Author: ernopepper

413. Nkeiru Okoye

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(June 2022) Episode 413 is NKEIRU OKOYE. A contemporary composer mostly of vocal works, including an opera, theatrical pieces and song cycles. A main theme of her works is the African-American experience, both contemporary and historical.  While I’m not a fan of the operatic style, I liked the subject matter as well as the chamber works.

Favorite piece: Harriet Tubman, When I Crossed That Line To Freedom

Favorite chamber piece: Movements for String Quartet

Favorite orchestral piece: Voices Shouting Out

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: worth a listen

412. Ravi Shankar

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Episode 412 is RAVI SHANKAR. For most of us he is the introduction, if not our only exposure, to Indian classical music, usually through George. I don’t know enough about Indian classical music, with its complexities and philosophic roots, to assess Shankar’s place in it, but he is celebrated, even if derided by purists for collaborating with western musicians. But I love the music, all of it. 

Favorite album: The Genius of Ravi Shankar

Favorite song: Raga Miyan Ki Malhar

Favorite crossover piece: Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: a strong yes

411. Crass

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(May 2022) Episode 411 is CRASS. An idiosyncratic first-wave UK punk group that was the musical arm of an anarchist art collective.  They deliver their political message with a punch in the face, deliberately avoiding any possibility of popular acceptance. There is also a lot of avant-punk experimentation incorporating collages, poetry, spoken word and free-form noise-making, which may be my favorite part of their sound.

Favourite album: Stations of the Crass

Favourite song: Burying the Hatchet

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: it is an acquired taste

410. Blind Lemon Jefferson

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(May 2022) Episode 410 is BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON, known as the Father of Texas Blues.  He recorded a hundred songs in the 1920s, and was popular at the time for his distinctive voice and guitar playing.  He was rediscovered in the 1960s as lots of artists covered his songs. Allegedly Jefferson Airplane took their name from him.

Favorite song: Matchbox Blues

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: yes, for awareness of original blues

409. Procol Harem

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(May 2022) Episode 409 is PROCOL HAREM. You know them from their first single “A Whiter Shade of Pale” but they were more than a one-hit wonder. The first three albums, with Robin Trower’s fuzzy guitar and Matthew Fisher’s reverberating organ, are a peak late-60s mix of quasi-psychedelia and baroque rock. They are also considered one of the first prog-rock bands. Vocalist and pianist Gary Brooker, with a voice that is the love child of Steve Winwood and Pete Townsend, is the constant from the beginning though a long run of avoidable albums.

Favourite album: Procol Harem

Favourite song: She Wandered Through the Garden Fence

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: relevant for a deeper dive into late 60s British rock, as well as those interested in the roots of prog rock

408. Wilson Pickett

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(May 2022) Episode 408 of the “opus project” is WILSON PICKETT. One of my favorite soul singers; his voice has a right level of rawness that feels close to the soul ideal. The songs in his late 1960s prime are funky and danceable without resorting to schlock or saccharine. After the early 1970s the output becomes sporadic and forgettable.

Favorite album: The Exciting Wilson Pickett

Favorite song: Land of 1000 Dances

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: a must-have for any soul playlist

407. Death

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Episode 407 is DEATH (the death metal band, not the proto-punk band).  Further proof that the best (only?) good music to come out of the 80s was aggressive metal. Death arguably invented their eponymous genre, with leader Chuck Schuldiner the pioneer. From the first double-pedaled beat of the first album, the death metal template was set: machine-gun speed and noise, growl vocals, necrotic themes.

Favorite album: Leprosy

Favorite song: Pull the Plug

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: essential metal

406. Arooj Aftab

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(May 2022)

Episode 406 is AROOJ AFTAB.  Pakistan-born, U.S.-based vocalist and composer whose music is a blend of jazz, minimalism, electronica and neo-Sufi.  She uses her beautiful, mid-range voice as an instrument integrated into the music. The moods are relaxing, contemplative, atmospheric, spacy.

Favorite album: Siren Islands

Favorite song: Mohabbat

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: definitely check her out

405. Happy Mondays

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(May 2022) Episode 405 is the HAPPY MONDAYS.  Arguably the most Madchester sound within the Madchester scene, with plenty of grooves and rave beats.  But they lacked the melodic charm of peers the Stone Roses and Charlatans.

Favourite album: Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches

Favourite song: Bob’s Yer Uncle

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: worth a listen to see what the Madchester thing was all about

404. Death

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(May 2022) Episode 404 is DEATH (the proto-punk band, not the death metal band).  My primary interest is in their role as a proto-punk band, although they didn’t make a mark outside of their native Detroit until rediscovered decades later. Also unusual in that they were a trio of Black brothers who started out in funk but got turned on to hard rock, with political and later Christian themes. Their sound is like mixing MC5, Love, the White Stripes and Glass Harp in a blender. 

Favorite album: …For the Whole World to See

Favorite song: Politicians In My Eyes

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: only of interest to those exploring the roots of punk