Author: ernopepper

358. The Decemberists

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(September 2021) Episode 358 is THE DECEMBERISTS. I listen to little aughts indie rock, so I was unprepared for how pretentious it can get, as exemplified by The Decemberists with their precious song titles and knowingly literate lyrics delivered in an affected voice.  Somewhat counter-intuitively, it gets better when they move into concept albums, featuring guest singers and an occasionally heavier sound.

Favorite album: The Hazards of Love

Favorite song: Everything is Awful

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: nah

357. The Slits

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(September 2021) Episode 357 is THE SLITS. Started out as a formative female UK punk band but soon transitioned to a wild-sounding post-punk, new wave sound with a strong dub substrate sung in a Nico* accent.

Favourite album: Cut

Favourite song: Shoplifting

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: An acquired taste, but a must-have if you’re into the UK punk/new wave thing.

* They covered “Femme Fatale” in a live recording, with (German-born) Ari Up pronouncing “clown” as “clonn” just as Nico did.

356. Ash Ra Tempel

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(September 2021) Episode 356 is ASH RA TEMPEL, along with ASHRA and MANUEL GÖTTSCHING solo albums. It started as a classic avant-garde Krautrock collective leaning toward the spacey side (Kosmische Musik). But it became a vehicle for Göttsching and reached a peak when he put his guitar at the center. He gets the most Mike Oldfield-like guitar tone I’ve heard elsewhere. The best stuff sounds like a blend of Oldfield, Tangerine Dream and Discipline-era Fripp. 

Favorite Ash Ra Tempel album: Schwingungen

Favorite Ashra album: Blackouts

Favorite Manuel Göttsching album: Inventions for Electric Guitar

Favorite song: Echo Waves

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: If you like the artists listed above, this is a must.

355. KISS

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(September 2021) Episode 355 is KISS. I can’t think of a rock band whose fame is derived from a higher ratio of style over substance. Cock rock has not aged well (other than as period pieces in movie soundtracks), and KISS is no exception. It’s like they presciently made music in order to be mocked by Spinal Tap, and later made music that mimicked the mocking. I was too young for the KISS Army and like to think I would not have succumbed.

Favorite album: Destroyer

Favorite song: Dark Light

Oddest yet weirdly compelling album: Music from “The Elder”

Best late-period album: Carnival of Souls

Best 1978 solo album: Ace Frehley

Favorite member: Ace Frehley

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: don’t bother

354. Béla Bartók       

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(September 2021)

Episode 354 of the “opus project” is BÉLA BARTÓK. A solid and important composer of the early 20th Century, and one of the famous two Hungarian pianists (along with Lizst), but was less avant-garde than I had expected. He sought out and composed folk songs from many traditions in central Europe, foreshadowing the field of ethnomusicology.

Favorite piece: Violin Concerto No. 2

Favorite chamber piece: Sonata for two pianos and percussion

Favorite stage work: The Miraculous Mandarin

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: if you are exploring composers of the early 20th century, there are many to get to before him

353. The Polyphonic Spree

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(September 2021) Episode 353 is THE POLYPHONIC SPREE. I was captivated by their debut album, with a technicolor choir robe-adorned chorus playing trumpet and flute and singing mystical sunshiny lyrics, creating a very Age of Aquarius vibe.  But later recordings never matched the initial promise, and it descended into 10s-typical synth pop.

Favorite album: The Beginning Stages Of…

Favorite song: Have a Day/Celebratory

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: just first album

352. Everly Brothers

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(September 2021) Episode 352 is THE EVERLY BROTHERS. Their flawless harmonies gave us pop standards and were immensely influential to the development rock-n-roll.  To my ear, their harmony fit best outside their most popular, early 60s, somewhat bubblegum, period – in an early album of folk songs from an earlier generation (Songs Our Daddy Taught Us), and their later albums of country-rock (Roots). 

Favorite album: Two Yanks in England

Favorite song: Gone, Gone Gone

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: if you want to know that music that influenced the music you listen to

351. Mudhoney

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(August 2021) Episode 351 is MUDHONEY. I started this one while in the Seattle area.  They were delivering the grunge sound before the other Seattle-based bands who got more famous. I didn’t have Mudhoney in my playlist back then but I’m sure there are devotees who rank them above the others. They have a comparatively more punkish sound and sensibility and have been durable.

Favorite album: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Favorite song: Thorn

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: pretty core if you like any grunge stuff

349. Fela Kuti

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(August 2021) Episode 349 is FELA KUTI.  The man who invented Afro-beat, combining polyrhythms of his Yoruba musical heritage with the sounds and instrumentation of jazz and funk. Immensely influential. I’m not much a ‘world music’ fan, but much of Fela’s music offers an irresistibly fun groove. The height of his musical creativity coincided with a growth of political activism against Nigeria’s military government (and imperialism in general) which got him beat up and jailed. But his pro-liberation stance did not extend to women, as he was apparently a sexist pig.

Favorite album: Gentlemen

Favorite song: Kalakuta Song

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: use this groove, to dance to, to liven a party, or play in background while you work

10 creative Fela Kuti song/album titles:

  1. Ye Ye De Smell
  2. Expensive Shit
  3. Equalisation of Trouser And Pant
  4. You No Go Die…Unless
  5. Grammarticalogylisationalism Is The Boss
  6. You Gimme Shit I Give You Shit
  7. Coffin for Head of State
  8. Original Suffer-Head 
  9. Government Chicken Boy
  10. I Go Shout Plenty