More sad news with the passing of Vangelis, legendary composer of many unforgetable tracks and soundtracks including of course, Bladerunner, Chariots of Fire and 1492:Conquest of Paradise. His soundscapes have been a constant of my adult life and it's no exggeration to say that I play a couple of his albums, if not daily, certainly weekly and have done so for years!
There's something transformative about his music so that if I need to really concentrate to get some work done, it can almost instantly transport my mind to that place where I can ignore external distractions and just get on with the job in hand. The only other artists that have this effect on me is the solo work of David Sylvian and to a slightly lessor extent, the music of Dead Can Dance, but it is Vangelis that I invariably turn to most.
While I never saw Vangelis live like I did my ultimate musical hero David Bowie, he has been in some ways just as influential in shaping my mind and creative thinking.
R.I.P to an unparalleled genius.