David Bedford & Mike Oldfield's "Argiers"

The current edition of The Wire magazine has a long feature on the Bristish Composer David Bedford. I only have one full length CD by him, Star's End. And I only really knew his other works from the couple of pieces on the Mike Oldfield Boxed collection. As with so many articles in The Wire, I am immediately keen to hear more and to listen closely again to what I already have - can there be any more validation of a music magazine?

Cool hair and beard!

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I first came across Mike Oldfield in the late 1970s when he had one or two hit singles - Portsmouth and In dulci jubilo. I saved up for weeks to buy the Mike Oldfield Boxed 4 lp set, but in the end I think my dad bought it for me for Christmas. I haven't listened to Tubular Bells for years, but Ommadawn and Hergest Ridge are both on my ipod and I do listen to them both quite regularly.

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The 4th lp in the boxed set was called Collaborations and it is this which has some other David Bedford music on it - a bit from Star's End and The Phaeacian Games. But the highlight of Collaborations was Argiers; a simple acoustic guitar and recorder piece that has haunted me for years. I have, in the past, tried to buy a cd copy of just Collaborations but it was always only available in the 3 cd boxed set. However I have now tracked down a copy of it online and am delighted to hear it for the first time in many years. This is the track that I whistle in the bath, hum in the car, hear in my head several times a week. Yet I hadn't heard the original for more than 10 years. It is so amazing to hear it again.

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Since downloading it somewhile ago, it has played on repeat perhaps 25 times in a row - and it is still great.

Mike Oldfield Boxed

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This recortd comes from a time when receiving a new record was something amazing - with the enormous quantities of music now available so easily, something has definitely been lost. The anticipation of saving up to buy something, the intent listening that each record received (except Jon Lord's The Gemini Suite which always sticks in my mind as a record I bought, played once and vowed never to listen to again ever). The music I listened to from about 1976 to 1984 is definitely "my music" regardless of the enormous amounts of stuff I listen to now.

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How I always remember Mike Oldfield - I don't think I have listened to anything new by him since buying Boxed. Perhaps I was sure this could never be beaten?