality of TB is that it is being played live by other artists too. Below is the group Fadalack at a concert in Alicante, Spain, performing TB live. Here are more pictures and a presentation of the band in Spanish.

What a great performance! Still, one can’t avoid being impressed too by the very young Mike Oldfield who composed this and played most of the instruments himself… Source: Tubular.net

A “not that popular” part of Mike Oldfield’s creative works, the computer game Music VR (which also includes the Tres Lunas (2002) album music), was recently removed from Mikeoldfield.org – but has now found new life on fan page Tubular.net. They are the new official source for everything Music VR. The game is now free to use – and can be downloaded from this page. According to Wikipedia, Mike Oldfield spent £25 million developing the game.

I have never been a big fan of the game itself – but I enjoy the Tres Lunas soundtrack very much. I think To Be Free is a marvelous song!

Mike Oldfield fans that use the popular web browser Firefox now can download a free exclusive Tubular Bells skin – which will take your everyday browsing into a Tubular world! I learned about the cool feature from my good friend, the talented new age artist Tubular Tos. Merci!

You can download it here.

… and rest assure, it is NOT another version of Tubular Bells… We got enough of them by now. According to Universal Music, new editions of Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn will be out in April. These albums are, together with Amarok, easily Mike Oldfield’s best. This is great news!

Source: Tubular.net

Well, this it is not 1973 and it is not the BBC UK Top 40 Albums Chart either, but Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is currently no. 1 on UK’s New Age Music chart on iTunes!

That has to mean something … Yes? YES!

See the complete chart here – and see how many no. 1 spots Enya has. But is it her new “best of” album that are on top of 14 NA music charts?

The iconic Tubular Bells-cover will be released on a first class stamp by UK’s Royal Mail. It is a part of a series featuring classic album covers. The stamp will be released on January 7th 2010.

You can see the stamp art here. Source: Tubular.net

Over the last year New Earth Records has released eight titles from Terry Oldfield’s back catalogue, published under the Terry Oldfield Classic Collection name.

There is no doubt in my mind; these titles are some of the finest new age music ever released, and Terry is most probably the best flutist in the business.

In connection with the Classic Collection New Earth has a small biography and interview with Terry.

New Earth: You talk quite openly on your website about yourself and your life and you seem very clear about what is important to you. Do you think that music has helped you to find this clarity and a connection to spirit? Or has it been the other way round?

Terry: My own personal dissatisfaction with the more acceptable viewpoints of reality has enabled me to write music that other people in like position can relate to. By going into this malaise I discover a longing that expresses itself beautifully through music because it cuts through the very thing that creates the problem – the process of thinking.

And, as always, when talking about either Terry or Sally their little brother Mike has to be mentioned. Here from Terry’s biography:

Terry: There was a fun period when my brother Mike and myself started a band called Barefoot. I enjoyed the atmosphere of that a lot. We played quite heavy stuff in various clubs but I couldn’t play the guitar for toffee! Mike later went on to become a megastar.

Well, around here Terry and Sally are megastars too

Read the biography and interview here – and here are the eight albums.

Everyone is looking out in space today with the Apollo 11 anniversary. To celebrate this The National Film Theatre on London’s South Bank will be showing The Space Movie, which is a classic documentary featuring previously unseen footage from NASA – and this new edition also contains unreleased music by Mike Oldfield. The documentary was made at the request of NASA to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Apollo 11 in 1979 – and now it got some new music too. It will be shown on the 28th and 29th of July.

It is not known if this music will be released on CD or as a digital download. More information about the documentary here. Source: Tubular.net

Below is a picture of Maggie Reilly performing Mike Oldfield’s Moonlight Shadow on Norwegian TV2’s sing-along program Allsang paa grensen. It sounded almost as good as when it was the legendary second track on Oldfield’s Crisis (1983).

A lot of dedicated Mike Oldfield fans rushed to the official site Tubularbells2009.com and ordered the exclusive signed Tubular Bells Ultimate Edition as soon as the offer was posted on the page. As it turns out, many fans have not received their signed copy. According to Tubular.net:

The main problems appear to be:

• Items still not despatched, despite credit cards having been charged as far back as mid May.
• Inadequate packaging leading to damage in transit, despite a premium having been charged for postage and packaging due to the item’s value and weight.
• Signed copies arriving without signed certificates, possibly linked to…
• Signed copies being sold by Amazon, contradicting the claim that they would only be available through the official website.

If you have experienced similar problems be sure to contact Tubular.net. They are looking into the matter.

As of 6 July: please check Tubular.net about feedbacks from the publisher.

Yesterday Mike Oldfield was interviewed on the Radcliffe & Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2. You can listen to the whole interview here. Be quick because the interview is only available for 7 days. The interview starts around 1 hour 20 minutes in the show.

Mike talks about the recording of Tubular Bells and the things that lead to its release. The reason for the interview is the re-release of his first album.

By the way, here is a recent private interview with Mike from the Bahamas. It is raining, it is really pouring down!

Mike Oldfield was recently interviewed on Johnnie Walker’s hits from the 70s show on BBC. Mike Oldfield joined the show via telephone from Fort Lauderdale, FL, where he was staying while having his sailing yacht repaired. He talks with Walker about the recording of Tubular Bells. The occasion for the interview is of course the re-release of his first and most popular album. Mike sounds happy and relaxed!

The interview is no longer on BBCs homepage, but a recording of it can be found on the Tubular.net forum (scroll down).

Mike Oldfield is yet again climbing the UK Top 40 Albums Chart with The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983. It is a double CD, where disk 1 contains a new stereo mix of Tubular Bells, and disk 2 gives some of the highlights of the first 10 years of Mike Oldfield’s career.You get to hear an excerpt from Ommadawn, Five Miles out, Taurus II and Family Man.

Tubular Bells fans will also have to check out the Deluxe Version. Here are some early clips from the recording of Tubular Bells back in 1971.

It is incredible to hear what the young Mike Oldfield managed to do without much equipment!

See the chart here.

On June 6th Mercury Records is holding a special event to celebrate the re-release of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. The event will take place at the British Music Experience, O2, in London. According to a press release, The Hand Bell Ringers of Great Britain, Europe’s largest Hand Bell and Chime Orchestra, will descend on the British Music Experience for this completely one off event. In addition to playing extracts from Tubular Bells, they will also play selections from their own repertoire and be running workshops so audience can learn about this instrument. Legendary ambient artist The Orb will also participat and perform a unique Orbular Bells DJ set!

Here is a description of the show:

This will be an afternoon of bell ringing, interactive workshops, visuals, and ambient music – as eclectic as Tubular Bells itself and an amazing experience for all the family! The BELL IS BACK afternoon is included in the price of admission to The British Music Experience – the world’s first fully interactive music visitor experience. Kids go free! Anyone entering between 2pm and 6pm can bring their adult ticket to the box office to claim their free child’s ticket.

Read all about it here

One thing is certain though; this event will create a lot of sound. Both the bells and a high number of ears will start ringing…

We have previously told you that all the copies of the Tubular Bells Ultimate Edition Box Set signed by Mike Oldfield was sold out in under 24 hrs. Now a fan community is trying to locate all the fans who have bought this special signed edition. So far 40 fans have been located. If you are the proud owner of a copy, why not come forward?

Mike Oldfield has some really dedicated fans, that’s for sure!

24 hours after the Tubular Bells Ultimate Edition Box Set signed by Mike Oldfield was put on sale through Universal Music’s store Tubularbells2009.com, all copies were sold out. No surprises there I guess. But luckily they have plenty of copies of the Ultimate Edition Box Set unsigned edition in stock. The box set will be dispatched in the second week of June.

And there is plenty of other Tubular Bells fan material in store here as well. Here you can get Tubular Bells Vinyl Edition, cool t-shirts and sign up for VIP updates about the upcoming album too.

Sadly there aren’t many books about new age music, but below are my reviews of the books I have found about this topic. Two books are about the genre itself, while there are three artist autobiographies.

The international guide to new age music (1998)

The book called The international guide to new age music by Henk N. Werkhoven is the most ambitious work about this genre. The book came out 10 years ago, and no new editions have so far been released. But it is still a nice resource for everyone who is into new age music. It contains a heartfelt foreword by Henk N. Werkhoven, and then a nice introduction to the genre by Steven Halpern. I don’t agree with the selection of artists though. Major artists like Enya, Enigma, Tangerine Dream or Mike Oldfield are not even mentioned here, and they were just as important 10 years ago. It is almost like creating a guide to classical music and not mentioning Mozart or Bach… But I understand Werkhoven’s focus on dedicated new age music artists and labels, as a contrast to major pop artists. And that’s ok. It is still a good guide, because the artists here are indeed some of the finest.

In this book you will find biographies and discographies to artists like William Ackerman and Suzanne Doucet. The parts about record labels and radio programming are also interesting (but a little outdated of course). The included CD, with music by Cusco, Deuter and others, is very good.

Since The international guide to new age music is 10 years old, you can get the book and CD for a few dollars. A good buy indeed. Available through Amazon.

There is also a book released in 1989 called The New Age Music Guide: Profiles and Recordings of 500 Top New Age Musicians by Patti Jean Birosik. On Amazon is a presentation of it (scroll down). I haven’t read that one yet (but I will!) 

Changeling (2007)

Mike Oldfield released his autobiography in 2007 on Virgin Books entitled Changeling. Here Mike tells about his childhood with an alcoholic mother and his social difficulties. But also about how he discovered music and became a guitarist (and bassist) in various bands from a young age. He also played together with his talented siblings, Terry and Sally.

The most interesting part of the book is when Mike writes about the creation of Tubular Bells (no big surprises there). Richard Branson was the only one who believed in this long and unusual album, and he gave Mike studio time. The incredible success of Tubular Bells was the beginning of Virgin Music.

Mike also tells about his psychological problems and the backside of fame and money. The book is not very detailed when it comes to Mike’s creative side, but you get a feeling that this is an artist with a big passion for his work. For Oldfield’s many fans, this book is a great read.

Here is the book on Amazon.

Yanni In Words (2003)

Yanni’s autobiography from 2003 is called Yanni In Words. Here the Greek maestro tells his story, about how he was as a young boy, as a student and later as a musician. Success is never easy, and this was also the case for Yanni. The famous shows at Taj Mahal and Acropolis demanded a lot of work. It is also interesting to read about how he works with music, and it is obvious that he is a hard working musician.

Yanni has never been happy with his New Age Piano Player image, and I agree with him; he is almost like a classical composer. To label his music as New Age stuff is perhaps wrong. But anyway, Yanni In Words is a great read!

That’s it! Do you know about any other books about new age music? Write a comment about it.

One of my all time favorite albums is Mike Oldfield’s Amarok, released in 1990. This must be one of the most varied and creative recordings ever (not just in new age music, but in any genre). Here Mike Oldfield constantly changes theme, non-stop for 60 minutes!

While Virgin Music in 1989 wanted a follow up to Tubular Bells, something to take Mike’s fame to old heights, Mike decided to make a piece of music that could not be played on radio, and not be cut up and sold as singles. All because he was frustrated with Virgin music. The result is a strange but marvelous album, unlike anything else. In time it has almost become a research field in the world of music. On Tubular.net is an extensive analysis of the album. Every part is special.

What I like about the album is the feeling of movement. In the 60 minutes you get to hear a high number of melodies, and they all communicate different feelings and emotions. When the hour is up, you feel like you have experienced a lot. It is truly a world of sound, only paralleled by Tubular Bells.

Sample the album on Amazon.

Now you can visit tubularbells2009.com, which Universal has just launched. At this page there is an impressive 3D model of the famous bells. And here is a buy link where you can show your interest for the Tubular Bells Ultimate Edition which will be released later this year.  Here is a picture of this new edition.

Fans on Mike Oldfield never get tired of the bells, it is just the way of the world.  Source: Tubular.net.

Great news for all Mike Oldfield fans: Universal has released details of new versions of Tubular Bells due for release on June 8th. It will be available in four different physical versions and two different digital download versions. This will include a 2 CD compilation, with a new stereo remix of Tubular Bells and a deluxe edition, with 2 CDs and a DVD, featuring the stereo remix, the original mix, a new 5.1 remix and video of the BBC Second House performance of Tubular Bells Part One. A vinyl release of the original mix will also be released.

An ultimate edition will also be released. Mercury/Universal will be promoting the release with a special event on June 6th at 6pm, where bells will be rung in locations throughout the world, footage of which will then be available on mikeoldfield.com

See all the details on Tubular.net.