Author: ernopepper

473. The Damned

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(February 2023) Episode 473 is THE DAMNED. Known in the punk pantheon for being the first UK punks to issue a record and to tour the United States. Their first album is superlative, drawing relatively more from the garage rock antecedents of punk. Can’t praise it enough. But it goes off the rails quickly: a couple ok post-punk albums and then eight blah rock records – it’s soooo boooring.

Favourite album: Damned Damned Damned

Favourite song: Neat Neat Neat

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: just the excellent first album

472. Orchestra Baobab

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Episode 472 is ORCHESTRA BAOBAB. A big-time African band in the 1970s and Senegal’s biggest musical export until Youssou N’Dour. You get the expected goodness of afro-beats but there is such a strong Cuban influence you might think they were from Cuba if not for singing in Wolof and French (but with some Spanish too). I especially love the groovy and psychedelic guitar bits.

Favorite album: Pirates Choice

Favorite song: Sibou Odia

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: I’m not a “world music” connoisseur so I can’t make a comparative recommendation, but I like this for its authenticity and groove

471. James Gang

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(February 2023) Episode 471 of the “opus project” is JAMES GANG. You know them as Joe Walsh’s first band and for their eternal classic rock radio hits “Funk #49” and “Walk Away.” The first three albums (1969-71) are a good helping of enjoyable funk rock. But then Walsh left and the rest is mostly forgettable boogie and soft rock.

Favorite album: James Gang Rides Again

Favorite song: Funk #49

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: a greatest hits package will do

470. Ultha

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(January 2023) Episode 470 is ULTHA, a black metal group from Germany. If Hell had a house band, it might sound like Ultha. It’s a double-pedal propelled wall of dark sound. There are vocals in there somewhere but they are mixed so far down they resemble distant screams of a person being tortured in a dungeon. Admittedly this music has niche appeal, and it’s not my favorite subgenre of metal. But I do find myself drawn to audacity of music at the extremes (fast, slow, loud, minimal, chaotic, experimental). 

Favorite album: All That Has Never Been True

Favorite song: The Seventh Sorrow

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: not for a general audience but the curious should check it out

469. Michael Gordon

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(January 2023) Episode 469 of the “opus project” is MICHAEL GORDON. A contemporary composer and one of the co-founders of the Bang on a Can collective (with wife Julia Wolfe of episode 347 and David Lang episode 453).  Styles include dissonance, minimalism, unusual instrumentation (2x4s), reinterpretations of classic works, pop culture. There is a lot of variety to keep you interested.  Some of his earlier works featured rock guitar, and he emphasizes multimedia works and unusual operas.

Favorite piece: Trance

Favorite orchestral piece: Dystopia

Favorite large ensemble piece: Rushes

Favorite piece with guitar: Thou Shalt!/Thou Shalt Not!

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: he is worth checking out; a lot of pieces are available as embedded on his website

468. Regina Spektor

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(January 2023) Episode 468 is REGINA SPEKTOR. I can overcome my aversion to “singer-songwriters” with Regina Spektor. She uses her versatile voice like an instrument, confident yet delicate, neither emo nor operatic. Her lyrics and wordplay are interesting, and melodies inventive. I prefer her earlier, sparer recordings —  mostly just her voice and peppy piano — over her later lush and orchestrated albums, although two of my favorite songs are on her latest release (“Up the Mountain” and “SugarMan”).

Favorite album: Soviet Kitsch

Favorite song: Up the Mountain

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation:  I do recommend

467. KYUSS

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(January 2023) Episode 467 is KYUSS. If grunge and doom metal had a baby, it would sound like Kyuss.  Drop tuned goodness.  But adding the groove and funk metal elements, Kyuss defies categorization. The best aspect is the absolutely delicious tone they get through the amps.  It’s as if hot lava were edible like fudge. Yum. This is fantastic stuff, and you are required to listen at maximum volume.

Favorite album: Welcome to Sky Valley

Favorite song: Asteroid

Favorite song with vocals: One Inch Man

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I cannot recommend this highly enough

466. Chuck Brown

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(January 2023) Episode 466 is CHUCK BROWN (and the Soul Searchers). Known as the “Godfather of Go-Go.”  Go-go is a subgenre of funk and soul that became popular in the Washington, DC, area from the mid-70s.  Its main feature is a particular rhythmic pattern, which you will recognize as the beats pounded by the guys who play the paint buckets on downtown DC streets.  Brown didn’t have much national fame but was a big deal in the DC scene. His hit “Bustin’ Loose” is played after wins by the Washington Capitals and Wizards, and after home runs by the Nationals.

Favorite album: We the People (released under “The Soul Searchers”)

Favorite song: Ashley’s Roachclip

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: I prefer the first two early 70s albums of classic funk, but the 79-80 albums are also funky good

465. Agnostic Front

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(January 2023) Episode 465 is AGNOSTIC FRONT.  Coming out of the New York City hardcore scene, they helped pioneer crossover thrash. While I’m not a punk connoisseur, their early punk stuff sounds pretty good to me (their opening EP is 10 songs in 6:22 – classic).  Unlike peer bands that crossed over once from punk to thrash, Agnostic Front went back and forth over the years. In later years Roger Miret’s vocals get annoying.

Favorite album: Victim in Pain

Favorite song: The Eliminator

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: should be in both your punk and thrash playlists

464. Buffy Sainte-Marie

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(January 2023 ) Episode 464 is BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE. An archetype of the activist folk-singer. As an (the only?) indigenous woman in the business, many of her songs address the struggles of native peoples, but she also sings of war, poverty, etc. Her dominating vibrato voice is not my cup of tea for the folk style, but it is distinctive and well-suited to deliver her worthy messages.  Her 60s recordings are typical for the folk revival but I prefer her more inventive direction in the early 70s.

Favorite album: Illuminations

Favorite song: Cod’ine

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: you should have some familiarity with Buffy