Episode 526 is THE YOUNGBLOODS. You’ll recognize them from the hippie anthem “Get Together.” They are labeled a folk-rock band, staying on the lighter side of the counterculture-era musical spectrum, akin to the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Association and country-ish Byrds. They recorded five albums from 1967-1972. The music is fine, but to me it never coalesces into a musical identity.
(September 2023) Episode 525 is CACTUS, a blues-and boogie-rock band from the early 70s that began as a deferred collaboration with Jeff Beck and comprised members of Vanilla Fudge and the Amboy Dukes. While boogie-rock bores me quickly, I took an interest in Cactus because their sound is heavy, accentuated by the singer’s gravelly vocals. But this is not ground-breaking material. They regrouped in later decades for three albums of forgettable bar band music.
(September 2023) Episode 524 is POISON IDEA. I am not a punk connoisseur, but to me this is solid punk content. Birthed in Portland, OR, in the early 1980s, their first two EPs (Pick Your King, Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes) deliver concise hardcore fury, and the following two LPs deliver in that space between punk and metal. Amidst personnel changes they continued recording through the 1990s and after. Their last two albums (2006 and 2015) are some of the best stay-true-to-form that I have heard an aging punk band recreate.
(September 2023) Episode 523 is THE ISLEY BROTHERS. You might know them best for the classics “Shout” and “Twist and Shout,” prime examples of how gospel’s call-and-response helped define soul and rock. These late 50s recordings were just the beginning of a six-decade career of six brothers from Cincinnati, in various combinations, which is still going. They covered all the styles through that span: early R&B, soul, funk, disco, smooth R&B. My favorite period is 1969-75, their peak of funky soul, with hits like “It’s Your Thing” and “That Lady.” Everything from the 1980s on is not my thing. I commend their 1971 album “Givin’ It Back.” After a decade of watching White artists cover their material, they flip it by recording songs by Dylan, Stills, Young and Taylor. And they do it great.
Recommendation: Try those eight albums from 1969-75, or a greatest hits collection; make sure it includes the songs above and the funkalicious “If He Can You Can” and “The Heat Is On.”
(September 2023) Episode 522 is GRETA VAN FLEET. This was a disappointment. I tuned in because they have been compared to Led Zeppelin, which was both very apt and promising based their initial, enjoyable EPs. But the three LPs that followed mostly bored or annoyed me. I’m not sure whether they were trying to move beyond the comparison* or embrace the epic aspects of LZ by ditching the gritty bluesy sound, but it didn’t work for me. It comes off as prog rock which, combined with the singer’s (unfortunate) choice to stay in the high register, makes them sound more like Triumph than Zep.
(September 2023) Episode 521 is GLORIA COATES, begun after her recent passing. She was an American composer who spend most of her professional years in Germany who, when not composing, worked to bring American classical music to Germany. Her compositions are definitely avant-garde. She is known for her abundant portfolio of symphonies and chamber pieces. Her signature sound is strings gliding up and down the neck (glissando), creating a continuous microtonalism. This creates a dark and disturbing tone and while not intended as such, it would not be out of place in a horror film. This is why I like it!
(September 2023) Episode 520 of the “opus project” is THE SILVER APPLES. This duo is known for being one of the first groups to use electronically-generated sound (via a home-made proto-synthesizer) as the basis for pop/rock songs, through a couple of obscure late 1960s albums that were later seen as influential in the development of electronic and synth music. “Pop/rock,” however, is misleading as the songs are unconventional, even avant-garde, with surreal lyrics. They reunited in the 1990s for a reissue and some new, similarly eclectic, recordings. This music is unique.
(September 2023) Episode 519 is THE MUFFS, the perfect combination of pop-punk and power-pop,* melding the tone of the former and the melodicism of the latter. Kim Shattuck’s snotty snarl hits just the right attitude which, along with the unadorned delivery, makes it endearing. Their kicker tempo is what brings you in, but it’s Shattuck’s gift for melodic lines (and lyrics) that will keep you and make you want to revisit.
(August 2023) Episode 518 is VALERIE COLEMAN, a contemporary composer and flutist who cofounded the wind quartet Imani Winds. Not surprisingly, many of her compositions, whether solo, duo or group, feature the flute. She has also penned works for strings for orchestra and chamber. Consistent with the voice of a flute, her works are generally lively and breezy, in contrast to the disquieted ambience I often hear from contemporaries I’ve reviewed.
(August 2023) Episode 517 is MERLE HAGGARD. If I have to go country I will choose outlaw country, with which Haggard is identified as a leader of the Bakersfield sound. He was a very prolific songwriter, many of which became classics, resulting in 66 studio albums (this was a long episode), which stayed fairly consistent in quality across the years. His career accompanies an amazing personal story of overcoming a troubled youth, having famously watched Johnny Cash perform at San Quentin prison. His songs “Okie from Muscogee” and “The Fighting Side of Me” gained him a conservative political audience although he denied the intention and resisted the association. Recognizing his gifts, to my untrained ear he comes off as more normie country (and thus less appealing) than other outlaws like Nelson, Jennings and Cash.
